20 Thanksgiving Side Dishes to Cook this Holiday Season

This year is going faster and faster with every day that passes. With Thanksgiving only a week away, I am already behind in planning my Thanksgiving menu, searching for recipes, and choosing my favorite part of the meal, the Thanksgiving side dishes.

As a vegetarian, I don’t eat turkey. Even before I stopped eating meat, I never liked turkey. Too bland and dry for me. So, I have developed a love for the Thanksgiving side dishes. I fill my entire plate with them, I don’t even miss the turkey.

The side dishes make me just as happy as everyone else, and I need as much happiness as I can get right now! I don’t particularly enjoy Thanksgiving, I never have. I don’t like the food all that much, and the history behind the holiday is far different from what we were told in school.

It is important to take time and educate ourselves on the holiday that we are celebrating. Taking these steps to decolonize while celebrating Thanksgiving is the bare minimum of what we can do to understand the day we are celebrating. It isn’t only about “giving thanks” and it is harmful to wash the day down to that.

For more information on the true history behind Thanksgiving, check out this article from The Smithsonian Magazine. And to hear about the holiday from an Indigenous person’s perspective, check out this piece by Terra Trevor.

Thanksgiving has become a tradition for a lot of people in America, and that tradition usually includes food. I am always looking for new and yummy Thanksgiving side dishes to try each year, and I have tried a lot! Here is a list of only some of what you can do on Thanksgiving. The possibilities are endless!

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1. Garlic Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes may be one of the most basic and overused Thanksgiving sides out there but they are also the best. I will not change my mind about that. I love adding crushed garlic and cheese to my pan while I mash the potatoes. It is dangerous how delicious that is, I can eat an entire pot of garlic cheese mashed potatoes all by myself.

2. Cheesy Rice

If it isn’t clear already, I love anything with cheese, and rice is no exception. Just as delicious as potatoes, cheesy rice makes a great side dish for Thanksgiving. It will be the first side dish to go at your Thanksgiving gathering, it is that addictive.

3. Green Bean Cassarole

Another Thanksgiving classic, I cannot spend the holiday without a green bean casserole. I think this one might be more of a nostalgic thing for me but my mom makes the best green bean casserole. It tastes like home to me!

4. Baked Macaroni and Cheese

You can never go wrong with a delicious pan of baked macaroni and cheese during the holidays. Honestly, I am on team “macaroni is an entire meal,” but it also works out great as a side dish.

5. Watergate Salad

If you have never heard of Watergate salad, get excited. I have the best Thanksgiving side dish for you! This salad goes by different names, like green salad, green fluff, and many others. It is a delicious mix of pistachio pudding mix, cool whip, and pineapple. Some people add nuts and mini marshmallows but I don’t. I stick with the pineapple. Watergate salad might look weird, and it sounds weird, but it is my favorite thing to eat during the holidays!

6. Sweet Potato Cassarole

If you can’t tell, I love dishes with potatoes in them, all sorts of potatoes. I also love when my meal has both salty and sweet options for side dishes. This is why sweet potato casserole is always on the list for the holidays.

7. Sweet Potato Fries

Staying with the sweet potato theme, why not fry some up to create a yummy, crispy potato side. You can do this with any potato, but I am partial to the sweet potato variety of fries.

8. Butternut Squash Soup

You usually don’t think about soup when choosing your Thanksgiving menu, but there is nothing cozier than a small cup of soup to go along with your meal. Butternut squash soup is perfect for the last moments of fall before we all transition into Christmas. Although, I have already made that transition…

9. Homemade Biscuits

Every big meal needs some sort of bread. You go to any restaurant and you have a bread basket in front of you, except maybe Mexican food restaurants. But anyway, bread is a fantastic side dish to any meal, so have some fun making your own! I particularly like making flaky cheese biscuits. If you don’t feel like making them from scratch, Pillsbury makes a fantastic and easy premade dough. All you have to do is pop it in the oven and you are good to go!

