Nut Free

Bake your pie crusts ahead so your oven is free for the turkey on the big day. They will keep at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 days.

A make-ahead gravy that doesn’t rely on turkey drippings or a roux. The gravy’s depth of flavor comes from roasted poultry bones and—surprise!—a sprinkle of MSG, which has an umami-to-the-max effect.

This sliceable, jiggly sauce is spiced with bay leaves and cardamom, set in a gelatin mold, and crowned with sugared orange zest and cranberries.

On the continuum from slightly textured to exquisitely satiny spuds, use a potato masher (rustic, but fine!), ricer (nicer!), or food mill fitted with the finest disk (woooow!).

Cooking the pulverized corn nuts in butter along with the stuffing vegetables blooms them like spices, bringing out all their earthy, funky, wonderful corniness.

Roasting the cabbage before it goes into this rich, cheesy gratin does double duty: it deepens the vegetable’s savory flavor and removes excess moisture from the creamy mixture.

This garlicky, gingery soup is a heartier take on classic chicken and rice, thanks to the addition of sweet potatoes.

Starting hot creates good browning from the get-go, while a lower cruising temperature finishes the meat without drying it out.

Goat’s milk butter is mildly tangy, complementing the whole wheat flour and wheat germ in these cookies.

An outer coating of sumac-sugar gives these slice-and-bake cookies a bright pop of flavor that balances the rich, buttery shortbread.

The textured end of a meat mallet is gently pressed into the dough of these cardamom- and rose water–scented cookies to form a grid pattern.

Dijon mustard mixed with honey serves as a sweet-tart marinade for this chicken dinner, while the whole-grain mustard adds dynamic pops of flavor to the dressing.

With the nearly year-round availability of zucchini and cherry and grape tomatoes, this dish brings color and flavor to the table any time you’d like.

In this recipe, halibut gets smothered in roasted garlic and cheese before cooking under the broiler. The fish becomes tender and flaky, while the top layer turns golden brown and crisp.

The sour cherry relish can be used in a similar way to cranberry sauce. Its tart, fruity flavor is perfect with pork, but it’s also great with ham or turkey.

Tender, sweet and well-spiced stewed meat topped with cheese-encrusted creamy mashed potatoes…need I say more?

A little sweet, a little spicy, a little smoky—these pork shoulder steaks have everything it takes to steal the show at your next dinner party. 

Butternut squash melts into the polenta as this creamy, make-ahead dish cooks, while chunks of Fontina create gooey pockets of cheese throughout.

Deviled eggs get way more exciting when you cover the egg whites in a deeply flavorful spice mix and swap out the filling’s usual mayo for yogurt-y labne instead.

This dairy-free cake hits all the right autumnal notes: it’s earthy thanks to the olive oil, warm thanks to the spices.