Thanksgiving is all about spending quality time with family and friends away from the everyday responsibilities such as work and school, but the holiday really centers around the large afternoon feast where so much food is consumed that a nap is usually required immediately afterward.
And everybody knows that Turkey is the mainstay of traditionally Thanksgiving meals, hence the nickname Turkey Day, but what about the side dishes? Which classic sides are more popular than others?
Zippia, a career expertise website, analyzed Google trends to found out which Thanksgiving side dishes are most popular among the 50 states and the results are actually quite interesting.
In Virginia, the most popular side dish is surprisingly mac and cheese. One would assume that the Commonwealth would naturally go for mashed potatoes or some type of casserole, like many other states, but no. Virginians apparently love to get some gooey, cheesy pasta to go along with their turkey.
Virginia is not alone though. Mac and cheese is also the most popular side in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and Delaware.
A simple and relatively quick mac and cheese recipe can be found here.
However, the overall most popular side dish in the United States is mashed potatoes, about as unoriginal as you can get.
Mashed potatoes are the favorite in ten states spanning all parts of the country except the South. Those states include: Connecticut, California, Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois and Colorado, among others. When it comes to Thanksgiving food it’s hard to beat the classics.
Here is a quick and easy recipe for some basic mashed potatoes.
The second most popular side dish is green bean casserole with seven states. But there are also multiple states that like a different form of casserole the most. Alaska enjoys hash brown casserole, Florida and Tennesse go for some sweet potato casserole, and Kentucky prefers broccoli casserole.
In total, 11 states enjoy some type of casserole, one more than mashed potatoes.
This green bean casserole recipe only takes 25 minutes all together and can be topped with crispy French fried onions and cheddar cheese.
Most of the Northeast region prefers another Thanksgiving side dish classic in regular stuffing.
Additionally, several states’ favorite side dish is definitely more off the beaten path, pardon the cliche. Indiana’s most popular dish is deviled eggs while Oregon’s is just biscuits. West Virginia and three other states enjoy simple rolls, Wyoming prefers brown gravy and Arkansas likes white gravy, New Hampshire goes for some cranberry sauce and Maine fancies side salad.
Louisiana’s favorite is cornbread dressing and not shockingly Iowa and Kansas enjoy corn and cream corn respectively.
Overall, the Google trends revealed what many people already know: Americans across the country have very different tastes and interests when it comes to food.
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Jacob Taylor is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Follow Jacob on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
