Dolly Parton's family recipe for Cranberry Mold makes a striking side dish on any Thanksgiving table.
Once people become famous, their dining destinations often get a dynamic upgrade. They’ll think nothing of dropping their Amex Black Cards for Michelin-starred meals at such hot spots as Kato or Le Bernardin. But once they’re home for the holidays, even the biggest celebrities can be known for leaning into their inner Ina Garten, opting for turkeys they roast themselves and humble side dishes from tried-and-true family recipes. From singers and screen sirens present and past, to a talented home chef and world-famous mom-ager, we'll break down some of the most intriguing celebrity dishes, just in time for your Thanksgiving gathering.
Marilyn Monroe’s Stuffing
In the ‘50s, Marilyn Monroe was one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars. She dated the most eligible men and ate in the most expensive restaurants, but when Thanksgiving rolled around, she was the executive chef of her own kitchen. In 2012, a book called Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters published a recipe for Monroe’s Thanksgiving stuffing, handwritten by the actress herself on a sheet of paper with “City Title Insurance Company” on the letterhead. The recipe was unusual, making a whopping 20 cups, and calling for a slew of ingredients that included chicken livers, raisins, hard-boiled eggs, ground beef, and parmesan cheese.
Ten different herbs and spices added a bold infusion of savory flavors, yet in the top left corner, the actress wrote the words “No garlic”—seemingly a nod to her second husband, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, who famously did not care for the pungent seasoning. The couple wed in 1954 and were married for just nine months. After Fragments was released, the recipe was adapted by the New York Times, which gave the stuffing recipe four out of five stars. “Easily one of the greatest stuffing/dressing recipes I’ve ever eaten or made,” gushed one reader named Jody in the comments section. Jody also admitted to swapping out the chicken livers for bacon.
Marilyn Monroe's handwritten recipe for Thanksgiving stuffing. Originally published in "Fragments," and adapted by the New York Times.Photo credit: New York Times
Kris Jenner’s Green Bean Casserole
Around the time Monroe was perfecting her labor-intensive stuffing, a woman named Dorcas Reilly was concocting what would become a quick and easy classic for her employer, The Campbell’s Soup Company. Green Bean Casserole became a staple on Thanksgiving tables once Campbell’s began printing the recipe on labels of their cream of mushroom soup in the ‘60s. According to the manufacturer, their recipe is viewed four million times each Thanksgiving day, with Green Bean Casserole served in more than 20 million households any given year.
Kris Jenner’s rendition is an even easier twist on the iconic recipe, calling for six cans of green beans, six cans of cream of mushroom soup and four cans of fried onions—all organic. The recipe was shared by daughter Kourtney Kardashian Barker on her popular blog, Poosh. In an accompanying video, Barker even demonstrates how to make the casserole with her high school friend Sam Hyatt, who opines that Barker has “mastered” the recipe—or at least the art of layering the three ingredients in a ceramic dish. Most of the comments on the page are about how great Barker’s hair looks, but a couple of people had thoughts about the ingredients:
"Organic fried onion rings? Girl, bye! 😂" said one.
"Your organic canned green beans are overcooked!!! And you did not put any salt and pepper in your green bean casserole!!! You should use fresh green beans instead of canned!!!" cried another.
But when all is said and done, it feels blasphemous to criticize any version of Green Bean Casserole. We know some of the ingredients come in a can. We know that cream of mushroom soup is congealed and gloopy before you bake it. And we know that fried onions are probably not great for your arteries. But it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Ayesha Curry’s Roast Jerk Turkey
For most people, the star of Turkey Day is the bird itself—juicy, bronzed, and roasted to perfection. In a 2018 turkey throwdown conducted by BuzzFeed, Ayesha Curry’s Roast Jerk Turkey emerged victorious over recipes from well-known TV chefs Alton Brown, Guy Fieri, and Martha Stewart. Curry’s winning formula is featured in her 2016 cookbook, The Seasoned Life: Food, Family, Faith and the Joy of Eating Well. “I developed this recipe with my mom as a way to introduce people to Caribbean food in a gentler way,” explains the lifestyle personality, who shares four children with her husband, basketball superstar Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
A People Magazine excerpt of her cookbook shows that Curry’s culinary process includes rubbing the turkey with a compound butter made with fresh herbs and warm spices like cloves, allspice, and black pepper, then adding broth and soy sauce to the roasting pan for added moisture. During the BuzzFeed taste test, one judge called Curry’s turkey “perfection,” while another said, “I’ve been doing mine all wrong. I gotta season it like this. This is nice.”
Pamela Anderson’s Harvest Veggie Pot Pies
For the non-turkey eaters at your Thanksgiving table, it’s always good to offer a plant-based alternative main dish. This one comes courtesy of former Baywatch beauty Pamela Anderson, who lives a surprisingly earthy, bohemian existence on a six-acre family homestead in British Columbia—a lifestyle that’s documented in the Hulu series, Pamela’s Garden of Eden. In 2024, the actress released a vegan cookbook called I LOVE YOU: Recipes From the Heart, and demonstrated how to make her Harvest Veggie Pot Pies on an episode of Good Morning America.
Pamela Anderson shares 80 plant-based recipes in her cookbook, "I LOVE YOU: Recipes From the Heart," inlcuding Harvest Veggie Pot Pie. abcnews.go.com
Dolly’s Cranberry Mold
Poor canned cranberries. They get such a bad rap at Thanksgiving. Leave it to Dolly Parton to give them a glow-up that makes them the prettiest dish at the table, with just enough wiggle to be enticing. In Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals, the legendary singer and her equally blonde and beautiful sister, Rachel Parton George, share their family recipe for Cranberry Mold. It’s refreshing and slightly tart, hitting the nostalgia motherlode with its use of canned cranberry sauce, three packages of Jell-O, and a Bundt pan. The ladies also add crushed pineapple, chopped celery and pecans to give the dish a little unexpected texture and crunch.
“We love that you can make this in advance,” says Parton. “Even though it’s sweet, it’s the kind of sweet that fits the meal itself, before you ever get to dessert.” Sweets from the sweet.
Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George share cherished family recipes in "Good Lookin' Cookiin': A Year of Meals"“Good Lookin’ Cookin’” Copyright © 2024 Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Aubrie Pick. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, adivision of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.”
Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie
Speaking of dessert, in 2015, a fan’s review of legendary R&B singer Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie caused it to become a viral sensation, with more than 20 million views on YouTube. Why mess with a good thing? A decade later, you can find the recipe on The Splendid Table, reprinted from Desserts LaBelle: Soulful Sweets to Sing About.
The pie is timeless, made with two-and-a-half pounds of sweet potatoes (not a typo), mixed with butter, sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Instead of boiling your sweet potatoes, LaBelle suggests throwing them into the microwave for faster cooking. And if that’s too much effort, you can always run to Walmart where they carry ready-made versions of Miss Patti’s famous pies.
Patti LaBelle's time-tested Sweet Potato Pie www.splendidtable.org
Giving thanks
No matter what you serve or how you serve it, Thanksgiving is about celebrating life’s blessings with the people you love—and maybe rewatching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving for a little inspiration.
“I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.” —Charlie Brown
“We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown.” —Marcie
Snoopy prepares Thanksgiving dinner in "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."Photo credit: Peanuts.com