Make your Thanksgiving potluck unforgettable with these Asian Thanksgiving Recipes- they're perfect for a Friendsgiving dinner party or potluck! If you're tired of Roast Turkey and cranberry sauce, these delicious unique Thanksgiving ideas feature candied sweet potato side dishes, Chinese ham hock and more that your guests will love.
The perfect Asian and Chinese recipes for Thanksgiving Day are ones that can be made ahead, or involve passive cooking (e.g. cooked in the oven.) Thanksgiving/ Friendsgiving meals usually call for cooking lots of dishes, for lots of people, and that can be difficult if you have to stir-fry all that food!
Scroll down for some classic Chinese cuisine dishes, or click here for alternative Thanksgiving meals, including seafood Thanksgiving recipes and options that cater for smaller gatherings of just 1 or 2 people.
🐓 Chicken
Pumpkin Chicken Curry
Note: Curries are often cooked for parties with family friends in South East Asia because they keep well and actually taste better the day after they're cooked!
Hong Kong Poached Chicken
If you are cooking for just 1 or 2 people, a Thanksgiving turkey may be too much meat. (Also, in my opinion, roast turkey breast can be on the dry side!)
Soy Sauce Chicken is 1 of the most popular dishes in Cantonese cuisine and it's not difficult to make a better version than the 1 you can get at Chinese restaurants! The juicy and tender meat make it just right for your Chinese Thanksgiving celebration.
Note: you can add some dried shiitake mushrooms to the stock, but don't go overboard as they have a very strong taste. Extra meat can be used to make leftover chicken congee.
Char Siu Chicken
Five Spice Chicken
Turmeric Chicken
Korean Roast Chicken
Vietnamese Chicken Wings
Chicken wings, in my opinion, are great for both small and large parties! These Asian style wings are amongst my favourites thanks to the tangy, mouthwatering sauce and crisp texture.
Note: For other Asian chicken wing flavours, click here.
Note: a friend whose family owned a restaurant once told me not to eat chicken wings though, as she said that the wing is where the farmers inject the antibiotics and other nasties into the chicken.
Anyone else know more about this?
🐖 Pork
12345 Chinese Pork Ribs
This 12345 pork rib recipe is literally life-changing!
It's delicious and the Easiest Meat Dish I've Ever Made. Moreover, it's a braise, so not much work is involved. Allowing you go get to work on the Asian side dishes below!
Note: if you don't have the Shaoxing rice wine, you can use a dry sherry instead.
Pork Adobo
Char Siu
A tender char siu with charred sides is not just for the spring festival- it's perfect for American Thanksgiving as well!
Note: for something different, why not try Peking duck? Here are some side dishes that would go well with Peking duck.
🍖 Ham
Chinese Style Braised Ham Hock
Ham is 1 of the most popular Thanksgiving dishes.
This star anise and black pepper spiced version would be perfect for your Asian Thanksgiving Feasts!
Note: This recipe requires 5 spice powder, and homemade 5 spice powder is much more aromatic than shopbought. If you have extra, here are some recipes to use up your Chinese 5 spice.
🥗 Side Dishes
Pumpkin Rice
This Chinese pumpkin rice recipe is a terrific Thanksgiving side dish as it's cooked in the rice cooker, leaving your hands and stove free for other dishes!
Oven Roasted Broccoli
Miso Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are 1 of the traditional foods for North Americans at Thanksgiving. For a new take on an old dish, give yours a brush with some miso!
Note: If you like to bake your sweet potatoes plain (or just with salt), you can also jazz them up with this sambal mayonnaise dip or Gochujang Mayo.
Korean Candied Sweet Potatoes
Turmeric Potatoes
Roasted Kabocha Squash
Note: For more Asian-inspired Japanese pumpkin recipes, click here.
Chinese String Beans
Instead of green bean casserole, why not stir fry ground pork and string beans over high heat?
Tandoori Roasted Cauliflower
And since most of the above recipes involve passive cooking, you have the bandwidth to make a salad with all that time on your hands whilst the food is in the oven!
Asian Salad
Cucumber Salad
Rice
Claypot Rice
Appetizers
Baked Butternut Squash
Luncheon Meat Fries
🥧 Desserts
Pumpkin Cake
Instead of pumpkin pie and ice cream, try this traditional Chinese pumpkin snack which is easy to make and delicious! Feel free to substitute with kabocha or sweet potatoes for more variety.
Osmanthus Jelly
Fun fact: Osmanthus jelly is very popular during traditional Chinese holidays such as Chinese New Year.
Black Sesame Soup
Note: you can batch make the Black Sesame Paste in advance and keep it for some time in the fridge. Extras can be used to make a nutritious Roasted Black Sesame Latte!
If you cook any of these Asian and Chinese Friendsgiving recipes for the national holiday, do tag me in the photos- I'd love to see them. Let me know if I've missed out on your favourite Chinese food!
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Kalyn Denny says
Thanks for including my soy-sesame roasted broccoli in this collection of interesting looking recipes!
Zen says
Aww you're very welcome Kalyn, loved having some healthy sides to include 🙂