65 Delicious Thanksgiving Side Dishes to Try This Year
No need to scour the internet looking for the best Thanksgiving side dishes because we found them for you!
In this post, we’ve rounded up 65 mouth-watering, delicious, must-try side dishes to add to your Thanksgiving menu. Your guests (and their tummies!) will leave your holiday celebration full and happy, guaranteed!
Table of Contents
10 Best Breads & Robust Rolls
Bread. It’s everyone’s favorite food group, right? Besides sugar, of course! {Wink!} From classic dinner rolls to easy cornbread, as well as everything in between, we’re sure to have found something you’ll love!
1. Crescent Roll Cornucopia With Cranberry Turkey Salad (Hungry Happenings): Aren’t these so cute and festive?! We are sure they will be a hit at your Thanksgiving table!
2. Copycat Outback Steakhouse Rolls (Cooking With Janica): We love a good copycat recipe, especially when it comes to a restaurant’s signature rolls!
3. Pull-Apart Garlic Parmesan Rolls (Dessert Now Dinner Later): This recipe uses frozen Rhodes Dinner Rolls, so they should be super easy to make!
4. Wholewheat Quick Rolls (Slim Pickin’s Kitchen): Thanksgiving sides shouldn’t take too much time out of your day. You’ll have these rolls ready in 40 minutes!
5. Soft Gluten-Free Rosemary Rolls (What the Fork): We didn’t forget about you, gluten-free friends!
6. Pumpkin Dinner Rolls (As Easy As Apple Pie): These rolls are almost too darling to eat! Almost … {Wink!}
7. World’s Best Homemade Crescent Rolls (Oh So Delicioso): Your guests will love these soft and buttery crescent rolls! You prep the dough the night before, so it’s even less for you to do on Thanksgiving morning. Score!
8. Pumpkin Cornbread With Whipped Gingerbread Butter (Slim Pickin’s Kitchen): This cornbread breaks ALL the cornbread rules because it’s sweet, not savory!
9. Flavorful Applesauce Wheat Rolls (3 Boys And a Dog): We have never heard of using applesauce to bake rolls, but we’re definitely giving this a try! Sweet rolls are a game-changer!
10. Southern Cornbread (Simply Recipes): If you’re on Team Savory Cornbread, then this recipe is for you! It’s made the traditional way with lots of cornmeal, and it crumbles beautifully.
7 Scrumptious Salads
Salads are a great way to add bursts of flavor to your Thanksgiving dinner. There are so many delicious variations! In fact, there are so many that we had trouble narrowing it down to our favorite seven recipes.
11. Bacon & Brown Sugar Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (Slim Pickin’s Kitchen): Sweet potatoes are one of the most popular side dishes for Thanksgiving. Kick yours up a notch (or two!) by turning them into this delicious salad!
12. Pomegranate + Goat Cheese Salad (Feast + West): This salad looks really fancy, but it’s actually super simple to put together!
13. Fall Harvest Salad With Apple Cider Vinaigrette (As Easy As Apple Pie): You’ll love the combination of roasted butternut squash, crunchy pecans, pumpkin seeds, feta cheese, cranberries, apples, quinoa, and kale.
14. Pomegranate and Pear Salad (Tastes Better From Scratch): Lucky for you, pears and pomegranates are in season in autumn. Even better, they taste amazing when they’re paired together!
15. Apple and Grape Fall Fruit Salad (SkinnyTaste): This fall fruit salad makes the perfect companion to the other Thanksgiving side dishes at your holiday table.
16. Wedge Salad (Sparkles to Sprinkles): We love how fancy this salad looks! But even though it looks fancy, it’s actually really easy to make! Win-win for your Thanksgiving meal.
17. Harvest Wild Rice Salad (Savory Nothings): According to the recipe, the ingredients for the dressing can be pretty flexible, which means you can customize this to your liking!
11 Variations of Veggies
Time to add a pinch of healthy to your Thanksgiving menu. Well … healthy-ish. These vegetables will have your guests asking for seconds and thirds!
18. Creamy Red-Skin Mashed Potatoes (Sugar Maple Farmhouse): Mashed potatoes are a popular Thanksgiving menu item, and with good reason! These potatoes will be a delicious addition to your table!
19. Herb-Roasted Root Vegetables (Eating by Elaine): We are all about one-pan sides, and this one looks absolutely delish (not to mention so easy!).
20. Thyme-Roasted Carrots (Nourish and Fete): These carrots are easy to make, and they add a beautiful pop of color to your Thanksgiving table!
21. Garlic and Olive Oil Sauteed Green Beans (The Little Kitchen): Nobody likes soggy vegetables. You’ll love how these green beans keep their crunchy texture!
