Thanksgiving is November 28th, two weeks from today. You may be anticipating the big meal and all its sides, from the star of the show - turkey - to mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and whatever other twists your family or friends may put on it.
However, some of these sides that are thought of as darn near universal may not be as popular as you might think.
A Harris Poll survey revealed that Green Bean Casserole, a staple at most Thanksgiving dinners, is the least favorite Turkey Day dish among one-quarter of people who were asked, making it one of most unpopular sides for the holiday. In fact, most of those respondents said they only eat it for tradition's sake.
However, it's not the LEAST favorite Thanksgiving meal feature. The top offender in this category goes to canned cranberry sauce, with 29 percent of respondents saying it's their least fave (or most hated.) In fact, nearly half of those responding referred to it as "disgusting."
In case you were curious - and I know you are - sweet potatoes or sweet potato casserole is third at 22 percent, followed by Pumpkin Pie at 21 percent. Turkey, the main event, came in at 19 percent - essentially meaning those people who answered "turkey" preferred something else as the main course, which is an increasing trend nowadays.
Now, if you really like Green Bean Casserole but don't want to use canned soups like Campbell's Cream of Mushroom to make it, or those canned French-fried onions (a guilty pleasure of mine, actually), Alton Brown has a great from-scratch recipe that might change your mind. Check it out below, just ignore the thumbnail they decided to use - it seems a little eyebrow-raising:
So maybe you like Green Bean Casserole, maybe you don't. And you probably don't like cranberry sauce. But regardless, enjoy everything else on the table, the company around it, and have a great Thanksgiving!