Free Thanksgiving Menu Templates

Thanksgiving Menu: What Is It?

A Thanksgiving Menu is a customized list of dishes and drinks available to the party guests at a private event or offered at a restaurant or cafe. There are different reasons to create a menu for Thanksgiving - you may write and design a festive menu for a restaurant that serves traditional holiday dishes for a couple of weeks, inform the attendees of the celebration you are organizing about the food and drinks you will offer them, or ask the guests to share their Thanksgiving Menu ideas with you so that you plan a party everyone enjoys.

For a full list of Thanksgiving Menu Templates please check out our library below.

What Is the Menu for Thanksgiving Dinner?

A traditional Thanksgiving Menu will list the dishes based on recipes recognizable by every individual that has ever attended a Thanksgiving dinner - roasted turkey, baked or glazed ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, cranberry sauce, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. There are also numerous beverages and cocktails popular during the holiday season - mulled wine, punch, eggnog, martini, and mimosa. Kids and adults that do not drink alcohol will certainly enjoy drinks made out of apples, pears, and cranberries.

Nevertheless, you are not obliged to comply with the tradition - whether you want to add a twist to the menu your family and friends usually plan or prepare a brand new menu launching new customs for your inner circle, opt for a casual Thanksgiving Menu. For example, there may be vegetarians and vegans present at your celebration - consult with them while you are drafting the menu to find out if meatless dishes like bean casserole, roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash, or corn pudding are the right choice for your party. If you are asking the guests for their input or planning a potluck, you can break with Thanksgiving tradition entirely and eat food unconventional for this holiday but very much typical for you and your loved ones whether it is national cuisine you are familiar with or dishes based on a collection of recipes your family cherishes for years.

How to Make a Thanksgiving Menu?

Here is how you may create a perfect Thanksgiving Menu:

Separate the menu into several categories - appetizers, main courses, side dishes, desserts, and beverages. Naturally, there will be more options at a large restaurant than at a party you are hosting in your own residence but there should be at least two or three items listed in every category to give the guests an opportunity to choose what to eat and drink.
Make sure you notify the individuals that will read the menu about the contents of every meal and beverage. It is essential they know about the ingredients used for the dishes you serve in case they have allergies or intolerance to certain food and avoid unpleasant surprises - just like it is crucial to warn the guests about the drinks that contain alcohol.
Include information about discounts and special offers available if you are making a menu for a cafe or restaurant - for instance, a person ordering a dish from the Thanksgiving menu will receive a discount or a symbolic gift from your establishment. You should put these details below the description of the dishes and tell your guests to find out more when they talk to waiters.
Once you are done with the contents of the menu, it is time to think about the design. When it comes to the decoration of the Thanksgiving Menu template, think about frames and borders depicting symbols of the holiday like pumpkins or turkeys, use yellow and orange for the text and background - colors traditional for the end of the fall and Thanksgiving in particular, and consider calligraphic fonts for the headline and different sections of the menu.
In case you are adding Thanksgiving Menu to the main one your cafe presents to the guests, make it smaller - it can look like a brochure or one-sided flyer. Alternatively, flyers can be distributed elsewhere to promote the dishes you are serving and increase the attendance of your establishment.

Still looking for a particular template? Take a look at the related templates below: