Every year, people across America cook up a gigantic feast for Thanksgiving. Countless sides and family heirloom recipes make an appearance at the table. But every state has a different take on what has to be included in the Thanksgiving feast — and it's not always turkey!
You'd assume that most tables in American would have all serve the same basic dishes for Thanksgiving dinner; cranberry sauce, roast turkey, buttery dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, macaroni, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing. And the classic Thanksgiving desserts; pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, pecan pie (all the pie really).
The New York Times teamed up with the geniuses over at Google in 2014 to find out what family favorite recipes people in each state search for close to Turkey Day.
Some states out west have funeral potatoes, persimmon bread and frog eye salad as the most Googled results. However, the Southern states, which we decided to focus on, tend to have comfort food dishes that make you feel instantly at home and completely stuffed. Here are the most popular southern Thanksgiving recipes.
Alabama
Alabama searched for "sweet potato dumplings" 40 times more than all the other popularly searched items. It's no sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, but dumplings sure sound good. Southerners do love their yams.
Arkansas
If you like whipped topping, chocolate pudding, cream cheese and all things comfort than you have a lot in common with Arkansas. The famous four-layer delight side dish tops the most searched terms there.
Florida
The luscious culinary traditions of Florida can only mean a good dessert has to come out of the mix. "Flan de calabaza" was searched only slightly more than "flan de queso" and "yellow squash casserole".
Georgia
What is bright, citrus-flavored and Googled in Georgia? Key lime cake!
Kentucky
The classic "chess bars" won out over "hot brown" and "derby pie" in Kentucky.
Louisiana
The distinctive cajun flavors of Louisiana are apparent when you realize that "mirliton casserole" won out. No, it's not a dance from the Nutcracker but it is a flavorful squash dish.
Texas and Oklahoma
Both Oklahoma and Texas can't get enough of that sopapilla cheesecake on their Thanksgiving menus. This southern-style dessert is perfection.
Virginia
Virginia represented for the collard greens. Someone had to!
West Virginia
Forget the turkey. West Virginians seem to be searching for "deer jerky" a lot more vigorously than turkey. 26 times more than other dishes, in fact. Probably because it's the beginning of buck hunting season around the end of November. Nothing like fresh deer on the Thanksgiving table.
North Carolina
North Carolina boasts one of the more surprisingly named desserts with the famous "pig pickin' cake." Fruity, refreshing and sweet.
South Carolina
And South Carolina follows closely behind with a pineapple casserole that blurs the line between savory and sweet.
Mississippi
Mississippi proudly tied for asparagus casserole and coconut cake as the signature Thanksgiving dishes.
While these numbers don't reflect the whole story, they give a pretty striking overview of what we're all eating.
