This Is Your State's Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dish
Christmas is all about peace on earth (and presents), Halloween and Valentine's Day are each, in their own special way, about scaring the bejeebers out of you (and also candy), while Super Bowl Sunday is all about chicken wings and beer (and also football). Thanksgiving, however, is the one holiday out of the year that is almost entirely dedicated to food, although we're probably meant to work in a little family togetherness and gratitude, as well. While the main dish on the Thanksgiving table may be turkey for about 9 out of 10 of us (via the University of Illinois Extension), people do get a bit more creative when it comes to side dishes. Well, just a little.
GrillCookBake analyzed the past five years' worth of Google data to determine the favorite Thanksgiving sides on a state-by-state basis, and discovered that on this day, carbs are king. Well, ok, there were a few exceptions. Green bean casserole came out tops in 8 states, most of them Midwestern (Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas), while Kentucky went for a broccoli variant of same and South Dakota favored creamed corn. Arkansas sure loves them some white gravy (on what, they didn't say), while Alaska and Indiana are the most keto-friendly of states, opting for deviled eggs. Tradition-loving Vermont was the lone state to show any love for poor old cranberry sauce.
Potatoes and pasta were the most popular dishes
While Southern Living relates that macaroni and cheese as a traditional Thanksgiving side may have started out as a southern thing, according to GrillCookBake's analysis, it's now far more widespread than its origins would indicate. Ten states chose this classic comfort food as their #1 Thanksgiving side, including the southern states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, the mid-Atlantic's Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, the midwestern's Ohio, and New England's smallest state, Rhode Island.
Mashed potatoes matched mac and cheese in popularity, although their distribution skewed more heavily to the western states (as well as a few in the Midwest). It was the favorite dish in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you add in the two southern states (Florida and Tennessee) that favored sweet potato casserole, though, then it's definitely spuds for the win!
Other states were all about the bread
Nearly 1/3 of the states preferred their carbs in the form of some type of bread, although they differed in how they liked it prepared or what they call it. In Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, GrillCookBake says that what they want is stuffing, while in Alabama they go for dressing, instead. Is there a difference between the two? According to The Pioneer Woman, it's pretty much just a matter of semantics, although there are regional differences regarding what types of bread (and other ingredients) are used. Case in point: Louisiana and Mississippi, where they are a bit more specific about the type of dressing they prefer. For these two Deep South states, only cornbread dressing will do.
Way out west (and also in West Virginia, which is Virginia's own frontier), they prefer their bread in plainer form. Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as the aforementioned West Virginia, all want bread in the form of dinner rolls. We're betting they like plenty of butter, as well, since who doesn't?