Introduction
Here is my controversial Thanksgiving opinion: the sides are the actual meal. The turkey is the guest of honor, sure, but it is the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, and that one green bean casserole everyone fights over that people talk about for weeks. I have hosted Thanksgiving seven times now, and I have learned that a great spread of thanksgiving side dish recipes is what turns a good dinner into the dinner everyone remembers. These 21 recipes are my tried-and-true rotation — classics done properly, a few lighter options for balance, and honest make-ahead notes on every single one, because nobody should be mashing potatoes while the turkey rests.
1. Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
No Thanksgiving table survives without mashed potatoes, and these are the ones I make every year: Yukon Golds (never Russets for mashing — they go gummy), plenty of salted butter, and warm cream cheese folded in at the end for a richness that regular milk cannot touch. The game-changer is that you can make them fully two days ahead; they reheat in a slow cooker on low with a splash of milk, stirred once halfway through, and taste freshly made. I learned this trick after one year of trying to mash, season, and carve simultaneously. Never again.
What you need
Yukon Gold potatoes, salted butter, full-fat cream cheese, warm milk or half-and-half, and a potato ricer — a ricer gives you lump-free potatoes without overworking the starch, which is what turns them gluey.
Make-ahead tip
Cool completely, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and refrigerate up to two days. Reheat in a greased slow cooker on low for 2-3 hours, stirring once, with an extra knob of butter on top.
2. Brown Butter Sweet Potato Mash
Regular sweet potato mash is fine; brown butter sweet potato mash is the dish people ask about. Cooking the butter until the milk solids toast to a nutty amber color takes five extra minutes and transforms the whole thing — suddenly the potatoes taste deeper, almost caramel-like. I mash roasted sweet potatoes (roasting instead of boiling keeps them from going watery) with the brown butter, a pinch of cayenne, and a squeeze of orange juice. The cayenne sounds odd and I promise it works — it just wakes everything up. A friend who “hates sweet potatoes” ate two servings of this last year. Converted.
What you need
Sweet potatoes, unsalted butter, cayenne pepper, one orange, flaky sea salt. Roast the potatoes whole at 400°F until completely soft — about an hour — then scoop the flesh out of the skins.
3. Green Bean Casserole From Scratch
I grew up on the canned-soup version and I still have fond feelings for it, but making green bean casserole from scratch is genuinely not much harder and tastes like a different dish entirely. Fresh green beans blanched bright green, a quick mushroom cream sauce made in one pan, and crispy shallots on top instead of the canned onions. The shallots are the part worth the effort — slice them thin, fry until deeply golden, drain on paper towels, and try not to eat them all before they reach the casserole. Assemble the whole thing the day before and bake it while the turkey rests; the oven is free and the timing works out perfectly.
4. Classic Sausage and Herb Stuffing
Call it stuffing or dressing — I cook mine outside the bird in a buttered baking dish, which is safer and gives you those crispy edges everyone fights over. Day-old sourdough or a sturdy country loaf is the base; anything soft turns to mush. Brown sweet Italian sausage first, then cook the onion and celery in the rendered fat, and you have built flavor in layers before the bread even goes in. Fresh sage, thyme, and parsley matter here — dried herbs taste dusty in comparison. I make the full pan the day before, refrigerate it, and bake it covered for the first half so it steams through, then uncovered for the crispy top.
Make-ahead tip
Assemble completely up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate. Add 10 minutes to the covered baking time straight from the fridge. The crispy top actually improves with the overnight rest.
5. Southern Cornbread Dressing
Cornbread dressing is a whole different animal from bread stuffing, and in my house we make both because choosing is impossible. The cornbread should be baked a day ahead and left out to go properly stale — fresh cornbread dissolves into paste. Crumble it coarse, mix with sautéed onion, celery, and plenty of sage, then bind with chicken stock and beaten eggs. The eggs are what set it into sliceable squares instead of a spoonable pile. I bake mine in a cast-iron skillet, which gives the bottom a crust you will dream about. My grandmother made it this way in her Lodge skillet, and some recipes you just do not argue with.
6. Honey-Glazed Roasted Carrots
Carrots are the underdog side that always disappears first, and I think it is because they are the only thing on the table that is both sweet and simple. Toss whole rainbow carrots with olive oil, salt, and honey, roast at 425°F until the edges caramelize — about 25 minutes — then finish with fresh thyme and a crumble of goat cheese if you are feeling fancy. Do not cut them small; the long, whole carrots look dramatic on a platter and the caramelized tips are the best bite. These hold at room temperature for an hour easily, which makes them perfect for the crowded-oven years when every rack is spoken for.
