United States of Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is the largest food holiday in the United States, and Allrecipes is the largest community of home cooks on the internet. So what happens when you look into how the Allrecipes reader does Thanksgiving? The math is simple: You find out how America does Thanksgiving.

Every year millions of people visit Allrecipes to find their favorite turkey recipe, side dish, and dessert. By mining years of data about the recipes that our readers are clicking on, we’re able to spot rising recipe trends (like pecan pie brownies!), determine the most popular side dishes across the country, and figure out if people prefer pecan or marshmallows on their sweet potato casserole. The results? They might just surprise you.

In this collection of stories, we’ll also dive into things like how much the average person actually spends ($$$) on Thanksgiving, and whether or not people buy or make a pumpkin pie every year. But ultimately it’s important to remember that this data goes beyond the numbers—this is about how people, like you, choose to cook and gather with their family. And this year, that’s something I’m grateful for.

Thanksgiving by the Numbers: Here’s How America Actually Plans, Spends, and Celebrates the Holiday

From the time you choose to sit down to eat, to how many people are around your table, to the size of your turkey, there are a million little decisions that go into planning Thanksgiving dinner. To figure out how the majority of our readers are celebrating the holiday, we took a three-prong approach: we looked into our site data, we polled our readers in a survey, and we looked at polling institutions around the country. Here’s what we learned.

The Most Popular Thanksgiving Side Dish In Every State

When we set out to find the most popular Thanksgiving side dish recipe, I was surprised by two things. First, there are only six recipes on Allrecipes that are considered the “most popular” throughout the country, and none of them are mashed potatoes. The horror! Second, while most of the side dishes are popular in multiple states around the country, there’s one side dish—specifically, Grandma’s Corn Pudding—that is only popular in one state. Can you guess which one it is?

The Very Best Thanksgiving Menu for 2024, According to You

Looking to revamp your Thanksgiving menu? We put together the perfect data-approved spread for you and your family in 2024. This menu is filled with little fun facts, including the “capital” of roasting turkey; the one pumpkin dessert that everyone in the Midwest is currently obsessed with; and the 4-ingredient green bean casserole you should make if you—like the majority of our readers—wait until the last minute to make the iconic Thanksgiving dish.

This or That: The Most Divisive Thanksgiving Questions, Answered by You

Do you call it “stuffing” or “dressing”? Do you make your cranberry sauce, or do you love the store-bought stuff? Do you like pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie more? By conducting a survey of the Allrecipes community and looking through our internal data, we figured out how our readers answered some of the most difficult Thanksgiving questions.

Let’s get down to business. And by business, I mean recipes. These aren’t just any Thanksgiving recipes, however, these are Allrecipes’ most popular recipes for the big day. Whether you’re trying to figure out the perfect drink for the occasion, need a great gluten-free side dish, or just want the #1 Thanksgiving recipe of all time from Allrecipes, this is your one-stop shop. Happy eating!