5 Easy Dinners for a Hectic Holiday Week

Turns out we have to eat dinner… every day?!

By
Micah Siva, RD
Micah Siva
Micah Siva, RD
Micah Siva is a trained chef, registered dietitian, recipe writer, and food photographer, specializing in modern Jewish cuisine. She runs Nosh with Micah, her personal blog.
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Updated November 25, 2025
Micah Siva
A pot pie with a serving removed plated nearby

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

It is the week of Thanksgiving, and as the host this year, my brain is mushier than a pumpkin pie. We’re not only hosting a crowd for Thanksgiving, but we are also hosting my parents for the entire week, so we’re operating with a full house, packed schedules, and the stress of the holidays. Send help!

All jokes aside, I love getting people together around the dinner table and blending family customs. Growing up in Canada, Thanksgiving falls in October, and after marrying an American, I’m fortunate to celebrate it twice, but with different variations.

After my husband and I's first Thanksgiving together, I started to incorporate dishes in my Thanksgiving menus that weren’t there before. We added cornbread muffins as well as apple pie to go with our usual homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with pecan topping, a big kale salad, a sourdough chestnut stuffing and turkey. My favorite part of the meal? Going around the table and sharing something you are grateful for. There's a lot!

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  • Pumpkin Black Bean Tostadas

    Two tostadas topped with refried beans black beans diced tomatoes onions and herbs on a plate with a lime wedge nearby

    Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

    Raise your hand if you bought an entire case of canned pumpkin this year! Just me? We are officially into pumpkin season and it’s giving… tired. I used a few cans for pumpkin pie and muffins, but now as I stare at the seemingly endless supply, I see many pumpkin dinners in our future. With a holiday week, I need a quick dinner. With a lightly seasoned pumpkin base, canned beans, and a store-bought pico de gallo, we have dinner on the table relatively quickly. I like to add fried eggs to mine for added protein, and I top them with some fresh cilantro and cheese. I’ll give my son all the components separately so he can build his own, too!

  • Pumpkin Tomato Soup

    Pumpkin tomato soup garnished with herbs

    Simply Recipes / Shilpa Iyer

    As I prep for the big meal, I want something light and seasonal for dinner. After a day of taste testing dishes, my appetite is smaller than usual, which calls for a smooth and creamy soup (and one more opportunity to use up that pumpkin). My family loves a classic tomato soup, so why not give them a little twist on their favorite? I’ll serve this with grilled cheese for my husband and son, as well as a side salad. In lieu of heavy cream, I’ll use coconut milk to make this dairy-free.

  • Four Ingredient Chicken Pot Pie

    A plate containing chicken pot pie with a serving utensil nearby

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

    After all the fanfare for Thanksgiving, I’m exhausted and up to my elbows in leftover turkey. So now my weeknight dinner involves ways to use it all up… but make it easy! With my dad in town, I want to make one of his favorite dishes, pot pie, with a weeknight twist. Instead of rotisserie chicken, I’m using up leftover turkey with my alfredo sauce, mixed vegetables, and puff pastry I had in the freezer from Thanksgiving appetizers. This is a rich meal, so I’m serving it with a big green salad to balance it out. This might be my new favorite way to use up leftovers!

  • Maroulosalata - Greek Salad Dressing

    Maroulosalata (greek salad) in a bowl (close-up)

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    After a week of big meals, lots of wine, and desserts galore, I need something a little lighter for dinner. We are still full from Thanksgiving, so dinner is looking like a salad with a few leftovers. To complement the rich mashed potatoes, corn bread, and green bean casserole leftovers, I’m whipping up a zippy, herby and crispy green salad. I also have a bag of leftover crudite I cut for our Thanksgiving appetizer, so I’ll chop those up and add them to the salad to make it a little more colorful and filling. With any luck, we’ll be out of leftover territory by the weekend.

    Continue to 5 of 5 below

  • Open Faced Turkey and Gravy Sandwich

    A hot turkey sandwich with slices of turkey on bread topped with gravy on a plate
    Elise Bauer

    The best part of Thanksgiving is the leftover turkey sandwiches that. When I think of a turkey sandwich, I immediately think of the sitcom, Friends. In the Thanksgiving episode, Ross makes the ‘Moist Maker,” the ultimate turkey sandwich, and it has become a tradition in our family. A carefully layered sandwich of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce in a double decker sandwich for the ultimate end to Thanksgiving week. I’m stuffed and full of things to be grateful for.

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