What you need
Whole rainbow or regular carrots with tops trimmed, good honey, olive oil, fresh thyme, flaky salt. A rimmed sheet pan — crowding is the enemy of caramelization, so use two pans if needed.
7. Maple Brussels Sprouts With Bacon
Brussels sprouts have one job on Thanksgiving: convert the skeptics. Halve them, roast cut-side down in a hot oven until deeply browned, then toss with crisped bacon, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar is the secret — it cuts the richness and keeps the whole thing from tasting like candy. Roasting cut-side down is non-negotiable; it is what gets you that flat, caramelized face instead of sad steamed halves. I make a double batch now after the year my brother-in-law ate a third of the pan standing at the stove. Serve them in the pan you roasted them in. Fewer dishes, rustic look.
8. Roasted Butternut Squash With Sage
Butternut squash roasted with brown butter and crispy sage leaves tastes like fall concentrated into cubes. The trick is cutting the squash into even pieces — uneven cubes mean half are mush and half are crunchy, and there is no fixing it mid-roast. I microwave the whole squash for three minutes first, which makes peeling and cutting dramatically easier and less dangerous. Toss with olive oil and salt, roast until the edges catch, then pour over foaming brown butter and scatter fried sage leaves on top. The sage fries in about thirty seconds in the same butter. This one is naturally vegetarian and gluten-free, which quietly solves two dietary needs without a separate dish.
Make-ahead tip
Peel and cube the squash up to two days ahead and refrigerate in a sealed container. Roast day-of — it only needs 35 minutes and the oven will be hot anyway.
9. Skillet Creamed Corn
Creamed corn is pure comfort, and the skillet version with a bacon base beats the canned stuff by a mile. Render diced bacon in a cast-iron skillet, sauté the corn kernels (frozen works perfectly — do not let anyone tell you otherwise in November) in the drippings, then stir in cream cheese and a little cream until it is lush and spoonable. A pinch of smoked paprika on top gives it color and a whisper of smoke. This is the dish I make when I want maximum payoff for minimum effort — fifteen minutes, one pan, and it tastes like you worked much harder. Kids who refuse every green vegetable on the table will eat this. Mine do.
10. Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Yes, potatoes twice. No, nobody has ever complained. Thin-sliced Yukon Golds layered with gruyère and a garlic-infused cream, baked until the top is burnished gold and the edges are crispy — this is the rich, decadent potato for people who find mashed potatoes too plain. A mandoline makes the slicing fast and even; uneven slices cook unevenly and the thin ones dissolve. Assemble the entire gratin the day before and bake it while the turkey rests, covered in foil for the first 40 minutes. The resting time actually helps it set into clean layers. I use my Staub braiser for this and the presentation straight from oven to table is half the appeal.
What you need
Yukon Gold potatoes, gruyère cheese, heavy cream, one garlic clove, fresh thyme, and a mandoline or very sharp knife. Salt between every layer — under-seasoned scalloped potatoes are a tragedy.
11. Creamed Spinach
Creamed spinach is the steakhouse side that belongs on Thanksgiving, and it is shockingly easy. Wilt fresh spinach in batches (it cooks down to almost nothing — buy twice what you think you need), squeeze it genuinely dry, then fold it into a simple béchamel with nutmeg and parmesan. The nutmeg is the whole point; without it, creamed spinach is just green mush in white sauce. Squeezing the spinach dry is the step everyone skips and regrets — wet spinach makes a watery sauce and there is no recovery. I make the sauce ahead and combine it with the wilted spinach an hour before serving, then warm it gently on the stove.
12. Garlic Green Beans With Almonds
For the table that already has a creamy green bean casserole, these garlicky blanched beans with toasted almonds are the bright, crisp counterpoint. Blanch the beans in aggressively salted boiling water for three minutes, shock them in ice water to lock in the color, then sauté quickly with sliced garlic and olive oil. Toast the sliced almonds separately until golden — they go from perfect to burnt in about thirty seconds, so do not walk away. The whole dish comes together in the time the turkey rests, and the vivid green looks beautiful against all the beige and brown on the table. I started making these the year I realized every side I served was some shade of tan.
