They say food is the way to a man’s heart, but I’d say food is the way to anyone’s heart.
TV characters have been using their culinary skills to win me over for years now.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to reach into the screen and grab whatever dish they were cooking.
Food brings people together, and there’s nothing like bonding over a good meal, especially during the holidays when everything revolves around dinner… and Black Friday shopping.
If it’s Thanksgiving, we want to be invited to the houses below.
Gabi Diamond – Young & Hungry
Gabi Diamond is a spunky, ambitious and self-taught young chef who scores the gig of a lifetime whipping up meals for tech billionaire Josh Kaminski. There isn’t a problem in Josh’s life that Gabi can’t fix with her Julia Child-inspired comfort food.
On the Menu: Gabi’s famous grilled cheese and stuffed mushrooms with garlic, eggplant, and fresh grated parmesan.
Monica Geller – Friends
Chef Monica has scored the title “queen of Friendsgiving.” Throughout the series’ ten season run, Monica has cooked up a storm, hosted plenty of parties and laid out massive holiday spreads. Sure, over the years, the sous chef improved the Thanksgiving menu, but we’d still gobble up the mac and cheese she made Chandler for their first Thanksgiving.
On the Menu: Mac N Cheese, a variety of potatoes, mockolate deserts, roast turkey, stuffing, yams with marshmallows in concentric circles, cranberry sauce, “amazing” vegetarian stuffing and generous pours of red wine.
Sookie St. James – Gilmore Girls
The Gilmore gals love to eat so it’s a good thing they have Sookie around because she loves to cook. She’s the executive chef at the Independence Inn and later, the co-owner and head chef at the Dragonfly Inn where she whips up mind-boggling food creations and even scraps and redoes whole menus at the last minute.
On the Menu: Deep fried turkey with all the trimmings!
Red – OITNB
Red, the Fiery Russian, runs the kitchen at Litchfield and doesn’t let the fact that she’s in prison or that she’s scant on resources hinder her creativity in any way. Have you ever met anyone who tried to cook a full Thanksgiving meal on a tight budget? I’m talking $1.05 per prisoner. And she did it well. Just imagine what she could do with quality ingredients that she isn’t growing out of the prison garden.
On the Menu: Handmade creamy corn and leek quiche, golden corn on the cob from the garden, turkey and pumpkin pie. Sorry, no gravy.
Pacey Witter – Dawson’s Creek
Pacey is a chef at a fancy and pricey restaurant so he can cook up just about anything that your heart desires. And his meals tend to make things at the dinner table a little less awkward with every bite.
On the Menu: A Thanksgiving Dinner that you’ll probably have to eat at the restaurant cause he’s busy cooking.
Mrs. Patmore – Downton Abbey
The lavish meals on Downton Abbey don’t just cook themselves. Mrs. Patmore is the head cook who takes great pride in her cooking, even ordering around her assistant cook, Daisy.
On the Menu: Kedgeree.
Jacob – Grace and Frankie
A man with the nickname the “Yam Man” can cook Thanksgiving dinner for me any day. We have a major soft spot for him as he even attempts to cozy up to Frankie using his cuisine.
On the Menu: Candied Yams.
Pops – Riverdale
A burger with fries and a side milkshake? No one makes ’em better than Pop Tate which is why a Thanksgiving reservation at his Chock’lit Shoppe would probably have to be made months in advance. That, or you can go to TGIT’s.
On the Menu: Burger, fries, milkshake, turkey on rye – hold the tomatoes.
Maggie Amato – Younger
Maggie’s lasagna makes people cry. Or so I’m told. It’s apparently so good, even real Italians become emotional when taking a bite of the dish. For Americans, lasagna might not be a Thanksgiving staple, but then again, we never say no to the meaty, cheesy goodness.
On the Menu: Make ‘Em Cry Lasagna.
Abuela – Jane the Virgin
Abuela is a staunch believer in family dinners so there’s no doubt in my mind that she would throw a Thanksgiving feast with a little Latino flair. Just be prepared for Abuela to bestow her wisdom about life and love onto you during the meal.
On the Menu: Pernil, Thanksgiving tamales, and pumpkin flan.
David Rossi – Criminal Minds
Rossi believes cooking is an art form and tends to retort to the kitchen when tensions are high. That being said, he often cooks for his work family to help them eat off a bad work day.
On the Menu: Carbonara, his grandmother’s specialty.
Hilda – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
In a cannibalistic household, you have to admire Hilda for remaining a vegetarian. Unlike her sister, Zelda, Hilda is the nurturing, gentle soul who keeps things real. She’s always in the kitchen preparing something like a vegetable pie for the Dark Lord.
