Chicken wings for Thanksgiving? 3 recipes, tips to shake up your menu.
Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner, bringing a dish to the family gathering or just looking for something good to make for the holiday, you’ve found the right place. From the appetizers everyone reaches for before dinner to the desserts people somehow find room for after a big meal, there’s always something to look forward to.
The good news? You don’t have to spend the entire day in the kitchen to put together a spread everyone will enjoy.
Monti Carlo, the AJC’s senior editor of Food & Dining, happens to be a chef and cookbook author. She has a few tricks for giving some familiar favorites a little something extra. Whether it’s getting crispy chicken wings without a deep fryer, making sure your banana pudding actually tastes like bananas or finding an easier way to get homemade apple pie on the table, these recipes are worth a look as you plan your holiday menu.
Here are three recipes to add to your Thanksgiving lineup.
1. Get perfectly crispy chicken wings without a deep fryer
No Thanksgiving spread is complete without something to snack on before the main event. And if you’re looking for an appetizer that doesn’t require standing over a pot of hot oil, oven-baked chicken wings might be the answer.
Getting that crispy skin and big flavor straight from your oven comes down to a few simple techniques. You don’t need a deep fryer to get wings with the crunch everyone loves.
It’s an easy addition to your appetizer spread, especially when guests start arriving and everyone is looking for something to eat before dinner is served.
2. Give your banana pudding a real banana flavor boost
Banana pudding can hold its own at just about any family gathering. But there’s one problem: Sometimes it doesn’t taste nearly enough like banana.
Carlo breaks down what’s missing and shares tips to build more banana flavor directly into the pudding itself. If banana pudding is already a staple at your family’s holiday table, this is a good opportunity to level things up.
3. Make homemade apple pie pastries in about 30 minutes
You can’t talk about Thanksgiving desserts without mentioning apple pie. But if making a traditional pie from scratch feels like more work than you signed up for, there’s an easier way to get those familiar fall flavors on the table.
With puff pastry and a few simple ingredients, you can make homemade apple pie pastries in about 30 minutes.
The filling combines sweet Honeycrisp apples with tart Granny Smith apples. Cooking the apples in butter, sugar and spices before baking helps create a flavorful filling, while the puff pastry delivers that crisp, golden finish.
It’s a simple way to get the flavors of homemade apple pie without spending hours preparing a traditional crust. Serve them as a dessert or alongside your favorite holiday treats.