| | | |

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas with a Global Twist

Thanksgiving recipes

I love that Thanksgiving is a big food celebration holiday; it’s a great occasion to get together with family and friends, to enjoy a delicious meal, and be thankful for all of our blessings.

Most of my Thanksgiving parties have the theme of “international potluck” style. There’s usually a roasted turkey or roasted pork dish, but most of the side dishes and other parts of the meal have an international twist that reflects the cultures of the people gathered around the table.

Even if it’s just the husband, kids and myself, we usually have some Latin (and French) components added to our Thanksgiving meal. These are some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes that will add some Latin (or French) flavor to your menu.

En Español

Latin menu ideas for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Drinks and Starters

Cranberry pisco sour: The perfect Thanksgiving cocktail made with cranberry juice, lime juice, pisco liquor, egg whites, simple syrup, and ice. Garnished with sugared cranberries.

Cranberry pisco sour cocktail recipe


Mandarin mimosa: Bubbly mandarin mimosa cocktail recipe made with fresh mandarin juice, champagne or sparkling wine, and orange liqueur.

Tangerine or mandarin mimosa

Puerto Rican Coquito (Eggless Coconut Eggnog): Technically this is more of a Christmas drink, however I think that Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to start testing out recipes for December. Made with coconut cream, evaporated or coconut milk, condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon and rum.

Close up shot of a glass of coquito served with cinnamon and coconut.

Chicha de piña or spiced pineapple drink: Chicha de piña is a spiced warm pineapple drink made by simmering the pineapple skins and core with panela or hard brown sugar and spices.

Two glasses of Chicha de piña on a deck railing with a pitcher in the background

Ceviche de langostinos: Easy ceviche recipe made with langostinos, lime juice, red onions, cilantro, hot peppers, garlic, and olive oil.

Lobster or langostino ceviche recipe

Shrimp stuffed avocado: Ripe avocado filled with shrimp, red onion, radish, bell pepper, celery and cilantro aioli

Avocado with shrimp salad

Sopa de zapallo or squash soup: Squash soup made with squash, onions, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, and chicken or vegetable stock, served with feta or goat cheese and chives

Two bowls of pumpkin or squash soup on a blue background, topped with crispy pumpkin seeds and cheese

Frisée salad with apple, bacon and goat cheese: Frisée salad with apple, bacon and goat cheese with an apple cider honey mustard vinaigrette

Frisée salad with apple, bacon and goat cheese on black plate

Thanksgiving Main Dishes


Herb butter roasted turkey: Recipe for roasted turkey with thyme lemon garlic butter and white wine gravy sauce.

Lemon and thyme roasted turkey recipe

Pavo criollo asado: Latin style turkey, usually prepared for Christmas but works perfect for Thanksgiving, marinated and roasted with a sauce of garlic, cumin, achiote/annatto, and chicha or beer.

Latin style roasted turkey for Christmas or Thanskgiving

Hornado de chancho: Hornado de chancho is a slow roasted pork dish cooked in a marinade of beer or chicha, garlic, cumin and achiote or annatto.

Ecuadorian roasted pork leg recipe

Pork tenderloin with chimichurri: Roasted pork tenderloins with herb and garlic chimichurri marinade. You can also add baby potatoes and sweet onions to the roasting pan. An easy recipe for smaller gathering.

Side view of pork tenderloin on a wooden background with some slices off the end, surrounded by roasted potatoes and onions.

Apple cider roasted pork loin: That ideal combination of fall flavors with pork and apples. This recipe is made by baking a garlic stuffed pork loin roast with hard apple cider and ripe apples. Served with a creamy apple cider gravy sauce.

Cider roasted pork loin recipe

Pernil or spicy roasted pork loin: Pernil is pork marinated in a sauce of bitter orange juice, onion, garlic, achiote, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and panela and slow roasted in the oven for several hours.

Pernil de cerdo

Orange chipotle ham: Orange chipotle ham made with a smoked spiral cut ham, baked and glazed with a sauce made with chipotle chilies, orange juice, lime juice, cumin, achiote, tequila, sugar or honey, and spices.

Orange chipotle ham

Chimichurri roasted chicken OR turkey: Not a fan of turkey? Or want to try a different marinade for your turkey this year. Try this Latin inspired chimichurri chicken (or turkey) roasted with fresh herbs, garlic, vinegar, lime juice, butter or oil.

Chimichurri chicken recipe

  

Thanksgiving Sauces and Condiments


Spicy mango cranberry sauce: Spicy cranberry sauce recipe made with fresh cranberries, mangoes, jalapenos, brown sugar, passion fruit juice and cilantro.

Spicy cranberry mango sauce

Salsa de ciruelas or prune sauce: Salsa de ciruelas or prune sauce made with prunes, red wine, port, shallots, and balsamic vinegar. This sauce goes great with turkey, pork, chicken, duck and other meats.

Salsa de ciruelas - Holiday prune sauce for turkey & pork

Aji de tomate de arbol or tree tomato hot sauce: Tree tomato aji is a very tasty hot sauce made from tree tomatoes or tamarillos, hot peppers, onion, cilantro and lime juice. I love this sauce on the turkey and on pork pernil.

Ecuadorian tamarillo or tree tomato hot sauce

Agrio sauce: Agrio is a tangy sauce made especially to accompany traditional pork dishes, especially hornado or roasted pork.

