America’s most popular “weird” Thanksgiving side dishes all share some common ingredients: Cool Whip, marshmallows and Jell-O. New research from THC seltzer brand Cycling Frog reveals the strangest Thanksgiving favorites in each state and these are most definitely not the staples we’re used to seeing in our Turkey Day spread. There’s not a green bean casserole on the list.
Cycling Frog analyzed five years of Google Trends data, looking at popular Thanksgiving dishes that use ingredient combinations that are considered unusual, or that have unique and peculiar names. They ranked the search data to find out each state’s favorites and Ambrosia salad takes the top slot, with 27 states searching for this retro favorite more than any others.
America’s favorite weird Thanksgiving dishes by state
(Check out the list of all 50 states here here)
- Alabama: Ambrosia salad
- California: Ambrosia salad
- Connecticut: Ambrosia salad
- Florida: Ambrosia salad/Jell-O salad
- Georgia: Jell-O salad
- Idaho: Frog eye salad
- Maryland: Jell-O salad
- Minnesota: Frog eye salad
- New Jersey: Ambrosia salad
- New York: Ambrosia salad
- North Carolina: Ambrosia salad
- Pennsylvania: Jell-O salad
- South Carolina: Ambrosia salad
- Tennessee: Jell-O salad
- Texas: Ambrosia salad
- Virginia: Jell-O salad
And in case you’re wondering what the heck “frog eye salad” is … It’s a dessert pasta salad made with tiny noodles, egg yolks, Cool Whip, canned citrus fruit and mini marshmallows. The name refers to the fact that the itty bitty noodles, most commonly acini di pepe, look like frog’s eyes when mixed to the rest of the goop.
Source: The Takeout