How many side dishes should you make when cooking Thanksgiving dinner?
Ideally with any meal, balance should be your focus. Thanksgiving is a food specific celebration and therefore has exceptions which we’ll get to, but for the most part, think balance. With that said, turkey is the star. The more you have on the table (and the better those dishes are) the less attention is received by your bird. A balanced meal highlights a protein and is accompanied by a starch and a vegetable. As for the aforementioned exceptions – Thanksgiving in my family would be simply a mediocre dinner after a long day of football without stuffing (dressing for you southerners) and mashed potatoes. Since these are both starches, it makes sense to balance them with two veggie dishes. That brings us to four + turkey, so unless you’re hosting more than 15 people, keep things simple. Besides, hors d’ouvres and dessert usually limit how much of the actually dinner gets eaten, at least in my house.
