7 Thanksgiving Sides Georgians Argue About Every Single Year
Turkey may be the star of your Thanksgiving dinner, but side dishes are where the arguments start.
Georgians have strong opinions about what belongs on the table. A few of those debates may never be settled, if you ask us.
Here are some of the sides that spark all-in-good-fun fights at Thanksgiving.
1. Dressing or Stuffing
Thanksgiving searches in Georgia lean toward dressing over stuffing, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of Google Trends data.
Dressing took 67% of those searches, and stuffing took 33%.
In a 2020 YouGov poll that pitted dishes against each other, stuffing or dressing won 77% of its matchups nationally and 84% across the South.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says the dish goes by stuffing, filling or dressing depending on the region.
The name is only half the argument.
You also have to decide whether the dish goes inside the turkey or in a separate pan.
Cooking stuffing separately is best for optimal safety and uniform doneness.
If you stuff the bird anyway, you’ll need the stuffing to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
A food thermometer beats guessing.
2. Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows won favor from 21% of respondents in a 2021 YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults.
Another 32% didn’t favor them, and 20% said they’d eat it either way.
A further 25% don’t eat sweet potatoes at all.
The marshmallow topping has a paper trail.
The first documented marshmallow topping on sweet potatoes appeared in a 1917 recipe book promoting marshmallows.
Pecans give you a home-state alternative to marshmallows.
Georgia has historically led the country in pecan production, typically at about one-third of the U.S. total, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service.
3. Canned or Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce often turns into a canned-or-fresh debate.
The 2021 YouGov poll called the canned-versus-fresh matchup a close contest, with women favoring canned and college graduates favoring fresh.
One in three respondents didn’t eat cranberry sauce at all.
The canned version has a traceable start.
Marcus Urann, a lawyer and cranberry farmer from Sullivan, Maine, is generally credited with pioneering commercially canned cranberry sauce in 1912, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Canned cranberry sauce is now more than a century old.
Simmering fresh berries puts you on the other side of the fight.
Psst! How much do you know about Thanksgiving side dish history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Side Dish Origins
Answer eight questions on where Thanksgiving sides came from. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Which of these vegetables hadn’t caught on in North America by the 1621 Plymouth harvest celebration?
4. Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese comes with a founding-father myth attached to it.
Monticello says myths abound regarding Thomas Jefferson and macaroni and cheese, so check the story before you repeat it at the table.
Jefferson didn't invent mac and cheese, and neither did his enslaved chef, James Hemings.
Hemings would have learned to make it during his culinary training in Paris.
Give Hemings his due.
In a 2022 Grill Cook Bake analysis of Google Trends data from November 2016 through 2021, mac and cheese topped Georgia's Thanksgiving side searches, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Mac and cheese came out on top in 10 states, and mashed potatoes claimed 10 states too.
The 2020 YouGov poll gave mac and cheese 62% of its matchups nationally and 69% across the South.
5. Mashed Potatoes
Which side belongs at the top of the list depends on where you live.
In a 2019 YouGov poll, Midwesterners listed mashed potatoes as their favorite Thanksgiving side (59%), while the rest of the country put stuffing or dressing first.
Mashed potatoes were also the dish most likely to be made from scratch among people who contribute to the meal, at 72%.
The 2020 YouGov poll put mashed potatoes just ahead of stuffing or dressing among sides nationally, at 78% of matchups to 77%.
Across the South, stuffing or dressing won 84% of its matchups.
How Long Thanksgiving Sides Can Sit Out
Thanksgiving sides, from gravy to dressing, need to go into the refrigerator within two hours of cooking, according to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
That window drops to one hour when the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Leftover sides keep for 3 to 4 days in your refrigerator or 3 to 4 months in your freezer.
Reheat sauces, soups and gravies by bringing them to a rolling boil.
When you use the microwave, cover the food and rotate it for even heating.
Divide big batches into shallow containers so they cool quickly.
6. Collard Greens
Collard greens won 38% of their matchups nationally and 45% across the South in the 2020 YouGov poll.
The University of Georgia reported in 2015 that Georgia was the country's second-largest collard grower.
The second argument happens at your stove.
A chef interviewed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2016 stops the pot at about 45 minutes so the leaves keep some bite.
You can cook them longer for a more tender result.
7. Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole came out of a Campbell's test kitchen, where Dorcas Reilly created the recipe in Camden, New Jersey, in 1955, according to the Smithsonian.
The original recipe asked you for six ingredients, including cream of mushroom soup and fried onions.
The 2019 YouGov poll found 47% said it's commonly served in the South, while only 27% of Northeasterners said they anticipate having it.
Reilly's handwritten original recipe card made it into the archives of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
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