Our Best Thanksgiving Sides

Butter-Roasted Carrots with Za’atar and Pomegranate Molasses

With roasted citrus and a luxe, buttery-herbal coating, these carrots are so much better than the simple olive oil-roasted variety.

By Courtney HillOctober 3, 2023

Milk-Simmered Mashed Potatoes

By cooking your potatoes in a little milk, which doubles as your mashing liquid, you get natural, creamy lusciousness—no cream needed.

By Diane UngerJanuary 21, 2024

Butter-Braised Mashed Potatoes

The trouble with most mashed potatoes? They taste more of milk or cream than potatoes. And they often end up gluey. So this recipe skips the liquid dairy and instead simmers russets in a minimal amount of water that is cooked off, not drained. This en

By Milk StreetSeptember 5, 2025

Mashed Potatoes with Herbed Browned Butter

In search of a twist on this holiday season essential, we looked to nutty browned butter. Infusing it with hearty herbs added a layer of unexpected yet familiar flavor. For an elevated finishing touch, we pour a portion of the fragrant butter directly

By Kevin ClarkNovember 14, 2024

Savory Sweet Potato Gratin

Smooth sweet potatoes, spiked with umami-rich miso, ginger and soy sauce and finished with a crisp topping of peppery-sweet panko bread crumbs and sesame seeds.

By Diane UngerOctober 16, 2017

Spiced Sweet Potato Tian

These buttery, spiced sweet potatoes balance savory and sweet—rather than a side that often feels closer to the dessert realm.

By Courtney HillSeptember 1, 2021

Garlic and Rosemary Potato Tian

A classic vegetable tian is round, as it takes its name from the Provençal earthenware vessel in which is is made, But for ease, we use a 9-by-13-inch baking dish to make a simple, generously sized potato tian for the holidays. A garlicky broth spiked

By Milk StreetOctober 3, 2025

Buttery Hazelnut and Winter Squash Tian

This winter squash side comes together easily. It takes its name from a classic French Provençal dish of vegetables baked in a shallow, round earthenware vessel called a tian. Either a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate or an 8-inch square baking dish works f

Sweet Potato Gratin with Vanilla Bean and Bay Leaves

Heavy cream simmered with vanilla bean and bay leaves hints at marshmallow but is far more nuanced, compelling and aromatic. OR This no-marshmallow potato casserole retains a hint of marshmallow, but far more nuanced and aromatic, by infusing cream wi

By Matthew CardSeptember 27, 2016

Green Beans with Spanish Almond Sauce

Dairy-based sauces tend to dull the flavor of fresh produce. We prefer Spain’s salsa de almendras, or almond sauce. The nuts are blended to create a sauce with creamy richness, but none of the heft of dairy. We pair it with tender-crisp blanched green

By Courtney HillOctober 28, 2024

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Aleppo Pepper and Crème Fraîche

For the best mashed sweet potatoes, we favor roasting over simmering or steaming. During roasting, moisture in the potatoes evaporates, concentrating the natural sugars for heightened sweetness. And the caramelization that occurs on the exterior contr

By Rose HattabaughOctober 15, 2025

Scalloped Potatoes

This recipe for scalloped potatoes is designed to be easily scaled up to serve as many as 12 (see below). The ingredients are basic, but the finished dish is rich and elegant enough for a holiday spread. Be sure to use Yukon Gold potatoes, which have

By Courtney HillSeptember 20, 2024

Cranberry-Jalapeño Chutney

This cranberry chutney is a spicy, savory-sweet alternative to the standard sugary cranberry sauce. To tame the chili heat, seed the jalapeño and trim out the membranes before slicing. The chutney can be made well in advance; transfer to a container a

By Milk StreetSeptember 2, 2025

Easy-Bake Herbed Stuffing

Rather than waste precious minutes mincing and sautéing aromatics, we speed things up and maximize flavor by blending raw shallots and herbs with butter in the food processor, to create a flavor-packed paste that seasons the bread cubes as they bake.

By Matthew CardSeptember 27, 2016

Bagna Cauda Brussels Sprouts

The original Italian flavor bomb. Made with garlic, anchovies, butter and olive oil, bagna cauda is a savory dip from Piedmont, Italy. It’s a perfect pairing with Brussels sprouts that have been blistered and charred on a sizzling-hot baking sheet and

By Courtney HillMarch 26, 2025

Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Bacon

For this simple skillet side, we thinly slice Brussels sprouts, apples and shallot so they cook quickly and absorb flavors. A food processor fitted with a slicing disk is the fastest, easiest way to do the prep, but if you prefer, you could use a shar

By Rose HattabaughDecember 15, 2021

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Browned Butter Vinaigrette

Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms, Gruyère and Tarragon

For this hearty savory bread pudding, we took inspiration from a recipe in “Tartine” by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson. Make sure to use crusty bread with a rustic, sturdy crumb; a soft, yielding loaf will yield a soggy, dense pudding. The egg-s

By Diane UngerOctober 16, 2019

Easy Oven-Baked Mushroom-Herb Stuffing

With strong herbal overtones grounded by two types of woody mushrooms, this savory stuffing doesn't need a turkey to show off its strengths.

By Diane UngerOctober 16, 2017

Bagna Cauda with Steamed Broccoli

Bagna cauda, a Piedmontese sauce-like dip, is a heady mixture of butter, olive oil, lightly toasted garlic and umami-rich anchovies. (Bagna cauda translates to warm bath.) We gave ours a layer of herbal flavor with the addition of bay and rosemary and

By Courtney HillFebruary 26, 2025

Yogurt-Roasted Carrots with Warm Spices

Warm spices, cooling yogurt, and fresh herbs give roasted carrots new dimension.

By Calvin CoxOctober 1, 2021

Romanian Baked Polenta with Sour Cream and Cheese

In Romania, mămăligă cu brânză și smântână, or polenta with cheese and sour cream, can be the center of a meal or served as a side to roasts and braises. We prefer the robust texture and flavor notes of coarse polenta or stone-ground yellow cornmeal.

By Rose HattabaughSeptember 16, 2024

Butter Rolls

Terry Tanaka asked us to recreate these soft, lightly sweetened Hawaiian butter rolls for her husband, Royce, whose grandfather used to serve at his bakery in Oahu.

By Milk StreetOctober 28, 2022

Pumpkin Seed Rolls

A lightened-up version of Kürbiskern Brötchen, a classic Bavarian bread, we enrich these rolls with homemade nut butter.

Hawaiian Sweet Bread–Style Dinner Rolls

From its small-town roots in Hilo, Hawaii, King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread has become a mainland favorite. This is our homemade dinner roll version that delivers the characteristic soft, sweet, feathery crumb. (For a sandwich loaf, see the recipe below.)

By Hisham Ali HassanMarch 26, 2025

Maque-Style Mexican Bisquetes

Maque is a bakery/café with multiple locations in Mexico City. During a visit to the Condesa shop, we became particularly enamored of their bisquets. Mexican bisquets are common, but Maque’s stand out as unique. The deeply golden oversized buns featur

By Christopher Kimball & Rose HattabaughApril 28, 2025