One of the biggest highlights of Thanksgiving, the biggest festivals before the holidays begin, is its feast. While the Thanksgiving turkey is fairly common across the United States of American, the side dishes vary with region.
For instance, the FiveThirtyEight poll results reveal that the Northeast and Midwest prefer vegetables such as squash and green beans as sides, but the Southeast, the Great Lakes area, and Texas prefer carbs.
Here, we have listed out five classic sides that will make any Thanksgiving feast a hit.
Sweet Potato Casserole: This is a hassle-free dish that will not take much of your time. The sweet potato casserole is a creamy dish that will perfectly accompany a roast turkey.
Start the cooking process by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Mix some mashed sweet potatoes with white sugar (half cup), eggs (two), salt, butter (three tablespoon), milk (half cup) and vanilla extract until you have a smooth past. Transfer them to a baking dish.
In another dish, combine butter, brown sugar, flour (one third cup) and pecan pieces and sprinkle on top of the sweet potato casserole.
Bake for about 30 minutes.
Cranberry Sauce: This is probably the easiest cranberry sauce recipe out there.
In a medium sized saucepan that's kept on medium heat, dissolve sugar in orange juice. Add cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop, which will take anywhere between 8-12 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a bowl.
Green Beans: This recipe just requires fresh beans, garlic and butter. Heat some butter in a hot pan, add garlic and beans and sauté for about five minutes. Add salt and pepper as required.
Mashed potatoes: No Thanksgiving feast is considered complete without some form of mashed potatoes. Find below Andrew Zimmern's recipe for the perfect Thanksgiving mashed potatoes.
Ingredients:
3 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
8 oz. soft room temperature butter
4 oz. crème fraîche, or more to taste
¼ cup minced chives
Sea salt
Ground white pepper
Instructions:
Peel and quarter the potatoes.
Bring several quarts of water to a strong boil over high heat. Salt the water generously and add potatoes. Cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and put through a ricer, or simply mash in a large bowl.
Stir in the butter, crème fraîche and chives. Season with sea salt and ground white pepper. Serve immediately, or cool and reheat slowly on the stovetop, or in a 225-degree oven.
Pumpkin Pie: Because this dessert could be a bit complicated, check out a video for this Thanksgiving staple below:
