What’s the Best Thanksgiving Side Dish of All Time?

You know that game where you say a word and someone has to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind? If we said Thanksgiving, most might say turkey, family, or football. But we know you, dear reader—you’re not just here to pass go and collect an afternoon’s worth of tryptophan. You’re here for the real players: the sides.

Nothing sparks that competitive holiday spirit quite like deciding which side dishes belong on the board—er, table. It’s the annual family face-off everyone secretly looks forward to. From creamy casseroles to jiggly Jell-O molds, everyone’s got that one side they’ll go all in on—the one that makes or breaks the holiday.

Enter Gobble Games—Allrecipes’ first-ever Thanksgiving side showdown, where 32 of our most-loved dishes go head-to-head in a game of delicious elimination. Each day on our Instagram stories, you’ll vote for your favorites, and one dish from each match-up will advance to the next round. No dice required—just your votes, your appetite, and maybe a touch of friendly debate.

So sit back while we shuffle the deck—because the stakes are high and the serving spoons are out. Which dish will play its cards right and become Mr. Gobble’s perfect match? That’s up to you. Just remember: in the Gobble Games, there are no do-overs, no free turns—only bragging rights and buttery victories.

How To Play

Head to our Allrecipes Instagram Stories starting Tuesday, Nov. 4, to cast your votes in the Gobble Games. Each day, we’ll deal out new side-by-side match-ups—mashed potatoes versus mac and cheese, green beans versus stuffing, and so on. Tap to choose your favorite, and you’ll have 24 hours before the round closes and the votes are tallied.

When the timer runs out, we’ll move the winning dishes one space closer to the center of the board—where the ultimate champion will be crowned. After each round, come back here to see which sides have advanced and which ones are officially out of the game.

As the game progresses, the match-ups will become tougher, the stakes will become higher, and only one side will come out on top. So keep your eyes on the prize (and the pie), and may the best bite win.

How We Chose the Recipes

You can’t have a proper showdown without worthy contenders, so we started by looking at the Thanksgiving side dishes that get the most love on Allrecipes. These are the recipes you search for, save, and swear by year after year—the crowd-pleasers that always make the invite list.

From there, we made sure each dish had a true top seed—our best, most-beloved version of that recipe. (You didn’t think we’d put just any green bean casserole on the board, did you?)

And because no Thanksgiving spread is complete without a few wild cards, we added some curveballs too—the quirky, controversial, or nostalgia-heavy dishes that show up every year whether anyone eats them or not. You know the ones.

The result? A board full of classics, cult favorites, and a few questionable choices that make the feast feel complete.

Meet the Competitors

Each dish starts on its own side of the game board, in the category that suits it best.

Cool Combos are our fridge-to-table MVPs—cranberry sauces, fruity salads, and other chilled favorites upping the cool factor without even trying.

The Carb Loaders are here for one thing only: comfort. Think golden rolls and starchy casseroles that always come in clutch.

Over in Garden Greats, veggie all-stars and roasted roots are out to prove that greens (and oranges and yellows) can hold their own against any starch.

And then there are the Wild Cards—the dips, bites, and saucy surprises that keep everyone guessing.