Build your Thanksgiving dinner with these 30+ Mexican Thanksgiving foods—easy side dishes, juicy meat mains, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and make-ahead tips.
Planning a Thanksgiving dinner with bold, vibrant flavor? This collection of 30 Mexican-inspired Thanksgiving foods covers make-ahead side dishes, juicy meat mains, fresh salads, breads, and desserts for special occasions, upgraded cranberry sauce, and smart leftover ideas. You’ll find simple swaps, diet tags, and pro tips to help every cook—from the time-crunched to the confident hostess—pull off a beautiful holiday table.
By the way, I know feeding a crowd means navigating different allergies and dietary preferences. I’ve indicated which recipes meet different diets. GF = gluten-free; DF = dairy-free; V = vegan; “option” indicates a simple swap.
30 Mexican Thanksgiving Foods
Make-Ahead Mexican Side Dishes
1. Pearl Onion and Pepita Stuffing (V, GF option)
A delicious, flavor-packed (not to mention easy) vegan stuffing recipe. Assemble 1–2 days ahead; bake day-of. Perfect for the holiday table.
2. Pumpkin Stuffed with Chorizo Rice and Goat Cheese (GF)
The pumpkin can be stuffed (except for the cream, save that until right before roasting) and refrigerated up to a day in advance. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature while the oven is heating.
3. Blistered Sweet Potatoes with Serranos and Lime (V, GF)
A candied sweet potato dish that defies all cliches; slow-roasted sweet potatoes drizzled with a spicy lime syrup and blistered in a hot oven until brown and caramelized.
4. Roasted Carrots with Chipotle Honey Butter (GF)
Sweet roasted carrots tossed in a chipotle and honey butter and sprinkled with fresh mint leaves. Gluten-free! You can use as many or as few chipotles as you’d like, two are pretty spicy, if you’re sensitive to heat use less.
5. Poblano and Chorizo Stuffing
You don’t have to spend another holiday meal eating boring stuffing. Made with charred poblanos, chorizo, and crunchy bread this chorizo stuffing is maxed out on flavor but still hints at Thanksgiving with crunchy bits of celery and sage.
Crowd-Pleasing Appetizers
6. Avocado Bruschetta with Bacon & Jalapeños (DF)
This bruschetta is dairy-free but still tastes indulgent with bits of crispy bacon, rich hunks of ripe avocado, and spicy thin slices of jalapeño—basically all you’ve ever wanted from an avocado toast but in a handheld miniature size.
7. Mango Habanero Cocktail Meatballs (DF)
Mango Habanero Cocktail Meatballs make the easiest party appetizer, just spruce up store-bought meatballs with a 4-ingredient sweet and spicy mango habanero sauce.
8. Baked Mexican Street Corn Pumpkin Dip
A warm Mexican street corn dip ready to be scooped up with crackers, radish wedges, or even tortilla chips. The roasted pumpkin not only serves as a festive container to bake the dip in, but also when you dig in your cracker you get a bit of that sweet, slow roasted pumpkin too.
9. Hatch Green Chili Queso Dip
This effortless green chili queso recipe is my favorite easy appetizer this holiday season. Simple and quick, but most importantly, everyone LOVES it. Monterey Jack cheese, roasted Hatch chili peppers, and a touch of garlic. All melted together in one glorious silky dip. All you need is some crunchy tortilla chips!
10. Mexican-Inspired Relish Tray
If you’re searching for an appetizer that’s easy, colorful, and totally irresistible, this relish tray recipe is the answer. Inspired by the classic veggie tray and the vibrant flavors of Mexican cuisine, this appetizer is a staple for every special occasion
11. Guacamole Deviled Eggs (DF, GF)
These are light and creamy without using any mayonnaise at all. The avocado acts as the fat here which means less guilt for me when I accidentally devour half a dozen.
Juicy Meat Mains
12. Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey With Morita Chile Gravy (DF)
This is the way to do Thanksgiving. Create the most beautiful centerpiece for your Mexican Thanksgiving foods menu! If using a frozen turkey, give yourself plenty of time for it to thaw. A completely frozen 12-pound turkey could take 4-5 days to thaw in the refrigerator.
13. Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Cilantro Sauce (GF, DF)
A great alternative to turkey. This pork roast is pretty inexpensive (as roasts go) and all you have to do is rub it with some spices, pop it in the oven, and have the strength to walk away. In about 6 hours you will have the most luxurious, tender meat with a crunchy top and melt-in-your-mouth middle.
14. Bacon-Wrapped Cotija Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (GF)
This grilled cotija stuffed pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and brushed with mustard is the most surefire way to impress your guests. This is a great option if you are feeding a smaller crowd and don’t want to serve turkey, plus it cooks on the grill which frees up the oven.
15. Yucatan Turkey Recipe (GF, DF)
This Mexican-inspired Yucatán Turkey recipe is rubbed with the classic savory annatto seed paste and citrus, which gives it amazing color and flavor, and then slow roasted to a beautiful red-orange bronze.
