Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in the country. The day includes NFL games, time with family, and perhaps the most iconic aspect of the holiday: Thanksgiving dinner. The debate of what is the best Thanksgiving dish has been raging across dinner tables and kitchens for years. To settle this debate, I present to you, a countdown of the five greatest Thanksgiving dishes to be put on tables, ending with the best.
5. Cranberry Sauce: A Thanksgiving classic, this wondrous red goo is the classic side dish to the more famous turkey. While the taste of cranberry sauce is unique, it is still very scrumptious, especially if you happen to have a particularly dry turkey that Thanksgiving. Cranberry sauce even has some really good health benefits to help offset all the food you eat. A study by the American Chemical Association found that cranberry sauce helped lower your LDL (or bad cholesterol), and raise your HDL (good cholesterol), which is great to help offset all of the LDL you’re gonna get with all of your holiday cooking this year. So, take a big helping of cranberry sauce this year, you’ll thank me later.
4. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy: A classic dish inside and outside of Thanksgiving dinner, mashed potatoes and gravy is incredibly delicious and such a classic. Whether you make your own mashed potatoes or just make instant mashed potatoes on your stove, you’re sure to finish every bite! The gravy on top only serves to make it better. Mashed potatoes are a food that is so universally loved, it’s impossible not to rank them in the top 5.
3. Stuffing: I know this pick will be controversial, but stuffing is quite honestly the most underrated Thanksgiving dish ever. When do you eat it outside of Thanksgiving? Never. But it keeps coming back because stuffing is simply that good. It’s a wonderful addition to the turkey making process and is such a nice side dish in general to add to the flavors of your mashed potatoes, green beans, yams, and everything else. It’s got the unique addition of not being directly made from a vegetable, while also being an incredibly tasty dish. Stuffing is incredible, and nobody can convince me otherwise.
2. Turkey: What! Turkey not number 1? Yes. While there is nothing really bad to say about turkey, we can talk about all the good. Turkey is the classic Thanksgiving dish. Just like how the New England Patriots can’t have a successful season without Tom Brady, you can’t have a successful Thanksgiving without the turkey. Adding gravy on top of it just makes it that much better, and it adds wonderful flavor to the dish. Turkey also helps make stuffing, and we know how much I love stuffing. Finally, turkey is the centerpiece of any Thanksgiving dinner, without it alot of Thanksgiving dishes would not be the same, so really, we have turkey to thank for the modern Thanksgiving dinner.
1. Pie. I’ll leave which pie is best to you, that is another debate all together, but come on, the highlight of every Thanksgiving dinner is what comes afterwards! The tasty, delicious, amazing pie. While the classics include Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie, any pie is good. The only thing that really makes pie better overall, is the ice cream and whipped cream that is often put on top of it. While it’s the dessert dish and not the main appetizer, it is impossible not to love Thanksgiving dinner.
That’s it, the five best Thanksgiving dishes and anyone who says otherwise is WRONG. Or not, everyone can have opinions. But this Thanksgiving I hope you eat lots of cranberries, spend wonderful time with your loved ones, and have a wonderful week off from school. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope you have a wonderful week.