Animal Crossing Turkey Day 2021 event: Every Turkey Day ingredient, secret ingredient and rewards in New Horizons
Sadly, turkey isn't actually on the menu.
Turkey Day is your island's version of Thanksgiving in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Returning once again for 2021, Franklin the famous turkey chef will be visiting your island and he'll need help finding ingredients for the Turkey Day fest he's been hired to cook.
Below you'll be able to find all the ingredients and secret ingredients you'll need to find for Franklin, so that you can earn every single Turkey Day reward.
On this page:
- Animal Crossing Turkey Day ingredients, secret ingredients list and 2021 changes
- How the Turkey Day works in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Clam chowder ingredients and secret ingredient
- Pumpkin pie ingredients and secret ingredient
- Gratin ingredients and secret ingredient
- Fish meunière ingredients and secret ingredient
- Turkey Day furniture, DIY recipes and rewards
- Turkey Day date and time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- How to access Turkey Day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing Turkey Day ingredients, secret ingredients list and 2021 changes
Animal Crossing's Turkey Day returns for 2021, and is largely the same as its 2020 debut.
The following sections goes into more detail about what's involved, but at a glance, here are the list of ingredients and secret ingredients you must find:
| Recipe | Ingredients | Reward | Secret Ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clam chowder | 3x Manila Clams | Turkey Day Rug | Scallop |
| Pumpkin Pie | Orange Pumpkin + random other Pumpkin | Turkey Day Wall | Two other pumpkin colours |
| Gratin | Random mushroom + Potato / Carrot | Turkey Day Flooring | Dungeness Crab |
| Fish meunière | Sea Bass + Random fish or flour | Cornucopia + DIY recipes for each meal | Barred Knifejaw |
In 2021, there has been a change to the gratin ingredients, changing from a Mussel and random mushroom to a Potato or a Carrot (we had the former) and a random mushroom. Potatoes and Carrots are newly introduced crops with the 2021 November update - so chances are you have grown some and have them ready to go.
The fish meunière is also reported to have flour as an option too - we had Sea Bass + Random fish for us - but regardless of what it is, you can trade to get whatever you need (we'll explain how in just a couple of paragraphs).
Also new is the reward - completing the four base recipes will grant you with DIY recipes of each, allowing you to cook them yourself in your spare time.
Again, the sections throughout the page go into detail of how to get all ingredients, but if you are missing any (it is impossible to grow pumpkins and potatoes or carrots in a day!) then you can trade with villagers who are cooking in their homes.
They will ask for a specific fish which can be caught. Once fetched, you will receive a random item out of the above pool - it could be something common like a Manila Clam, or rare like a Barred Knifejaw. Though this means you might need a few trades to get the specific ingredient you are missing, it will allow you to eventually complete the event if you keep trading.
Our tip? Keep every fish you find and have them in your inventory. That way, you probably have something a villager might want to trade to grow your collection of ingredients (you can trade multiple times with a villager while they are cooking to secure more items, so keep talking after your initial trade) so you aren't running back and forth as much.
How the Turkey Day works in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
To partake in the Turkey Day event in New Horizons, you need to head down to the plaza outside of Residential Services.
Here you'll find Franklin the turkey alongside a number of your villagers getting ready for their fest.
Sadly, Franklin is having trouble sourcing his ingredients, so it's up to you to save Turkey Day!
Franklin will ask you to find ingredients for the following four dishes - clam chowder, pumpkin pie, gratin and fish meunière - from both on and around your island.
After you've cooked one of the dishes for the first time, you'll be able to add a secret ingredient to the meal. All you need to do is talk to Franklin once this specific dish has been cooked with the secret ingredient in your inventory and he'll be able to upgrade it.
Try your best to find all the secret ingredients, because, if you manage to improve all four dishes, you'll be given a very special reward.
If you're having trouble finding a specific ingredient, then visit the villagers who are staying at home during Turkey Day. Doing so, you might find one of them and, if so, they'll offer to trade ingredients with you.
You may need to hunt this specific ingredient down, but, in return, you'll receive an ingredient from either the regular or secret ingredient pool, which could save you a lot of time. They may also give you a hint about a specific secret ingredient...
Clam chowder ingredients and secret ingredient in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
For his clam chowder in New Horizons, Franklin will need three manila clams.
Manila clams can easily be found by wandering the beaches of your island and digging up the spots that spurt water.
Once you have all three manila clams, head back to Franklin and he'll reward you with the Turkey Day Rug.
The secret ingredient for the clam chowder is a Scallop, which you can find by diving for sea creatures.
Hopefully finding a Scallop shouldn't take you very long as they're not rare, but you may have to dampen Pascal's day by refusing to give it to him.
Remember - you only add the Scallop after Franklin has cooked the clam chowder and it simply needs to be in your inventory for him to notice it.
After the Scallop has been added to the dish, Franklin will reward you with a randomly selected item from the Turkey Day furniture collection or, if this is your final meal, the Cozy Turkey Day DIY recipe set.
Pumpkin pie ingredients and secret ingredient in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
To make his pumpkin pie in New Horizons, Franklin will ask for one orange pumpkin and one other pumpkin - the colour of which will be randomly selected from white, green or yellow.
