Our 32 Best-Ever Thanksgiving Sides

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Buttermilk

Move over, turkey. These Thanksgiving sides will be the star of your holiday table. We take the classics, including stuffing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, and add a tasty and creative spin. Although the holiday season may look different this year, you can still celebrate with flavorful recipes like Caramelized Apple & Onion Stuffing.

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Green Beans with Parmesan-Garlic Breadcrumbs

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In this easy green bean recipe, browning the butter before tossing it with the breadcrumbs produces a nice nutty flavor. Serve this green bean dish as a healthy alternative to green bean casserole to keep things light on Thanksgiving Day.

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Caramelized Onion & Apple Stuffing

Caramelized Onion & Apple Stuffing

Caramelized onions are a sweet and savory addition to this healthy stuffing recipe. Choose an apple that becomes tender yet holds its shape when cooked—try Jonagold or Cortland.

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Sauteed Broccoli & Kale with Toasted Garlic Butter

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In this easy vegetable side dish, broccoli and kale are drizzled with a butter, garlic and crushed red pepper sauce. Serve this healthy recipe alongside roasted chicken, turkey or ham--or on top of your favorite whole grain, such as quinoa or farro.

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Balsamic Roasted Carrots

Balsamic Roasted Carrots
Pictured Recipe: Balsamic Roasted Carrots.

Roasting carrots brings out their sweetness, which is enhanced further with a tangy balsamic and maple glaze. Serve them straight-up for an easy weeknight side dish or garnish with chopped hazelnuts for holiday meals and dinner parties.

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Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

The genius hack in this recipe: topping sweet potatoes with marshmallows while they're still piping hot from the slow cooker yields a baked marshmallow topping that's typical with baked sweet potato casseroles.

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Roasted Honeynut Squash

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Honeynut squash looks just like mini butternut squash, but on the inside you'll find an even sweeter, deeper orange flesh. This winter squash has only been available at farmers' markets and in select grocery stores for a few years. If you see it, grab a few to try! This simple roasting method enhances the natural flavor of the squash with butter and spices.

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Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes with Spinach

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Classic scalloped potatoes get a burst of color, heartier texture and a healthy update with the addition of chopped spinach. The greens in this side dish also create a nice contrast to the creamy, velvety potatoes.

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Slow-Cooker Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions

Slow-Cooker Green Bean Casserole

Thanks to fresh green beans, an easy homemade cream sauce and crispy onion topping, this green bean casserole recipe is healthier and more delicious than traditional recipes that use canned soup, beans and onions. Plus, the slow cooker saves you time cooking at the stove. Make sure to use fresh green beans, as frozen green beans will become mushy.

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Classic Slow-Cooker Stuffing

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Save space in your oven and use your slow cooker to whip up this easy, classic stuffing. Hearty whole-grain bread gets toasted in the oven for only 10 minutes (and you can toast the cubes ahead of time!) while your slow cooker does the rest.

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Honey & Orange Glazed Carrots

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Bright and fresh, these candied carrots have just a hint of sweetness from the honey and citrus. This one-pan dish is quick and easy to make, but also has such a pretty presentation that it works both as an entertaining-worthy or weeknight side dish. Look for carrots that are similar in size so they cook evenly.

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Honey-Glazed Roasted Delicata Squash

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Tangy cider vinegar, sweet honey, crunchy pine nuts and fresh mint come together to make an amazing glaze in this healthy roasted winter squash recipe. If you use delicata, the whole squash--including the gorgeous skin--is edible.

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Roasted Fennel & Italian Sausage Stuffing

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This homemade stuffing recipe is special because it comes complete with a sausage-making lesson from the Sausage King himself, author and famed business owner Bruce Aidells.

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Artichoke-Potato Gratin

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This gratin dish has all of the craveable flavors of artichoke dip in a more sophisticated form. It makes a terrific side with any roasted meats or poultry.

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Wilted Kale With Warm Shallot Dressing

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Vinegar is the key to making this sautéed kale recipe special. Look for vinegar that's cloudy—it likely still has some of the mother in the bottle and will give you a sweet acidity rather than a harsh bite. Organic apple cider vinegar is usually your best bet. For the most eye-catching version of this side, use different colored varieties of kale.

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Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Green Horseradish Sauce

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These roasted smashed potatoes show off all the goodness of russets: fluffy insides surrounded by shatteringly crisp skin. The easy horseradish sauce topping adds a delicious flavor boost.

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Apple, Fig & Brussels Sprouts Salad

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To add a little bit of green to the Thanksgiving table, this Apple, Fig & Brussels Sprouts Salad is a sweet-tart side to neutralize heavier dishes. Salad dressing made from sweet and mellow white balsamic vinegar balances out the assertive greens and Brussels sprouts in this fall salad. If you have one handy, a small mandoline makes it easy to slice the Brussels and apple.