Agrio for hornado

Homemade aioli: Aioli is a French mayonnaise type sauce made from crushed garlic, egg yolk and olive oil. Aioli is a great sauce for roasted vegetables. You can also try the variation with cilantro.

French aioli recipe

Balsamic chimichurri sauce: Chimichurri sauce made with oregano, parsley, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chili powder, and green onions. This chimichurri sauce is great for meat and vegetable dishes.

Cebollas encurtidas or lime pickled red onions: Red onions marinated in lime juice, these go great with turkey and pork.

Ecuadorian lime marinated onions or curtido de cebolla


Thanksgiving Side Dishes


Molo or Ecuadorian style mashed potatoes: Molo is an Ecuadorian version of mashed potatoes made milk, cream, queso fresco and a refrito of onions, garlic, and achiote or annatto. Molo is served with lettuce leaves, hard boiled eggs, hot pepper slices, avocados, scallions, cilantro or parsley, tomato and onion curtido and aji or hot sauce.

Ecuadorian molo mashed potatoes for Easter

Relleno de pavo or turkey stuffing: Sweet and savory holiday turkey stuffing made with ground meat, chorizo, bacon, apple, raisins, olives, walnuts, bread crumbs, spices, herbs and more.

Relleno de pavo or turkey stuffing

Ensalada rusa or Russian potato salad: Ensalada rusa is a classic salad and side dish served throughout Latin America, made with potatoes, carrots, peas, apples, celery, onion, and mayonnaise.

Ensalada rusa potato salad recipe

Llapingachos de camote: Recipe for sweet potato patties stuffed with cheese, or llapingachos de camote, made with mashed sweet potatoes, onion and achiote refrito, and cheese.
Potato gratin dauphinois: Gratin dauphinois is a typical dish from the French Alps made with thinly sliced potatoes baked in a sauce of milk, eggs, cream and garlic and topped with cheese.

Goat cheese potato gratin: Potato gratin recipe with goat cheese, garlic and herbs

Sweet plantain puree with queso fresco: Puree made with ripe sweet plantains, milk, butter, onions, garlic, cumin, achiote, chili pepper, salt and pepper. I usually replace the classic sweet potato dish with this sweet plantain dish.

Ecuadorian style rice: Basic recipe for cooking rice Ecuadorian style, you can make either the classic white rice and arroz amarillo or yellow achiote rice. For an additional herby touch you can make the cilantro lime rice variation.

Ecuadorian or Latin style rice recipe

Quinoa with tomatillo and cilantro sauce: A spicy tangy quinoa dish that’s a great healthy side dish for Thanksgiving.

   

Thanksgiving Desserts


Dulce de zapallo or candied squash in spiced panela syrup: Dulce de zapallo is a dessert made with squash or pumpkin simmered in a syrup of panela or hard brown cane sugar and spices.

Ecuadorian dulce de zapallo recipe

Gingerbread pear empanadas: Gingerbread empanada dough filled with caramelized ginger pears that were cooked in a syrup of panela or piloncillo and spices.

Pear empanadas

Apple cake: Delicious and easy to make French apple cake made with only 4 simple ingredients: apples, sugar, flour and eggs.

Pumpkin empanadas : Delicious homemade pumpkin empanadas made with caramelized or candied pumpkin, cooked in panela or piloncillo syrup with cinnamon, clove and all spice.

Pumpkin flan: Easy flan recipe prepared with candied pumpkin cooked in brown sugar and spices, eggs, cream and orange liqueur.

Candied pumpkin tart: Delicious pumpkin tart made with pumpkin candied in a syrup of spices and panela or piloncillo.

  

 

 

Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes

Avocados stuffed with turkey salad: Chicken or turkey salad stuffed avocado made with ripe avocados filled with salad made with shredded turkey or chicken, tomato, onion, cilantro, and lime.

Turkey tortilla soup: Tortilla soup made with turkey, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapeños, tomatoes, spices, stock, lime juice and served with monterrey jack cheese, tortilla chips, and avocado.

Chicken or turkey tortilla soup recipe

Turkey empanadas: Recipe for homemade turkey empanadas filled with turkey, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, cumin, oregano and balsamic vinegar.

Roast pork sliders: Mouthwatering pork sliders made with leftover roast pork, avocado spread, lime pickled red onions and cilantro hot sauce.

  

Similar Posts

7 Comments

  1. I so happy I came across this site! Your turkey stuffing looks exactly like my grandmothers, I am going to give it a try for the first time this year.

  2. Laylita,
    On this thanksgiving I am grateful for you!! Thanks for your wonderful site I can finally cook Ecuadorian food :) and tonight my kids will enjoy an American tradition full of Ecuadorian flavors.
    Thanks!!

  3. What a spead. I don’t do Thanksgiving because my daughter-in-law has taken over this job and quite honestly she has learned so much throught the years that she has made me very proud. Now I just sit, wait, sip and enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

  4. Laylita,

    Just yesterday, I was checking for your turkey recipe and
    today you posted the whole thanksgiving recipe ideas with Latin flavor.
    You are the best! your recipes are my inspiration.
    Thank you so much!
    Vicky

  5. Laylita I love you!!
    I am amazed at your cross-cultural flavor and can’t wait to read more and try more recipes. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *