When you think about Thanksgiving, your mind might automatically go to family, football, or most importantly, food. As the day of football finishes up and everyone sits down at the table, you may be wondering what the best choices for dinner are. Do you go with the turkey and mashed potatoes or the stuffing and green bean casserole? In this article, I will be rating the Thanksgiving dinner foods and seeing which ones are worth being on your plate.

Turkey: The classic and staple of Thanksgiving food. This will be on almost everyone’s table this year, and it definitely could be one of the most conservative ideas on this list. With turkey, you have to look at the seasoning and the juiciness. Nobody wants a bland or chewy turkey on their plate, but if turkey is done right, it can be a winner for sure. With all of these factors taken into consideration, I will give Turkey a rating 7.6 out of 10.

Stuffing: Stuffing will always be on my Thanksgiving plate. The bread has to be just right, not too crunchy yet not too soft. Stuffing is also a dish that can pair well with other things on your plate. It is the type of food where you want a big bite of two different foods; stuffing is a great way to go. Finally, stuffing has almost a nostalgic and traditional feel, as if it has been with you through all of these years. With all of this in consideration, I will rate stuffing a 7.3 out of 10

Cranberry Sauce: One of the pinnacles of side dishes. Cranberry sauce plays its role on the plate much better than other foods do. When you grab cranberry sauce, you never grab too much because you just want to add a little onto each thing. Whenever you get a little cranberry sauce and add it to something else on your plate, it most likely will taste better. That shows how versatile it can be and makes sure that it does what it needs to. Some downsides to it, though, are that it can be either a little lemony or sugary, but that just comes down to the chef making it. With all of this in consideration, I will rate cranberry sauce an 8.2 out of 10

Macaroni ‘n Cheese: Is it even a Thanksgiving food? That is a whole other discussion, but for now it is on the list. Macaroni ‘n Cheese (mac) is not on enough people’s Thanksgiving spread when it definitely should be. The cheese and the noodles are something that everybody likes, and if something else is not good on your plate, mac can definitely save your plate. Yet with mac, some people do like to take it overboard and be way too creative with it, like adding 12 different cheeses or triple-baking it. With mac, I think that it is very important to let it be what it has always been, a simple, easy, delicious dish. Finally, it is also something that I personally look forward to getting the next day or in the days to come, which adds more value to it in the long run. Now with all of this in consideration, I will rate Macaroni ‘n Cheese an 8.65 out of 10​

Sweet potato casserole: A main dish that feels like dessert. If a sweet potato casserole is done right, it could be one of the best things for dinner. The delicious sweet potatoes with marshmallows and crumble on top are something that I can never resist putting on my plate. It balances out the salty with the sweet and is another warm, comforting dish that feels like you are taking a bite of fall. Some setbacks to this are if you simply do not like sweet potatoes, or you do not want to have something too sweet for dinner. Sweet potato casserole is something that should be at every single Thanksgiving dinner, so with all of this in consideration, I will rate sweet potato casserole an 8.9 out of 10

Bread rolls: Perfect for the picky eaters at the table. This is something that is not exclusive to the Thanksgiving dinner, but it can definitely make its impact on the plate. A plain bread roll is good, but when you toast it or put butter or garlic on it, that can take your bread game to the next level. Some people might not like the roll because it takes up space in your stomach that could be used for more Thanksgiving-like foods. Yet the roll is a very useful part of the dinner. If you finish eating your food and there are few scraps left on your plate, the roll is a perfect item to soak it all up and get a great last bite in before going back for your plate. With all of this in consideration, I will rate the bread roll a 7.1 out of 10

Mashed potatoes: I know that everybody has been waiting for this moment. The best for last.

The Holy Grail of Thanksgiving food. The thing that you look forward to all year. I present mashed potatoes. When you put this on your plate, you know that it will taste good. The creamy fluffiness is perfection, and the soft velvety feeling as the warm dish hits your mouth is a feeling like no other. Mashed potatoes can go with any other thing on your plate, too. Turkey? Yes. Cranberry sauces? Yes. And especially with gravy. Some downsides of mashed potatoes are that if not made right, they can be gummy or soggy, or if they are not warm when you are eating them, it might get clumpy or might not even taste as good as it should be. Putting all of that aside, mashed potatoes are the top-tier Thanksgiving dish, and until something like steak gets up in the mix, they are number one with no questions asked. Finally, with all of this going into consideration, I will rate mashed potatoes a 9.7 out of 10