Thanksgiving is known for its traditional turkey dinner but anyone who’s been to a Thanksgiving dinner knows that there is no shortage of other dishes which occupy the table. Every family serves different foods and everybody is entitled to their own opinions on each dish, but I’m going to be ranking every dish that I typically have on Thanksgiving from worst to best.
Starting off with easily the worst food on the list we have cranberry sauce. I’m not a fan of regular cranberries and turning them into a sauce is not doing them any favors. Not only does this food taste disgusting but it also looks disgusting, it really has nothing going for it. I’ve only had it a few times and each time I try it, I swear to myself that I’ll never have it again. I can say without hesitation that cranberry sauce is a solid 0/10 and Thanksgiving would be better without it.
Stuffing may be the 2nd lowest item on this list but I just want to clarify that it is still leagues above cranberry sauce. The main problem I have with stuffing is its appearance, it just looks disgusting. Why would I want to eat this random mash-up of food that just got pulled out from inside the turkey? The actual ingredients that go into stuffing aren’t that bad, as it mostly consists of bread butter and other herbs all mushed together and put inside the turkey. It’s been a while since I’ve tried stuffing and I’d be willing to give it a second chance, but until that happens, stuffing will stay at a 4/10.
I’m going to group all pies together because I’ve seen a lot of them on Thanksgiving and they’re all the same to me. I don’t have a strong opinion on any of the pies which are present every year. I typically see pumpkin, apple, and key lime pie. There’s nothing wrong with pie but you wouldn’t see me going out of my way to get a piece of one, and for that I’m going to give a pie a 5/10.
Next up is corn. Usually the corn I have on Thanksgiving is canned corn and not on the cob, so it loses some points but other than that I really like corn. Corn is a little sweet so it provides a nice contrast to many of the other foods that are typically had on thanksgiving. Corn is at its best when eaten with other foods like turkey or mashed potatoes, it’s not the greatest stand alone food which is going to limit it to a decent 7/10
Carrots have been a staple food for my family on Thanksgiving. They are one of the many foods that my grandma makes every year and they are amazing every time. Unfortunately this year there have been a number of illnesses linked to an e coli outbreak in carrots so I’m uncertain if we’re going to have them this year, but I can only hope the outbreak is brought under control before Thanksgiving. All things considered, carrots are still going to receive a 7/10.
It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without turkey. Turkey is the main course and it is what brings the whole meal together. It takes dedication to cook a turkey, there are many steps to prepare it, and it takes multiple hours to cook; however, the delicious result is definitely worth the wait. To make it even better, there is so much meat on one turkey that it usually lasts multiple days. I’m going to give Turkey an 8/10 although I think you could make a strong argument for it being a 9/10 or 10/10.
Coming in at 3rd place is mashed potatoes. Every year I help make them so I could be a little bit biased, but I think they come out perfect every time. Nothing beats mashed potatoes with a little bit of gravy on top. It complements every food and manages to make them better than they already were. Mashed potatoes really bring the whole meal together and I don’t think thanksgiving would be the same without it. I’m going to give mashed potatoes a 9/10, the only thing holding them from getting a perfect score is that they are very time consuming to make.
Second place is any type of bread. Some common things I see a lot are crescent rolls, biscuits, and sometimes a fresh loaf of bread. Bread will never get old for me, I could eat it every day of the year and still be excited to have it the next day. A long time ago people were enjoying warm bread, and thousands of years later nothing has changed. Spread a little butter on the bread and it becomes even better. There really hasn’t been a better invention since sliced bread. Unsurprisingly I’m going to give bread a perfect 10/10.
Gravy is obviously coming in first place with a perfect 10/10. It can be put on many foods like turkey, mashed potatoes, and really anything else. It enhances their flavor and makes them taste exponentially better. Many people might disagree with me. They might say that it’s just a sauce so it shouldn’t be rated so highly, but I beg to differ. I would say that gravy being a sauce just makes it more versatile to be eaten with more foods, further enhancing the experience.
Obviously nobody is going to like every food on Thanksgiving, but you should still be thankful for everything that you have to eat, because after all that’s what the holiday is about.
