These 10 State-by-State Thanksgiving Side Winners Might Surprise You
Stuffing dominates America’s Thanksgiving side-dish map, but it does not get the final word everywhere. New York and Florida chose macaroni and cheese, several states preferred mashed potatoes, and Maryland ended up with a three-way tie. Campbell’s 2025 State of the Sides report offers a revealing look at how differently Americans fill the space beside the turkey.
These are results from the 2025 survey, not newly released 2026 findings. Campbell’s commissioned independent research organization Reputation Leaders to survey 5,000 Thanksgiving-celebrating U.S. adults in July and August 2025, with 100 respondents in each state. The reported margin of error was ±1.4 percentage points nationally and ±9.8 points for individual states, a useful reminder that the map captures sampled preferences, not an unquestionable verdict from every dinner table.
The Cheesy States and Split Decisions
New York: Macaroni and cheese
New York handed its top spot to macaroni and cheese, breaking away from the stuffing-heavy national picture. The result is especially interesting because stuffing still made the top three in every state, including New York. Campbell’s describes the switch this way: “Florida and New York went cheesy, swapping Stuffing/Dressing for Mac & Cheese as their holiday MVP.” In this survey, the cheese pull beat the bread cubes, but did not erase their place at the table.
Florida: Macaroni and cheese
Florida joined New York in choosing mac and cheese as its outright favorite. The pairing reminds us that state-level food preferences do not always divide into tidy geographic blocs. Nationally,mac and cheese rose from fifth place in 2024 to fourth in 2025, ahead of green bean casserole. Its Florida win was therefore part of a broader rise, not simply an isolated state getting unusually enthusiastic about a baking dish full of cheese.
Maryland: A three-way tie
Maryland supplied the map’s most crowded winner’s podium: stuffing or dressing, sweet potatoes or yams, and macaroni and cheese shared first place. That matters when reading the national totals, because a tied winner still contributes to its dish’s state count. Maryland did not crown sweet potatoes alone, nor did it settle the stuffing-versus-mac debate. It effectively gave three serving dishes permission to consider themselves the main event.
Delaware: Stuffing and mashed potatoes
Delaware split its top spot between stuffing or dressing and mashed potatoes. That sounds like a wonderfully practical dinner plate, but statistically it is a tie, not a solo victory for either dish. Campbell’s explicitly identifies Delaware as one of the states with multiple favorites sharing first place. The result also helps explain why stuffing can lead in 42 states and mashed potatoes in nine without those totals adding neatly to 50. Shared crowns count more than once.
The Mashed-Potato Breakaways
Utah: Mashed potatoes
Utah put mashed potatoes first, resisting the national stuffing majority. Campbell’s also singled out Utah and New Mexico as states particularly likely to name mashed potatoes their favorite. No need to invent a cultural explanation for the preference: the survey establishes the ranking, not why individual residents chose it. What it does show is that a familiar, apparently uncontroversial side can become a regional standout when people must pick just one favorite.
New Mexico: Mashed potatoes
New Mexico also chose mashed potatoes, and the report identifies it among states that switched away from stuffing or dressing. That makes its result more notable than a static dot on a map: the sampled favorite changed between annual reports. It does not prove, however, that residents suddenly rewrote their Thanksgiving menus. With a relatively small state sample and a ±9.8-point margin of error, the sensible interpretation is a survey shift rather than a statewide culinary revolution.
Kansas: Mashed potatoes
Kansas crowned mashed potatoes, another departure from stuffing’s broad national lead. Yet the report also names Kansas, Iowa, and Indiana as states especially likely to call green bean casserole a favorite. Those two findings can coexist: liking a dish is not the same as ranking it first. Kansas’s result is a useful warning against treating one “favorite side” label as a complete menu. The potatoes won; the casserole was hardly banished from Thanksgiving.
Related;How Families Celebrated Thanksgiving in the 1950s
Stuffing’s Wins and the Wider Map
California: Stuffing or dressing
California returned the top spot to stuffing or dressing after mashed potatoes led in the previous report. Campbell’s describes California, West Virginia, and Wyoming as states that “flipped the script” in that direction. The California result is therefore surprising chiefly because of the change, not because stuffing is an unexpected Thanksgiving choice. It also reinforces how much depends on the year and research method behind a map rather than on an enduring stereotype about a state.
West Virginia: Stuffing or dressing
West Virginia made the same reported switch from mashed potatoes to stuffing or dressing. That placed it back in the largest group on the map: states where stuffing took or shared first place. The national favorite also appeared in every state’s top three, suggesting broad affection even where another dish won. West Virginia’s result fits that larger pattern while showing that the order of those favorites can move from one annual survey to the next.
Wyoming: Stuffing or dressing
Wyoming completes the trio that moved from mashed potatoes back to stuffing or dressing. Its result is another reason not to interpret “the West” as one unified Thanksgiving palate: Washington, Utah, and New Mexico preferred potatoes, while Wyoming chose stuffing. Campbell’s groups stuffing and dressing together throughout the report, so this finding does not establish a separate preference for either preparation. It is a combined category, and the distinction should stay visible when sharing the result.
Across all 50 states, stuffing or dressing won outright in 38 and shared first place in Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, and Maryland. Mashed potatoes won outright in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington, sharing the lead in Delaware, Idaho, and Illinois. New York and Florida chose mac and cheese outright; Maryland tied it with sweet potatoes. The remaining states chose stuffing outright, and nationally, 63% of respondents preferred sides to the entrée. Turkey still gets the carving ceremony, but the survey suggests the surrounding dishes supply much of the excitement.
