It’s that time of year again when we all take a little extra time to give thanks and eat lots of food. Although I love the idea of having an excuse to feast, traditional Thanksgiving food is just really not that good.

Turkey, the national dish of Thanksgiving, has got to be one of the most flavorless dishes ever. With the addition of gravy or some other side, turkey becomes more tolerable. But I think we can all agree that we wouldn’t reach for plain old turkey as the first pick on our plate. Turkey is one of those foods that is never really cooked properly. Most commonly seen as too dry or even partially frozen. 

It has been found in a recent survey done by nbcrightnow.com that cranberry sauce is the most disliked Thanksgiving dish for the third year in a row. The sweet, slimy, and sticky jelly does not fit in the category with the rest of traditional Thanksgiving foods. Cranberry sauce is typically paired with Turkey, to relieve people of the often dry, salty, and bland taste of Turkey. Cranberry sauce overpowers Turkey completely. At that point, why even have Turkey when you can’t taste it? 

Mashed potatoes are light, so it’s hard to dislike them. It’s really about what you add to the dish that makes it really delicious. A side of warm gravy paired with mashed potatoes is a scoop full of heaven.

Another typical side of Thanksgiving happens to be Stuffing. Stuffing looks completely unappetizing. On top of looking unappetizing, there really isn’t much taste there either. There is one thing most Thanksgiving foods have in common, and that is being bland. A typical combination is Turkey and Stuffing, but there are some concerns surrounding this. Foodnetwork says that stuffing your turkey slows down the cooking process and could be a potential health hazard if done incorrectly.

Pumpkin pie is highly overrated. Anytime I try to eat it I feel that I have to cover it in whipped cream to get decent flavor in my mouth. It is weird, typically I am okay with eating pumpkin foods like pumpkin bread or pumpkin lattes. But something about the gummy and coagulated pie filling is just nasty. I think there are better options for desserts. Other great pies out there to try. 

It’s okay to break tradition and have other foods that we don’t typically see eaten on this holiday. The real meaning of Thanksgiving is to be grateful. It’s not about what you eat, but who you are eating it with!

“For Thanksgiving, my family is hosting a lot of our good friends and family,” sophomore Adela Hanic said. “We are serving our cultural food which everyone in our family enjoys.” 

Traditional Thanksgiving foods lack the flavor appeal. They just don’t meet expectations. We all talk about how great the foods are, but if we are being honest they all are overrated.