23 Easy Southern Side Dishes for Thanksgiving
It’s that time of year again– It’s the Holiday Season! Good food, Good friends, and lots of Family Time.
Whether you live in the south (or not), or you’re just looking for some good southern cooking, I’ve got you covered. These Southern Side Dishes for Thanksgiving are sure to please all of your holiday guests.
Turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato pie are always a must on Thanksgiving Day, but what about the sides?
If you are anything like me, then the sides make the meal. I love creamy, savory, spicy, and sweet sides. So today, I’ve got you covered with everything from casseroles, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and dressing. You are sure to find something your family will love with these Easy Southern Side Dishes for Thanksgiving.
Easy Green Bean Casserole
This Green Bean Casserole with Bacon and Mushrooms is a holiday classic made with bacon, cheese, onions, green beans and covered in a nice creamy sauce. It’s baked in the oven until bubbly and topped with crispy onions. A delicious side dish for the holidays or any occasion.
Sweet Potato Casserole with Brown Sugar Pecan Topping
Sweet Potato Casserole is creamy, delicious, and melts in your mouth. It has a crunchy brown sugar pecan topping that completes this dish. This dish is perfect for your holiday table or really just any time you have a taste for some pure southern comfort food. This dish usually ends up on my table several times a month as a side dish. OH, SO GOOD!
Creamy Coleslaw
This is The Best and Easiest Creamy Coleslaw for your next cookout, bbq, or get-together. It’s deliciously creamy with the perfect balance of flavors. Makes a great side dish for the holiday table.
Ranch Au Gratin Potatoes
Thinly sliced potatoes with a creamy, cheesy ranch sauce make the perfect side dish for any night of the week. With just a few ingredients and one hour in the oven, you will have a pleasing dish that goes with just about anything and everything.
Southern Fried Green Beans
Crispy Southern Fried Green Beans that are battered and fried to crunchy deliciousness! Serve with Ranch or your favorite sauce for an irresistible side dish or appetizer.
Cheese Grits
Cheese Grits are a southern favorite. They are great for breakfast, in a casserole, as a snack, or side dish. Southern Style Cheese Grits are loaded with cream cheese, shredded cheese, and butter. If you have never tried grits before, then you are in for a real treat.
Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic Butter
Restaurant-style sauteed mushrooms are a super simple side dish that cooks in about 20 minutes. This recipe only requires 4 ingredients from start to finish. These mushrooms are cooked in garlic butter and are out of this world delicious! This dish is great for any night of the week and perfect for a holiday side dish.
Southern Fried Okra
The trick to having Crispy fried Okra is the buttermilk and breading. The buttermilk gives it a nice thick coating before it is dunked into the cornmeal and flour mix.
Parmesan Zucchini Fries
Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries are oven-baked and crispy. They are kid-approved and loved by adults, too. So if you are looking for a new spin on zucchini, this is it!
Mexican Corn Salad with Jalapenos
Mexican Corn Salad with Jalapenos is the perfect side dish for any night of the week, holiday, or summertime cookout. This recipe comes together super fast and will be chilling in your refrigerator in no time.
Chicken and Dressing
Chicken, cornbread, cream of mushroom soup, milk, eggs, onion, and butter all come together to make this a delicious pan of Cornbread Chicken and Dressing. This has been served in our house for over 30 years, and I plan to serve it for 30 more.
Southern Deviled Eggs
Southern Deviled Eggs are always a crowd pleaser and a classic for all types of gatherings. They have been served at our family gatherings for as long as I can remember. They are easy to make and have a delicious creamy filling. Perfect for Easter, Summer Cookouts, and Holiday side dishes. You can’t go wrong with a classic.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Garlic Mashed Potatoes make the perfect side dish to any meal. Potatoes, garlic, cream cheese, and butter. Creamy, fluffy, and totally yummy!
Hashbrown Casserole
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole is the perfect side dish made with shredded hashbrowns, cheddar cheese soup, sour cream, and onion. Quick and easy and perfect for a crowd.
Cabbage and Onions
Fried Cabbage and Onion is something you will find on many tables around the south. It’s just cabbage and onion sauteed in a little fat and cooked down until tender.
Pineapple Casserole
A savory and sweet southern casserole. Only 6 ingredients–Pineapple, butter, sugar, eggs, bread, and milk. Perfect for a side dish but could easily be a dessert. This is truly the Best Pineapple Casserole you will ever taste.
Bacon and Broccoli Salad
It’s perfect served as a side dish for dinner, a cookout, or a holiday celebration. Bacon and Broccoli Salad is a quick salad that is sure to please your family and guest and make your taste buds dance.