On the Menu: Vegetable pie and Aunt Hilda’s “Truth-Telling” cake. You’ve been warned.
Hannibal Lecter – Hannibal
Hannibal puts much detail into his culinary skills, whipping up meals that appear succulent and mouth-watering. And though we have no doubt that the feast would look incredible, our appetites would be ruined by the whole cannibalism aspect.
On the Menu: Turkey that, most definitely, isn’t turkey.
Karen – One Tree Hill
Karen’s cafe was a staple in tree hill even before she was accepted into a cooking course in Italy. Though, I’m not sure the family dinner would be all that pleasant given their longstanding family drama.
On the Menu: Turkey-Breast Roulade with Mushroom Stuffing and garlic bread.
Janet – The Good Place
Listen, Janet cooked up a wicked plan with Michael, so I have no doubts about her culinary skills. She can get anything done and summoned with the snap of her fingers including a mouth-watering dinner.
On the Menu: Frozen yogurt in two flavors: Thanksgiving turkey and full cell phone battery, clam chowder, shrimp.
Liv – iZombie
Liv is always experimenting with new dishes as she attempts to make brains taste better than they do. Seriously, we’re willing to pay for a zombie cookbook and just replace the protein, for obvious reasons.
On the Menu: Gnocchi Stuffed with brains, spaghetti with brains and lots of hot sauce.
Izzy – Grey’s Anatomy
It’s revealed that Izzy can’t really cook during a Thanksgiving episode, but that doesn’t exclude her from our list because she’s a killer baker. The more stressed she is, the more muffins she bakes which is a win for her colleagues.
On the Menu: Her mother’s chocolate chip cupcakes with coconut extract.
Granny, Regina and Sabine – Once Upon a Time
Despite being cursed, Storybrooke is a “foodie town.” Granny’s is the heart of StoryBrooke and her lasagna is a staple for the locals. Regina’s signature dish is also lasagna, however, she also enjoys using apples as the main ingredient. And no one makes beignets quite like Sabine.
On the Menu: Granny’s lasagna, Regina’s apple cider, Sabine’s beignets.
Midge Maisel – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Mrs. Maisel’s priorities in life include food and family. One blog described her as a “domestic goddess who cooks brisket like Julia Child,” so obviously, she’s in charge of Thanksgiving dinner.
On the menu: Retro appetizers like deviled eggs, gougeres and martinis with olives followed by meatloaf, shrimp and egg rolls.
Bob – Bob’s Burgers
Bob is really big on Thanksgiving traditions which explains why there’s been several Thanksgiving episodes thus far. Bob is particular about having the perfect Thanksgiving as it blends his love of cooking with tradition. He even names and talks to his turkey!
On the Menu: Salad, rolls, cranberries, mashed potatoes and the turkey.
Grandma Ruby – black-ish
If you’re looking for gravy-slathered Thanksgiving options that are bad for your heart but make your stomach happy, look no further than Grandma Ruby’s holiday feast! After all, Thanksgiving is no time to be health conscious.
On the Menu: Granny’s specialty – a soul-licious spread of fried pork chops, biscuits, and thick-ass gravy.
Lily – How I Met Your Mother
Lily has the cooking skills of a gourmet chef but only cooks on special occasions. When she does dabble in the kitchen, her friends are in for a real treat.
On the Menu: Seared scallops, turkey, and mango chutney.
Alex Kamal – The Expanse
Alex is a blessing because not only is he a badass pilot, he’s also an incredible chef which, believe it or not, comes in handy when your in space.
On the Menu: Piping hot lasagna.
Max – 2 Broke Girls
Max’s cupcakes are considered to be some of the best in town. While she offers some regular flavors, we’re particulary draw to the “specialty” ones. Who wouldn’t want delicious cupcakes as a Thanksgiving dessert?f
On the Menu: Cupcakes in two flavors – “The Salty and Spice” cupcake and “Beer Batter Maple Bacon” cupcake.
Raj – The Big Bang Theory
Raj takes Thanksgiving very seriously and it’s all hands on deck in his kitchen. However, the result? A holiday spread that will leave you full.
On the Menu: Corn, gravy, yam, rolls, cranberries, and turkey.
Regina – A Million Little Things
Regina is a talented chef with dreams of re-opening her own restaurant that will be successful this time around.
On the Menu: Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings for all of her closest friends.
Violet Bordelon – Queen Sugar
After years of baking some of the best pies in town, Aunt V was presented with the opportunity to sell them commercially and turned her passion into a business called, “Vi’s Prized Pies.”
On the Menu: Aunt Vi’s Prized Pies, obviously.
