Best Thanksgiving Side Dishes

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If your house is anything like mine, the Thanksgiving turkey may be front and center, but those Thanksgiving sides are what it’s all about.

I’m sharing 45 recipes below, all from my own kitchen: potatoes, green beans, casseroles, dressing, cranberry sauce, salads, and bread. I sorted them by dish type and how they cook, so you can see what needs the oven and what runs on the stovetop, in the slow cooker, in the Instant Pot, or in the air fryer.

Plenty of them can be made ahead, and many skip the oven. I wanted this guide to be helpful, so each description highlights a little about the recipe, and many include make-ahead information.

The FAQ at the bottom lists the make-ahead dishes and the ones that skip the oven, including how far ahead each one can be made.

Pick one or two from each section. I think you’ll find something for every plate on your table.

On our table most Thanksgivings, the sides that always show up are sweet potato casserole, collard greens, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, fall harvest salad, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, and Mom’s easy cornbread dressing. Sometimes we swap one out or add a dish or two.

They almost always sit next to a fried turkey, gravy, and Mimi’s country ham.

Thanksgiving Potato Side Dishes

Potatoes are the side most Thanksgiving tables can’t skip, and they compete for oven space. Scalloped and au gratin take about an hour and a half start to finish. The slow cooker, Instant Pot, and air fryer versions keep the oven free.

Best Recipe for Mashed Potatoes

Russets boiled, then beaten with butter and heavy cream. Make them up to 2 days ahead and reheat covered at 350°F for about 30 minutes. 35 minutes total, serves 10.

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Side view of a bowl of mashed potatoes topped with butter and parsley.

Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Russets cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 to 5 hours, then get mashed with butter, cream cheese, and heavy cream. The oven stays free. Serves 10.

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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe

24 minutes start to finish, including the 10 it takes the Instant Pot to come to pressure. Serves 10.

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A bowl of creamy Instant pot mashed potatoes with the Instant Pot in the background.

Best Scalloped Potatoes

Sliced Yukon Golds baked in a cheddar cream sauce with a crispy, cheesy top. The cream sauce keeps in the fridge for 1 day. Slicing takes time without a mandoline. 1 hour 25 minutes total, serves 12.

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Portion of cheese scalloped potatoes on a white plate.

Au Gratin Potatoes

Russets baked in a sauce of sharp cheddar, Gruyere, and heavy cream. Pour the sauce over the potatoes, cover with foil, and refrigerate a day before baking. 1 hour 30 minutes total, serves 8.

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A spoonful of au gratin potatoes being scooped out of a white casserole dish.

Mini Au Gratin Potatoes

Red potatoes, heavy cream, and Mexican blend cheese baked in muffin tins at 375°F for 30 to 40 minutes.

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a serving of this mini au gratin potatoes recipe

Loaded Mashed Potatoes Casserole

Mashed potatoes baked with cheddar, bacon, sour cream, and chives. Assemble it up to 2 days ahead and pull it from the fridge 30 minutes before baking. It works with fresh, leftover, or store-bought mashed potatoes. 35 minutes total, serves 10.

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Upclose image of a scoop of mashed potato casserole.

Cheesy Funeral Potato Recipe

Frozen hash browns, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and cheddar under a buttered cornflake topping. Assemble it up to 24 hours ahead. 35 minutes total, serves 16.

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Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Small potatoes are parboiled first, then roasted at 400°F with parmesan, garlic powder, and paprika. The parboil is what gets the crisp outside. 30 minutes total, serves 6.

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A wooden plate filled with crispy parmesan roasted potatoes with the pan of potatoes in a red serving dish in the background.

Baby Red Potatoes Recipe Air Fryer

Red baby potatoes, no peeling, air fried at 400°F for 13 to 15 minutes. 20 minutes total, serves 4.

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Green Bean Side Dishes

Green beans are on almost every Thanksgiving table. Southern style means they simmer until soft, which takes over an hour on the stovetop. The Instant Pot version takes 10 minutes, and the rest are skillet, slow cooker, and air fryer options.

Southern Style Green Beans

Fresh green beans simmered with bacon, chicken broth, and garlic for an hour. This is the one to start early. 1 hour 10 minutes total, serves 6.

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A white cast-iron enamel pot with southern style green beans.

Crack Green Beans Recipe

Canned green beans simmered with bacon and onions in a brown sugar and soy sauce glaze, all in one skillet. Make it up to a day ahead. 25 minutes of cook time, serves 4.

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Crack green beans served in a shallow bowl with more in a bowl in the background.