10. Homemade Sourdough Bread

On the same track as number 9, make some homemade sourdough bread for your Thanksgiving meal! Over the lockdown last year, so many people dabbled in bread-making. Did you pick up some skills while you were stuck at home? Well, the holidays are a great time to pick that up again!

Bonus: You can use the rest of the bread to make leftover sandwiches once Friday rolls around.

11. Roasted Vegetables

With all the bread and potatoes I have talked about so far on this list, there isn’t a lot of nutrients. So we have to throw in a couple of vegetables in there, and roasting them is so easy and makes them so delicious.

Wash and prepare whatever vegetables you want, such as broccoli, carrots, celery, green beans, and more. Throw them in a bowl with some avocado oil and whatever seasoning you want. Spread them out on a pan and throw them in the oven at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes and you will have the most delicious vegetables at the dinner table.

12. Jello

Another classic, you can never go wrong with some jello. I am partial to orange and strawberry jello myself, but all flavors are delicious. Add some fruit into the jello before it sets to make it even tastier and to add some texture!

13. Cranberry Sauce

In all honesty, am not a huge fan of cranberry sauce, but my family always serves it with Thanksgiving dinner because my dad loves it. I just never understood what the purpose of it was… Maybe I just need to try a homemade cranberry sauce. I have only ever had the one from the can.

14. Fruit Salad

Thanks to the wiggles, I am constantly craving a fruit salad. It makes for a refreshing side dish to eat in between all of the potatoes and starches that Thanksgiving brings. I usually cut up a bunch of my favorite fruits, or whatever looks good at the store and mix it with a container of vanilla yogurt. I then sprinkle some cinnamon and nutmeg into the mixture. Delicious!

15. Cinnamon Apple Sauce

Apple sauce isn’t only for little kids! If you are also like me, and you love when there is a variety of sweet and savory for Thanksgiving, then make some apple sauce and add cinnamon to taste. You can find a ton of homemade recipes online, or just buy it from the store. I won’t tell.

16. Tator Tot Cassarole

This one is a lot of fun because you can put whatever you want into it. I am not a meat-eater, so I create layers of stator tots, cheese, scallions, and vegetarian chili. But you can add bacon, shredded chicken, or whatever other toppings you want. That’s the beauty of a casserole!

17. Baked Beans

The ooey, gooey goodness of a bowl of baked beans is so comforting to me. It is the perfect side dish idea for most styles of food as is it matches with a versatile palette. And they are just delicious!

18. Charcuterie Board

These have become so popular over the years, and they make a fantastic side dish to any meal, especially one with a lot of sharing. Throw a charcuterie board in the middle of the table where everyone can grab what they want. Sharing is caring!

You can get really creative with them. Create an adorable Thanksgiving-themed charcuterie board with pumpkin-shaped cheeses and crackers laid out in the shape of a turkey. Look on Pinterest, you will find so many ideas there!

19. Pasta Salad

Although pasta salad seems like a summer dish, I can eat it all year round. Having some cool sides to juxtapose the heat from the mashed potatoes and cassaroles is a great way to cleanse your palette.

You can check out my favorite pasta salad recipe by clicking here!

20. Candied Yams

I think you can define my Thanksgiving side dishes as potatoes, potatoes, and more potatoes. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with potatoes, especially with how versatile they are! I mean, they can be savory, like roasted potatoes and mashed russet potatoes. But they can also be sweet, like Candied yams!

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There is definitely a good mix of savory and sweet on this list, which is exactly what I want from my Thanksgiving side dishes. A good mix really takes the meal to a different level.

My family tends to cook the same things every year, so I want to try and find something different and exciting to add to the menu. I am a sucker for tradition, but sometimes throwing something new in there can be fun!

If you are looking for more cozy meal ideas, check out this post, full of rainy day menu ideas. I am sure most of these would be wonderful additions to any Thanksgiving menu.

Does your family usually cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, or do you usually think outside the box? Let me know in the comments below!