Get Inspired for Thanksgiving With These 10 Cooking Podcasts

Credit: Radiotopia

There are food podcasts that are funny, food podcasts that are chatty—and then there are the food podcasts that offer the techniques you need to really improve your skills. These podcasts will make you a better cook, particularly if you find yourself hosting Thanksgiving this year, or even just bringing something to your in-laws. Their hosts tell you exactly what to do—get ready to take notes and get inspired if you’re stumped about what to serve in the first place. 

Dinner SOS

Is an impromptu vegan stopping by? Is someone at the table a picky eater? Is a kitchen renovation interfering with your Thanksgiving plans, so you’ve decided to turn to the grill? On Dinner SOS, Chris Morocco and a rotating expert guest listen to a caller’s biggest kitchen dilemma and provide them with not one but two solutions. The caller will pick one, test drive it, and report back. There are several Thanksgiving-specific episodes that cover cooking Thanksgiving for two, brainstorming dishes that travel well, and more topics that might just be the answer to your holiday prayers. 

Recipe Club

On Recipe Club, David Chang brings on a panel of chefs to pick recipes or even just ingredients and figure out the best way to prepare them. This isn’t just a cooking podcast; it’s a competition. Each week David et al. pick one dish to make, go off to their homes to make it, and then report back, sharing what they’d do differently and whether or not they’d make it again. And of course, they decide who had the best technique. There are episodes about stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and frozen pie crust, but also SPAM, tinned fish, Bloody Marys, plant-based meat substitutes, Wonder Bread, butter, and more. There’s also an episode completely dedicated to Thanksgiving. The Boboli episode might not come in handy for Thanksgiving (then again, why not? Sounds good to me!) but it’s one of the funniest episodes of a food podcast I’ve ever heard.

Cooking Up a Storm

If you have no idea where to even begin planning your Thanksgiving dinner, take a peek at Al Roker’s Cooking Up a Storm, the podcast that’s basically a full menu for a holiday meal. Every episode is a different dish, brought to you by a famous person in the food world. You’ll love Sohla El-Waylly’s crisp and juicy herb roasted turkey and honey-thyme gravy. And what is Thanksgiving without the sides? Go with Marcus Samuelsson’s caramelized Brussels sprouts and Ina Garten’s parmesan smashed potatoes. Dessert is Maya-Camille Broussard’s sweet potato and plantain pie.

The Soul Food Pod

If you’re considering Southern soul food for Thanksgiving, feel free to enlist the help of Shaunda Necole, cookbook author, food blogger, and host of The Soul Food Pod—your helpful guide for making delicious chicken yock, Southern tea cakes, shrimp and grits, and more. One episode is an ode to the Southern turkey recipe; there are also episodes that take you step by step through turkey dressing, candied yams, and sweet potato pie recipes. Shaunda is fun and creative in the kitchen and will inspire you to try something new or a twist on a longtime favorite. 

The One Recipe

What’s that one recipe that has been passed down to you through generations—the one you tell everyone about and make for every party? That’s the question at the heart of The One Recipe. Host Jesse Sparks, Senior Editor at Eater, invites some big names in food to share theirs (along with approachable, expert tips) which always leads to some great storytelling. And who doesn’t want to try Adrienne Cheatham’s sweet potato gnocchi with bacon-miso sauce or Yotam Ottolenghi’s brown sugar meringue roulade with burnt honey apples? You’ll be the hero of your Thanksgiving. 

Home Cooking

Home Cooking started as a mini-series to help people cook their way through the pandemic, but has continued somewhat sporadically, hoping to inspire people in the kitchen. Samin Nosrat (chef and author of the cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat) and Hrishikesh Hirway (creator and host of the podcast Song Exploder) interview people like Jason Mantzoukas and Antoni Porowski about the meals they love, and help listeners deal with specific problems about family recipes and what to do with kohlrabi. There are a ton of episodes dedicated to Thanksgiving. One is all about how to improve those recipes that you kind of feel like you have to make but you don’t really want to. (Let’s make green bean casserole great!) Samin and Hrishikesh are warm and funny, and they have cool guests, including Camila Cabello, Jason Mantzoukas, Sam Sanders, and Yo-Yo Ma.

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb

Looking for a podcast that will make your Thanksgiving prep a breeze? The Recipe with Kenji and Deb is just what you need. Hosted by J. Kenji López-Alt (Serious Eats, The Food Lab, The Wok) and Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman, this podcast is organized by dishes; each one is a deep dive into what J. Kenji and Deb have learned after making and testing and tweaking said dishes dozens of times. They’ve perfected mac 'n' cheese so you don’t have to, and they break everything down with easy-to-follow tips and tricks that make even the most daunting dishes feel achievable. 

The Splendid Table

The Splendid Table is a good show to turn on while you’re cooking. Hosted by award-winning food journalist Francis Lam, you’ll find recipes but also lots of inspiring conversation and interviews along the way. It’s the place to go if you know you want to up your game in spices, seafood, bread, and more and you want to think more philosophically about it. It feels like a great kitchen hang, during which you’ll be inspired by Francis and his guests. There are hundreds of episodes, so there’s likely something that covers exactly what you’re looking for.

Recipe of the Day

Recipe of the Day is just what you think it is—one short episode a day, brought to you by cookbook author and food writer Christine Pittma. The cool thing about this one is that when fall starts ramping up, every single episode is something screaming to be on your Thanksgiving spread. So scan through the fall months—at a glance I see air fryer butternut squash cubes, scalloped corn, pumpkin soup, and a perfectly roasted turkey—not just to figure out how to master what you want to make, but to get inspired for what you want to serve.

She’s My Cherry Pie

Even the best cooks I know could use a lot of help when it comes to baking, and that’s where She’s My Cherry Pie comes in. Each week, baker, author, and recipe developer Jessie Sheehan invites pastry chefs, bakers and culinary creatives to zoom in on one of their signature baked goods. Episodes are thorough and make even complicated things seem doable. But She’s My Cherry Pie is not just for novices—even experienced bakers can pick up new tips and techniques and be inspired by Jessie’s enthusiasm and the great mix of recipes. If you’re in charge of dessert this Thanksgiving, listen to the Caramel Pumpkin Cake episode, or try something less traditional. Nobody will complain that there’s no pecan pie if you’ve got crullers, fruit cobbler, or chocolate chip smash cookies.