Food and Recipes Side Dishes The South's Most Storied Thanksgiving Side Dishes By Nancie McDermott Nancie McDermott Nancie McDermott has been a cookbook author, food writer, and cooking teacher for twenty-five years. She has written for Southern Living, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Cooks Illustrated, and Fine Cooking. Nominated for a James Beard award in Journalism and an IACP Cookbook Award, she the author of thirteen cookbooks. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on July 13, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall The annual Thanksgiving parade of side dishes takes us on a familiar journey to places and people we know and love. Depending on what part of the South you're from or where you're gathering, that might mean a platter of Louisiana-style Shrimp-Stuffed Mirlitons, a skillet of Fried Arkansas Black Apples kissed with brown sugar and cinnamon, or a pan of spicy Texas cornbread dressing loaded with chorizo and peppers. We hope this collection will inspire you to add a new recipe to the sideboard this year, bring back an old-fashioned favorite, and—most of all—give thanks for the deliciously diverse dishes of the South. 01 of 12 Alabama: Collard Greens with Garlic and Sippets Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Collard Greens with Garlic and Sippets Alabama was home to Eugene Walter, who spent his life observing Southern food and culture and wrote with passion about the cooks, recipes, and culinary traditions of his beloved region. In his classic book Southern Spirits in Food and Drink, he offered two recipes: Wednesday Greens and Sunday Greens, one plain and the other fancy. He inspired our version with his mention of sippets, a British take on croutons. 02 of 12 Arkansas: Fried Arkansas Black Apples Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Fried Arkansas Black Apples Fried apples add a sweet presence to the Thanksgiving table, where cranberry sauce sometimes carries the fruit flag all alone. The state's namesake apple, the Arkansas Black, dates back to 1870, when a Benton County farmer encountered an impressive seedling in his orchard. A descendant of the Winesap, it earned national acclaim through the 1920s for its beautiful color, tart flavor, round shape, and extraordinary keeping qualities. 03 of 12 Georgia: Sea Island Crab Fried Rice Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Sea Island Crab Fried Rice Made with two Lowcountry staples—freshly caught blue crab and long-grain rice—crab rice is a signature Gullah Geechee dish. It graces both everyday and celebration tables throughout the Sea Islands, where palmettos and pine trees tower over waters teeming with fish, crabs, shrimp, and oysters. Prepare the rice in advance, not only to save time on Thanksgiving morning but also because fried rice tastes best when made with cold cooked rice that's been broken up into individual grains. 04 of 12 Kentucky: Fluffy Corn Pudding Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Fluffy Corn Pudding In the heart of the Bluegrass State, a beloved establishment prepares to welcome guests to its annual feast. The Beaumont Inn opened its doors over100 years ago, in Kentucky's oldest town of Harrodsburg. Its Thanksgiving menu draws return visitors along with new guests, not just for turkey with all the trimmings but also for corn pudding—which is one of the inn's signature dishes and most requested recipes. Our simplified recipe, which uses yellow corn for a pop of color and parsley and scallions for extra flavor, doesn't require nearly as much effort and has a light and fluffy texture that might just rival the original. 05 of 12 Louisiana: Shrimp-Stuffed Mirlitons Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Shrimp-Stuffed Mirlitons Unless you grew up in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, or their environs, the word "mirliton" (often pronounced "mel-ee-TAWN") in this recipe's title might not catch your eye. Whether pickled; glazed; or stuffed with crabmeat, sausage, and shrimp, mirlitons are beloved in Louisiana. This is our version of a classic Creole dish, Shrimp-Stuffed Mirlitons, long a Thanksgiving standby in South Louisiana. Preparing the squash requires a little care, as you can easily cut through or tear the cooked halves, so take your time with this step. The rest of the recipe comes together effortlessly and makes a savory addition to your spread. 06 of 12 Mississippi: Grated Sweet Potato Pudding Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Grated Sweet Potato Pudding Sweet potatoes grow well in many Southern states, but Mississippi takes particular pride in harvesting this crop. The North Mississippi town of Vardaman claims the title of Sweet Potato Capital of the World, and its regional agricultural tradition endures. We are saluting Mississippi's history with an old-school grated pudding, which is also known as a sweet potato pone. This near-forgotten classic calls for sweet potatoes, peeled and grated, sweetened with sugar (and sometimes molasses and spices), enriched with eggs, and baked into a rustic pudding. 