Everyone has a favorite dish that they can’t imagine living without during the holidays, and there are also some that they hopefully won’t see on the dinner table.
Whether cranberry sauce is one of your nightmares or you swear by green bean casserole as the best side dish, holiday appetizers and side dishes are a polarizing topic, and we’re here to dive into some of Delaware’s popular choices.
Take a look at some of these dishes that have become the most and least popular during the holidays in the First State over the years.
Campbell’s State of the Sides Report
Campbell’s, the food company, released its annual State of the Sides Report for 2024, covering all things Thanksgiving in the United States. The report consists of responses from 5,000 people in all 50 states, ranging from their ideal Thanksgiving crowd, the dishes they love and when dinner should be served.
As for the holiday sides that predominate, stuffing/dressing came out as the top choice. Mashed potatoes, the previous first-place holder, came in at No. 2 this year, followed by sweet potatoes (down from No. 4 in 2023), green bean casserole (down from No. 5 in 2023), and macaroni and cheese (down from No. .3 in 2023).
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Most states, including Delaware, chose stuffing as their side of choice. Mashed potatoes were the top choice in California, Utah, Wyoming, Iowa and West Virginia.
When it comes to regional trends, 54% of the Northeast say stuffing is their favorite side dish, making it the region’s favorite choice. Eleven percent of the Northeast includes Italian dishes in their typical holiday offerings. The Northeast also features a Thanksgiving table filled with the flavor profiles of sweet, savory seafood and maple syrup.
Other flavor profiles include cheesy deliciousness and savory spices in the Midwest, sweet flavors and savory spices in the Southeast, smoky flavors and savory spices in the West, and spicy chili peppers in the Southwest.
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Delaware’s favorite, least favorite holiday dishes
America’s favorite Thanksgiving side dishes? Guys, we’re better than this.
In a 2020 Reddit post with a map depicting each state’s favorite holiday side dish, Delawareans chose macaroni and cheese. Regional neighbor Maryland felt the same way, while New Jersey and Pennsylvania both opted for filling. Other favorites mentioned were hash brown casserole, creamed corn and salad, much to the dismay of some commenters.
“Listen, it’s either cranberry sauce or it’s nothing,” said one Reddit user. “Go away with this salad waste.”
In a 2023 TikTok from user “snachwithzach,” Delaware’s favorite Thanksgiving side dish is mashed cauliflower, according to a card.
“Way to be different, Delaware. Nothing beats freedom and low carbs,” said the user.
Allrecipes, a recipe website, sifted through data on user search patterns around Thanksgiving to find the most sought-after side dish in each state. Delaware’s most requested recipe was the sweet potato casserole, which also ranked highest in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Maryland was the only neighboring state in the region to ditch the bandwagon and instead pursue an obsessive search for corn pudding.
What’s interesting about this top pick is that Delaware’s least favorite holiday dish in at least two separate years would be sweet potatoes, according to BroBible in 2019 and Yahoo Sports in 2023.
Yahoo Sports claimed that sweet potatoes were the “most hated” Christmas food for Delawareans last year. BroBible similarly claimed that the dish is the “worst Thanksgiving food” according to Delawareans. Maryland and New Jersey hated seeing cranberry sauce on the holiday table, while Pennsylvania hated pumpkin pie.
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For what it’s worth, Delaware was not one of the 38 states that claimed to hate Turkey. In a 2023 Delish survey of each state’s most popular Christmas food, gingerbread cookies stole the show.
It seems that Delawareans have quite a sweet tooth and this is their most searched for recipe, as the most popular holiday recipe that Delawareans at Taste of Home, a food magazine, look for is double eggnog cookies.
As for Delaware’s favorite Christmas dessert, Taste of Home reports that residents of the First State can’t get enough of classic chocolate chip cookies.
Whether the likes and dislikes of these holiday foods spark joy or outrage, it’s clear there are many opinions about what should be on the table this year.
And it may be a sign that it’s worth checking in with guests about their food preferences to avoid a holiday dinner fiasco. …especially if you plan to bring a salad to the meeting.
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Do you have a tip or story idea? Contact Krys’tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared in Delaware News Journal: What holiday side dishes and desserts are loved and disliked in Delaware
