Fieri's recipe had some ingredients that made his roasted fingerling potatoes stand out.

For one, it contained nearly as many mushrooms as it did potatoes. But I love mushrooms, so this wasn't a problem for me.

The recipe also said to include thyme and rosemary, but I subbed thyme for oregano because I really dislike thyme.

Fieri's recipe instructions were simple.

I tossed all of the ingredients together except the butter, spread the potato and mushroom mixture on a sheet pan, and then placed little cubes of butter all over.

Although I expected the little fingerling potatoes to cook fairly quickly, I was skeptical they'd be done in 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I was right.

After 20 minutes in the oven, my potatoes couldn't be pierced by a fork at all. They needed closer to 40 minutes at this lower temperature.

These potatoes tasted good, but they needed to be paired with a mushroom in every bite for the full flavor effect. The mushrooms seemed to absorb most of the herbs.

Fieri's potatoes weren't crispy — like I usually prefer — thanks to the added moisture from the mushrooms and butter. But these were a tasty alternative to my usual side dish.

Garten's garlic-roasted potatoes sounded delicious to me.

Aside from garlic and potatoes, other ingredients included salt, pepper, olive oil, and some fresh parsley.

Garten called for small red or white potatoes. I like both, but I used white for this recipe.

Because I have a mincing tool for garlic, it took very little time to prep this recipe.

I just needed to mix all the ingredients (minus the parsley) in a single bowl and lay the potatoes in a flat layer on a sheet pan.

Once my oven preheated to 400 degrees, I baked the potatoes for about 45 minutes. I turned them a couple of times while cooking, which helped make sure they got crispy all around.

When they were done, I quickly tossed them with a bit of fresh parsley.

After 45 minutes, the potatoes were nice and crispy, just how I like them.

I loved the texture, and the parsley added some freshness. But I would have loved even more herbs, like rosemary, for a more vibrant flavor.

Ray is known for her 30-minute recipes, and this hearty side dish is no exception.

The prep time only took me about five minutes, and there were only five ingredients.

Ray said to mix the ingredients right on the sheet pan rather than dirtying an extra dish, which made the prep even easier.

Then I popped the potatoes in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Ray's potatoes turned out to be a good balance of crispy, salty, and herby.

I could taste the rosemary in every bite. I also liked that the exteriors were slightly crisped, but the insides were really soft.

These didn't get quite as crispy as Garten's, but I still enjoyed them — especially since they only took 20 minutes.

It was really difficult to choose a favorite because I loved each recipe for different reasons.

Garten's potatoes were extra crispy, which I loved. And the mushrooms and herbs in Fieri's potatoes made them very flavorful.

If I had to choose a favorite, I'd go with Ray's roasted baby potatoes with rosemary. They were flavorful, and I liked that they were a little crispy but still really soft inside. Plus, they were super quick and easy.

This story was originally published on December 23, 2023, and most recently updated on December 20, 2024.

The recipe lists potatoes, an egg, flour, salt, and pepper. I was surprised to find that the recipe called for frying the latkes in clarified butter instead of oil. Eating foods fried in oil is part of Hanukkah tradition, so I was a bit skeptical about this change.

I managed to cut myself almost immediately. Grate with caution.

The resulting batter had the consistency of oatmeal.

The recipe includes instructions for how to make clarified butter. You can also just buy ghee at a grocery store and skip this step.

It reminded me of skimming the fat off the top of chicken soup. It was easy, but took extra time waiting for the solids to settle.

Garten's recipe instructs using a tablespoon of the potato mixture for each latke.

I also loved that frying the latkes in butter didn't make my entire apartment and person smell like oil. It's a strong scent that tends to linger. These just smelled mildly like melted butter, which was amazing.

Because there weren't any other added ingredients to the batter, the potato flavor shone through and the buttery crust was delicious.

It didn't have the oily taste of a traditional latke, but I actually preferred the milder taste of butter.

Stewart's recipe involved twice the amount of potatoes and eggs that were in Garten's, as well as additions like grated onion and beer.

Stewart's recipe says to reserve this potato juice, let the milky starch sink to the bottom, and pour off the liquid — similar to the clarified butter I made for Garten's recipe.

Grated onions are standard in latke recipes — beer, not as much. I was curious to see how it would affect the flavor and texture.

The larger latkes took much longer to fry than Garten's, and they were a little more unruly to flip. I'm still trying to get a resulting oil splash out of my favorite jeans.

I could already tell that these latkes were going to be the more traditional of the two.

I couldn't taste the beer, but the grated onion and the crispy, oily goodness created a sharper flavor that screamed Hanukkah to me.

Even though they're not fried in oil — which is kind of the point of eating them on this holiday — I enjoyed Garten's latkes more because they were easier and faster to make, and they had a mild, buttery flavor that I loved. But Stewart's recipe is perfect for traditionalists.

