Holidays and Celebrations

Survey reveals which Thanksgiving dish Americans hate the most

A recent survey found that older Americans were far less picky than young adults when it comes to Thanksgiving dishes.

A group shares a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
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In a survey of over 1,000 Americans, cranberry sauce remains the most-disliked Thanksgiving dish in 2023. 

The survey released this month was conducted as part of SurveyMonkey's 2023 Holiday Travel Survey on behalf of The Vacationer. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans surveyed said they dislike cranberry sauce.

The survey listed 13 popular Thanksgiving dishes and asked participants, "Which of these traditional Thanksgiving foods do you dislike?" Those who responded to the question could pick multiple dishes they dislike. 

Here are the results:

1. Cranberry Sauce — 31.49%

2. Sweet Potatoes or Yams — 29.22%

3. Green Bean Casserole — 28.04%

4. Turkey — 27.74%

5. Stuffing/Dressing. — 26.75%

6. Ham — 25.57%

7. Coleslaw — 25.57%

8. Pumpkin Pie — 24.28%

9. Mashed Potatoes — 18.66%

10. Macaroni and Cheese — 17.47%

11. Carrots — 16.98%

12. Apple Pie — 16.29%

13. Corn — 15.50%

None of these. I like them all — 13.82%

Corn remained this year's least-disliked Thanksgiving dish for the second straight year, with only 15.5% of respondents saying they dislike it. 

DiGiorno sells Thanksgiving pizza with all the fixings
DiGiorno sells Thanksgiving pizza with all the fixings

DiGiorno sells Thanksgiving pizza with all the fixings

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The survey also found that younger Americans are far pickier than older generations. According to the survey, every single item listed was more disliked by those ages 18-29 than those over age 60. One example showed that Americans ages 18-29 were three times more likely to dislike ham than those over age 60. 

Also one-fourth of those over age 60 said they like every food listed, while just 6.7% of those ages 18-29 said they like everything listed. 

The data comes as a survey conducted by Campbell's showed that mashed potatoes is this year's No. 1 side dish. Stuffing ranked No. 2. 

According to Google Trends, searches for green beans slightly outpaced searches for stuffing and mashed potatoes last Thanksgiving. Mashed potatoes tended to create more search traffic in the Midwest, while those in the Northeast tended to search for stuffing.