Air Fryer Green Beans

Fresh green beans seasoned with garlic powder and red pepper flakes, air fried at 350°F in a single layer. 15 minutes total, serves 4.

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A plate of green beans with an air fryer in the background.

Crock Pot Green Beans Recipe

Green beans cook for 4 hours in the slow cooker with bacon, onion, garlic, and butter. Make them ahead and reheat, or cook just the bacon, onion, and garlic ahead and assemble later. Serves 8.

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Fresh Green Beans Instant Pot Recipe

Soft, Southern-style beans with thick-sliced bacon, onion, garlic, and chicken broth. 10 minutes total, where the stovetop version takes 1 hour 10 minutes. Serves 4.

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A closeup of pressure cooked southern green beans with bacon aka instant pot green beans

Instant Pot Garlic Butter Green Beans

Butter, garlic, and 2 minutes at pressure. Set the time by texture: 0 minutes for crunchy, 2 for firmer, 5 for softer. Serves 4.

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Casserole Side Dishes for Thanksgiving

Casseroles are the backbone of a Southern Thanksgiving table, and seven of these eight can be made ahead in some form. Each summary explains how far ahead to make each dish and what to hold back for the day.

Best Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

Roasted sweet potatoes baked with butter, eggs, milk, and brown sugar under a pecan topping. Make the sweet potato mixture up to 48 hours ahead and add the pecans just before baking. It freezes before or after baking. 1 hour 25 minutes total, serves 12.

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A wooden spoon removing a scoop of sweet potato soufflé from a white casserole dish.

Broccoli Casserole (with Ritz Crackers)

Broccoli baked in a cream of mushroom and cheddar base with mayo and eggs, under a Ritz cracker topping. Assemble it a day ahead without the crackers and add them before baking. It freezes the same way for up to 2 months. 45 minutes total, serves 10.

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A white plate with broccoli casserole on it with the casserole dish in the background.

Cream Corn Casserole Recipe

Creamed corn, eggs, flour, butter, milk, and sugar baked in one dish, also known as corn pudding. Assemble it unbaked and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Stir it halfway through baking. 45 minutes total, serves 8.

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A white plate with a serving of cream corn casserole, garnished with parsley.

Pineapple and Cheese Casserole

Crushed pineapple and pineapple tidbits with sharp cheddar under a buttered Ritz topping. Mix the filling up to a day ahead. Skip freezing, because the cracker topping loses its crunch. 40 minutes total, serves 10.

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A plate of a serving pineapple cheese casserole.

Collard Greens au Gratin

Collards cooked in broth with bacon, folded into a cream sauce, and topped with panko and cheese. Assemble it ahead up to the topping, then top and bake. 1 hour 15 minutes total, serves 12.

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A closeup of this collard greens au gratin recipe in a black cast iron skillet

Creamy Mac and Cheese

Up to 5 cheeses and a little heavy cream, baked until golden. Make it as directed but don't bake it, then refrigerate 1 to 2 days. 45 minutes total, serves 12.

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Removing a scoop of baked macaroni and cheese from a casserole dish.

Easy Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

The pasta cooks right in the Instant Pot. Make this one close to serving time, not ahead. 20 minutes total, serves 8.

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A white bowl filled with cream instant pot mac and cheese with the instant pot in the background.

Cheesy Yellow Squash Casserole

Yellow squash cooked down and drained, then baked in a cheddar and sour cream filling under buttered Ritz crackers. Assemble it without the topping ahead of time and bake the day of. 40 minutes total, serves 12.

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My Signature Fall Dinner Dishes!

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Cornbread Dressing and Stuffing

Cornbread dressing belongs on a Southern Thanksgiving table. Here are two ways to make it: baked in the oven, or cooked in the slow cooker to leave the oven open for everything else.

Easy Cornbread Stuffing

Herbed stuffing mix and cornbread stuffing mix with celery, onion, butter, and chicken broth. The mixture looks soupy going in. It should. Make it up to a month ahead and freeze it, then thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed. 1 hour 5 minutes total, serves 10.

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A white casserole dish filled with cornbread dressing.

Crock Pot Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread crumbs, herbed stuffing mix, cream of celery and cream of chicken soup, and chicken stock, cooked 2 hours in the slow cooker. Bake the cornbread ahead and the rest takes 5 minutes of prep. Serves 16.

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A slow cooker with homemade cornbread dressing in it and a serving being removed with a wooden spoon.

Southern Beans and Greens

Collards, black-eyed peas, and lima beans simmer low on the stove with bacon or a ham bone. All three take an hour or more, so start them early.