I know Fieri loves spice, so I wasn't surprised to see smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cayenne pepper on his ingredient list, alongside granulated garlic and onion powder.

His recipe also called for ground pork, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.

To my surprise, it didn't require any sort of liquid, like milk or eggs, which raised suspicions that these meatballs would be rather dry.

I measured out the various spices and seasonings and added them to a mixing bowl with the ground pork, combining everything with a fork.

But I quickly realized the easiest way to ensure all the spices were distributed evenly throughout the meat would be to mix it by hand.

I recommend popping on some thin gloves as the paprika and cayenne pepper can stain bare skin.

I began pinching small amounts of the meat mixture and weighing them into 2-ounce portions. Then, I rolled them into balls and arranged them on a tray lined with baking paper.

While I did this, I turned on the oven to let it preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once all the meatballs were prepared, I popped them straight into the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Fieri's recipe recommended 10 to 15 minutes, so I decided on a middle ground.

The meatballs filled my kitchen with the pleasant aroma of spices.

Because there was so little fat in the recipe, there also wasn't a lot of grease. But that meant these meatballs were quite hard and dry.

I enjoyed the flavors of the spices, but I think they definitely need a sauce.

Drummond's recipe had just a few more ingredients than Fieri's, but it involved fewer spices.

The addition of oats to bind the mixture, milk for moisture, and minced onions for flavor made it feel more like a classic meatball recipe.

Drummond calls for ground beef, but my local butcher had ground chuck, which has a higher fat content than ground beef. I was aware that my meatballs might turn out slightly greasier than the chef's, but I didn't mind.

Her recipe also included flour and oil for dredging and frying later on, as well as more onions, ketchup, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and sugar for a sauce.

Drummond specifically called for "very finely minced onions," which I struggled to cut. I did my best to chop the onions up small.

Aside from measuring out all the other ingredients, mincing the onion was the only prep required. I put everything in a mixing bowl with the ground beef before realizing I was meant to mix the beef and oats before adding everything else.

I figured it would be fine as everything gets mixed together anyway, so I continued with the recipe.

After mixing all the ingredients, I noticed how much looser the mixture felt compared to Fieri's. But it didn't seem too wet to roll into tablespoon-sized balls.

Once they were rolled out and arranged on a baking sheet, I covered them and let them firm up in the fridge.

I heated some oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet and dredged three or four meatballs in the flour while waiting for it to heat up.

Once the oil was hot, I added the flour-coated meatballs and let them sizzle, turning them over until they were light brown all over.

While my oven preheated to 350 F, I removed the browned meatballs from the heat and arranged them on a rectangular baking dish.

Once all the meatballs were browned and in the baking dish, I turned to Drummond's sauce recipe.

I minced more onions and mixed them in a bowl with ketchup, white vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and a couple of dashes of hot sauce.

I poured the sauce mixture all over the top of the meatballs, ensuring they were covered, and placed them in the oven for 40 minutes. The chef recommended 45, but mine were done quicker.

When I first opened the oven to remove the meatballs, I was hit by the acidic smell of the white vinegar, which was slightly unappealing.

But this quickly dissipated, and the resulting dish was very tasty. I was impressed by how moist and tender the meatballs were, and I enjoyed the extra flavor that came from browning them first.

The tangy sauce was also a good complement to the meatballs.

Garten's recipe had the longest ingredient list, including three types of meat: ground pork, ground sirloin, and ground veal.

She also called for fresh Italian pecorino cheese, fresh Italian Parmesan, bread crumbs, minced garlic, fresh parsley, and pepper.

The wet ingredients in the recipe included water, two extra-large eggs (lightly beaten), and ¾ cups of dry red wine (I went with Rosso).

Garten's recipe required the most prep. I grated both cheeses, minced the garlic and parsley, and measured out the bread crumbs.

Then, I added all three ground meats into a large bowl and mixed them together before adding the dry ingredients.

Once everything was thoroughly mixed, I poured in the red wine, eggs, and ¾ cup of water.

After combining all the ingredients, I began rolling the mixture into 2-ounce portions.

I arranged the balls on baking sheets and brushed each with olive oil, as Garten instructed.

Once my oven was preheated to 400 degrees, I popped the meatballs in and baked them for 30 minutes. The recipe said between 25 to 30 minutes, but I chose the top end to ensure the different meats were cooked all the way through.

When I pulled the meatballs out, I noticed most of them were surrounded by pools of grease.

They also smelled very strongly of cheese, which I would normally enjoy. However, in this instance, it was slightly off-putting for some reason.

The meatballs were well-seasoned, thanks to all the salt in the cheeses, but I was surprised to find that they were kind of dry.

I was sure all the liquid from the eggs, wine, and water would make them moist. Maybe the liquid escaped from the meat with the grease during the cooking process.

