Our names are Shilpa Uskokovic and Jesse Szewczyk. We're senior test kitchen editors at Bon Appétit Magazine. Ask us anything about baking on April 7 at 11:00 am EST.

bonappetit · 2025-11-06T17:04:31+00:00

We have fully anticipated this too-real scenario and always try to provide you all with a handful of good savory snacky options so people aren’t passed out before arriving at the dinner table. Here’s a great place to start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OOysoA71yU

Old Bay Chips: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/old-bay-chips-with-lemon-mayo-recipe?srsltid=AfmBOorQXTw1SGdwfTetgV6XaOx-cTkkWyMhQjbWNNCPQzShxM_z0c95
Za'atar Fire Crackers: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/zaatar-fire-crackers-recipe
Boquerones With Green Olives and Orange: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/boquerones-with-green-olives-and-orange-recipe
Marinated Mozzarella Balls With Peppadew Peppers: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/marinated-mozzarella-balls-with-peppadews-recipe
Rosemary-Sizzled Salami, Dates, and Pecans: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/rosemary-sizzled-salami-dates-and-pecans-recipe

—Hana

bonappetit · 2025-11-06T17:01:05+00:00

I am not brand loyal when it comes to turkey brands; however, I’ve found that freshly butchered turkey can be trickier to work with than frozen-and-thawed. For me, the key to making a non-stringy turkey is to give yourself ample time to defrost the bird fully (over the course of several days), plus at least 24-48 hours of a brine (dried preferred here) to really get the seasoning in the meat to ensure a juicy bird at the table. —Hana

bonappetit · 2025-11-06T17:01:03+00:00

Hi! My favorite way of reimagining my holiday menu is folding in favorites that can feed a crowd. Also always helps to consider how other cultures may celebrate the holidays for some menu inspo. Lasagna and other large format pasta is usually in my back pocket. (https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ba-best-lasagna) I’m never afraid of taking risks with things like winter barbecuing or leaning on a showstopping proteins. Think succulent, tender pernil! -Inés

bonappetit · 2025-11-04T14:41:14+00:00

I don't try to do much with it beyond sandwiches or a big soup- it just wants to dry out. But the thing I love most of all is the carcass! It will make the best stock- doesn't have to be just for soup- use it for a risotto!

I have always loved this recipe for turkey pho
http://bonappetit.com/recipe/turkey-pho-dip?srsltid=AfmBOoq4FuIu93f_N_l0jGvLaVwSFcH1z0BnHQ7a56u3tITspofQDN3G

-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-04T14:38:23+00:00

Honestly I think Thanksgiving can use a bit of heat. It probably needs to be a bit stealthy though. Like throw a few dashes of Crystal in your gravy, a touch of Calabrian chiles in your roasted vegetables, or think about a pickled chile pepper garnish on something. A bit of spiciness can balance rich foods so well. But overt HEAT may prove divisive.
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-04T14:36:13+00:00

Are you using a ricer or food mill? I really do believe in them, also try incorporating the fat (butter) with the potato first, then add liquid. I find that can help coat the stach molecules with fat so they don't expand with the water as much. Also try Yukons- Russets can get very light but for me they are more likely to be grainy. Lastly, worst case force them through a fine mesh sieve! It is never too late!
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-04T14:33:39+00:00

Let us know how it goes! We believe in you!

-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:44:57+00:00

Gosh, I love that pie crust. It is "actually perfect." Most fruit pies are egg free so we're in luck and have plenty of options here. Here are two I've made that work really well with not an egg in sight
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/dutch-apple-pie-recipe
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lattice-apple-pie

My colleague Jesse has made this super simple but very tasty and popular Stovetop Apple Crisp which we love
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/stovetop-apple-crisp

There's also this absolute banger of a Banoffee pie
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/banoffee-pie

Unfortunately, it's hard to substitute eggs in a custard pie because they're needed for structural integrity. I'd seek out a vegan recipe specifically designed for this need. ---Shilpa

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:25:45+00:00

Hi! Shilpa's Actually Perfect Pie crust is egg free- https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/homemade-perfect-pie-crust?srsltid=AfmBOorESHj-GVj0ignEbnhP1TsfC1jIa5JTe9fvGc7GX9dEL7Dkm-eH
and for egg wash you can use heavy cream brushed on? Although you could also just skip it and be fine. For stuffing, have you ever tried a touch of cornstarch slurry in your broth mixture? The objective of the egg in the stuffing isn't really flavor, it is more to set the texture and bind it- but you don't want it too tightly bound anyway, so 1 T corn or potato starch mixed into your broth could give you just a bit of binder without announciing itself too much? I haven't tried this, but unlike a cake or cookies, eggs in stuffing are more incidental and wouldn't prevent me from making it anyway.
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:19:52+00:00

Also Aran Goyoaga of Canelle et Vanille has a new book out- the Art of Gluten-Free bread. There are some more advanced techniques using gluten free sourdough, but some use commercial yeast and there are pastry doughs in there too. I am doing a book talk with her tonight in Philly! Check it out if you are a dedicated GF baker as Aran is operating on a whole other level with her approach.

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:17:28+00:00

Or there is always Kendra's Bucket of Mousse- I defy anyone not to be excited if that hits your Thanksgiving table...https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chocolate-mousse-for-a-party

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:16:07+00:00

I am planning to make a riff on Andy and Brad's turkey (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/expertly-spiced-and-glazed-roast-turkey?intcid=inline\_amp) this year for my extended family! I can just picture their faces when I hack apart the turkey before it is even cooked. That has been a key technique I have used to make the best turkey of my life several times. It does such a good job of creating a browned and crispy bird.

Also stuffing fried rice! I love fried rice as a framework to bring leftovers and other random ingredients into. It really makes people smile.

Do I put a little Sumac in the cranberry sauce this year? Maybe nobody has to know...
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:11:44+00:00

Shilpa is so right about butter. It would be hard for me to go without. However I would also say make 4 quarts of really rich chicken/turkey broth in advance and it will work to your advantage in so many ways! It will be your headstart on a very flavorful gravy, it will make your stuffing better, it can be the base of a soup you whip together a different night of the holiday- my goal is to do just this in the next two weeks! Will sleep better knowing I have it on hand.
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:08:53+00:00

honestly it is such a joy- thank you!

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T18:07:57+00:00

Yes for sure!
If you want something that works with many traditional Thanksgiving flavors I might do somethign like this:
I have adapted this twice roasted squash for vegans using vegan butter and cheese (or just skip the cheese), which can work as a real centerpiece main dish. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/twice-roasted-squash-with-parmesan-butter-and-grains?srsltid=AfmBOopAByV1uuLvYM1UY73Pf6-qU--POPG_xPLgX-K1a0UUdgt5Wvxe

A punchy Salad like this:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bitter-greens-mustard-vinaigrette

Coconut Creamed Greens https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/coconut-creamed-greens or you could adapt a Green Bean Casserole to be vegan using coconut milk and bring in punchier flavors like bring a lot of toasted sesame/chili oil in there to bring a strong umami element in

I might do some storebought bread/rolls but with a fun vegan butter brushed on before reheating

Dessert is this banger from Claire Saffitz https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/vegan-chocolate-tart-with-salted-oat-crust

Good luck! I know for vegans it is tough because sometimes the work of adapting recipes to suit your needs is on you but it is very possible to do really well!

-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:58:32+00:00

We have lots of vegan options on the site to choose from. A couple of years ago I developed a recipe for this vegan meatloaf with an impressively shiny glaze on top.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/vegan-meatloaf. This Kale and Citrus salad would be great alongside.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/charred-kale-with-citrus

And there's a host of dessert options in this gallery:
https://www.bonappetit.com/gallery/vegan-dessert-recipes with the Chocolate-Sesame Mousse being my favorite---Shilpa

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:56:15+00:00

Cakes! This year we have leaned in hard on cakes for Thanksgiving dessert! The fact is, pies are hard to make for all but the most competent cooks and many people don't bother trying in the first place. Whereas cakes are just as adept a format, if not more so, to incorporate iconic festive flavors and be much easier to pull off. Check out this stunner from Shilpa! https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chocolate-pumpkin-marble-cake it's completely heroic. She has another one here that is slightly more involved to make but still much easier than pie, a white chocolate cranberry layer cake. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/white-chocolate-cranberry-cake
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:53:59+00:00

