Make Our Most Satisfying Thanksgiving Side Dishes
All photos by Heami Lee.

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Food

Make Our Most Satisfying Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Beige is beautiful.

No time of year encourages heavy carb and lipid consumption quite like Thanksgiving.

It's been almost 400 years since the earliest Thanksgiving dinners took place and the list of food staples has grown to the point where you can't not have stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and scalloped potatoes sitting alongside your turkey.

These indulgent sides would all look perfectly natural next to a Thanksgiving turkey, but we you know damn well that they would look just as good on your bedside table or under the dim lights of your laptop screen.

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You'll have enough calories in you to plow a pumpkin field after eating these, but you'll probably end up sleeping like a baby.


RECIPE: Sausage, Apple, and Fennel Stuffing

The smell of apple, fennel, sage, and sausage roasting in your oven is guaranteed to make all of your neighbors jealous. Treat it like a main and it will treat you well.

RECIPE: Deep-Fried Stuffing Balls

Sometimes even bready, savory stuffing just isn't satisfying enough. That's when you pull out the big guns and turn that stuffing into breaded and fried balls of cubed bread and sausage. Reheat last night's gravy and you have the perfect dipping sauce for these soft, crispy stuffing balls.

RECIPE: Caramelized Onion and Potato Gratin

Ok, so you've had mashed potatoes 900,000 times in your life and it was only awesome maybe a dozen times? You'll get a way better batting average with this recipe, which respects the integrity of the potato with thin slices for maximum Gruyère and cream absorption.

RECIPE: Cheesy Cauliflower and Bacon Gratin

Who says cauliflower has to be healthy? Its sturdy texture holds up beautifully in this sea of cheese, bacon, and roux and should be eaten like a mac and cheese, which is to say out of the tray with a spoon.

RECIPE: Jalapeño Cornbread

No matter which of these recipes you make (ideally all of them), jalapeño cornbread is the perfect accompaniment; the side to the sides, if you will.