Still, in a tomato sauce with spaghetti or polenta, I think these meatballs would be quite delicious.

Drummond's recipe was the most classic and produced really delicious meatballs with good textures and flavors.

I kept a few to try with a different sauce, and they worked just as well, so they're also quite versatile.

Garten's was a more adventurous recipe. But it included a lot of expensive ingredients and didn't yield results that have me dying to make it again.

Fieri's meatballs were very tasty, but they needed a sauce to help the texture. Given the short ingredient list, though, they were probably the easiest to make.

This story was originally published on December 16, 2023, and most recently updated on December 13, 2024.

Click to check out the other celebrity-chef recipes we've put head-to-head so far.

Turkey curry and chili are two great options for day-after-Thanksgiving recipes because of how easy they are to prepare.

"Curries, chilis ... those are your basics," Ray told Business Insider.

Ray's recipe for turkey corn chili takes only 25 minutes to prepare and uses simple ingredients like cooked turkey meat, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock or broth, and frozen corn. 

Who doesn't love the smell of a pot of ragù simmering on the stove during the colder months?

Ray's recipe for turkey porcini ragù uses dried, sliced porcini mushrooms, a pound of leftover Thanksgiving turkey, turkey or chicken stock, red wine, onion, garlic, crushed tomatoes, and more. 

For this recipe, Ray recommends rolling leftover stuffing into a ball and dropping it into broth like a matzo ball.

Add "leftover vegetables, any sort of meat, turkey, chicken, or ham, and you have the equivalent of a matzo-ball soup," Ray said.

One of the simplest ways to reuse leftover Thanksgiving turkey is to make a sandwich, wrap, or even a burrito, which Ray said is one of her favorite methods. 

You can add other Thanksgiving fixings like turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and gravy to your tortilla, or you can go a more standard route with fillings like shredded cheese, turkey, lettuce, and tomato. 

One of the most unique ways to use leftover stuffing is to make her recipe for savory stuffing waffles.

"You can put your leftover stuffing in your waffle iron, and then just put the turkey or the pheasant on top of the crispy stuffing once you take it out of the waffle iron," Ray said.

"[Top it] with a little bit of fruity maple syrup, like cranberry sauce and maple syrup, or some sort of warm honey drizzled over the top."

During a visit to the "Fixer Upper" stars' famous restaurant in Waco, Texas, in February 2022, I ordered the classic Farm Breakfast, which consisted of two eggs, tater tots, bacon, a side of fruit, and a biscuit served with strawberry butter.

I liked the meal, but the biscuit blew me away. The crumbly pastry instantly melted in my mouth when I took a bite, having the soft texture I look for in a biscuit. The strawberry butter took it to the next level by adding moisture and a subtle sweetness to each bite.

It was one of the best biscuits I've ever had, which is saying a lot, as I grew up in the South. As I left the restaurant, I regretted only eating one.

The recipe for "Jojo's Biscuits" is available on the Magnolia website, and since I don't know when I'll be able to go to Waco to get my pastry fix again, it seemed only fitting to try to make them myself.

I'd heard the recipe, which makes about 20 biscuits, was difficult to make, which made me apprehensive because I'm an inexperienced baker. 

For me, baking usually consists of adding ingredients to a box mix, so making biscuits from scratch was intimidating. But I was up for the challenge since there was a chance of tasting something even vaguely similar to Magnolia Table's breakfast treats.

You probably have most of what you need to make "Jojo's Biscuits" in your kitchen cabinet:

• Self-rising flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Salted butter
• Eggs
• Buttermilk

The recipe says to whisk the self-rising flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl.

The entire recipe ends up in this bowl, so I recommend using the biggest one you have available. 

It's also a good idea to have a full bag of flour on hand, as you'll need more of it toward the end of the recipe.

The three sticks of cold butter used in the biscuit recipe need to be cut into 1/2-inch pieces or grated before they can be added to the dry ingredients. I'm not that comfortable with a grater, so I decided to just slice the butter.

I used a baking scraper to measure out my butter sticks, as the one I have has ruler marks on it.

As I sliced up the butter, I laughed to myself thinking it was no wonder I liked "Jojo's Biscuits." Who wouldn't like a biscuit with three sticks of butter in it?

Before making the biscuits, I had never used a pastry blender, so I ordered one on Amazon for the occasion. 

Joanna's recipe instructs that the butter must be cut into pea-sized chunks, so I made sure to press into each chunk of butter, combining it with the flour mixture.

Because it's sticky, chunks of butter got stuck in the pastry cutter every few times I pressed it into my bowl full of ingredients.

I used a knife and my fingers to push the butter back into the bowl, continuing to combine it with the flour.

I got nearly everything down to pea size, but I struggled to find every slice of butter at this step because much of it had slipped toward the bottom of the bowl. I wish I had used a spoon to make sure I was splitting all of the butter in the bowl evenly.

