LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Hurried Thanksgiving celebrants from across the country may still be seeking last minute ingredients for their perfect meal, but beware that finding your favorite side in some states in the ninth hour may prove to be a challenge. 

According to a study by Zippia, states have weighed in to voice their favorite part of the  Thanksgiving celebration. Michigan ranked among six other states whose favorite side dish was rolls.  Whereas the most popular Thanksgiving side in the U.S. is mashed potatoes, which is the top choice in nine states.  

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Vegetables were a rare choice, though Georgia, Maryland, and South Carolina chose collard greens as the ideal side. 

75% of Americans expect to be eating at least 4 side dishes on Thanksgiving.  While dinner rolls received the second highest side award, 69% of all Thanksgiving meals feature this side. 

In a more Michigan specific study by Clickondetroit, participants also had to rank several other elements of a Thanksgiving meal.  The first question asked “The primary meat dish should be …” to which 87% of participants, of the total 1043 votes, chose “Turkey (duh” as an option. The nearest second choice was “Ham” with 9% of the votes.  Michiganders overwhelmingly decided that gravy was a needed condiment with 89% of the votes.

Moreover, votes determined that the best Thanksgiving side dish was actually stuffing, with 49% of the votes.  Mashed potatoes came the closest with 30% of the votes, and in this survey, rolls/biscuits had 2% of the votes, ranking 6th place in the survey. A more contested category was fresh or canned cranberry sauce.  The winner was canned cranberries with 54% of the vote, and only 46% of voters preferred fresh cranberries. The last food related question, posed to participants if pumpkin or pecan pie was greater among the thanksgiving foods, and the overwhelming majority was pumpkin pie according to 73% of voters. 

While Michiganders did not wholly agree between the two studies, voters agreed that despite the day before Thanksgiving holding the title for the most traveled day of the year, 64% of voters preferred to have thanksgiving dinner before 4 p.m. as opposed to 36% of folks who preferred it after 4 p.m. 

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