The Armenian-American Thanksgiving Table

On Thanksgiving, many Armenian-American families put two traditions on one table. The turkey stays, but pilaf, kufteh or paklava often sit right beside it. In 2026, Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26.

Two menus, one table

Thanksgiving is built around a family meal and very little else. That makes it easy for any family to make its own, and Armenian families did.

Armenian-American food writer Robyn Kalajian describes a childhood Thanksgiving with an Armenian menu and an American menu served side by side. Anyone who didn't want the Armenian stuffing could still have turkey with mashed potatoes.

That is the point of an Armenian-American Thanksgiving. Nobody has to choose.

What goes next to the turkey?

There is no single Armenian Thanksgiving menu. Every family has its own, often shaped by where the grandparents came from. Some dishes come up again and again.

• Turkey stuffed with lamb and rice. In the Kalajian family, lamb and rice replaced the usual bread and chestnut stuffing.
• Pilaf. The Armenian Mirror-Spectator once introduced a holiday pilaf with raisins and almonds by asking what Thanksgiving would be without pilaf.
• Ghapama. The pumpkin stuffed with rice and dried fruit already belongs to autumn, which is why some families bring it to an Armenian-American Thanksgiving.
• Kufteh with madzoon. Served hot, with yogurt on the side.
• Paklava and walnut cake. Dessert rarely stops at pumpkin pie.

The leftovers don't always stay American either. Turkey soup with egg and lemon, or turkey keshkeg, can turn Friday into an Armenian meal.

Setting a table that holds both traditions

The food does most of the talking. A table carrying a whole turkey, a platter of pilaf and a tray of paklava needs a cloth that can take it. It also needs a pattern that frames the food rather than fights it.

A runner is the simpler choice. The Anatolian Armenian carpet table runner puts dark green and gold medallions on a deep red ground. It comes in 16″ × 72″ and 16″ × 90″, so measure your table before ordering. The full range is in our Armenian table runners collection.

For full cover, the burgundy Armenian rug design tablecloth is a 55.1″ square with a carpet pattern and a chequered border. It suits a smaller table, or can be laid diagonally over a longer one under the main platters. More designs are in the Armenian tablecloths collection.

Both are polyester, printed to order, and can carry your own text in Armenian or Latin letters. A family name and the year turns a tablecloth into something that comes out every November.

Order with enough time

Each piece is made to order. Production takes 1–3 business days for most products, and US shipping takes 2–5 business days. Ordering by mid-November leaves room for carrier delays before the holiday.

If you're hosting non-Armenian guests

Thanksgiving is often the meal where partners, in-laws and friends first meet Armenian food. A short word about each dish helps. Say what it is and what's in it. Kufteh and madzoon are easier to love when people know what they're eating.

And keep the turkey. It is what makes the table Armenian-American rather than only Armenian.

For the older harvest traditions behind dishes like ghapama, read The Armenian Harvest Table: From Blessed Grapes to Ghapama.