Thanksgiving Side Dishes to Serve for Your Dinner Menu

Are you wondering what Thanksgiving side dishes to serve?

Perhaps the turkey or the ham is the main event, but it's the side dishes that steal the show!

What would the meat be without the mashed potatoes and the gravy, or the cranberry salad, cheddar cheese dinner rolls hot out of the oven and pumpkin pie with the swirl of whipped cream on top? It would just be meat. So, get out the family's favorite recipes, get the shopping done, and get ready for another great Thanksgiving.

In many homes, the stuffing (or dressing) is just about as important as the turkey and can be made from ingredients as traditional as sage or cornbread to rice or cranberries. Traditionally baked in the turkey, more recent recipes utilize a crock pot to keep it virtually animal fat free. And, considering the trend to find healthier foods and food cooking avenues, bases other than bread is being considered. This includes bulgur, couscous and barley as well as rice.

Modern Thanksgiving side dish recipes utilize a wider variety of spices, fresh herbs, fruits such as cranberries, citrus and apples, as well as seasonal vegetables like zucchini and pumpkin.

While traditional potato sides would include lots of butter and / or sour cream for the white versions, and brown sugar along with marshmallows for the sweet version, the modern versions would rely on the flavor of a more natural means, such as light fruit (try coconut and pineapple with a pecan topping) or herb sauces. Make Columbus, who is credited with bring the sweet potato to the new world from the island of St. Thomas, proud.

The Northwestern region doesn't have the market cornered on cranberry dishes, but because the fruit is grown in the area (Oregon is famous for cranberries), they are pretty abundant - like cranberry orange bread combining both fruits with nuts. Of course, many families wouldn't think of the traditional dinner without cranberry sauce, a cranberry molded gelatin salad, or a salad using whole cranberry sauce and whipped or cottage cheese.

Need more ideas for Thanksgiving side dishes? Croissants are also popular at this feast - especially when a spoon of cranberry conserves is spooned into them before they are rolled up and baked. Hot out of the oven and served right away, they are out of this world. Don't forget extra conserves (made with apples and / or oranges), chutney or relish to serve with the meat.

Other traditional Thanksgiving side dishes at a Thanksgiving feast would include sweet potatoes, which are terrific cooked with oranges or other citrus as opposed to sugars and marshmallows, and green bean casserole which, again, can be quickly put together using cream of mushroom soup or made from scratch with more natural ingredients like whole grain flour (2 tablespoons) as the basis of the sauce.

Carrots, lightly steamed and drizzled with a little honey and sprinkled with basil carry on with fall harvest ingredients, while a nice spinach salad made with cranberries and toasted slivered almonds tossed with tangy oil and vinegar dressing add a lovely contrast. Be sure to top this Thanksgiving side dish with sesame or poppy seeds.

These are just some of the many Thanksgiving side dishes which you could consider serving at your dinner celebration. Enjoy!

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