Crockpot Creamed Corn
Crock Pot Creamed Corn is a simple side dish for any night of the week or special occasion when you need to feed a crowd. Whole kernel corn, cream cheese, butter, heavy cream, sugar, salt, and pepper tossed in a crockpot and turned on. In a few hours, your corn is steaming hot and ready to eat.
Southern Cornbread Salad
Southern Cornbread Salad is a crowd-pleasing layered salad with bacon, cheese, and cornbread that comes together easily for all of your gatherings. Perfect for any time of the year.
Carrot Apple Salad
Carrot Apple Salad– Carrots, pineapple, apple, and raisins make for a delicious salad for just about any occasion. This is an easy dish to throw together with only a few ingredients and little prep work, plus it is super yummy!
Looking for some desserts? Be sure to check out 9 Southern Thanksgiving Desserts for your table.
Tangy Vinegar Coleslaw
Crunchy cabbage coated in a slightly sweetened vinegar dressing. Tangy Vinegar Coleslaw is delicious, tangy, slightly sweet, and super crisp. This slaw is packed with fresh flavors that will wake up your taste buds!
Corn on the Cob
When I cook corn, I go ahead and fill the crockpot up with corn. Why only cook a few pieces? Leftover corn is good for lunch the next day! Corn on the cob is a must-have for a holiday dinner. Go ahead and cook some up today!
Rice and Corn Casserole
It goes great as a side dish with chicken, turkey, ham, or really any other meat. I could make a meal of this casserole by itself. It definitely takes center stage to any meal, and your family will be asking you to make this time and time again.
For a few more sides, check out this post on 13 Southern Sides to serve for Thanksgiving.
Need more Side Dishes? Check out 27 Southern Thanksgiving Side Dishes to please all of your guests on Thanksgiving Day.
Looking for a Stuffing recipe? Be sure to check out my Sausage Stuffing with Cranberries and Apples. It was featured in Lake Martin Living Magazine. Delicious!
Need help cooking a turkey? Check out this link on How to Cook a Turkey.
Wow, such a lovely collection. Everything looks so delicious. I will definitely give some recipes a try.
These are great sides to go with my thanksgiving turkey!
Making a list from here on what to prepare and share for Thanksgiving!
I’m 100% with you – the sides totally make the meal! Thanks for this great list!
Loving all these southern recipes! I’m southern but now in California so these recipes remind me of home!
Great line up! Thanks for sharing!
so many yummy dishes to choose from!
Who needs any other recipes, your roundup is the absolute most perfect lineup of delicious meals for the holiday! So impressed!
Thank you! Enjoy!
They are perfect! Thank you for this list. Helped me decide what to put on the Thanksgiving menu 😉
Very nice collection of recipes, I have already selected a few to try, thanks for sharing 🙂
I love that fried green beans and coleslaw!
Yum + yum! First…never thought to cook corn on the cob in the crock pot…brilliant! And, why have I never thought to make grits for Thanksgiving? We make cornbread, so it totally makes sense. And, the leftovers would make an awesome breakfast bowl the next day!
This is a great collection! I will be looking for a great dressing recipe this year and several of these are great contenders!
I am loving these southern side dishes! We grew up with southern food and now live in California. These all remind me of my childhood.
These all look so good! Going to have to try the cornbread salad and a few others. I am from Jersey and we are usually plain with our cornbread (eating just as cornbread) so this will be an exciting treat to try!
Thanksgiving was last month here in Canada, but I am totally drooling over your side dish suggestions. So many delicious options!
Definitely trying a few of these on Thanksgiving and then repeating in December! Thank you so much this is super useful and very needed!
So many of my favorite side dishes!
Love all these!! Such a great list! Thank you for sharing!
Ooooh, some lovely ideas hear! I already tried and loved your sweet potato casserole, and cannot wait to try some more of your recipes!
Saving this for next month! So many great ideas, thank you!
These are such delicious sides! I’m gonna have to really narrow it down, it’s going to be tough to decide which ones to try this year!
Oh my goodness this entire post had me drooling! I’m for sure making the creamed corn. But those mushrooms and fried green beans are calling to me! I pinned this so I don’t forget about it!
Great list of thanksgivings idea. Perfect for the holiday menu planning
Where do I begin? With the sweet potato casserole or the cheesy au gratin potatoes?
I can’t go wrong either way and I can’t wait to try them for Thanksgiving. Thanks alot!
Such good recipes! We’ve already tried at least five of these side dishes and absolutely loved them! Cannot wait to try a few more 🙂
So many of my favourite holiday recipes are included in this roundup that I don’t even know where to begin.
These all look so delicious I don’t know which one to try first! I’m a sucker for potato dishes so it might have to be the au gratin potatoes – yum!