thanksgiving

Ina Garten Shares Her 9 Favorite Thanksgiving Sides

updated Nov 26, 2019
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Of course Ina Garten, the goddess of upscale elegance, would have a week’s worth of ideas for what sorts of side dishes you should put out for Thanksgiving. She could probably do a month’s worth if we asked her. Thankfully the Barefoot Contessa is never one to hold back her ideas, and this week she’s sharing all of her great sides for the big meal. 

“We all know Thanksgiving is secretly all about the sides, right?” she asked on Instagram, confirming what the everyone else thought but might have been afraid to admit without her blessing. But once that was well-established, she jumped right into her recipes, sharing one for twice-baked sweet potatoes. A good choice for the busy kitchen, she notes, as the potatoes can be made ahead and then heated up while the turkey rests.

Basically, you roast the sweet potatoes so the peels are a bit crispy and can serve as a vessel. Then scoop out the soft center and mix it with caramelized shallots, fresh thyme, an egg, Taleggio cheese, and (of course!) plenty of butter. Once back inside the skins, she suggests and extra blanket of even more Taleggio cheese (not in the recipe on her website, but seems like an easy instruction to follow). “How bad could that be?” she says. Nothing with that much butter and cheese could ever go wrong. Even the old-school folks at the feast who want to know why there is no brown sugar or marshmallows on those sweet potatoes will have to admit this one is a winner. 

Ina Garten shared the rest of her favorite Thanksgiving sides on Instagram last week and also on her website. Here are the rest of her favorites!

Are you making anything from Ina for Thanksgiving? Let us know in the comments!