What Thanksgiving Side Dish Is Your State Obsessed With? Google Has an Idea

November 27, 2019

This Thanksgiving, are you piling on an extra serving of mashed potatoes, mac n’ cheese, or green bean casserole onto your plate? Your answer may depend on where you live.

Google analyzed searches for Thanksgiving side dishes per state, from Nov 1 to November 8, to see what users were uniquely searching for. (So, whatever each state googled disproportionately more than all the others in the country.)

In the south, “dressing” (or as northerners call it, “stuffing”) reigned supreme. Texas was all about the fruit salad, whereas in Massachusetts and New Mexico, Googlers wanted to know all about butternut squash. Tennessee searched for creamed corn, and Wisconsin wanted sweet potatoes—but with marshmallows. California, Maryland, and Michigan love mac n’ cheese, and Rhode Island is keen on cranberry sauce. North Dakota was a holiday outlier for “keto soup.”

Regional Thanksgiving differences aren’t just apparent in sides—last year, GE surveyed over 1,500 people on their pie preferences. And while pumpkin was the top choice overall, the south’s favorite was pecan pie while New Englanders opted for apple.

Below, the most uniquely searched side dishes by state, according to Google.

Alabama: Dressing

Alaska: Mashed Potatoes

Arizona: Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Arkansas: Dressing

California: Mac and Cheese

Colorado: Stuffing

Connecticut: Stuffing

Delaware: Sweet Potatoes

Florida: Dressing

Georgia: Dressing

Hawaii: Sweet Potatoes