The next step of the recipe is to stir two beaten eggs into the mixture using a wooden spoon.

I mixed my eggs together before I started combining my dry ingredients, so it was easy to grab them and mix them in. 

After that, it was time to add buttermilk, again using a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together until it created "a sticky mass." The recipe notes that you should add an additional teaspoon of buttermilk one at a time if the mixture doesn't have the right consistency. I ended up having to add one additional teaspoon to my dough before it seemed right. 

Stirring everything together was definitely the most challenging part of the recipe because the dough was firm, thanks to all the butter. My arm started to get sore, and I had to take a few breaks as I stirred.

I also thought I was done once or twice, and then realized there was loose flour at the bottom of the bowl that hadn't been incorporated into the mass. I think if I had a bigger spoon, I might have had an easier time mixing it all together.

I was excited to see my dough coming together, as it had the consistency and shape I was hoping for. 

After it's prepared, the dough must chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. I let mine sit for about 45 minutes, pre-heating my oven to 400 degrees a few minutes before I took it out of the fridge.

Once the dough chilled, it was time to press it out with my hands and cut out biscuits.

According to the recipe, the dough is supposed to be pressed into a round about 14 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. I measured my dough to ensure it was the proper length across, but I wasn't as consistent with making sure the slab was the same height all the way across.

Before I removed my dough, I thoroughly floured my workstation and my hands, as the recipe instructed. 

Because the dough had become sticky as I stirred it together, I could tell this step would be important. I was glad I applied a lot of flour to my work surface, as I didn't have any issues with my dough sticking as I cut out my biscuits. 

Joanna's recipe calls for a floured, 2 3/4-inch round cutter to cut out the biscuits from the dough.

Because I'm not an avid baker, I don't have cookie cutters or rounds around the house — but I do have wine glasses. I measured one of my glasses, and it happened to be the exact size Joanna recommended. I knew my love of rosé would come in handy someday. 

I made sure to thoroughly flour the rim of the glass before I pushed it through the dough, and it worked like a charm. I was left with beautiful, round biscuits. 

I put my biscuits on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper, nestling them together as Joanna's recipe instructs. I typically make cookies when I bake, so I was surprised the biscuits were supposed to touch. 

To make the egg wash, I combined one egg with buttermilk and brushed the mixture on top of the biscuits. 

Once every biscuit had been lightly coated, it was time to pop them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. 

As I put them in the oven, I was worried I had done something wrong because the recipe had been so easy to make. Sure, it was time-consuming to stir everything together, but it wasn't challenging otherwise.

I pulled my biscuits out when the crust had turned a golden brown, and I was immediately met by a scent I can only call buttery.

It was warm and inviting, and based on both the aroma and the look of the biscuits, I was optimistic I had actually pulled the recipe off. 

I let the biscuits cool for about five minutes before I took a bite.

My mouth watered as I bit into the flaky treat.

The biscuits had a soft interior surrounded by a crumbly crust, just like the delectable pastry I had tasted at Magnolia Table. They were sweet, but I could tell they would taste just as good with jam as they would with bacon, as is ideal for a breakfast carb.

As I soaked up the flavor of the pastry, I knew that if I had strawberry butter within reach, I would have felt like I was back at a counter seat in Waco. 

Although all of the biscuits were delicious, some of them were thicker than others because I had not been as diligent as I should have been when pressing out my dough round. 

It didn't matter this time around since I was only making the biscuits for myself, but if I make the recipe for a group, I wouldn't want anyone to get a smaller biscuit than someone else. 

I definitely recommend taking your time shaping the dough and cutting your rounds if you try this recipe.

And because they're best when you take your time with the biscuits, they took me a few hours to complete, especially because the dough needed time to chill in the fridge.

That wasn't a problem here, but I could see that being annoying if I wanted to make this recipe for breakfast and woke up hungry.

Next time I wanted to have them for breakfast, I would probably let the dough chill overnight, as it would make serving the biscuits for breakfast or brunch nearly stress-free.

You might immediately associate Jojo's biscuits with breakfast, but I think they'd be the perfect substitute for the rolls or cornbread that people often serve at a holiday dinner. 

In fact, Joanna often serves her biscuits with her sausage gravy. You could swap her recipe for the gravy you typically serve with turkey on Thanksgiving for a savory and sweet pairing. 

Plus, you can save any leftover dough for a second batch of biscuits for a delicious brunch later in the week. It's a win-win. 

These three-ingredient sugar cookies by BellyFull take 15 minutes to whip up and use things that you probably already have in your kitchen: unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and all-purpose flour.

However, if you want to make your sugar cookies even more special, you can also use a few extra ingredients like vanilla, a quick and easy icing like this one from Betty Crocker, and festive red, green, or blue sprinkles.

