The Night Before Thanksgiving, Dinner Is an Underdog

This anti-feast can be more fun, no matter what it is

Melissa McCart
Heated

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Sausage and bowties in a pan
Photo: Robin Gentry/EyeEm/Getty Images

It’s the night before Thanksgiving and the last thing most of us want to do is cook dinner. In any year besides 2020, the Wednesday before the holiday is one of the biggest bar nights of the year, which means wings, burgers, tacos, and drinking snacks.

Since the sensible among us won’t be hitting bars, it’s an opportunity to get creative, whether it’s a takeout spread or any dish that’s a Thanksgiving antithesis. By virtue of the fact that it sidles up to the turkey feast, tonight’s dinner is an underdog meal that’s more casual and just as celebratory. Whether you’re solo, paired up, or enjoying your pod of family or neighbors: If you hadn’t thought of making tonight’s meal special, I’d suggest you come up with a plan to make it so. You deserve it.

Here’s a shortlist of what we’re eating (or drinking) the night before Thanksgiving.

1. Burgers or Sichuan?

For me, the only criterion for my day-before-Thanksgiving dinner is that it bears absolutely no resemblance to Thanksgiving food.

No poultry, no butter, no bread, and nothing that’s ever even been in the same room as a bunch of sage. This tends to be my M.O. when there are big…

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Melissa McCart
Heated

Editor of Heated with Mark Bittman on Medium. Dog mom. Pho fan. Send me your pitches: melissamccart@gmail.com