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It’s an undeniable fact that a juicy turkey is the star attraction of a Thanksgiving dinner. And likewise, you put in a lot of effort into preparing it. But just one dish can’t complete your dinner table.
It looks quite out of depth that way. That’s where side dishes play an important role. Since turkey is a typical main course, it’s the side dishes that make or break a Thanksgiving dinner. They are the options for the vegans, the children, as well as bring colors and make the plates exotic.
And who doesn’t love to load lavish amounts of potato casserole, sweet potato salads, stuffing, dressing, and more on their plate? But mushy vegetables, bland salads, and unbalanced gravy can spoil the dinner too.
But don’t worry, we have got your sides covered. Here we list 31 luscious side dishes that involve ingredients readily available around thanksgiving like sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, Brussels, and so on.
You’ll find dishes that not only taste good but look quite attractive. After all, the appearance matters a lot when you’re hosting a feast. And it’s time we wait for all the year, so putting in extra effort to makes these sides would well be worth it.
31 Best Thanksgiving Side Dishes
1. Coconut Cream Greens
A recipe straight out of grandma’s recipe books, these coconut cream greens are the perfect combination of healthy and delicious, just like your grandma would want. It’s a top side if you want to add a bit of green nutrition in an otherwise fat-filled feast. The creamy texture brings up the taste of the spices out and makes the dish quite balanced and savory
2. Roasted Green Beans with Balsamic Butter
Side dishes shouldn’t be fulfilling; they don’t need to satisfy your hunger. Instead, adding a few nutrients that might be missing in your main dish can make a side dish worth its weight. This delicious, crunchy, and gluten-free recipe of green beans is just the ideal thanksgiving side dish for the health-conscious.
3. Maple Glazed Carrots with Bacon
The dish looks so delicious and satisfying that it is hard to believe it’s made of carrots. The maple adds a decadency to this dish while the carrot retains its crunch, too, making it a great side dish to munch. The bacon adds a savory taste that completes the dish.
4. Persian Jeweled Rice
The magical Middle Eastern dish is capable of being the charm of any wedding. But it would also act as an excellent side dish because of its spectacular presentation and nutty toppings. Moreover, the recipe is gluten-free and vegan, which makes it a great main dish for vegans.
5. Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Stock
Brussel Sprouts aren’t very popular, but that doesn’t make it any less addictive. Perhaps it can turn out to be a unique side dish for many. Its tender taste makes it an excellent starter for Thanksgiving dinners.
6. Salad with Goat Cheese, Pears, Candied Pecans, and Maple-Balsamic Dressing
If salads are your favorite side dish like me, you’d love to try this assorted salad that is surprisingly so easy to make. It looks vibrant and colorful and will satisfy all your cheese cravings too. The pecans and pear make it a power-packed side dish for Thanksgiving.
7. Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
The gooey goodness of marshmallow tops of this exotic side dish made of sweet potatoes. It will burst in your mouth, and our advice is to make it in abundance because some guests won’t be able to get over it even after you’ve served the main course!
8. Traditional Baked Sweet Potatoes
You don’t need to go out of the box to make a lip-smacking side dish when the stores are packed with large sweet potatoes. The smooth and sweety flesh of these traditionally baked potatoes combines well with the crispy skin and beefs up your menu so effortlessly.
9. Loaded Slow Cooker Potatoes
Here is comfort food that is good to replace any complicated recipe that you would spend hours working on. The best part about this dish is how effortlessly it cooks and still provides a luscious taste. The mixture of slow-cooked baby potatoes, cheese, sour cream, and bacon is too good to let go amiss.
10. Fried Mashed Potato Balls
Add a little crunch to your Thanksgiving sides with these crispy potato balls made of leftover mashed potatoes. They are super easy to make and are also a sure hit among the children. Such a side dish becomes essential when inviting guests because they will surely like it even if they don’t want others.
11. Cheesy Loaded Baked Cauliflowers
Here is a healthy twist to the regular mac and cheese with baked cauliflowers added instead of noodles. It’s loaded with bacon and makes for a mouth-watering recipe for Thanksgiving. It’s something your guests would want to know the secret about and bring you instant recognition!
12. Sweet Potato Casserole
I love creamy dishes, but you don’t necessarily need marshmallows to make a sweet potato dish creamy. The texture of sweet potatoes is luscious on its offers, a crunchy contrast cleverly combining crunchiness of nuts with gooey sweet potatoes to make an excellent side dish/dessert.
13. Cornbread Dressing
This cornbread dressing has each of the classic flavors of Thanksgiving along with Italian sausages that make it a drool-worthy proposition. It’s too good to be a side dish and would be talked about long after the dinner is over. The milk and eggs combine to provide a spongy texture that you’d love to savor along with the turkey.
14. Butternut Squash and Leek Stuffing
Stuffings are excellent versatile side dishes that add a lot of value and color to the dinner without taking much of an effort. Look at this butternut stuffing; it’s loaded with the goodness of veggies, cranberry, and is vegan. And the soggy bread will surely enrich the overall taste.
15. Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Acorn squash
If you’re looking for a hearty side dish or if your Thanksgiving menu looks a bit out of depth, this squash will rescue you. It looks so good, is packed with delicious sausages, mushrooms, and woodsy herbs to make a heartwarming side.
16. Roasted Vegetable Galette
One challenge about serving guests on Thanksgiving is that you need to cater to all. That means you can’t serve turkey dishes to everyone. If that’s your conundrum, try this luscious vegetable gallate. Filled with the goodness of cheese, parsnips, butternut squash, and more, even nonvegetarians will want a bite of it.
17. Garlic Kale Salad with Crispy Chickpeas
Sometimes a crunchy, garlicky salad is all you need to complete a grand Thanksgiving feast. And it’s a well-known fact how nutritious kale is. If you’re looking to accommodate kale in your diet, here’s a quick recipe. Chickpeas and garlic balance the sturdy texture of kale in this smart recipe.
18. Bacon Ranch Deviled Eggs
Devilled eggs are a risk-free side dish option as most adults as well as children, love it. But this recipe adds a creamy texture along with the goodness of bacon. And if you’re a fan of the ranch dressing like me, you would love to have this delicious recipe.
19. Butternut Squash Orzo with Feta and Sage
Thanksgiving dinner is incomplete without decadent velvety butternut squash. And this colorful and creamy recipe is so easy to make and can also perform as an excellent main dish. One casserole will be sufficient for a lot of guests, although if you love it, you might want more.
20. Stuffing-Muffins with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Planning about a Thanksgiving meal gets more comfortable when you put all the food on a platter. Having a side dish that looks exquisite and yet fits easily on a plate is a must. You must check out this easy recipe of stuffed muffins and mashed potatoes that exude a harmonious taste and blend.
21. Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing
Side dishes feel good only if they don’t take much time to prepare. After all, you need to look after the decor and put special effort into your main dish for Thanksgiving. It’s super easy to make and works as a dressing as well as stuffing, whichever style suits you.
22. Slow cooker Mexican mac and cheese
Mac and cheese can never be a failure. But for the big day, twist it rather than making a traditional recipe. The addition of jalapeno and tomato provides an exotic flavor to the comfort food. It would even look as good the next day so you can make it in abundance.
23. Creamy Corn Pudding with Crunchy Onions
Here is another refreshing alternative to green beans and an extra can of fried onions is never bad as a topping. It brings a perfect contrast and acts as a great topping to the buffer of creamy corn pudding. The dish is quite savory and a slightly sweet texture that children would fall in love with.
24. Root Vegetable Pie
Some vegetarians feel left out in Thanksgiving dinner and other such parties because of the abundance of meat items. But they’d be surprised at the plethora of options at their hand. For instance, take a look at this savory combination of mashed sweet potatoes topped on layers of crunchy root veggies. Even us nonvegetarians can’t help but drool over it.
25. Farro with Mushrooms and Parmesan
Check out this lip-smacking whole-grain dish infused with rich flavors of thyme, oregano, mushroom, and garlic. The addition of lime juice and parmesan cheese makes the combination all the more heavenly. Ohh, we’re already drooling on it.
26. Wild Rice Casserole
Add a healthy side dish to a Thanksgiving dinner table, otherwise flooded with fat and carbs with this wild rice casserole. And its cheesy broccoli flavor provides a luscious twist to wild rice casserole. You finally have an alternative to wild rice soups too!
27. Sweet Potato with Graham Cracker Casserole
Here is an instant hit side dish for Thanksgiving. It’s crunchy, has a nutty streusel topping along with maple, and the toasted marshmallows just complete an exotic side dish. Kids would love the caramelized sweetness of the dish while the addition of graham crackers also beefs up the nutrition factor.
28. Roasted Sweet Potato and Delicata Squash with Cranberry Agrodolce
If you’re looking for a side that doesn’t just taste good but looks attractive, here is an excellent recipe of sweet potato and squash drizzled with cranberry sauce. Moreover, the sour and sweet cranberry sauce will also act as an excellent condiment for turkey. The glaze of sauce and vibrance of roasted potatoes make this dish attractive too.
29. Citrus Pomegranate Relish
Check out this lip-smacking combination of citrus as well as pomegranate in this five-ingredient recipe. It adds a freshness quotient to your lunch table and certainly boosts the nutritional value too. You can make it more colorful by adding other citrus fruits like grapefruit or lime also.
30. Spicy Cornbread with Chiles and Cheese
Go a bit wild with your side dishes this time with a hot and spicy cornbread side. The cornbread and cheese combine to neutralize the spice just enough for the recipe to taste heavenly. Add a cheesy dip on the side for those who don’t particularly love spice.
31. Waldorf Salad
Salads hardly get me drooling, but this Waldorf salad is a fresh breeze of change. The addition of crisp red apples and crunchy toasted walnuts to this classic chicken salad make the dish worthy of being a side dish on the big occasions. It’s nutritious, and the vinegar, honey, and celery form the dish consistent and harmonious.
These were 31 of the best Thanksgiving sides you’d find. So, give a twist to your traditional Thanksgiving menu and be the star of the evening. And don’t forget- a side has to be tastier or healthier than the main dish, only then will its purpose will be fulfilled.
