Popular Thanksgiving Dishes Around the Country

Larisa G.

In Pennsylvania you’re probably used to having oven-baked turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes,  gravy and pumpkin pie. However,  in other locations that might not be the go to idea for a Thanksgiving dinner. 

            In other states there are different preferred dishes that land on the dinner table on Thanksgiving. It may be something as simple as an extra ingredient, or even an entire unique dish. 

            In New York and New Jersey, an Italian dish called Manicotti will land on the table. In Maryland, Sauerkraut and Crab Cakes will be found. In Texas they fry their turkey instead of oven baking it. In the Northeast they have Cranberry Relish instead of Cranberry sauce. Minnesota often has wild rice casserole on their tables as a side dish. Also, a popular topping in the Pacific Northeast is mushroom gravy.  

            Instead of Pumpkin Pie, a popular dessert found in the Northeast and Northwest is Frog eye salad. In Arizona an alternative to pumpkin pie would be pumpkin empanadas. In the South, a common dessert would be sweet potato pie, and in Kentucky they have derby pie.