Turkey gets the big platter. The side dishes may have the bigger fan club.
In Campbell’s 2026 State of the Sides report, 46% of surveyed U.S. adults who celebrate Thanksgiving said they would be happy with a meal of sides only. That is a preference, not a prediction that nearly half the country is canceling the turkey.
The fifth annual report also found that 86% of respondents serve at least four sides, with a median of five. If you are assigning potluck dishes, that gives you a starting point for the menu, not a requirement to find room for another casserole.
The top five Thanksgiving sides
The report’s five favorite sides include these familiar dishes (listed here without a ranking):
- Stuffing or dressing
- Mashed potatoes
- Yams or sweet potatoes
- Mac and cheese
- Green bean casserole
The report found that mac and cheese was Gen Z’s favorite for the second year in a row. One Thanksgiving table can have very different ideas about the most important dish.
Keep the favorite. Give the experiment its own dish.
For your own menu, ask guests which side they would miss, put those dishes on the list first, then leave room for one new recipe. That is a menu-planning suggestion, not something the survey tested.
Green bean casserole fans seem especially attached to their usual version. Only 19% of respondents said they would change that recipe, the lowest share among the report’s top five sides. If someone is expecting the family version, a separate experimental side is the less surprising option.
What the survey does and does not tell us
This is a brand-commissioned survey, not a count of actual Thanksgiving dinners. Reputation Leaders conducted the Campbell’s-commissioned survey in August and September 2026 among 5,017 U.S. adults age 18 and older who celebrate Thanksgiving.
The report gives a national margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points at 95% confidence. Its state-level margin is much wider, at plus or minus 9.8 points, so small differences between states are not a reason to declare one state the ultimate authority on mashed potatoes.
Use the list for ideas. For the final guest list’s favorites, ask the people coming to dinner.
