Easy Thanksgiving and Christmas Side Dishes

Banana Pudding, Mac and Cheese, Fruit Salad, Baked Sweet Potato

Nov 24, 2008 Nick Meyer

Thanksgiving Day and Christmas are usually more about traditional cooking than experimenting. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Here are some interesting side items that people can add to their typical Thanksgiving Day spread in order to spice things up a little bit.

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish #1: Banana Pudding

A large tray of banana pudding with vanilla wafers inside of it and whipped cream all over the top can make for a delicious half-dessert, half-side item for Thanksgiving Day feasts. With all of the brown, dark, not-so-sweet items bound to be on the list already as Thanksgiving Day side dishes this banana pudding dish offers a very good change of pace for hungry holiday guests.

It is often a big hit at Thanksgiving meals and it makes for tasty post-Thanksgiving leftover food as well.

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish # 2: Mac & Cheese

Kids love mac & cheese and they are bound to love eating it on Thanksgiving. Many traditional Thanksgiving side items such as cranberry sauce and stuffing are not exactly kid friendly so throw together a big old bowl of macaroni & cheese and the kids will stay happy and well-fed all night long.

Mac & cheese is cheap and easy to make and is a favorite of everyone from kids to adults so consider including it in your Thanksgiving feast this year.

Don't worry too much if it doesn't seem too traditional for a Thanksgiving meal, either. Everyone will be too busy stuffing their faces to care.

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish #3: Fruit Salad

Sure, it seems completely out of season to have a fruit salad at Thanksgiving but that's okay because fruit salads balance out a Thanksgiving holiday meal extremely well.

Think about it, most Thanksgiving meals are full of carbs like stuffing, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Vegetables are included more often than fruit. But fruit is tasty and healthy and provides a good complement to the rest of your Thanksgiving dishes, plus it's easy to make and adds color to the table.

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish # 4: Baked Sweet Potato

A great complement to regular mashed potatoes, these sweet potatoes add a dash of good carbs to your Thanksgiving meal. Of course, no one is really that concerned with eating healthy on Thanksgiving or over the holidays in general for that matter but sweet potatoes also complement the other palette of Thanksgiving tastes very well and offer a nice change-of-pace. Many people stick with traditional potatoes only but that could be a big mistake. Sweet potatoes are a delicious holiday side item that many families never get the opportunity to even taste.

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