This recipe by SweetPhi uses baking soda, sugar, light corn syrup, dry roasted peanuts, and flaky sea salt to create a rich holiday treat. You won't even need a candy thermometer to make this dessert — just a saucepan, measuring spoons, and parchment paper.

To make sweet-and-spicy chocolate bark, you'll need hazelnuts, two bars of dark chocolate, dried cranberries, sea salt, and cayenne pepper.

One of the best parts about making chocolate bark is that not only can you customize the toppings, but you also don't even need to bake it. Melt the chocolate, add your toppings, and stick it in the fridge until it is hardened and ready to break apart.

If you enjoy peppermint mochas, you'll love this four-ingredient dessert. To make white-chocolate peppermint bark, you'll need candy canes or hard peppermint candies, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and peppermint extract.

It's perfect for making with kids and keeps up to three weeks in the refrigerator, meaning you can enjoy it all holiday season long. 

The Stay at Home Chef's recipe for five-ingredient peanut-butter cookies is gluten-free and includes creamy peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, one egg, and vanilla extract. 

Whether you're a peanut-butter fanatic or simply an inexperienced baker, this easy recipe by Kitchen Fun calls for four ingredients that you might already have in your pantry: creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Make the peanut-butter dough, dip the balls into the melted chocolate, and refrigerate them until the chocolate has hardened. If you want to go the extra mile, you can also top the balls with festive-colored sprinkles or nuts for added flavor and texture.

Gimme Some Oven's recipe for five-ingredient whiskey dark chocolate truffles uses dark chocolate, heavy cream, butter, sea salt, and your choice of whiskey.

Be warned: These sweet treats aren't intended for kids. Since the truffles aren't baked, none of the alcohol gets a chance to "burn off."

To make Gimme Some Oven's lemon bars, you'll need all-purpose flour, butter, powdered sugar, eggs, and lemons. Or, if you're looking to make life even easier, you can buy store-bought lemon curd.

Dip your strawberries into melted semisweet chocolate, set the strawberries down onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and wait until the chocolate has set.

To make your chocolate-covered strawberries even more show-stopping, you can also melt some white chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the strawberries before setting them aside to harden.

Taste of Home's recipe for five-ingredient chocolate fudge relies on pantry staples: butter, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract.

It only takes 10 minutes to prepare, meaning you can have a sweet treat ready to serve faster than you can say "mistletoe."

Each recipe called for trimmed, fresh green beans that had been blanched in boiling water for a few minutes and cooled in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

The boiling times varied between two and five minutes. But since I like my green beans extra smooshy in the casserole, I blanched all the beans for five minutes before moving them to an ice bath.

Brown's green-bean casserole most closely resembled the dish I've been making my entire adult life.

The ingredients included breaded onions, green beans, and a mushroom sauce. Everything was pretty simple and straightforward.

Brown's recipe involved creating a sauce that seemed a lot like cream-of-mushroom soup to me. It included chopped mushrooms, butter, chicken broth, and half-and-half.

The sauce was simple to make and tasted amazing. I immediately knew it would be similar to the canned version I typically use, but fresher and more flavorful.

For the crunchy garnish, Brown called for yellow onions, halved and sliced thin.

I coated the slices in flour, panko, and salt and baked them until they were nice and crispy.

After all the components were ready, I started assembling the casserole by combining the green beans, mushroom sauce, and ¼ of the onions.

I topped everything with the rest of the crispy onions and baked it for 15 minutes at 475 degrees Fahrenheit.

It was obvious from looks alone that Brown's casserole was the most traditional of the three. It looked like the green-bean casseroles I've made for years, and it had the same flavor profile.

But Brown's version was better than mine. It was an elevated, fresher, more flavorful version of what I've been serving for years.

I just might start making it for future Thanksgiving dinners.

There were lots of familiar ingredients in Guarnaschelli's casserole recipe, like mushrooms, green beans, and onion.

But the chef called for a red onion, and the sauce for the casserole contained tangy Dijon mustard.

Like Brown, Guarnaschelli had specific instructions for preparing the onion in her recipe. It was to be sliced into super-thin rounds before coating and frying.

I was more than a little nervous to fry the rings of red onion in several cups of canola oil, but the process was easier than I anticipated.

After tossing the onions in flour, I fried them in batches, allowing them to drain on paper towels before salting them.

Of all three casserole toppings, these were the crispiest, tastiest, and most flavorful.

Other than the addition of Dijon, Guarnaschelli's sauce was familiar and straightforward to make.

Once I had everything ready, I garnished the top with the crispy onions and baked everything for about 10 minutes at 350 F.

I may save traditional green-bean casseroles, like Brown's, for Thanksgiving dinner. But I'd make Guarnaschelli's version as a side dish for any elevated meal at home.