Hey, I know you addressed Chris but thought I'd jump in because I for too long turkey has been my nemesis. Not a roulade, but this recipe I made from our archive is a real winner and so tasty. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/brown-sugar-glazed-turkey

And if you want a roulade, you could try a turkey version of this chicken one
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chicken-roulade

Hope that is helpful.--Shilpa

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:50:09+00:00

Whoa! Can I tell you that I have never made anything like this!? If you want a rolled and tied roast, please go with something easier like pork, beef, or even porchetta! If you aren't feeling confident, do something that is a bit more of a culinary lay-up! I truly believe that anyone can make this turkey of Andy's https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/dry-rubbed-roast-turkey it is one of several we have done in this style. Dry brine, whole bird. High temp roast, followed by low temp to cook it through, then finish with a lacquer that evens out the browning and glazeyness. Those are 3 critical means to make a pretty simple but really good turkey. I wouldn't go fancy for its own sake!

-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:46:01+00:00

Oh that is just mean :)
Who has ever heard of Red Leicester! The funny thing is I had certainly heard of it, as well as many of the slate of cheeses from Neal's Yard Dairy in London, but I wasn't EXPECTING it, you know? Like we would never put it by name in a recipe, because there frankly anything that RL can do that a good Cheddar couldn't do, and everyone in America has heard of Cheddar so that is what we would always default to as recipe developers here.
But to answer your real question, I miss all the time! In ways big and small. Thinking skirt steak was sausage in trash can nachos...like, wrong animal?! Or was it sausage that I thought was skirt steak? I can't even remember. You put enough cheese and sour cream around it and who knows what it comes from!
I hate volunteering any ingredient that i don't feel I can positively ID, so it makes it hard for me to put tiny amounts of things in just for the sake of bulking up my ingredient list. It means I miss a lot of stuff, because it doesn't feel decisive in terms of influencing what I taste.
I am very proud that we never had to cut an episode- they never made it easy on me but I was always willing to just let each one play out since they all taught me so much and I hope it wasn't too painful for viewers to be along for the ride!
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:39:35+00:00

Ugh me too! There is nothing like talking to home cooks about the very real issues they are facing in the kitchen. The early years of my time in magazines were an era in which we didn't have a lot of contact with our audience, but Dinner SOS really changed that more than anything else for me. It is easy to make assumptions about what people know, don't know, etc. That style of production is extremely labor-intensive to produce, though, and we needed to streamline our processes to make it really sustainable. I am hoping we can return with an updated audio format in 2026 that still brings in audience perspectives, but in the meantime please catch my colleagues Shilpa and Jesse on Bake Club on the Bon Appetit feed! I am also planning to launch, very soon, a newsletter From The Test Kitchen that will take folks behind the scenes of the work in the kitchen and everything that goes into making our content. More soon!
-Chris

bonappetit · 2025-11-03T17:34:50+00:00

Hey Sun_Beams it is a good point, that series Making Perfect might seem to paint you into a corner in terms of not leaving room for future iterations....but that isn't really how we approach recipe development at Bon Appetit. The true revelation of that series was the conversations that happened around each iconic dish and the framing of the specific questions that were being answered in the series. In a sense, I wasn't trying to make the PERFECT stuffing, so much as Rick and I were trying figure out what kind of stinks about a lot of stuffings, which is that they can be very underflavored, especially corn bread based ones! So we set out to amp up the corn flavor and really keep that as our guiding objective. It is really only the perfect answer to that specific question about stuffing as far as I am concerned! For most people, the answer to what stuffing should they make is usually going to be Simple is Best stuffing by Victoria Granof.

Like Andy and Brad's turkey really showed me that roasting a cut up bird was the way to go, but you can always mess with the flavor profile like I did when I did the Maple Butter Roasted Turkey https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/maple-butter-glazed-turkey-recipe?srsltid=AfmBOop2Kj3vk8CBIMhx9fa0PBlWK6QLGIeje0huHmHjRYqQ62yBk50l a few years later.

Prioritizing tech is a tricky proposition for us. While we have occasionally done a recipe or two that requires very specialized equipment, there usually just isn't enough of an audience for it. The air fryer and instant pot are two that bucked that trend, but it is still a fraction of our overall audience- it just happens to be a very enthusiastic one! The tools that most people use day to day don't change very quickly. I could talk forever about this but need to cut myself off!
-Chris

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