Sweet Potato Casserole
Chicago, IL
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Sweet potato casserole, topped with either marshmallows or a pecan streusel crumble depending on regional and family tradition, became a Thanksgiving staple particularly across the American South, where sweet potatoes have long been a dominant regional crop. The dish's marshmallow-topped version traces to a 1917 recipe pamphlet distributed by a marshmallow manufacturer specifically to promote marshmallows as a cooking ingredient rather than simply a standalone candy, an early example of manufacturer-driven recipe marketing predating the later green bean casserole campaign by decades. The ongoing regional and generational divide between marshmallow and pecan-streusel versions of the dish has made it one of the more good-naturedly contested items on the Thanksgiving table, with strong opinions on either side often tracing back to specific family recipes passed down for generations. Its combination of its Southern agricultural roots and its early example of manufacturer-driven recipe marketing has made sweet potato casserole one of the most regionally distinctive and debated dishes of the Thanksgiving meal.
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- Top 8 Thanksgiving Foods of All Time
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