The tanginess of the Dijon mustard combined with the salty crispiness of the fried red onion would make this a perfect side for everything from grilled steaks to barbecued meats.

Drummond's casserole abandoned traditional inclusions like crispy onion and mushrooms, and instead called for bacon, diced red bell pepper, and a creamy cheddar-cheese sauce.

I was immediately intrigued by how it would turn out.

I followed the recipe to a T, but I couldn't help but wonder how it would compare to my traditional and beloved green-bean casserole.

Most of the steps involved mixing the ingredients for the cheesy sauce in a pan on the stove before adding in the cooked bacon and blanched green beans.

Instead of crispy onions, I topped the casserole with breadcrumbs before baking it for 30 minutes at 350 F.

The bacon-y, cheesy dish was surprisingly delicious, although it tasted nothing like any green-bean casserole I've had before.

Next time, I'd add a few pats of butter to the breadcrumb topping to get it a bit more golden brown.

I particularly liked the flavors brought into the dish by the sharp cheddar cheese and red bell pepper — I could see this being a fun side dish to serve at a summer barbecue.

My husband preferred this one and said if you're trying to take a standout dish to a Thanksgiving potluck, this would turn heads.

Right out of the oven, Guarnaschelli's crispy, salty, oniony dish was my absolute favorite. The creamy mustard sauce gave it an elevated and decadent vibe, and the onions were packed with flavor.

But I think the best part of any holiday meal is the leftovers. The following day, Brown's green-bean casserole emerged as the best of the three.

As the traditional creamy, mushroom-laden sauce sat with the green beans, the flavors got even better. For Thanksgiving, I think Brown's recipe is the winner here.

Drummond's recipe was delicious, but it just didn't seem like a green-bean casserole to me. If I make it again, it'll likely be at other times of the year.

This story was originally published in November 2023 and most recently updated on November 26, 2024.

Unfortunately, your Crock-Pot or slow cooker probably won't hold an entire turkey, but it can work if you separate the breast from the legs. 

"If you have a 6-quart slow cooker or larger, you still probably won't be able to fit a whole turkey in there, but you can fit a 3-4 pound turkey breast," Kendra Bailey Morris, author of "The Southern Slow Cooker," told Business Insider.

"The beauty of the slow cooker is that it is inherently self-basting. Slow cookers create a very moist environment with the condensation from the cooking process often rising to the top of the slow cooker and then dripping back down onto the meat, which helps to keep things moist."

Her one very important tip? Make sure to inject some fat back into your turkey breast, since the meat is very lean. She suggests using herb butter. 

The secret to an easy Thanksgiving prep is preparing some dishes a day or two ahead of time.

"Mashed potatoes are great in the slow cooker, though it does take a bit of time for the potatoes to soften, so plan ahead," Sarah Olson, the blogger behind "The Magical Slow Cooker," told Business Insider.

Sheana Davis, chef and founder of The Epicurean Connection, added, "Mashed potatoes can be made the night before. Place them in the Crock-Pot, turn them on low in the morning, and keep them warm until serving. It frees up your stovetop. You can also thin the mixture with milk or cream if they get too thick from the heat."

Stuffing can be made in the Crock-Pot and doesn't require much recipe-tweaking.

"I would say use just about any stuffing recipe you like, just make sure it contains eggs and a liquid, like stock," Sarah DiGregorio, recipe developer and author of "Adventures in Slow Cooking: 120 Slow-Cooker Recipes for People Who Love Food," said. "Prepare it as you normally would, but instead of baking it or stuffing it into the turkey cavity, spoon it into your slow cooker. Cover and cook for about four hours on low. The top won't brown, but the sides and bottom will get nice and crisp and golden, while the center will stay pudding-like and moist."

Sarah Olson said you can use either store-bought boxed stuffing in the slow cooker or homemade stuffing, depending on your preference.

"Apple cranberry relish makes your house smell so good," Sheana Davis said. "Equal parts apples, cranberries, and apple and cranberry juice. Add sugar to taste, a bit of orange zest, and cinnamon. The house will smell wonderful and the relish is delicious."

Olson's recipe for slow-cooked cranberry sauce requires only a few ingredients: fresh cranberries, marmalade, and brown sugar to taste.

"Sweet potatoes cook really well in the slow cooker," Morris said. "Every time I adapt a recipe for the slow cooker that was originally designed for the oven, I season it more generously. The slow cooker has a tendency to dilute flavors due to condensation building up during the cooking process."

Sweet-potato casserole topped with marshmallows is a Thanksgiving favorite, and there are multiple recipes out there explaining how to make it in a slow cooker.

One recipe by Damn Delicious explains that the residual heat from the slow cooker is the perfect method for achieving gooey, melted marshmallows on top of your casserole ... without taking up any oven space.

Olson's recipe for slow cooker mac and cheese uses cream cheese, milk, sharp cheddar, and white sharp cheddar to make the noodles creamy and flavorful.

