Gen Z Wants To Skip the Thanksgiving Turkey, According To A New Survey

As an Australian, I find Thanksgiving quite fascinating. An entire holiday dedicated to gathering your loved ones around a table and eating yourself into a food coma? Wonderful. I’m a big supporter of that sort of thing. But there’s one part I’ve never quite understood. The turkey.

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Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the bird. I’m sure it’s perfectly lovely when cooked properly. But when you’ve got mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole sitting right there, why are we giving so much attention to what is essentially an oversized chicken?

Well, Gen Z seems to be asking a similar question.

Campbell’s has released its annual State of the Sides Report, and 65% of Gen Z respondents said they’d happily eat a Thanksgiving dinner consisting entirely of side dishes.

No turkey. Just sides.

Gen Z Would Happily Ditch The Thanksgiving Turkey

Campbell’s surveyed more than 5,000 Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving for its 2026 State of the Sides Report, and the results aren’t all that flattering for the traditional centerpiece.

While 65% of Gen Z respondents would happily skip straight to the sides, 56% of Millennials said they’d be perfectly content doing the same.

I wonder how many Thanksgiving arguments this information is going to cause.

Imagine spending hours preparing a turkey, wrestling it into the oven, basting it every so often, and worrying whether the middle is cooked, only for the younger guests to announce that they’d actually prefer another helping of mashed potatoes. I’d be furious.

And the survey suggests that cooking the turkey isn’t really everyone’s favorite part of Thanksgiving, either. Eighty percent of respondents said they enjoy preparing side dishes more than turkey, which makes sense to me. You can put together a pretty spectacular bowl of mac and cheese without having to worry about whether it’s going to give the entire family food poisoning.

Meanwhile, 86% of respondents plan to serve at least four side dishes this year. Four sides! And that’s before we even get to the turkey, gravy, rolls, and whatever else your family insists belongs on the table.

What Are the Most Popular Thanksgiving Sides?

Campbell’s also revealed America’s five favorite Thanksgiving sides and I’m pleased to report that potatoes have secured a very respectable amount of representation. The top five are green bean casserole, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.

Mac and cheese also takes the top spot among Gen Z respondents, which I think tells us quite a lot about why they’re so willing to give the turkey a miss.

Are Thanksgiving Sides Actually Better Than Turkey?

I’m going to risk upsetting a few Thanksgiving traditionalists here, but I think Gen Z might be onto something. If I had to choose between a plate of turkey with no sides and a plate of sides with no turkey, I’d choose the sides. Every time.

I mean, what am I supposed to do with an enormous slice of turkey and no mashed potatoes? Eat it on its own? Like some sort of medieval king who’s fallen on hard times?

Besides, I think the sides are what make Thanksgiving dinner interesting. Everyone has their favorites, their family recipes, and that one dish someone insists on bringing every year despite nobody particularly liking it. Turkey might get the ceremonial position in the middle of the table, but I’d argue the sides are doing most of the heavy lifting.