While Thanksgiving may look different this year, hopefully, everyone can still enjoy their favorite dishes (or try new ones!) if you celebrate. Just like our correspondents did last year, Her Campus at Geneseo is sharing their favorite foods on this feast-worthy holiday.
Before you sit down at the table, consider the history of Thanksgiving. Also, please make sure that you’re being safe and adhering to any COVID-19 guidelines in your area.
Now, let’s discuss these mouthwatering dishes!
Rebecca Williamson
My favorite dish is my mom’s mashed potatoes, but she does make them pretty frequently. It might be basic, but my mom uses a ton of spices and butter. Plus, it’s the perfect consistency, especially since we leave the skin. For dessert, we also make an Oreo pudding pie that is super delicious. It has pudding mix, whipped cream and crushed oreos mixed in different layers with a cookie crust. We only make it on certain holidays or special occasions, so I’m grateful whenever I get to eat it.
Sarah Sharples
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is pretty split between either my mom’s homemade cranberry sauce or stuffing. On a very related note, the stuffing next to the cranberry sauce that had time to soak in a little bit of cranberry juice might be the greatest thing that I have ever consumed.
Lily Connerton
I love Thanksgiving. Picking one dish is definitely hard, but I would have to choose sweet potato (au gratin) casserole. Many foods that are considered staples at Thanksgiving are incorporated into meals year round, but to me, this dish, consisting of scalloped sweet potatoes topped with cheese, bread crumbs and seasoning sticks out as something unique to the holiday. To be fair, can you ever go wrong with a combination of potato and cheese?
Margaux Carmel
Hands down, stuffing is the best Thanksgiving dish. Ask my mother about Thanksgiving 2016 about how she only made one pot of stuffing and I ate the whole thing and no one else got to have any. She now makes, like, three pots of stuffing. I help, though. Beyond that, pumpkin pie is a god-send every Thanksgiving. Every time I think I’ve had too much (stuffing) to eat, the pumpkin pie is brought out and I’m shoving more food in my mouth.
Julia Clancy
I want to preface with the fact that I am the world’s pickiest eater … to the point where it’s embarrassing. However, there’s just something about my grandma’s turkey and gravy that just makes my heart race. I understand that turkey is a super basic answer, but my only other favorite dishes are desserts (which is totally okay).
Megan Miller
My favorite Thanksgiving dish would be a toss-up between pecan pie and corn casserole. Pecan pie is so underrated, and it’s honestly a shame that it’s not a year-round dish. On the other hand, corn casserole is such a great dinner dish and meshes with the Thanksgiving food so well. It’s also very underrated. I don’t think most families have it at Thanksgiving, but it is a tradition in my family so I love it!
Lucy Laats
I think my favorite Thanksgiving dish would be my grandma’s s’mores pie. She only makes it on special occasions, but it’s my favorite thing she makes. As the name suggests, it has a graham cracker crust, chocolate pudding and it’s topped with mini marshmallows. I would eat an entire pie if I could.
Mia Serritella
The mark of a good vegan dish is if it’s loved by both vegans and meat/dairy eaters. I once made this dish at Thanksgiving dinner that was basically alternating layers of sliced potato, broccoli florets, a vegan cheesy sauce drizzled throughout and finished with breadcrumbs on top. It’s amazing. A mouthful made my cousin go quiet after badgering me about being fully vegan at the time.
Jessica Kaplan
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday: the food, spending time with loved ones, binging Thanksgiving “Friends” episodes and just being thankful—it has it all. For me, the basics like mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (which I annually and proudly make) and stuffing are all my favorites. This year, we’re gonna try to mix things up a bit since it will be especially small. So who knows, maybe some new traditions will begin, which is honestly on brand for 2020.
Emily Tsoi
This Thanksgiving is going to be super weird since we’re just celebrating with our immediate family and my family never actually cooks on Thanksgiving (except this one time we did a potluck and my parents made sausage and peppers, what kind of Thanksgiving food is that?). My aunts and uncle always do the cooking and make some great side dishes and an awesome fried turkey. My favorite would have to be mashed potatoes or green bean casserole. They’re so yummy and comforting.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!