To make, toss the carrots into the slow cooker with a little salt, brown sugar, and butter and let sit for four to five hours, until tender.

When we think of slow-cooker vegetables, we probably picture a puree like mashed sweet potato. But Morris says that green beans can (and should) be cooked in a slow cooker.

"I was raised in the South and grew up eating green beans that were cooked with some kind of seasoning meat (such as fatback, ham hocks, or bacon grease)," Morris said. "I make green beans almost the exact same way as I do on the stovetop in the slow cooker and it's great because cooking the beans in the slow cooker frees up more space on my stove."

"My family cannot go without the green-bean casserole. It's pretty much the best side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas," Olson said. 

Olson's recipe is perfect for a group of guests.

Making a couple of appetizers in Crock-Pots is a great way to save time, from a slow-cooker Buffalo chicken dip that's ready to reheat and serve whenever you get peckish on Thanksgiving day to easy slow-cooker meatballs guests can snack on.

A necessity on any Thanksgiving table, warm, fluffy dinner rolls in a slow cooker. One recipe from I Heart Eating teaches you how to make the perfect dinner roll dough, then bake them only using a slow cooker.

"The Crock-Pot is great for beverages like mulled wine, spiked cider, or hot chocolate," New York City-based chef Jenny Dorsey told Business Insider. "This is ideal for smaller slow cookers so you can have hot beverages all night and less alcohol will burn off as you're not bringing it to a boil."

Your Crock-Pot is great for desserts too. While a pie might be difficult to make in a slow cooker, you can easily whip up a decadent cheesecake, like this pumpkin cheesecake recipe from Food Network.

"Slow-cooker cheesecake has always been a thing," Dorsey said. "They're really fun to jazz up with pumpkin puree for Thanksgiving. You are essentially using your slow cooker as a bain-marie [cooking equipment that's like a heated bath] by placing the cheesecake molds into the slow cooker and surrounding it with water. The slow cooker will keep the water at an even temp, so your cake cooks uniformly."

When it comes to better Thanksgiving leftovers, it's best to think ahead of time so you aren't stuck eating turkey sandwiches for a week.

"Before we put out the Thanksgiving meal, I place all the turkey drippings, some of the carved turkey trimming, potatoes, carrots, any side vegetables, a quart of chicken stock, and seasonings into the Crock-Pot on low and we have the best Turkey stew for lunch the next day," Sheana Davis said.

Dorsey also said she uses her leftover turkey the next day for slow-cooker shredded turkey tacos or even a simple turkey broth in the Crock-Pot "for a rainy day."

I've followed a few Garten pie recipes before, and I remember liking her easy-to-make crust. That memory held true.

I needed to make four crusts: a bottom and top for the apple pie and one crust each for the pumpkin and pecan pies. It only took me about 10 to 15 minutes.

Garten uses a food processor for her "perfect pie crust," which makes it easy to prep. I divided the dough into two batches, and I could already tell from the look and feel that the crusts would be buttery and delicious.

With all of the dough resting in the fridge, I was ready to start tackling the individual pies.

Garten's maple pecan pie has just 10 ingredients, excluding the crust.

I was excited to taste the combination of maple syrup and bourbon with the pecans. And I liked that she included some fresh orange zest to cut through the richer ingredients, like corn syrup and honey.

To make the pie, all I had to do was whisk the filling ingredients — minus the pecans — together.

Then I simply added the nuts and gave it a final stir before pouring the filling into the prepared pie crust.

To ensure I got an evenly cooked crust, I turned the pie halfway through the bake.

The process was easy, and I loved the enticing smells coming from the oven while it was baking.

The flavors of the pecan pie reminded me of an old-fashioned cocktail, thanks to the bourbon and orange.

But the pecans ended up a little chewier than I would've liked. If I make this pie again, I'd probably toast the nuts first for a better texture.

Despite letting the pecan pie fully cool before slicing into it, the pieces fell apart on me.

Next time, I think I'd let it chill in the fridge before serving so the filling can firm up more.

I moved on to making Garten's pumpkin pie.

I was intrigued by some of the ingredients in the filling, like orange zest and rum, but I was very excited to make the accompanying rum whipped cream.

It sounded like a delicious and indulgent addition to the homemade pie, with ingredients like cream, crème fraîche, and rum.

I rolled out my crust and filled a pie tin.

Unlike the other two recipes, this one required me to blind-bake the crust before adding the filling. I found some dried lentils and rice to use as pie weights to ensure it didn't puff up too much.

The first bake helped prep the crust for the liquidy filling, but it also meant it got a little darker by the end than I'd hoped.

The pumpkin filling was easy to make just by whisking all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

But I had way more than I needed for the pie crust, so I put it aside to find another use for it. My partner had a fun idea to make pumpkin-pie custards in ramekins.

