10. Green bean casserole

Does anyone actually choose to eat this or is it just hesitantly plopped on your plate so as not to hurt the cook’s feelings? This is the dish eaten last; the dish the parents have to force their kids to eat; the dish nobody wants to take home as leftovers. That’s not editorial, by the way; according to a poll done by Harris Poll for Instacart, Americans ranked this dish as their least favorite Thanksgiving food. And rightfully so; who wants to waste what little room we have in our stomachs to eat this?

9. Cranberry sauce 

Well, it’s not green bean casserole; but that doesn’t mean it’s good by any means. Cranberry sauce is just sweet enough in taste to briefly trick your brain into thinking you’re eating something good; but don’t worry! Soon the lip-puckering tartness and hints of metallic residue from sitting in a can all year will remind you that you’re in fact eating cranberry sauce. It even looks unappealing, staying in the shape of the can it was plonked out of. This year, just keep this failure of a food locked up inside its can, right where it belongs.

8. Brussel sprouts

The quality of this dish is completely dependent on the skill of the cook making it. If you are blessed with a talented cook this dish will be better than you might be giving it credit for. But make no mistake; this is still a vegetable. You’re not going to be begging for more of this dish but if you had to eat one healthy item during dinner, you could certainly do worse than this.

7. Stuffing

Now we get into food that’s actually good. Stuffing is a quintessential Thanksgiving food for its savory flavor and the fact that its lightness means you can eat a lot of it before you feel sick. Then again, stuffing’s strength is also its weakness; its taste is rather forgettable and it can just feel like fluff in between the real dishes. But, then again, who can say they don’t like stuffing?

6. Pumpkin pie

Though this is a greatly overrated Thanksgiving dessert, that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any means; sugar’s sugar, after all. However, without being slathered in whip cream, what is this but a vegetable pie? If this dish wasn’t as weaved into Thanksgiving as it was, I doubt that less people would proclaim this as their favorite dish as they do now. Still, who can pass on a slice of pumpkin pie?

5. House rolls

House rolls aren’t exactly exclusive to Thanksgiving but you’d definitely be disappointed if you sat down at the Thanksgiving table and you didn’t see that signature basket of bread. All you need is a bit of butter and you have a simple but delicious classic that pairs with any meal. When all else goes wrong, you can always rely on house rolls to be good.

4. Mashed potatoes

In the same vein as house rolls, mashed potatoes are a reliable yet tasty dish that finds its way into every semi-formal dinner without fail. Unlike house rolls, however, mashed potatoes are so easy to make that you have to be a truly talentless cook to mess them up. Thus, the dish is both a crowd-pleaser and a cook-pleaser; easy to make, wonderful to eat. As a bonus, mashed potatoes even pair well with other dishes so you don’t have to worry about segregating your food on your plate to avoid a nasty combination.

3. Roasted turkey

The face of Thanksgiving food didn’t become the poster dish for the holiday for no reason. Whether you prefer white meat or dark meat, the dish can be cooked in so many different ways that the fear of the dish losing its luster is unlikely. See, the thing about roasted turkey is that you can make it what you want. Sweet, salty, savory: if you can dream of it, you can make it. Its versatility is something that we all ought to be more thankful for.

2. Sweet potato casserole

One of the most underrated dishes (ever), sweet potato casserole is the perfect mix of ingredients. The marshmallows and pecans give the dish a sugary and tasty base but the sweet potatoes balance out this sweetness perfectly, making the dish rich but not rich enough to overwhelm your palette. The best part? Since it’s usually served as a side, nobody will give you any judgemental looks if you plow through a bunch of servings of it. In this holiday of gratitude, let’s give sweet potato casserole the thanks it deserves.

1. Pecan pie

Pecan pie is much like the second-in-command dessert to pumpkin pie: it does the most work yet gets none of the glory or appreciation it deserves. The pie’s splendid use of pecans makes the pie sweet in a natural and refined way unlike the manufactured, sugar-overloaded taste that has come to be a part of so many desserts. The pie is also fantastic with any sort of topping your heart desires; whipped cream, chocolate sauce, honey, and the likes. Let this Thanksgiving me the one where pecan pie is given the recognition it deserves!