07 of 12 North Carolina: Mashed Potatoes and Rutabaga with Collards Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Recipe: Mashed Potatoes and Rutabaga with Collards Rutabagas may not look like much, piled up in a heap at a farmers' market, but chef Vivian Howard knows they're worthy of a place on the Thanksgiving table. She includes this root vegetable among the two dozen Eastern North Carolina ingredients featured in her award-winning cookbook, Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South. It's an essential crop in Eastern North Carolina's coastal region for thriving in sandy soil, surviving freezing winters and sultry summers, and filling hungry stomachs during hard times. While Howard prefers rutabagas that are roughly mashed, in this version, we pair them with Yukon Gold potatoes for a creamier, smoother texture. 08 of 12 South Carolina: Buttermilk Spoon Bread Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Buttermilk Spoon Bread Spoon bread's appeal lies in its marriage of qualities found in three other favorite dishes: It's satisfying like cornbread, it's comforting like custard, and it creates anticipation and delight like an airy soufflé. Long enjoyed at celebrations throughout the region, it has a special resonance in South Carolina because of its signature ingredient, corn. Our spoon bread recipe calls for beating the egg whites and yolks separately and gently folding the puffy whites into the batter just before baking. This traditional method adds height and a little glamour to the dish. 09 of 12 Tennessee: Baked Mac and Cheese with Bacon Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Baked Mac and Cheese with Bacon Cheese, noodles, butter, and milk are musts, of course, but we wanted a little sizzle to make it a recipe to remember. "Sizzle" led to "bacon," and that one word turned our eyes toward Tennessee, home to Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams. At this legendary smokehouse in East Tennessee, Allan Benton and his team produce gloriously smoky bacon that they ship all over the country to chefs as well as home cooks. To pay even more homage to the state, we added a tangy splash of buttermilk to the cheese sauce in honor of Knoxville's Cruze Farm, a family dairy that makes some of the best around. Our take on this classic is familiar enough for the traditionalists but revved up just enough to please those eager for something unexpected. 10 of 12 Texas: Spicy Cornbread Dressing with Chorizo Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Spicy Cornbread Dressing with Chorizo Of all the side dishes to include on your Thanksgiving menu, everyone can agree that dressing is essential. If you're a Texan, dressing probably starts with cornbread, and if you're Hugo Ortega, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind Houston's H Town Restaurant Group, it includes chorizo. Ortega says the spicy pork sausage, which he makes at his restaurants, is a must. Our hearty dressing takes its cues from Ortega and the state of Texas. We added plenty of fresh Mexican chorizo and chopped jalapeño for extra heat, plus green bell pepper and cilantro. 11 of 12 Virginia: Scalloped Oysters Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Scalloped Oysters Bernie Herman, renowned folklorist and esteemed professor of Southern studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, knows more than most people do about oysters. That's because he grew up in a community on Virginia's Eastern Shore, accessible to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. He notes that today's scalloped oysters are likely descendants of oyster pie, a traditional Virginia dish that dates back to the 1700s. The modern culinary term "scalloped" denotes an ingredient—which could be anything from tomatoes to potatoes to oysters—layered in a casserole dish with breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs; enriched with cream and butter; and baked into a rich, satisfying side. Herman thinks the commercial production of saltines in the late 1800s may have led to the rise of scalloped oysters, the simpler—though no less delicious—dish we share here. 12 of 12 West Virginia: Candy Roaster Squash with Sorghum, Black Walnuts, and Cranberries Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Recipe: Candy Roaster Squash with Sorghum, Black Walnuts, and Cranberries West Virginia is the only state located entirely within the Appalachian Mountains. With the brief May-to-September growing season there, sturdy crops are welcomed and cherished by cooks and gardeners, particularly produce selections that stand up to frost and keep well into the colder months. A simple stunner for your spread, this roasted squash is topped with two West Virginia staples: black walnuts and sorghum syrup. Butternut squash makes an excellent substitute in this dish if the lovely Candy Roaster isn't an option. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! 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