This delicious food item was around as early as the 1300s, but it was actually not present at the first Thanksgiving meal. Societies have used sauces and gravies to tenderize tough meats and add flavor to dishes for centuries, but gravy did not gain popularity in America until the mid-19th century.
We’re eternally grateful that it’s still popular now.
No modern Thanksgiving meal would be complete without this favorite side dish, but unfortunately, the Pilgrims had to do without. They had neither white potatoes nor sweet potatoes at the first Thanksgiving, but some evidence suggests they ate other roots, such as Indian turnips and groundnuts.
Mashed potatoes were introduced to the culinary world in 1747 and have been popular ever since.
Stuffing, or dressing, is traditionally made of bread, onions, and other vegetables and herbs. The Pilgrims had almost everything at their Thanksgiving meal except one important ingredient: bread.
They feasted on corn, pumpkin, onions, currants, and herbs, which still sounds pretty tasty and low in carbs. The stuffing we know today didn’t come to be until the late 1800s.
The Pilgrims did enjoy cranberries at their first Thanksgiving, but they didn't boil them in sugar and transform them into cranberry sauce because their sugar supply was mostly depleted by the time Thanksgiving rolled around.
It was, however, only 50 years later that they started creating sauces and jams out of fruit.
Nope, the pilgrims never enjoyed the deliciousness that is green beans cooked in cream of mushroom soup and covered with crispy fried onions.
They had to eat their vegetables, including beans, corn, squash, carrots, and cabbage, plain while Campbell’s famous green bean casserole recipe wasn’t created until 1955.
Thanks to the Native Americans, the pilgrims were able to get their bread fix in the form of cornbread, but they were not able to enjoy any rolls at the first Thanksgiving.
The soft dinner roll that we know and love today was not invented until the 16th century, and now it’s an essential component of nearly every dinner.
Pumpkin pie is the perfect end to a hearty Thanksgiving meal, but because the Pilgrims did not have the butter or flour to make a crust, they had to settle for pumpkins roasted with milk, honey, and spices, which still sounds pretty delicious!
Pumpkin pie did not join the Thanksgiving table until the early 19th century.