If you sold all of your pumpkin supplies after Halloween, then try trading ingredients with the villagers who are cooking in their homes. It may take you a while, but you should be able to collect the pumpkins that you need.
For helping create the pumpkin pie, Franklin will reward you with the Turkey Day Wall.
To fully complete the pumpkin pie, you need to add two secret ingredients, which are one of each pumpkin colour that Franklin didn't originally ask for.
This means that if Franklin originally asked for an orange and a green pumpkin, for example, the secret ingredients for your pumpkin pie will be one white and one yellow pumpkin.
In return for this secret ingredient, Franklin will give you a random piece of furniture from the Turkey Day set or, if this is the last meal you've polished, the Cozy Turkey Day DIY recipe set.
Gratin ingredients and secret ingredient in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
For the gratin in New Horizons, Franklin will ask for a Potato and one randomly selected mushroom. (In 2020, it was a Mussel and random mushroom.)
The Potato can be grown like other crops - and you can get started by chatting to Leif and getting some seed potatoes if they are in stock. You can also try going on Kapp'n's Boat Tour to see if any are growing on the island. However, there's a good chance you are too late to grow one or luck isn't on your side with the Boat Tour, but no problem - remember you can always trade with villagers on your island.
The mushroom will be growing near a randomly selected tree on your island, so have a wander and see what you can find. Check out our dedicated mushroom guide if you'd like to learn more!
If you can't find the mushroom you're looking for on your island, then you can either try visiting Mystery Islands using Nook Miles tickets or trading ingredients with villagers.
For finding these ingredients, Franklin will reward you with the Turkey Day Flooring.
The secret ingredient for the gratin is a Dungeness Crab.
These crabs can be found by driving in the waters surrounding your island, but they can be quite hard to find, so, if you're having trouble locating one, we highly suggest trying to trade ingredients with the villagers who are at home on Turkey Day.
Like the other secret ingredients, Franklin will reward you with a random piece of furniture from the Turkey Day set or, if this is the last meal you've finished, the Cozy Turkey Day DIY recipe set.
Fish meunière ingredients and secret ingredient in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
The final dish Franklin will ask you to help with in New Horizons is the fish meunière.
For the fish meunière, you need to catch one Sea Bass and one random fish depending on which hemisphere you live in.
If you live in the northern hemisphere, Franklin will ask you for either a Dab, Olive Flounder or a Red Snapper.
In the southern hemisphere, Franklin will need either an Olive Flounder or Red Snapper.
All of these fish can be found by fishing in the sea throughout the day and you may receive one by trading ingredients with the villagers who've stayed at home to cook.
For completing the fish meunière, you'll receive the Cornucopia.
The secret ingredient for the fish meunière is the Barred Knifejaw.
This fish is the same for both hemispheres and is rarer than the others you need to catch, so it might take you some time to find, but, after a while or some trading with villagers, you will be able to find it.
Once you give it to Franklin, the Turkey Day fest will be complete and he'll reward you with the Cozy Turkey Day DIY recipe set or, if you have another meal to finish, a random piece from the Turkey Day set.
Turkey Day furniture, DIY recipes and rewards in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
For helping Franklin cook his Turkey Day feast in New Horizons, he'll reward you with a number of items from the Turkey Day furniture set.
Four of the items from this set can only be earned by completing a specific meal, which you can find below:
- Turkey Day Rug for cooking the clam chowder
- Turkey Day Wall for cooking the pumpkin pie
- Turkey Day Flooring for cooking the gratin
- Cornucopia and DIY recipes for all four meals after cooking the fish meunière
If you decide to assist Franklin further by finding the secret ingredients for each meal, you'll receive a piece of furniture randomly selected from the other eight items that make up the Turkey Day furniture set.
For the fourth and final secret ingredient, however, Franklin will give you the Cozy Turkey Day DIY recipe set.
This recipe set will be automatically placed in your DIY recipe collection and will contain the following items:
- Turkey Day Casserole
- Turkey Day Chair
- Turkey Day Decorations
- Turkey Day Garden Stand
- Turkey Day Hearth
- Turkey Day Table
- Turkey Day Table Setting
- Turkey Day Wheat Decor
This DIY recipe set will also be available in Nook's Cranny from the day after Turkey Day till the end of November. Remember to take advantage of the Nook Friday discount over the following weekend!
The Animal Crossing 2.0 update and Happy Home Paradise is here! We can help you with the new additions - including where to find Brewster, Gyroids, new villagers, ordinances, new fences, storage shed, new hairstyles, Froggy Chair, group stretching and Kapp'n boat tours. Cooking is now unlockable, so you need to know how to make both flour and sugar, as well as how to grow carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Meanwhile, if you're new to Animal Crossing, our New Horizons tips can help with the basics. From the off, there's fish and bugs to catch, flowers and fruit to grow with. One long term goal is building your Happy Home Academy score. Finally, you need tools such as the new ladder and vaulting pole to fully explore.
Turkey Day date and time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons explained
Turkey Day in New Horizons occurs on the same day Thanksgiving occurs in the USA, which is the last Thursday of November.
In 2021, Turkey Day occurs on Thursday, 25th November and runs from 9am to midnight.
During this time, you'll be able to assist Franklin in cooking the Turkey Day fest and, in return, he'll give you a number of Turkey Day themed rewards.