Southern Collards Green Recipe

Collards simmered in a Dutch oven with a ham bone or hock, chicken broth, onion, garlic, and vinegar. 2 hours 10 minutes total, serves 10. Leftovers freeze for 3 to 6 months.

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A bowl of southern collard greens in a white bowl.

Southern Style Black Eyed Peas

Bacon, onion, and garlic start in the bacon grease, then simmer with a ham bone, chicken stock, and black-eyed peas. 1 hour 10 minutes total, serves 12.

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A bowl of Black Eyed Peas with a slice of cornbread and a silver spoon removing a bite of peas.

Short on time or stovetop space? Try the Slow Cooker Black-Eyed Peas (7 hours 15 minutes total) or the Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas (40 minutes total).

Southern Style Green Lima Beans

Frozen baby lima beans simmered on the stovetop with bacon, garlic, onion powder, and a little sugar. 1 hour 5 minutes total, serves 8.

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A wooden spoon scooping out serving of southern style green lima beans.

Rice Side Dishes

Rice works when the table already has plenty of potatoes. Three ways to make it: in the Instant Pot, baked in the oven, or on the stovetop.

Instant Pot White Rice Recipe

Rinse the rice, cook it 1:1 with water, and give it a full 15 minute natural release. 21 minutes total, serves 12.

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Stick of Butter Rice

Long grain rice baked with beef consomme, French onion soup, and a stick of butter. Four ingredients, no stovetop. 1 hour 7 minutes total, serves 4.

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Stick a butter rice in a white casserole dish.

Homemade Rice Pilaf Recipe

Rice and orzo sauteed in butter, then simmered in chicken broth with onion, garlic, and parsley. Make it a day ahead and reheat on the stove with a splash of broth. 30 minutes total, serves 4.

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Roasted Vegetable Side Dishes for Thanksgiving

These are the vegetable sides for a table full of casseroles. The broccoli and sweet potatoes cook in 20 minutes or less, and the Brussels sprouts take 30 in the oven.

Roasted Broccoli Recipe

Broccoli florets roasted until the edges brown, finished with parmesan. Give them room on the pan or they steam. 17 minutes total, serves 4.

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A white dinner plate with roasted broccoli and a wedge of lemon.

Apple Butter Dijon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts roasted, then tossed in apple butter and stone-ground Dijon with Granny Smith apples and candied pecans. 15 minutes prep and 30 in the oven, serves 6. Don't freeze these. They turn mushy.

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Upclose image of apple butter dijon brussels sprouts in a white serving bowl with a wooden spoon.

Air Fryer Sweet Potato Bites

Sweet potato cubes air fried at 400°F with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut and refrigerate them the night before. 30 minutes total, serves 6.

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Air fryer sweet potato bites tossed with olive oil, cinnamon, and brown sugar set on a white plate served with parsley garnish.

Cranberry Sauce Recipes

Homemade cranberry sauce keeps 10 to 14 days in the fridge, so it’s the one you can finish well before Thanksgiving. One goes in the Instant Pot and the other in the slow cooker.

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Cranberries, navel orange, and apples cook under pressure with sugar. Make it up to 3 days ahead. It keeps 10 to 14 days in the fridge. 25 minutes total, serves 16.

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A glass bowl filled with cranberry sauce set on a round wooden board with a silver relish spoon.

Crock Pot Cranberry Sauce

Fresh cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, and sugar cook for 8 hours in the slow cooker, with 1 minute of prep. It thickens as it cools and keeps 10 to 14 days in the fridge. Serves 8.

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A glass jar of homemade crockpot cranberry sauce with the crock pot in the background.

Cold Thanksgiving Side Dishes and Salads

Not everything on the table has to be hot. Deviled eggs are a Southern Thanksgiving regular, and the fall salad, broccoli salad, and grape salad are served cold too.

Fall Salad Recipe

Apples, pears, feta, bacon, and candied pecans in an apple vinaigrette. Make the vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead and prep the other parts 1 to 2 days ahead. Dress it right before serving, because dressed greens soften fast. 15 minutes total, serves 8.

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A white bowl filled with mixed greens, apples, pears, feta and fall, seasonal nuts, and fruits.

Best Recipe for Broccoli Salad

Raw broccoli, bacon, dried cranberries, sunflower kernels, red onion, and cheese in a mayo dressing. Dress it up to 24 hours ahead, no longer. 1 hour 15 minutes total with the chill, serves 8.

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Bowl of broccoli salad next to a white plate with a portion of salad on it.

