The Most Popular Thanksgiving Sides by State—One Favorite Barely Ranked

While the complicated history of the first Thanksgiving has been getting increased attention in recent years, the modern holiday is as popular as ever, bringing together friends and families to enjoy each other's presence and show gratitude for all of the good things in their lives.

In fact, 91% of Americans said they celebrated Thanksgiving in 2024, with 74% planning to celebrate with a Thanksgiving dinner. With such high numbers focused on food, it’s no wonder that it’s the subject of more research. The Campbell’s Company (responsible for popularizing the green bean casserole in 1955) released its fourth annual State of the Sides Report this year, detailing which Thanksgiving sides are Americans’ favorites and how those preferences break down regionally.

The Overall Most Popular Sides

The survey included 100 Americans from each state, polled on their Thanksgiving preferences this past summer. Supporting the idea that sides are worthy of this level of research, 63% of those polled preferred side items to turkey on Thanksgiving, and 47% claimed they would be happy just eating sides. With that in mind, it’s particularly interesting to see which side dishes are everyones’s favorites.

By-the-State Data

The top sides nationally shouldn’t be terribly surprising, as they include four classic Thanksgiving dishes and one regional favorite. The top five dishes were also all in the top last year, though macaroni and cheese stole green bean casserole‘s 2024 spot, shuffling the bottom of the list. A dish that is so synonymous with Thanksgiving barely making the list is very unexpected.

1. Stuffing/Dressing

Stuffing (often called dressing when cooked outside of the turkey) is undoubtedly the favorite side item in the country, being chosen as the top side dish by approximately 4/5 of the country and ranking in the top three dishes in all 50 states.

2. Mashed Potatoes

It might be surprising to see mashed potatoes so high on this list when other ways of cooking potatoes could have stolen its thunder. But while baked potatoes or fried versions might be favorites at other times of the year, the smooth texture of mashed potatoes wins out on Thanksgiving, putting the dish in the top three side items for 44 out of 50 states.

3. Sweet Potatoes/Yams

Despite the similarity in texture between mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, both are considered Thanksgiving staples, perhaps due to how flexible sweet potatoes can be. While they are frequently prepared with dessert seasonings and marshmallows on top, they can also be transformed into a savory dish with the right spices and additives. Sweet potatoes are in the top three favorites for 24 states.

4. Macaroni and Cheese

Mac and cheese has changed the most in prominence over the last year, gaining popularity by 20% in the last year. This is in part because it is a favorite of younger generations, with more than half of all Gen-Z and Millennials polled wanting it to be considered a holiday staple. Given this increase in popularity, it should be little surprise that it was ranked in the top three side items by 19 states.

5. Green Bean Casserole

44% of respondents agreed that green bean casserole is the most iconic Thanksgiving side. However, it has much less consistent popularity than the other dishes on this list, only breaking into the top three dishes in eight states. But while it doesn’t seem to be many respondents’ top choice, it still has a place on the table of more than half of the survey participants.

The No. 1 Most Popular by State—Where’s Green Bean Casserole?!

While the overall Thanksgiving favorites seem fairly consistent, the data gets a bit more interesting when broken down to a state-by-state level. At first glance, the country seems fairly united, with 38 states claiming stuffing as their undisputed favorite side, and an additional four including it alongside one or more other favorites.

But looking at which states claimed other dishes as their favorites is particularly interesting, because they don’t appear to be regionally consistent at all. Mashed potatoes won out in Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, Iowa, and Indiana, as well as claiming partial victory in Idaho, Illinois, and Delaware. The only things these states have in common is not being on the East Coast (except for Delaware), but it is otherwise fairly random, with mashed potato-lovers surrounded by stuffing champions.

Similarly, macaroni and cheese is the favorite of New York and Florida, two states that rarely have much in common, tying with stuffing and yams in Maryland. This breaks from the traditional understanding of mac and cheese as a Southern tradition, though it was a popular second or third choice in that region.

While sweet potatoes were the third most popular side item for the country as a whole, they only made it into first place in Maryland, which was so divided that it had three “top sides” listed. And green bean casserole somehow didn’t claim the top spot in a single state, making this data all the more surprising.

Whether you agree with your state’s favorite dish or not, it’s clear that these traditional Thanksgiving sides bring comfort to people across the country. Be sure to keep that in mind when you’re drawing up the menu for your family dinner or Friendsgiving gathering.

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