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Mashed Cauliflower & Yukon Golds

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The term "cauliflower mashed potatoes" usually means subbing cauliflower for potatoes completely, but in this recipe we use both cauliflower and potatoes: Yukon Golds add to the buttery hue of the mash and their waxy texture balances out the more watery cauliflower to keep it velvety. The mash is easy enough to make as a weeknight dinner recipe, but it would also make an excellent side dish for Thanksgiving or another special occasion.

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Carrot Soup

Carrot Soup

This easy carrot soup recipe is a great way to use up a bag of carrots that were forgotten in your produce drawer. The carrots cook together with aromatics like onions, garlic and fresh herbs before being puréed into a silky smooth soup that's delicious for dinner or packed up for lunch.

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Roasted Cranberry, Squash & Cauliflower Salad

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Serve this healthy salad as a main course or as a starter for a special meal. To speed up prep, look for precut butternut squash in the refrigerated area of the produce section at your grocery store.

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No-Sugar-Added Sweet Potato Casserole

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Instead of loading up this comfort food side with tons of brown sugar and marshmallows, we have turned to sweet spices, vanilla and inherently sweet dried fruit to enhance the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes. A topping of pecans and pepitas replaces traditional marshmallow topping to keep it healthy and add texture and color for a beautiful casserole.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

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Roasting butternut squash with herbs and garlic gives this healthy soup a more complex flavor. A bit of maple syrup adds sweetness, while a splash of apple-cider vinegar brightens up the flavors. This easy recipe requires just 15 minutes of active prep time, but you can cut down on that even more by buying precut squash. Serve with bread and a salad for a light supper, or as a starter for a holiday meal.

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The Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce

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This is our go-to recipe for homemade cranberry sauce. It's simple (just five ingredients!), is lightly sweet without being too sugary and has just the right amount of zesty flavor from orange peel. Plus, it's so easy—it goes from stove to table in just 20 minutes!

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Oven-Roasted Squash with Garlic & Parsley

Oven-Roasted Squash with Garlic & Parsley

Winter squash becomes tender and sweeter when roasted--a delicious side for a holiday dinner. Look for interesting squash like kabocha or hubbard at your farmers' market and try them in this recipe. Recipe adapted from Alice Waters.

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Mashed Celeriac with Herbs

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Celeriac is a delicious low-carb alternative to creamy mashed potatoes. Pureeing the steamed celeriac in a food processor ensures a smooth, light and fluffy texture.

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Simple Sautéed Spinach

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Sautéed spinach (or any greens) with garlic and a squeeze of lemon (or vinegar) is a simple formula that lets spinach shine and will never go out of favor.

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Garlic-Rosemary Smashed Potatoes

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A combination of baked, mashed and roasted, these crusty, garlicky smashed potatoes are a healthy and creative alternative. Serve alongside a seared steak or roasted pork tenderloin and green beans.

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Warm Pear & Spinach Salad with Maple-Bacon Vinaigrette

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Mature, larger-leaved spinach holds up better to the warm bacon vinaigrette than baby spinach in this healthy spinach salad recipe. If you don't want the spinach to wilt, let the dressing cool before tossing it with the salad.

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Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Honey-Balsamic Glaze

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This lightning-fast side dish produces deliciously sweet Brussels sprouts, thanks to honey that caramelizes and crispy, salty bacon. They're so good your kids will even eat them! If the Brussels sprouts are hard to skewer, consider microwaving them a minute longer and then try skewering again. If you'd like to make this Brussels sprouts recipe vegetarian, simply omit the bacon.

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Honey, Balsamic & Rosemary Roasted Figs

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These roasted figs are brimming with sweet-and-savory flavors. The final dish tastes like a less sweet, chunkier version of fig jam but also delivers savory depth, thanks to the rosemary and salt. Add these roasted figs atop yogurt, ice cream, toast or even grilled pork or chicken.

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Loaded Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon, Cheddar & Chives

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Imagine a loaded baked potato topped with bacon, Cheddar and chives combined with the creamy goodness of scalloped potatoes, and you have the ultimate comfort food casserole. This scalloped potato recipe is made healthier than original versions by using low-fat milk in place of heavy cream, but it still tastes just as rich and creamy.

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Steamed Green Beans with Rosemary-Garlic Vinaigrette & Fried Shallots

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Here's a new way to delight your green-bean-loving guests. The genius of this easy green bean recipe is in the dressing, which is made with savory oil that has also been used to fry shallots and garlic.

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Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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In this easy vegetable side dish recipe, sweet potatoes are tossed with maple syrup, butter and lemon juice and are roasted until tender and golden brown. The delicious glaze that forms on these maple-roasted sweet potatoes transform this ultra-simple dish into something sublime.

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