New School Thanksgiving Sides

Thanksgiving is almost here! With one of the biggest and best food holidays right around the corner we knew it was time to start planning a great feast. Sure, most of us will eat as much turkey next week as we do for the rest of the year. But, it's the side dishes that can really steal the show on turkey's biggest day.

Since we love stuffing and mashed potatoes, we decided to highlight new school versions of these classic Thanksgiving sides. These days everybody loves bacon so we found a loaded stuffing recipe from Food.com that also features pear and pecan. On the potato front, we've got blue potatoes plus two sweet potato dishes without all the marshmallows. Don't get us wrong, we love marshmallows and sugar on mashed potatoes, but they've graduated to the classics category at this point.

To sort through all the new school Thanksgiving side dishes we used all the features of the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to find 6 great dishes that'll wow your guests.

Rustic Stuffing with Greens, Currants and Pine Nuts
We love adding greens and pine nuts to stuffing.
Ingredients: garlic, olive oil, butter, pine nut, onion, thyme, bread, dried currant, lemon peel, chicken broth, mustard greens

Stuffing with Pears, Bacon, Pecans & Caramelized Onions
Stuffing loaded to the max!
Ingredients: butter, bread, bacon, pecan, pearl onions, brown sugar, pear, celery, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, eggs, chicken broth

Dried Apricot, Shallot and Hazelnut Stuffing
This stuffing has a great mix of savory and sweet.
Ingredients: garlic, olive oil, shallot, butter, hazelnut, parsley, thyme, sage, bread, salt, pepper, chicken broth, dried apricot

Blue Potatoes Mashed with Roasted Garlic
Blue potatoes are our new favorite!
Ingredients: blue potatoes, roasted garlic, sour cream, butter, Parmesan, salt, pepper

Rosemary Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Shallots
Shallots and Rosemary put a new spin on a classic.
Ingredients: extra-virgin olive oil, shallots, brown sugar, sweet potatoes, rosemary, sea salt, pepper

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bananas and Brown Sugar
Bananas? A little secret from the kitchen at Le Cirque.
Ingredients: sweet potatoes, banana, unsalted butter, heavy cream, cinnamon, light brown sugar, pepper


Now that you have recipes for great Thanksgiving side dishes it's time to start cooking!

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! And while you're at it, "Like" us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.