The Thanksgiving Side Dish Bellamy Young Can't Live Without

Dietary restrictions can be challenging at any time of the year, as the individual with restrictions is forced to peruse what exactly on a menu they're even able to eat rather than simply what sounds the most delicious at that particular moment. During the holidays, it can be even worse — who wants to miss out on their favorite Thanksgiving dishes simply because they contain an ingredient they're not able to consume?

Luckily, there are plenty of Thanksgiving recipes out there offering options, no matter what your restrictions are, from gluten-free stuffing varieties and dairy-free desserts to all kinds of plant-based alternatives and the classic Thanksgiving turkey, as Food52 detailed. While it may take a bit more work than simply finding a recipe that's accommodating of your restriction to begin with, you can even make changes to some of your beloved family recipes so that you're still able to enjoy them during the holiday season, something that actress Bellamy Young knows from experience.

As she revealed to Parade, Young has been a vegan for decades now. She went vegan all the way back in 1988 when she was still in college, according to PETA, and after seeing the positive changes the switch in eating had on her body, she's maintained that way of eating in the decades following. In fact, she's been vegan so long that her mother actually veganized Young's very favorite Thanksgiving side dish for her.

The thing Bellamy Young always reaches for (and perhaps goes back for seconds, or maybe even thirds) on the Thanksgiving table is sweet potato pie (via Parade). Specifically, Young lives for the pie that her mother whips up from her grandmother's recipe, keeping the delectable side dish in the family. While her grandmother's original recipe probably contained ingredients like eggs and dairy that are a no-go for anyone on a vegan diet, in response to Young's dietary restrictions, her mother ended up veganizing the recipe at one point. As Young explained to Shondaland, her mother uses her vegan biscuit dough for the pie crust, and then fills it with a vegan sweet potato filling that brings in all those fall flavors.

And, it seems the recipe is in good hands, as Young's mother sounds like quite a whiz in the kitchen. During a Thanksgiving extravaganza back in 2017, she apparently got a multitude of requests for her famous twice-baked potatoes (although Young of course put in her own individual request for her beloved pie).

As for whipping up the pie herself, it seems that doesn't quite fall into Young's wheelhouse. As she confessed to Shondaland, the item that she typically brings to Thanksgiving dinner isn't one that requires cooking at all — she simply shows up with some wine to pair with all the delectable dishes others are putting on the table.