Every region has a Thanksgiving dish that gives away where the cook grew up. In Baltimore it’s a bowl of sauerkraut next to the turkey, across much of the South it’s cornbread dressing and in Pennsylvania Dutch country it’s potato filling.

Stuffing, in one form or another, is the favorite Thanksgiving side in 42 states. What goes into the pan changes from region to region, though, and so does the lineup of bowls passed around it. For the families who grew up with those dishes, the holiday doesn’t feel finished until every one of them makes it to the table.

Stuffing, dressing or filling

Few things give away a cook’s hometown faster than the bread dish next to the turkey. Depending on where a family learned to make it, the pan holds stuffing, dressing or filling, and each name comes with its own recipe.

Campbell’s 2025 State of the Sides report surveyed 5,000 adults who celebrate Thanksgiving, 100 in each state, and stuffing or dressing ranked first almost everywhere.…