Southern Deviled Eggs with Relish

Southern deviled eggs with dill relish. Cook the eggs 1 to 4 days ahead. Store the whites and filling separately for up to 24 hours and fill them close to serving. Filled whites get weepy if they sit. 35 minutes total, serves 12.

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Grape Salad Recipe

Grapes folded into a cream cheese and sour cream mixture with pecans. No cooking, 15 minutes, serves 12. Make it ahead, then add the brown sugar and pecans right before serving. Added earlier, they dissolve or go soggy. Pat the grapes dry first.

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A big bowl of creamy grape salad on a wooden tray with grapes and pecans in the background.

Thanksgiving Rolls and Cornbread

Rolls, skillet cornbread, and cornbread muffins fill the bread basket. The cinnamon butter goes on any of them.

Best Homemade Dinner Rolls

Yeast rolls baked at 375°F for 30 minutes after a 2 hour 20 minute rise. 3 hours 5 minutes total, makes 12. Shape them and refrigerate overnight for 15 to 16 hours, or freeze the shaped dough for up to 3 months.

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Crispy Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread Recipe

Buttermilk cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet. Don't overmix the batter. A few lumps are fine. 25 minutes total, serves 12.

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A skillet of southern buttermilk cornbread with a spatula removing a slice.

Creamed Corn Cornbread Muffins with Jiffy

Jiffy cornbread mix, creamed corn, eggs, sour cream, and milk, baked at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes. 3 minutes of prep, makes 16. They keep 2 days at room temperature, 5 in the fridge, and 3 months in the freezer.

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A bread bowl line with a blue cloth filled with cream, corn cornbread muffins.

Texas Roadhouse Butter Recipe

Softened butter beaten with honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Spread it on the rolls or muffins above. 5 minutes, makes 16 servings. It keeps 2 weeks in the fridge.

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Whipped copycat Texas Roadhouse cinnamon honey butter in a glass jar.

Thanksgiving Side Dish FAQs

Can you make Thanksgiving side dishes ahead of time?

Yes, and most of the sides in this post can be.
– Assemble ahead, bake the day of: Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole (up to 2 days), Sweet Potato Casserole (the mixture, up to 48 hours), Baked Mac and Cheese (unbaked, 1 to 2 days), Cheesy Potato Casserole (up to 24 hours), Cream Corn Casserole (unbaked, up to 24 hours), Broccoli Casserole (1 day, without the cracker topping), Au Gratin Potatoes (1 day), and Cheesy Yellow Squash Casserole and Collard Greens au Gratin (assembled without the topping).
– Make fully ahead: Homemade Mashed Potatoes (up to 2 days), Easy Rice Pilaf (1 day), Crack Green Beans (1 day), Crock Pot Green Beans, Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce (up to 3 days), and Easy Cornbread Dressing (up to a month, frozen).
– Prep ahead, finish the day of: The cream sauce for Scalloped Potatoes (1 day), the filling for Pineapple Casserole (1 day), Air Fryer Sweet Potato Cubes (cut the night before), Homemade Dinner Rolls (shaped and refrigerated overnight), Deviled Eggs (eggs cooked 1 to 4 days ahead), Broccoli Salad (dressed up to 24 hours ahead), and the Fall Harvest Salad vinaigrette (up to 3 days ahead).
– Not a make-ahead dish: Instant Pot Mac and Cheese.

Which Thanksgiving side dishes don’t need the oven?

Plenty of them. The oven is the thing everyone fights over, so here is what runs somewhere else.
– Slow cooker: Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, Crock Pot Southern Green Beans, Crock Pot Cornbread Dressing, and Crock Pot Cranberry Sauce.
– Instant Pot: Mashed Potatoes, Southern Style Green Beans and Bacon, Garlic Butter Green Beans, White Rice, Cranberry Sauce, and Mac and Cheese.
– Air fryer: Baby Potatoes, Green Beans, and Sweet Potato Cubes.
– Stovetop: Homemade Mashed Potatoes, Southern Style Green Beans, Crack Green Beans, Black-Eyed Peas, Lima Beans, and Rice Pilaf.

What are the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes?

Mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole show up on most Thanksgiving tables. On a Southern table, add collard greens, baked mac and cheese, and rolls or cornbread.
Gravy is its own recipe. The Homemade Turkey Gravy takes 30 minutes.

How many people does each side dish serve?

Servings range from 4 (Air Fryer Baby Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, Easy Rice Pilaf, and Stick of Butter Rice) to 16 (Cheesy Potato Casserole, Crock Pot Cornbread Dressing, and Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce). Each summary above lists the servings from the recipe card. Keep in mind that my recipe card lets you adjust the servings. So you can adapt to fit your family’s needs.