13. Sweet Potato Casserole With Pecan Streusel
The marshmallow-topped version divides families; the pecan streusel version unites them. Smooth, buttery sweet potato base — I roast the potatoes for depth — topped with a brown sugar, pecan, and butter crumble that bakes into a crunchy lid. It eats like dessert but counts as a side, which is the best kind of Thanksgiving math. Assemble the base and the streusel separately a day ahead; combine and bake for 30 minutes before serving. My aunt brings this every year and guards the recipe like state secrets, so I developed my own version out of pure spite. It is better than hers. Do not tell her I said that.
Make-ahead tip
Make the sweet potato base and streusel separately up to two days ahead and refrigerate. Spread the cold streusel over the cold base and bake 35 minutes — the contrast actually gives you a crunchier top.
14. Fresh Cranberry-Orange Relish
This is not the jellied log from a can — it is bright, raw, and takes ten minutes in a food processor. Whole cranberries, one orange (peel and all, just remove the seeds), sugar, and a handful of pecans, pulsed until it is a coarse relish. Make it at least a day ahead; the flavors need overnight to meld and the sugar needs time to tame the cranberries’ bite. It keeps for a week in the fridge and the leftovers are incredible on turkey sandwiches. I started making this when I realized the canned stuff was the one thing nobody touched, and now people ask for the recipe. Raw cranberries look intimidating. They are not. The food processor does everything.
15. Parker House Dinner Rolls
Store-bought rolls are fine, but warm homemade Parker House rolls with salted butter are the thing people remember. The dough is enriched with milk, butter, and a touch of honey, folded over with a brush of butter inside — that fold is what makes them pull apart in layers. They need about two hours of rise time, so plan around the turkey schedule, not the other way around. I bake mine in a cast-iron skillet for soft sides and a golden top. Brush them with melted butter the second they come out of the oven and sprinkle with flaky salt. The year I forgot the salt, my father noticed. Fathers notice everything about rolls.
What you need
Bread flour, whole milk, unsalted butter, honey, one egg, active dry yeast, flaky sea salt. A stand mixer with a dough hook saves your arms — this is a soft, sticky dough.
Make-ahead tip
Shape the rolls, arrange in the pan, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight. Let them rise at room temperature for an hour before baking — they go straight into the oven while the turkey rests.
16. Southern Baked Mac and Cheese
In many families mac and cheese is not a side — it is a food group, and it would be a dereliction of duty to leave it off this list. The Southern baked version uses eggs and evaporated milk for a custardy set, not a stovetop cheese sauce, and it slices into squares instead of spooning out. Sharp cheddar is mandatory; mild cheddar makes a bland mac. I grate my own cheese because pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking starch that makes the sauce grainy — this is the one hill I will die on. Bake until the top is deeply golden and the edges are crispy. It reheats beautifully, which means leftovers for days. Nobody has ever been sad about that.
What you need
Elbow macaroni, sharp cheddar (grate it yourself), evaporated milk, eggs, butter, mustard powder. The mustard powder does not make it taste like mustard — it sharpens the cheese flavor.
17. Roasted Root Vegetable Medley
When the oven is already running hot, a sheet pan of root vegetables is nearly free. Parsnips, carrots, turnips, and red onion cut into similar-sized chunks, tossed with olive oil, salt, and rosemary, roasted until the edges caramelize. The parsnips are the surprise star — they roast up sweet and almost creamy inside. Cut everything roughly the same size or the small pieces burn while the big ones stay raw; this is the one rule of the sheet pan. I add a drizzle of balsamic in the last ten minutes for a dark, sweet glaze. This is also the easiest dish to scale — one more sheet pan feeds six more people with zero extra thought.
18. Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf
Not everyone wants bread-based stuffing, and this wild rice pilaf is the elegant alternative. Chewy wild rice blend cooked in chicken or vegetable stock, tossed with sautéed mushrooms, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and fresh parsley. The textures are the whole appeal — chewy, crisp, soft, crunchy in every bite. It is naturally gluten-free and easily made vegan with vegetable stock and olive oil, which makes it the quiet hero for guests with dietary restrictions. I make it in my Instant Pot (22 minutes on high pressure, natural release) while the oven does everything else. One less thing competing for oven space on the big day is worth its weight in gold.
Make-ahead tip
Cook the rice and sauté the mushrooms a day ahead and refrigerate separately. Combine cold, then warm gently in a covered skillet with a splash of stock — add the cranberries, pecans, and parsley fresh at serving time so they stay vibrant.
19. Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad
Every heavy Thanksgiving table needs one cold, crunchy, bright thing, and this salad is it. Brussels sprouts shaved paper-thin (a mandoline or the slicing disc of a food processor), tossed with shaved parmesan, toasted hazelnuts, dried cranberries, and a sharp lemon-Dijon vinaigrette. The acid cuts through all the butter and cream on the table like nothing else. Shave the sprouts a day ahead and keep them crisp in a sealed bag with a paper towel; dress the salad no more than an hour before serving so it stays crunchy. I introduced this three years ago as an experiment and it is now requested by name. The skeptics became evangelists.
20. Cauliflower Gratin
Cauliflower gratin is what happens when cauliflower gets the scalloped-potato treatment, and it is magnificent. Blanched cauliflower florets nestled into a gruyère cream sauce, topped with buttered breadcrumbs, baked until bubbling and brown. The breadcrumbs are essential — they give you the textural contrast the soft cauliflower needs. Blanching first is the step that keeps it from going watery in the oven; five minutes in salted boiling water, then drain well. This is my pick for the guest who does not eat potatoes but still wants something indulgent. Assemble it fully the day before and bake while the turkey rests — the timing, once again, works out beautifully.
What you need
Cauliflower, gruyère, heavy cream, panko breadcrumbs, butter, nutmeg. A shallow gratin dish gives you more crispy top per serving than a deep casserole.
21. Roasted Beets With Whipped Goat Cheese
Ending the list with the prettiest dish on the table: ruby beets roasted until sweet, sliced over a swoosh of whipped goat cheese, scattered with pistachios and fresh dill. Roast the beets wrapped in foil — no peeling needed beforehand, the skins slip right off after roasting, though your hands will look like a crime scene (wear gloves). Whip the goat cheese with a little cream and lemon zest until it is light and spreadable. The color contrast of deep red against white is stunning on a platter and it photographs beautifully if that matters to you. It matters to me. This is the dish that makes the whole table look like you hired a caterer, and it takes maybe twenty minutes of actual work.
Pro Tips
- Count on 4-5 sides for 6-8 guests and 6-8 sides for a crowd — plus rolls and cranberry sauce, which barely count as sides because they are mandatory.
- Make a timeline working backward from serving time: anything that reheats well gets done first, and the oven does double duty while the turkey rests.
- Stagger your oven temperatures — roast vegetables at 425°F early, then drop to 350°F for gratins and casseroles while the turkey rests.
- Label your serving dishes with sticky notes the night before so you are not hunting for the right platter mid-chaos.
- Keep one burner free for last-minute warming and gravy; everything else can hold in a low oven or a slow cooker.
- Delegate one dish per guest who offers to bring something — and give them the recipe you actually want, or you will get three green bean casseroles.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many thanksgiving sides should I make? Plan on 4-5 sides for 6-8 guests and 6-8 for a larger crowd, not counting rolls, cranberry sauce, and gravy. It is better to make fewer sides well than to stretch yourself across ten mediocre ones — and remember every side needs oven, stove, or counter space on the day.
What thanksgiving sides can be made ahead? Mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, cauliflower gratin, cranberry relish, and most casseroles can be fully assembled 1-2 days ahead and baked or reheated on the day. Salads and anything crispy (like the shallots on green bean casserole) should be finished fresh.
How do you keep thanksgiving sides warm? A low oven (200°F) holds most sides for up to an hour without drying them out — cover with foil. Slow cookers on the warm setting are perfect for mashed potatoes and creamed corn. For a crowd, I set up a warming station with the oven, one slow cooker, and insulated carriers, and nothing waits more than 30 minutes.
Can I make mashed potatoes ahead for thanksgiving? Absolutely — this is the make-ahead move that saves the most sanity. Make them fully up to two days ahead with cream cheese in the mix (it keeps them creamy when reheated), refrigerate, and warm them in a greased slow cooker on low for 2-3 hours with a splash of milk and an extra knob of butter.
Final Thoughts
Thanksgiving cooking is a logistics puzzle disguised as a meal, and the sides are where you win or lose it. Pick your favorites from this list, make ahead everything that allows it, and give yourself the gift of actually sitting down with your people instead of mashing potatoes in the kitchen. The turkey gets the glory, but the sides get the love. If you need the sweet finish too, my thanksgiving dessert recipes and no-bake dessert recipes have you covered — and for the full table picture, see thanksgiving appetizer recipes and thanksgiving tablescape ideas plus fall baking recipes for the days after.
A soup course is an easy win alongside the mains — try one of these butternut squash soup recipes, roasted and blended until silky.
Want the whole day to feel easier, not just the sides? These make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes spread the work across the week before.