22. Gorgonzola Smashed Potatoes (The Little Kitchen): Did you know that smashed potatoes are different from mashed potatoes? This was news to us!
23. Baked Breaded Broccoli Bites (Sugar Maple Farmhouse): These broccoli bites are baked, not fried, so they’re a healthy addition to your Thanksgiving menu!
24. Sauteed Beet Greens (Savor the Flavour): There are several variations of these delicious beet greens, and we’re sure all of them would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner!
25. Baked Sweet Potatoes (Chelsea’s Messy Apron): These sweet potatoes turn out really soft, so they’re perfect for guests of all ages!
26. Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Bundles (Fresh Off the Grid): You’ll use the grill for these asparagus bundles, which is great because you’ll need all the oven space you can get!
27. Blue Bayou Scalloped Potatoes (The Bewitchin’ Kitchen): Calling all Disney fans! These scalloped potatoes are the copycat recipe from Blue Bayou. They’re the perfect side dish for any meal, but especially for Thanksgiving!
28. Best Ever Creamed Corn (Grace & Good Eats): This recipe for creamed corn calls for lots of cream cheese and butter. In our minds, that definitely makes it the best ever!
13 Savory Soups & Comforting Casseroles
Soups and casseroles are known for being comfort foods, so why not add a taste of comfort to your holiday meal? Below, you’ll find 13 recipes from our favorite bloggers that you and your family will adore!
29. Autumn Harvest Soup With Candied Cranberries (Slim Pickin’s Kitchen): You will love how this soup combines all of the favorite flavors of fall!
30. Pumpkin Soup with Bacon Roasted Chickpeas (Feast + West): This soup is another great way to add pumpkin to your Thanksgiving menu!
31. Easy Instant Pot Vegan Butternut Squash Soup (Eating by Elaine): Preparing a Thanksgiving meal can take a lot of effort. Why not let your Instant Pot take on some of the responsibility?
32. Homemade Potato Soup (Walking On Sunshine Recipes): Looking for a new way to incorporate potatoes into your Thanksgiving dishes? This soup is it!
33. Instant Pot Minestrone Soup (Oh So Delicioso): Looking for something fast and easy to add to your Thanksgiving sides? It doesn’t get any easier than soup made in your Instant Pot!
34. Cauliflower and Potato Chowder (Mom’s Dinner): You can’t go wrong with serving your guests some indulgent, creamy chowder. This chowder combines two delicious veggies, so it’s not only healthy, it’s filling too!
35. Hearty Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup (3 Boys And a Dog): It only takes 35 minutes for this dish to start out as simple ingredients and turn into a hearty soup. Easy-peasy!
36. Mac and Cheese Soup (Five Heart Home): Your Thanksgiving menu just got a little easier, thanks to this soup. Here’s something that even your pickiest eaters will love!
37. Turkey, Kale, and Rice Soup (Olivia’s Cuisine): This soup is great as a side dish, especially if you aren’t serving turkey as the main course. It’s also really healthy, which is a huge plus!
38. Turkey Stuffing Casserole (Cooking With Janica): Stuffing AND a casserole?! Sign us up!
39. Smoked Green Bean Casserole (Mama’s On a Budget): Green bean casseroles have been in the lineup of side dishes for Thanksgiving dinners for years and years. This casserole shakes up the tradition a bit by smoking the casserole instead of baking it!
40. Sweet Potato Casserole (Pass Your Plates): This sweet potato casserole is unlike any you’ve ever had. Trust us! It brings the sweet and a little bit of crunch. YUM!
41. Squash Casserole (Five Heart Home): After reading this recipe, all we can say is YUM! It’s buttery, cheesy, and packed with delicious squash.
6 Sugary Sweet Sides
These side dishes are oh-so-sweet and practically act as a dessert on your Thanksgiving menu! But let’s not label them as “desserts” because you still need an excuse to eat all the pie your belly can hold. We’ll just label them as sweet sides! {Wink!}
42. Bread Pudding With Chai Caramel Sauce (Hungry Happenings): This sweet side will be a nice treat next to your more savory dishes!
43. Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls (Dessert Now Dinner Later): Who said pumpkin pie is only for dessert?
44. Pumpkin Monkey Bread (The Soccer Mom Blog): Your family is going to LOVE this sweet monkey bread! You’ll use cinnamon roll dough rather than biscuit dough, as well as layers of pumpkin pie filling. One word: YUM!
45. Indian Pudding (Simply Recipes): We have never heard of Indian Pudding, so instead of writing our own little blurb, check out what Elise (the author of this recipe’s blog post) has to say about it!