Despite the slightly overdone crust, the pumpkin pie turned out great in terms of both taste and texture.

The filling was sweet but not too sweet, and the little hint of orange helped balance the richness of the custard filling.

The crust was buttery but still strong enough to support the weight of the pumpkin filling. Each slice came out of the tin without crumbling.

The rum whipped cream was a unique companion to the pumpkin pie, and I liked it much better than regular whipped cream.

I saved the most intimidating pie for last.

I've made apple pies many times before, but I was still worried about whether the top crust would turn out right and if the filling would soften enough by the time the crust was done baking.

Garten's recipe called for Granny Smith apples, which tend to be more sour and tart than sweet. The filling also called for both lemon and orange juices and zest, plus plenty of spices.

I was worried the pie may not be sweet enough.

The crust was so easy to roll out and transfer to the tin thanks to the butter and vegetable shortening in the dough. It made easy work of assembling the pie.

The filling was also easy to make — at least once I finished peeling and chopping what felt like 100 apples.

I let the pie bake for about an hour.

Afterward, the top crust was a deep, golden color, and it looked and smelled incredible.

Garten's apple pie was pretty good, but the crust was by far the best part.

The extra sugar sprinkling on top gave it a sweet flavor and crunchy texture. It was so good I could eat it on its own.

The filling had just a little bit too much citrus for me.

I was glad the apples softened well without becoming mushy, but I think I'd precook them a little bit more next time. That would hopefully help concentrate the apple flavor and keep the filling from shrinking so far away from the top crust.

I also might sub some of the sour apples for a sweeter variety, because the combination of the green apples and citrus made for a pretty tart pie.

Garten's pies all turned out pretty good, and they were easy enough to make in one day without breaking a sweat.

I like that she adds fresh flavors to each one of these pies. The rum whipped cream that went with the pumpkin pie was also delicious, and I think it would taste great with the maple pecan pie, too.

But my favorite part of all three recipes, by far, was the pie crust.

It was super quick and easy to make, and it worked well with all the different fillings. I'll be using this crust for all my pies moving forward.

This story was originally published on November 19, 2023, and most recently updated on November 25, 2024.

Gelatin became a popular foundation for many meals during the 1930s after the Great Depression because it was an inexpensive source of protein. According to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, close to a third of all cookbook recipes from this time period were gelatin-based.

In 2015, YouTuber and vintage recipe enthusiast ThisMidlifeMillennial tried a vintage Thanksgiving leftover Jell-O recipe from a 1975 cookbook called "Carefree Cooking with Aluminum Foil." The recipe called for turkey, frozen vegetables, cream of celery soup, and ranch dressing mixed with gelatin.

"I probably would not eat this again, but it's not the worst thing I've ever had," she said.

Jell-O salads were popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

A Jell-O dish with radishes, scallions, and a few tablespoons of vinegar wouldn't have been out of the ordinary at a festive meal. Some people continue to serve them up on Thanksgiving just because.

"Modern American palates have changed to dislike savory gelatin, but that was not always the case," food historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson previously told Business Insider. "Probably until the 1960s, savory gelatinous dishes were a thing."

Gelatin was also popular in sweeter desserts. One example is the "spring basket dessert," which was advertised in The Ladies Home Journal in 1948.

The molded-gelatin dessert usually contained fruit juice and chunks of fruit. The gelatinous dish is no longer the dessert of choice at most holiday gatherings.

Ambrosia recipes began appearing in publications towards the end of the 19th century, Serious Eats reported. It remains a holiday classic in some Southern homes, but is rarely seen elsewhere.

Ambrosia usually includes some kind of canned fruit with mini marshmallows, with variations that include Cool Whip, cottage cheese, and Jell-O.

A 1948 ad in the Ladies Home Journal advertised creamed corn in a can as "something to try — smooth, creamy, with plenty of tender-skinned kernels to round out the good eating."

However, in the past few decades, canned products have gone out of style in favor of fresh food. With that, creamed corn from a can has become less popular at the table, too. 

In a 1968 advertisement, Dr Pepper recommended serving "steaming hot" soda over lemon slices. It definitely is "something different" to offer Thanksgiving guests.

Per Serious Eats, the drink was concocted by Dr Pepper in the 1960s "to keep profits strong during the holiday season, when sales of cold pop plummet." It was apparently pretty huge in the South but has since faded in popularity. 

In 2013, Hellmann's mayonnaise released a compilation of vintage advertisements and recipes to celebrate its 100th year.

One of the delicacies in the collection was the "Cranberry Surprise," a holiday side dish that "blends the tartness of cranberries with the delicate creaminess of Hellman's Real Mayonnaise" with an extra dollop of mayonnaise on top to provide "the final distinctive flavor garnish."

This story was originally published on November 1, 2018, and most recently updated on November 20, 2024.