Question of the Day: What’s your most controversial Thanksgiving food opinion?

November 17, 2025

Here we are again, the magical time of year when the weather gets colder, the clothes get cozier, and the food gets… aggressively opinionated. Thanksgiving is supposed to be about gratitude, family, connection, and carb-loading with dignity. But every year, without fail, someone brings a dish that absolutely does not belong anywhere near a holiday rooted in American tradition.

My controversial Thanksgiving opinion: baked ziti has no business being at Thanksgiving.

I can feel the outrage already. I can hear the aunts gasping. I can hear the cousins sharpening their forks in judgment. But listen, I love baked ziti. I would defend baked ziti in every other situation. Baked ziti is wonderful. It is comforting. It is delicious. But it is not Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving has rules. The plate is sacred. There’s a core lineup, a kind of turkey-and-carb Avengers team, and no pasta dish makes the roster.

The essentials are simple:

• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Green beans
• Maybe a roll if you’re feeling reckless
• And dessert: cheesecake is acceptable, pie is traditional, and anything involving raisins is automatically a crime
  

So why does baked ziti show up at so many tables? I know the answer, and you probably do too: somebody’s relative “didn’t want to come empty-handed,” so they grabbed the easiest crowd-feeder they could make in 20 minutes. But here’s the thing, Thanksgiving isn’t about feeding a crowd, it’s about feeding the moment. And nothing feeds the moment like the traditional classics.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Everyone has a controversial Thanksgiving opinion they’re secretly afraid to say out loud. It might be that cranberry sauce should only come from a can. It might be that turkey is overrated and we should all be eating brisket.(I could get on board with prime rib) It might be that sweet potatoes should never touch marshmallows. Or, and this one is chaos, that stuffing should be cooked outside the bird so you don’t poison the family.

And honestly? I want to hear them all.

Because this Question of the Day is about more than food, it’s about those weird, wonderful quirks that make every family completely unique. Your Thanksgiving food opinions carry stories. Traditions. Arguments. Memories. Drama. Joy. Trauma. The whole buffet. And when you share them, you’re basically letting people peek into the beautifully unhinged little world that shaped you.

Thanksgiving is a holiday built on gratitude, but it’s sustained through stories. And nothing sparks a story faster than a dish that absolutely should not be on the table.

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💬 Your Turn

So… what’s your most controversial Thanksgiving food opinion?

Share your answer in the comments or on social — your weird little truth might be someone else’s comfort zone.