These Creative Fall Fruit and Veg Recipes Make Stellar Thanksgiving Sides (2024)

Fall's best vegetables — think: gorgeous orange-hued squash and beautiful red-purple beets — are brilliantly vibrant and loaded with essential nutrients. To tease out their complex notes, combine them with warm spices and zesty fruit. The endgame: exciting fall dinner recipes that are as healthy as they are intensely flavorful. Serve them as nutritious sides, load them up to be a main course, and downsize for a friendsgiving appetizer — there are no wrong answers here.

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Roasted Kabocha with Wild Rice and Chili-Spiced Pepitas

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These Creative Fall Fruit and Veg Recipes Make Stellar Thanksgiving Sides (1)

While you can't go wrong with butternut or acorn squash in a fall dinner recipe, using kabocha squash as boats for a delicious mixture of wild rice, honey, and spices adds some much-needed excitement to your weeknight meals. The fall vegetable tastes like a combo of sweet potatoes and pumpkin, so you get the best of both worlds in every bite.

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Coconut Creamed Greens and Acorn Squash Casserole

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This fall dinner recipe not only looks 100-percent 'grammable, but it also has warm flavors and indulgent textures that make it a richly satisfying meal. Plus, it packs a bit of heat thanks to the minced jalapeño.

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Warm Spiced Cabbage Bake

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This ain't your grandma's cabbage. The fall vegetable is baked with a heartwarming, spicy sauce, featuring paprika, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, and allspice, so your insides will feel toasty as can be. Serve the fall dinner recipe with a generous dollop of velvety sour cream.

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Turnip Rounds with Cranberry Chutney

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These Creative Fall Fruit and Veg Recipes Make Stellar Thanksgiving Sides (4)

Thanksgiving isn't the only day you can enjoy all that cranberries have to offer. This fall dinner recipe makes them the star of the show in the form of a luxurious chutney. Dollop the bright mixture on top of roasted turnip slices, and you've got an eye-catching side.

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Whipped Red Beet Dip with Yellow Beets and Orange Garnish

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When you're seriously sick of hummus, turn to this vibrant dip featuring fabulous fall vegetables. The pureed red beets are combined with sliced yellow beets for a creamy, colorful fall dinner recipe that serves a stand-out earthy flavor.

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Turmeric-Ginger Spiced Cauliflower with Cranberry and Green Chile Vinaigrette

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When you're looking for a veg-heavy appetizer that'll actually hold you over until dinner, turn to this plant-based fall dinner recipe. The fiber-rich cauliflower is tossed in a warming blend of turmeric and sweet paprika, roasted to perfection, and served over a helping of protein-packed red lentil hummus.

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Lemon-Caper Greens Over Mustardy Butter Bean Mash

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Turns out, the Brits may have been on to something. In this delicious riff off the classic beans on toast, butter beans are mixed with tangy Dijon mustard, smashed until velvety, and smeared across thick slices of toast. To amp up the nutritional profile of this recipe, you'll add sautéed Swiss chard — a leafy green with a mild, spinach-like flavor. Make as a perfect passed app for friendsgiving, or plan to eat several as a tasty fall dinner recipe.

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Tamarind-Glazed Butternut Squash with Cucumber, Mint, Red Onion, and Chile

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Pan-Roasted Carrot and Crispy Parmesan Rice Salad with Parsley, Pistachio, and Lemon

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This may not be the most aesthetically pleasing bowl, but it's sure to satisfy your growling stomach and use up all the carrots sitting in the back of your fridge. The fall vegetables sit on a bed of cheesy rice and are topped with pistachios, parsley, and lemon zest. For a punch of protein — and to make this more of a main dish — incorporate a helping of roasted chickpeas or chicken into the fall dinner recipe.

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Chicories In Spicy Lemon-Aleppo Pepper Oil with Chickpeas and Pecorino

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These Creative Fall Fruit and Veg Recipes Make Stellar Thanksgiving Sides (10)

When you can't get yourself to eat one more bite of kale, turn to this fall dinner recipe, which features chicory lettuces such as Treviso, red and green endive, frisée, and Castelfranco. The salad gets a satisfying crunch from the roasted chickpeas and almonds, while the pecorino cheese adds a slightly grassy, earthy flavor.

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Fall Curry Chicken

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The ultimate comfort food dish, this curry chicken recipe features fall vegetables like butternut squash and fresh Granny Smith apples. Topped with roasted pumpkin seeds, this hearty meal screams autumn.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

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Butternut squash soup may be a seasonal classic, but it shouldn't be overlooked. This version gets a touch of sweetness from maple syrup and a kick of heat from chili powder — the perfect duo for a warming fall dinner recipe.

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Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Cauliflower

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In need of some protein? Turn to this fall dinner recipe featuring hearty pork tenderloin, which is brushed with maple syrup, mustard, and rosemary and paired with cauliflower.

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Roasted Root Vegetables

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Let's be real, you can't go wrong with a mish mash of random fall vegetables. This roasted combo contains parsnips, turnips, and colorful potatoes so you can eat the rainbow. Plus, the thyme, coriander, cumin, and paprika ensure the fall dinner recipe is anything but bland. (

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Red Wine Poached Pears

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When you're feeling fancy, skip the package of Oreos and instead whip up this delicious fall dessert. All you need is a pear, red wine, some spices, and cheese, and you've got yourself a gourmet treat. Trust, they're *much* easier to make than they look.