“Traditional Indian pudding dates back to New England’s colonial days. This lightly spiced baked custard is made with cornmeal, milk, eggs, and molasses. It’s a perfect recipe for Thanksgiving or a delicious taste of the past.”
46. Mini Pecan Pies (Sally’s Baking Addiction): These tiny treats are a perfect way to add a little sweetness to your Thanksgiving table!
47. Oreo Turkey Pops (Somewhat Simple): Want to give the kids something yummy and easy to grab from the food table during their several trips back and forth? Give these a try! Perfect for little hands and tummies.
8 Superb Sauces & Stuffings
Last but certainly not least, we have sauces and stuffings! Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without at least one cranberry sauce and one stuffing dish, right?
48. Grandma’s Bread Stuffing (Savor the Flavour): A combination of classic flavors coupled with a mixture of textures, from golden and crunchy on the outside to soft and moist on the inside. Do we need to go on?
49. Sausage Cranberry Pecan Stuffing (Tastes Better From Scratch): You really can’t go wrong with cranberry recipes, especially for your Thanksgiving dishes!
50. Cornbread Sausage Stuffing (SkinnyTaste): This stuffing is completely homemade and uses cornbread instead of your typical loaf of bread. Yum!
51. Thanksgiving Sausage and Herb Stuffing (Mom’s Dinner): The fresh herbs, generous amounts of butter, and hearty bread cubes in this stuffing recipe make the final product oh-so-delicious!
52. Ultimate Cornbread Stuffing (Five Heart Home): We wanted to find the perfect Thanksgiving stuffing that didn’t include sausage, and this is it! This recipe uses both French bread and cornbread, as well as garlic, herbs, and optional add-ins.
53. My Famous Homemade Stuffing Recipe (Little House Living): According to this recipe, if you don’t like stuffing, it’s because you haven’t found the right recipe yet … And THIS is that recipe!
54. Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Sugar Maple Farmhouse): Can’t celebrate Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce!
55. The Easiest Healthy Cranberry Sauce (Little House Living): With so many different side dishes on the table (some of which may be a little on the unhealthy side), having a healthy sauce option is always a great choice.
BONUS: 10 Thanksgiving Menu Traditions Across the Country
Believe it or not, Thanksgiving dinner looks completely different depending on which state you live in!
We thought it would be fun to showcase the diversity in Thanksgiving side dishes around the country by highlighting a few states and their most popular Thanksgiving eats!
56. Frog Eye Salad (Tastes Better From Scratch): Frog eye salad contains tons of summery fruits, but believe it or not, it’s a very common Thanksgiving menu item in the Southwest!
57. Easy Baked Pumpkin Empanadas (Muy Bueno Recipes and Stories): You’ll find these sweet, pumpkin-filled treats on a Thanksgiving table in New Mexico.
58. Creamy Wild Rice Casserole With Sausage and Mushrooms (A Farmgirl’s Dabbles): This creamy, earthy, and delicious casserole is found among Thanksgiving side dishes in Minnesota.
59. Crock Pot Mac and Cheese (Spend With Pennies): Calling all cheese lovers! In Delaware, you’ll find slow cooker mac and cheese on the Thanksgiving menu.
60. Hasty Pudding (Simple Living Creative Learning): Hasty pudding is really similar to Southern grits. This dish is popular in New England homes on Thanksgiving Day.
61. The Best Oyster Stuffing Recipe for Thanksgiving (Sugar and Charm): Families in Washington, D.C., will often have oyster stuffing available for their Thanksgiving meal.
62. Turkey Spaghetti Casserole (Catherine’s Plates): This casserole is a popular Thanksgiving menu item in Arkansas.
63. Grandma’s Lime-Green Jello Salad (Home Cooking Memories): This isn’t your typical jello dessert. In fact, this one has the consistency of cottage cheese! Regardless, it’s still a really popular sweet treat in Utah for Thanksgiving.
64. Shepherd’s Pie (Spending With Pennies): The great thing about a shepherd’s pie is you can use almost any type of ground meat for the filling! Thanksgiving tables in Connecticut typically include this yummy comfort food.
65. Corn Pudding Casserole (Barefeet in the Kitchen): Indiana Thanksgiving dinners typically serve a type of corn pudding. It’s fairly inexpensive to make, and it’s savory and sweet!
This post has your table completely full when it comes to Thanksgiving side dishes, but don’t forget to check out our Top 50 BEST Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas to finish your holiday planning!
And if you’re looking to add more fun to your Thanksgiving menu (because, why not?!), check out these 40 Fun Thanksgiving Food Ideas!
Happy Thanksgiving, friends! XOXO!
