Turkey might be the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving meal, but that doesn’t mean the side dishes aren’t equally important.
Ahead of the annual feast, we are ranking the best and worst side dishes because, let’s be honest, we can’t stop ourselves from filling our plates to the brim with these delectable delights.
We just wouldn’t enjoy our Thanksgiving quite as much without the mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole and all the fixings!
Is it even really Thanksgiving without the stuffing, brussels sprouts or dinner rolls? We don’t think so.
Scroll down to find out which side dish ranked at the top—and bottom—of our list.
Then, it’s your turn to vote for your favorite part of a Thanksgiving meal and weigh in on the side dish that you would be happy to leave off your plate.
Who knows, maybe you’ll have the very wrong opinion that cranberry sauce is the best!
Even if you differ from our list, one thing we can all agree on is that the best part of any Thanksgiving dinner is spending time with friends and family.
For your sake though, we hope they are great cooks that don’t mess up the green bean casserole!
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13. General Vegetables
Carrots? Corn? Technically, they’re fine. Regular old green beans? It’s just…whatever. C’mon, this is Thanksgiving, this isn’t regular old Thursday night dinner. Let’s put a little imagination into it. Let’s get festive. We’ll eat our veggies, but don’t make them so disappointing.
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12. Yams
The only reason yams isn’t No. 13 is because sometimes they’re prepared with marshmallows on top.
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11. Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce is all but required at Thanksgiving dinner, but does anybody ever eat it? From our experience, it’s usually just a decoration of sorts—a festive bowl of berries that looks good in your spread, but will inevitably be passed over by everyone. Don’t waste your time making it by hand.
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10. Cornbread
If you can get good cornbread that isn’t too moist, too dry and doesn’t fall apart when you pick it up and if you can get a good butter, that isn’t just your run of the mill margarine…cornbread is perfect. But there are just too many variables here.
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9. Canned Cranberry Sauce
See No. 11, but adjust for the novelty factor.
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8. Brussels Sprouts au Gratin
We love brussels sprouts. We just prefer our brussels sprouts with bacon, which knocks this dish down a few spots. Also, kids may not be too amped on this one because kids don’t know anything and probably can’t tell the difference between brussels sprouts and broccoli.
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7. Mac & Cheese
It’s important to note that we’re not talking about the Kraft kind here. Mac and cheese is a staple at Thanksgiving. If you do something special with it, like make it spicy with jalapeños or add some chicken or bacon for protein, it can add to a meal.
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6. Butternut Squash
Forget pumpkin spice, butternut squash is the trend food this fall. And there are endless ways to prepare it: Straight up, in a soup, in a salad or in a casserole. Plus you can have it glazed or roasted, steamed or stuffed.
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5. Green Bean Casserole
Super-underrated. Just make sure it’s extra creamy and has plenty of those fried onions on top.
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4. Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potatoes are fine. We prefer regular potatoes. We say potato, you say poh-tah-toh. But we love sweet potato casserole because it’s actually sweet. Maybe it’s all the brown sugar you add. Maybe it’s the melted butter and pecans on top. Plus, it’s not technically a dessert, so you can still have pie and not feel bad!
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3. Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
So creamy and fluffy and melt in your mouth delicious. And there is nothing more crucial to a Thanksgiving dinner than the gravy. If you are serving low quality gravy, you might as well just cancel Thanksgiving altogether.
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2. Dinner Rolls
The big upset of the Thanksgiving sides gauntlet. You probably forgot about dinner rolls, huh? That’s because dinner rolls are so custom at Thanksgiving dinner, that you only notice them if they’re not there or if they’re not the right rolls. The right rolls, for the record, are Pillsbury Crescents. (Suitable substitute: Biscuits.)
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1. Stuffing
C’mon. Did you expect anything else to be here? This was always just a race for second place. Stuffing is the bomb.
