This Show-Stopping Thanksgiving Appetizer Breaks Every Rule — But I Don't Care

Conventional wisdom says that Thanksgiving appetizers should be light. If you're going to serve anything at all, people claim, you should serve a crudité platter or maybe a small cheese board. The concern is that you want people to be hungry for the big meal. But I say they're wrong. I say, your Thanksgiving appetizer should be just as show-stopping as the rest of the meal. I say, your Thanksgiving appetizer should be a baked Brie.

I have never, ever served a baked Brie to a crowd of people who didn't immediately become obsessed with it. There's something about having an entire wheel of warm, puff pastry-wrapped cheese placed in front of you that activates a part of the brain that is undeniable. Given its sheer decadence, there are not a ton of situations where it's an appropriate appetizer — which is why you must take advantage of holidays where the scale of the meal can meet the extravagance of a baked Brie.

Making a baked Brie sounds fancy, but it's an easy, two-ingredient deal. All you need is a wheel of Brie and enough puff pastry to wrap it securely. Brie wheels come in all sizes — anywhere from a 4-inch diameter to a 12-inch diameter. Choose the size that works for you depending on the number of people you're serving, then select your puff pastry. Ideally, you'll find an all-butter version, like Dufour brand, but Pepperidge Farms works fine as well. In a pinch, you can opt for a can of crescent roll dough, but the perforations make that a little harder to work with.

Make sure your puff pastry is fully defrosted, then roll it gently to even out the sheets, and wrap it around your cheese. I typically use two sheets for a 5-inch wheel of Brie, one to go on the bottom, and one to wrap over the top. Place the wrapped cheese on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees F until the puff pastry is golden-brown. Carefully transfer it to a plate and serve. The first slice into your golden-brown cheese round will produce a very satisfying (and very hot) ooze of cheese, but it will quickly cool to a pleasantly warm, gooey, edible bite that your guests will not be able to resist.

At Thanksgiving, I sometimes add cranberry preserves on top of the cheese inside the pastry before baking, or simply put a bowl of it on the side. Of course, there are a number of ways you can customize your baked Brie with various jams, nuts, syrups, and more; make it as simple or as elaborate as you want. Here are a handful of holiday-worthy baked Brie recipes for a little inspiration:

• Baked Stuffed Brie with Cranberries and Walnuts
• Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
• Garlicky Baked Brie
• Raspberry Walnut Baked Brie
• Jamie's Baked Brie
• Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions
• For more ideas, explore our entire collection of Bake Brie Recipes

Baked Brie does break another cardinal rule of Thanksgiving: It adds an unnecessary dish to the oven lineup, which means that you should really only serve it if you're A.) hosting dinner yourself so you can add it to your oven schedule or B.) you live close enough to the host that you can pull it out of the oven and get it there within 10 to 15 minutes, while it's at ideal eating temperature.

When I'm hosting Thanksgiving I typically serve the baked Brie around 11 AM, as a sort of brunch-snack hybrid, at the same time that I pull out the mimosas. It acts as a moment to kick off the celebration and get everyone into the spirit. Then, I don't serve dinner until around 4 PM, so there's plenty of time to get hungry again. Because for me, the turkey is the centerpiece, but the baked Brie is the star of the show.

Related:

• Our 25 Best New Thanksgiving Recipes for 2023
• 5 Things You Should Absolutely Do Ahead for Thanksgiving
• 25 Best Appetizers to Make if You're Obsessed With Cheese