16. Pescado a la Veracruzana
Pescado a la Veracruzana is a special fish dish from the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Simple to prepare and perfectly seasoned, this classic meal always impresses a crowd. Make this recipe and serve with cilantro-lime rice for a special Thanksgiving dinner when you want an alternative to turkey.
Bright, Fresh Salads
17. Kale Salad with Roasted Peanuts and Queso Fresco
This salad has tender baby kale leaves, crunchy roasted peanuts, creamy queso fresco, and a tangy dressing made up of shallots, lime zest, fresh mint, and apple cider vinegar. So, so, so good!
18. Warm Cauliflower Salad with Cumin Dressing
This warm cauliflower salad gets drizzled with a cumin vinaigrette right after it’s been blanched. Just slightly cooked and steamy it is perfect for Thanksgiving. Serve immediately warm or it is fine to sit out at room temperature for an hour before serving.
Biscuits
19. Fluffy Apple Chili Biscuits (V)
Fluffy, dairy-free biscuits speckled with chili and fresh grated apple. They go great with turkey for Thanksgiving or with gravy for breakfast.
Desserts for Special Occasions
20. Pumpkin Layer Cake with Dulce de Leche
The layers of this cake are the essence of fall; pumpkin, warm spices, and a good dose of dark rum. Stacked tall in three layers they make a beautiful, enormous sandwich filled with milky dulce de leche caramel, and a brown butter-cream cheese frosting that is whoa, over-the-top good.
21. Gluten-Free Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce (GF)
Crispy on the outside, but soft inside, totally gluten free churros drenched in cinnamon sugar and served with a melty, bittersweet chocolate dipping sauce.
22. Apple Rum Hand Pies (DF, V-option)
One of our favorite dessert recipes, these apple hand pies are similar to an apple empanada with rum-spiked apples and cinnamon wrapped in pastry.
23. Candied Pumpkin Tart (DF, V-option)
The filling for this free-form tart is calabaza en tacha or candied pumpkin which is amazing on its own, but wrapped in flaky pastry is over the top good.
24. Pumpkin Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars
These cheesecake bars are rich with pumpkin, creamy and smooth and loaded with big, fat dollops of caramel dulce de leche with a Gamesa María cookie base.
25. Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake
This fall-inspired Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake is packed with cinnamon spice and tons of pumpkin flavor. Bring this seasonal dessert to your next holiday get-together and watch it disappear.
26. Pumpkin Pie with Pepita-Gingersnap Crust (DF)
Creamy (but dairy-free) pumpkin pie sweetened with Mexican piloncillo in a toasted pumpkin seed and gingersnap crust.
27. No-Bake Pumpkin Chipotle Cheesecake
Sweet, creamy, with a hint of heat, this No-Bake Pumpkin Chipotle Cheesecake is not only easy to pull off (read: no oven necessary) but tastes heavenly with a gingersnap cookie crust and a rich, silky filling. Make ahead and freeze for up to a week. Perfect for Thanksgiving!
Sauces & Cranberry Sauce
28. Cranberry Pineapple Sauce (V, GF)
This cranberry sauce is given the Mexican treatment with sweet pineapple and spicy jalapeños. It can be served hot, room temperature, or cold. Make the sauce up to a week in advance and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
29. Cilantro Chimichurri (GF, V)
Beautiful green chimichurri sauce with lots of fresh cilantro, Italian parsley, and oregano. Ready for spooning over turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings.
30. Pipián Rojo Sauce (V, GF)
A perfect sauce with turkey or tamales, this nutty pipián rojo sauce is similar to a mole sauce but fewer ingredients and less complicated (yay!). The featured ingredient is pepitas or pumpkin seeds. They give the sauce a creamy consistency with absolutely no cream at all!
Leftover Turkey, Mexican-Style
Leftover Turkey Tinga Sopes (DF, GF)
Leftover turkey gets simmered in a spicy tinga sauce which has onions, tomatillos, tomatoes, chipotle chiles, and a splash of orange juice then piled on warm sopes. Yum!
Turkey Tortilla Soup (DF, GF)
This makes delicious use of any turkey you might have leftover from Thanksgiving. If you made the Mexican Lime Poached and Roasted Turkey, use the poaching liquid in place of the stock in this soup.
Simple swaps cheat sheet
- Cotija → feta
- Mexican crema → sour cream + lime
- Piloncillo → dark brown sugar + 1 tsp molasses per cup
- Ancho → mild guajillo; chipotle → smoked paprika + pinch cayenne
FAQ: Planning Your Thanksgiving Meal
If you want to include 1-2 Mexican dishes into a more traditional “American” Thanksgiving menu, try one Mexican-inspired side dish, like my poblano and chorizo stuffing or the chipotle-roasted carrots and one of the sauces from the list above to have in addition to traditional gravy.
Almost every recipe on this list can be made in advance. The only recipes I suggest serving immediately are the roasted carrots, the meat mains, and the churros. Everything else can be made ahead and reheated at 325°F for 15-25 minutes.
Mole gravy: whisk warm stock into prepared mole until pourable; salt to taste.
Choose one centerpiece main, three make-ahead sides, one fresh salad, and one dessert. Buy store-bought appetizers or ask for guests to contribute to make things easier on yourself.
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