34 Classic Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Roasted Thanksgiving vegetables and drippings from the turkey pan, plus toasted roux for thickening, make for a deeply flavored gravy.

Recipe: Roasted Turkey Gravy

The caraway from the rye bread is delicious with the roasted squash. If you like the flavor, use a darker rye. If you’re not a fan, you can easily use a good-quality sourdough. This makes a good main dish for vegans (use kosher rye, which excludes dairy). But it’s good with sausage too; add about 1 pound, casings removed, browned and crumbled.

Recipe: Rye and Butternut Squash Dressing

Every November, we’re asked again and again for this recipe, created by reader Leslie Jo Parsons of Sutter Creek, California. (Sunset readers from all over the West have actually called Parsons to thank her for it too.)

She still makes the stuffing every year, and she agrees with us: It’s even better with extra parmesan, so we added some more here.

Recipe: Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing

If you’re juggling turkey and stuffing in one (small) oven, make the stuffing first, then reheat it while the turkey rests before carving.

Recipe: Buttermilk Cornbread Stuffing

Tangy Western sourdough bread, flavorful pancetta, and sweet apples combine for a mouthwatering stuffing.

Recipe: Pancetta, Sourdough, and Apple Stuffing

If we could have only one other dish besides turkey for Thanksgiving, this would be it: Hunks of juicy sausage, good bread, and lots of chard―a stuffing that works as a side dish too.

Recipe: Italian Chard Stuffing

You can buy cornbread, but we prefer to use homemade muffins with fresh corn kernals for added sweetness and flavor.

Recipe: Cornbread Stuffing with Sage and Dried Fruits

A medley of Thanksgiving vegetables including bell peppers, butternut squash, and mushrooms and a generous helping of spicy chorizo make this hearty dressing a crowd-pleaser.

Recipe: Southwest Cornbread and Chorizo Dressing

Like a cross between a dressing and a savory bread pudding, this rich mix of slightly sweet cornbread, earthy dried mushrooms, and creamy, sharp blue cheese had Sunset’s staff clamoring for seconds.

Recipe: Cornbread and Gorgonzola Dressing

Dried fruits, nuts, and array of seasonings make this rice dressing stand out from the pack during holiday entertaining.

Recipe: Basmati Rice Dressing with Dried Fruit, Toasted Almonds, and Coconut

This simple recipe highlights the sweet potato’s bright flavor with hits of orange and ginger.

Recipe: Marmalade- and Ginger-glazed Sweet Potatoes

This is a decadent yet savory way to serve sweet potatoes. If you’re expecting vegetarians, make a couple of potatoes without the bacon. One potato can be enough for at least four people, depending on its size.

Recipe: Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Goat Cheese

Virgin coconut oil is unrefined and cold-pressed, like extra-virgin olive oil, and isn’t hydrogenated. It has a clean, slightly nutty taste that’s delicious in this dish. Deborah Madison, who adapted this recipe from one in a new revision of her book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997), likes to use a mix of sweet potatoes, but it’s fine to go with just one kind. Paler sweet potatoes tend to be drier, so if you use them, add more oil.

Recipe: Coconut Pan-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sesame Seeds

Spicy red jalapeno jelly plays perfectly against sweet potato’s sugary flavor in this easy side dish.

Recipe: Chili-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Dried apricots and a hint of bourbon are mashed with creamy sweet potatoes in this crowd-pleasing side.

Recipe: Baked Sweet Potatoes with Apricots and Bourbon

The tricks to achieving very creamy mashed potatoes are to not overcook them and to whip them just until smooth (if you overwhip, they’ll get gluey). Serve some of the butter on the side, so guests can determine their level of richness.

Recipe: Whipped Potatoes with Three-Onion Butter

Rich, brown butter infused with the flavor of hazelnuts makes a decadent, but easy addition to mashed potatoes.

Recipe: Browned Butter and Hazelnut Mashed Potatoes

We’ve used two low-calorie tricks in here: broth instead of whipping cream, and neufchâtel cheese for rich creaminess with one-fourth the fat of butter.

Recipe: Green Onion Mashed Potatoes

This dish has Southern roots but omits the usual candied syrup.

Recipe: Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are even better blended with celery root, which has a gentle but penetrating flavor. Don’t be deterred by the root’s hairy exterior; just trim it off with a knife. This recipe is adapted from one in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997), by Deborah Madison.

Recipe: Celery Root and Potato Mash

Sage adds an earthy flavor to these mashed potatoes, parsnips lend sweetness, and sour cream brings a bit of tang.

Recipe: Sage-infused Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips

Mashed potatoes are good just about any way, but here they’re smoky, filled with crunchy bits of corn, and irresistible.

Recipe: Chipotle-Corn Mashed Potatoes

Once you taste this warm and spicy chutney that’s a snap to make, you’ll never go back to store-bought cranberry sauce.

Recipe: Fruit and Spice Cranberry Chutney

Earl Grey tea is the secret ingredient in this sweetly aromatic, lightly spiced sauce. Just pay close attention to the timing–too much steeping can turn the sauce bitter.

Anise, pear, orange, cinnamon, and honey flavor this unusual but outstanding take on cranberry sauce to serve beside the big bird.

Recipe: Anise Pear-Cranberry Sauce

The combination of cranberries, orange, and Port in this easy sauce makes a wonderful accompaniment for turkey.

Recipe: Cranberry Port Sauce

Bright but not too sweet, this relish from Cindy Daniel of Healdsburg Shed in Northern California is great with turkey as an alternative–or addition–to cranberry relish. You’ll need 3 pt.-size canning jars.

Fresh ginger and the zest and juice of an orange gives a tart and fresh kick to this Thanksgiving mainstay.

Recipe: Cranberry Ginger Sauce

Cindy Daniel of Healdsburg Shed in Northern California learned how to make this moist cornbread from her mom while she was growing up in Louisiana.

These rolls are so good, we could eat a dozen–and they rise overnight, so there’s little to fuss with on the big day.

Recipe: Overnight Soft Herb Rolls

Soft, cheerfully orange, and slightly sweet, these rolls are perfect for the Thanksgiving table.

Recipe: Squash Pull-apart Dinner Rolls

This dough is so easy to work with that we find ourselves making it over and over again, with slight variations.

Recipe: Buttery Dinner Rolls

Notes: Biga is a yeast-based starter for which a portion of the dough is mixed first and allowed to ferment, giving the finished loaf some of the characteristics of bread made with a sourdough starter. Mix biga 1 day before baking bread.

For this moist, fragrant cornbread, based on a recipe in her classic Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997), author Deborah Madison searches farmers’ markets for interesting cornmeal, such as Floriani Red Flint (used here), Roy’s Calais, or blue corn. For a denser bread, you can use all cornmeal instead of mixing it with flour.

Recipe: Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread