12 Cheesy Thanksgiving Recipes
10/26/2026
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Bring a little extra cheese to the Thanksgiving table with these appetizers, sides, and desserts. From a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball to Parmesan herb stuffing and pumpkin cheesecake, these Thanksgiving recipes will help you choose what to bring or add to your menu.
Start With These Three Picks
- A Festive Starter: Our Pumpkin Cheese Ball gets its shape, not its flavor, from pumpkin. Plan for at least four hours of chilling before adding the pecan coating.
- A Side That Skips The Oven: Classic Mac And Cheese comes together on the stovetop, leaving the oven for the rest of dinner.
- A No-Bake Dessert: Easy Pumpkin Mousse pairs pumpkin with cream cheese and whipped cream. Give it at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving.
Find Your Course: Appetizers · Side Dishes · Desserts
Thanksgiving Appetizers
A cold cheese ball, warm baked Brie, or a snack board? Choose the starter that fits the rest of your cooking plans.
Pumpkin Cheese Ball
This little pumpkin is all cheese! Cream cheese, cheddar, parsley, and garlic give it a savory flavor, while a pecan coating adds crunch. There’s no pumpkin in the recipe. Allow at least four hours in the fridge for the shaped cheese ball to set before coating it, then serve with crackers or vegetables.
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Baked Brie In Puff Pastry
Cut through golden, flaky pastry to find warm Brie, fig jam, and walnuts tucked inside. The sweet jam and creamy cheese make this a different option from the savory cheese ball. This one does need the oven, so leave room for it in your baking plans.
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How To Make A Cheese Board
Skip the baking and build a board around Brie, aged Manchego, and Merlot Bellavitano. Fruit, cured meats, crackers, and sweet spreads fill out the assortment. Our guide walks you through choosing the cheeses and arranging everything on the board.
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Cheesy Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Choose mashed or scalloped potatoes, classic or pumpkin mac and cheese, then round out your picks with stuffing or broccoli. You don’t have to make every side to have a cheesy Thanksgiving.
Parmesan Herb Stuffing
Parmesan, fresh herbs, celery, and onion turn day-old French bread into a savory holiday stuffing. It bakes in a dish with a golden top, so this is a side to reserve oven space for. It’s also made with chicken broth and egg, which is worth noting when choosing dishes for your guests.
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Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Cream cheese and butter make these mashed russet potatoes extra creamy, with just salt and pepper to finish them off. They’re the stovetop potato option in this collection. Mash, stir in the additions, and serve freshly made alongside the rest of dinner.
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Classic Mac And Cheese
Sharp cheddar is the star of this creamy mac and cheese, with a splash of hot sauce in the homemade roux-based sauce. Our classic version is made on the stovetop, not baked. Choose it when you want a familiar pasta side without another dish competing for oven space.
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Cheesy Broccoli
Give the green vegetable a little cheese, too. Broccoli florets get a generous drizzle of homemade cheddar sauce flavored with garlic and a little hot sauce. The primary recipe cooks and steams the broccoli in a skillet, making this another stovetop choice for the table.
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Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Thinly sliced potatoes bake in a creamy cheddar sauce until tender, with a golden top. Choose these instead of mashed potatoes when you want a layered, oven-baked side. They need about 90 minutes of baking plus a 10-minute rest, so plan for more than the hands-on prep.
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Pumpkin Mac And Cheese
For a seasonal alternative to classic mac, try noodles with cheddar, Gruyère, and cubes of roasted pie pumpkin. This recipe uses actual pumpkin pieces, not canned puree, with garlic, paprika, nutmeg, and thyme. The pasta finishes on the stovetop, but you’ll need the oven to roast the pumpkin first.
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Thanksgiving Desserts With Cream Cheese
Finish with a slice of cheesecake, a frosted pumpkin bar, or a spoonful of mousse. Each has a cooling or chilling step, so check that part before deciding when to start.
Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake
Cream cheese, pumpkin, and warm spices fill a store-bought graham-cracker crust in this baked cheesecake. The crust keeps that part of prep simple, but the cheesecake still needs time after baking: allow at least one hour of cooling, followed by at least two hours in the refrigerator, until chilled, before slicing.
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Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Soft, spiced pumpkin bars meet a layer of tangy cream-cheese frosting. Choose these when you’d rather slice up a pan of bars than serve a cheesecake. Leave three to four hours for the bars to cool before frosting; the bake time alone isn’t the full wait.
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Easy Pumpkin Mousse
No oven needed for this creamy pumpkin dessert. Cream cheese and pumpkin pie spice flavor the mousse, with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top. It needs at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving, so it’s no-bake, not no-wait.
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What are you bringing to Thanksgiving? Tell us which cheesy recipe made your menu in the comments!
