The best Thanksgiving foods aren’t always made from scratch. A lot of incredible Thanksgiving essentials are available at your local supermarket! The key is just knowing which brands of common Thanksgiving foods are the best. Enter: your friends at Sporked. We tasted all the top canned cranberry sauces, boxed stuffings, instant mashed potatoes, frozen mashed potatoes, premade mashed potatoes (we really love mashed potatoes, which may be the best Thanksgiving food there is), grocery store pumpkin pies, and more to find the best Thanksgiving foods available at the grocery store that will save you time and preserve your sanity—and taste great to boot. Consider this list of Thanksgiving foods your one-stop shop for an easier Thanksgiving.
Go ahead, cut a few corners. Maybe this year you’ll actually get to see some of that gosh darn parade everyone keeps talking about.
Best Instant Mashed Potatoes
Here’s a secret the food magazines don’t want you to know: Instant mashed potatoes are good. And they’re extremely easy to make. We tried many, many brands of instant mashed potatoes to find four that are so good, they rival the homemade stuff.
Best Frozen Mashed Potatoes
Don’t trust powdered potatoes? There’s always frozen mashed potatoes. We found the three best bags of frozen mashed potatoes that are creamy, savory, and irresistible.
Best Premade Mashed Potatoes
Don’t want to do anything but stick a dish in the microwave to achieve mashed potato greatness? We found the best premade mashed potatoes available at the grocery store.
Best Boxed Stuffing
We tried all the best boxed stuffing and these are the ones we can honestly recommend. They’re so good, you might find yourself whipping up a quick side dish of stuffing for a weeknight meal in February.
Best Vegan Turkey Roast
Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t have to be a meal of sides for vegetarians. Why? Because we found vegan turkey roasts that actually taste good. Yes, really.
Best Store Bought Gravy
Turkey needs gravy. It’s a fact. But really good gravy can be a chore to make. (Who has time for a roux when you’re trying to juggle glazing carrots and making your family behave themselves at least until the pie is served?) Packaged gravy to the rescue. We promise, no one will know. It’s that good.
Best Vegetarian Gravy
You don’t have to be a meat-eater to enjoy some gravy. After all, your faux-turkey loaf needs some moisture, too. We found the very best vegetarian gravy packets that you can whip up in an instant.
Best Canned Cranberry Sauce
Canned cranberry sauce is the butt of every hack Thanksgiving joke, but we found the best canned cranberry sauce out there. It’s so good, people will comment on it. They’ll say, “Wow, this cranberry sauce is great.” And you’ll say, “Thank you, Sporked.”
Best Frozen Mac and Cheese
The best frozen mac and cheese is a perfect Thanksgiving side. It’s creamy, indulgent, and easy. If you’ve never included mac and cheese in your Thanksgiving feast, this is the year to try it with these frozen boxes that are ready in minutes.
Best Bread Rolls
Don’t bother baking bread. Your oven is far too packed already. Instead, buy the best dinner rolls available at the grocery store. We even tested these for squish.
Best Store-Bought Biscuits
Thanksgiving is all about indulgence and there’s nothing more indulgent than a buttery biscuit slathered with butter (the best butter). Buy an extra can of these refrigerated, ready-to-bake biscuits for late night turkey sliders.
Best Thanksgiving Cheeses
Thanksgiving should start and end with cheese—it’s an underrated Thanksgiving food. Check out our list of the best Thanksgiving cheeses for your Thanksgiving cheese board.
Best Thanksgiving Soups
Another often forgotten item on the list of Thanksgiving foods? Soup! Spoon up some fall flavors with the best Thanksgiving soups that you can simply heat and serve.
Best Frozen Creamed Spinach
You need to have some green on the table at Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean that green can’t be mixed with cream and cheese. We found the best frozen creamed spinach, whether you like it whole leaf or pureed to a pulp.
Best Canned Corn
Easy Thanksgiving side tutorial: Find the best canned corn (we did that for you). Open can. Pour into a bowl. Microwave. Put on the table. Ta-da!
Best Canned Yams
You could use these canned yams to make a casserole, but you could also just warm them in a pot and serve them in a bowl. They’re that good.
Best Cream of Mushroom Soup
The best green bean casserole is made with the best cream of mushroom soup. We tasted all the top brands and found six to recommend. Yes, the classic Campbell’s made the cut, but there are others worth exploring, too.
Best Premade Pie Crust
Congratulations, you’re making a pie! But don’t bother with from-scratch pie crust. Use one of these premade pie crusts instead. They’ll taste just as good and you won’t ruin your kitchen in the process.
Best Gluten-Free Pie Crust
Baking for a GF crowd? We found the best premade gluten-free pie crusts for an easy and delicious pie that everyone can enjoy.
Best Canned Pumpkin
Does anyone use fresh pumpkin in their pies? We certainly don’t. But we only use the best canned pumpkin. We tasted a bunch of brands straight out of the can in order to find the ones that are silky, sweet, and actually taste like pumpkin.
Best Store Bought Pecan Pie
Don’t feel like making your own pecan pie? We don’t blame you. You can get a really great pecan pie at the grocery store, just go with one of our picks for the best store bought pecan pie.
Best Store Bought Apple Pie
Flaky crust, cinnamon-sprinkled apples—you can have it all with these store bought apple pies.
Best Store Bought Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is one of the top Thanksgiving essentials. But not all store bought pumpkin pies are good. We found the ones you should buy.
Best Pumpkin Ice Cream
Instead of the usual vanilla ice cream, serve your Thanksgiving pies a la mode with a scoop of the best pumpkin ice cream for an autumn-tastic dessert.
Best Canned Whipped Cream
We squirted can after can of whipped cream into our mouths to find the true creme de la creme: the best canned whipped cream. Make sure you finish your meal on a high note with one of these picks.
