The Most Divisive Thanksgiving Questions, Answered by You

‘Tis the season for those great Thanksgiving questions: To brine or not to brine? To hit the store for cranberries, gravy, and pie crust? Or to make them at home?  To mash or scallop potatoes? To top that sweet potato casserole with marshmallows or pecans? At Allrecipes, we know that Thanksgiving is a peak entertaining event for our millions of users, and we wanted to shed some light on those classic “This or That” questions by discovering what you, our community, thought and did on Turkey Day. 

How’d we figure it out? We asked you about your holiday preferences with a Thanksgiving Quick Poll and we also analyzed how popular our recipes were last Thanksgiving for insights into your preferences. The results? A fascinating mix of nostalgia, practicality, and love of the holiday. Read on for the great Thanksgiving 2024 This or That Showdown.

Bird Prep: Brine or No Brine? 

Winner: No Brine. There’s no doubt that brining a turkey has become mainstream Thanksgiving prep, but here at Allrecipes, 64% of our readers favor a no-brine prep of their bird (as in this 4.9-star recipe for A Simply Perfect Roast Turkey) compared to 36% who brine. Feeling salty this holiday? Check out our most popular Turkey Brine recipe, which is easy to pull together and seasoned with fragrant rosemary and thyme.

Stuffing: Traditional or Cornbread? 

Winner: Traditional. This was our closest matchup of the year. When it comes to picking out a stuffing recipe for the bird, 53% of Allrecipes users wanted a traditional-style stuffing and 47% went for a cornbread-style recipe. The most popular traditional stuffing of the year? This Sausage Stuffing recipe, with the meat-free Slow Cooker Stuffing a close second. Meanwhile, Grandma’s Cornbread Dressing was by far the most popular in its category. 

Cranberry Sauce: Canned or Homemade?

Winner: Canned. Sometimes you just need a quick go-to on Thanksgiving Day, and one of the easiest shortcuts is canned cranberry sauce. While 90% of our Thanksgiving poll respondents said they planned to serve cranberry sauce, 54% said they’d go with store bought. No shame in that game: Some folks prefer the flavor and texture in addition to the convenience! But for those 46% who go with homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, this Cranberry Sauce recipe has more than 3,000 ratings and an average of 4.8 stars.

Gravy: Homemade or Store-bought? 

Winner: Homemade. Are Allrecipes users ready to cut another Thanksgiving Day corner with a store-bought gravy? Not so fast: According to our poll, a whopping 76% of respondents make their gravy at home, compared to 24% who planned to pick some up at the store. And whether homemade or store-bought, gravy is crucial to your Thanksgiving tables: 95% of folks said they’d be serving that savory sauce alongside the turkey. 

Potatoes: Mashed or Scalloped?

Winner: Mashed. In the biggest throwdown of the year, mashed potatoes dominated Allrecipes Thanksgiving yet again, with 92% of users preferring the fluffy stuff to the creamy casserole style of scalloped potatoes (8%). Want to join the small but mighty scalloped community? Try this Scalloped Potatoes recipe inspired by how a user’s mother made them. Need a brush-up on your mashed potato game? This #1 recipe for Basic Mashed Potatoes even has a video to get you inspired. 

Sweet Potatoes Topping: Marshmallows or Pecans? 

Winner: Pecans. Talk about a stunning victory! A full 69% of Allrecipes home cooks prefer pecan topping for their sweet potato side dish over marshmallow (31%). And if you’re one of those pecan-topping fans, you might want to check out our Yummy Sweet Potato Casserole, which is by far last Thanksgiving’s most popular sweet potato recipe with its pecan topping bolstered by brown sugar. If you’re from the other camp, don’t miss last year’s most popular marshmallow-topped recipe, Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows.

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie or Sweet Potato Pie? 

Winner: Pumpkin Pie. This is no contest: Pumpkin pie rules Thanksgiving searches for Allrecipes users, returning a whopping 77% compared to sweet potato pie at 23% (maybe we get our sweet potato fix with those delicious casseroles). Need a new go-to pumpkin pie recipe? Check out our Perfect Pumpkin Pie, which has been Allrecipes’s #1 recipe for three years running (and has more than 2,600 five-star ratings!). 

Pumpkin Pie: Homemade or Store-bought?

Winner: Homemade. Some things just seem worth the work, especially when it comes to that pumpkin pie. In our Thanksgiving Quick Poll, 70% of Allrecipes users said they’d be making their own pumpkin pies this year, as opposed to picking one up at the store (30%). Now that’s a holiday flex! Ready to join the bake-it-yourself brigade? Here are our 10 best pumpkin pie recipes of all time.

Pie Crust: From Scratch or Store-bought?

Winner: Store-bought. You’ve already scored points for baking that holiday pie from scratch, but what about the crust? Does it need to be homemade as well? Turns out that 57% of respondents to our Thanksgiving Quick Poll said they would pick up the crust at the store, while 43% would make it from scratch. No matter how the crust gets made, it’s just great to think of all those homemade pies baking in ovens across America on the holiday.