In the end, Americans’ Thanksgiving pie preferences reflect not only their taste buds but also their regional identities. Whether it’s the South’s love for sweet potatoes and pecans, the Northeast’s affinity for cranberries, or the Midwest’s apple orchards, Thanksgiving pies serve as a sweet reflection of the diverse agricultural and cultural landscapes that define the U.S.
No matter the state, Thanksgiving pies are a delicious tradition that brings people together, celebrating both the harvest and the unique flavors that each region has to offer. So this Thanksgiving, whether you’re indulging in a slice of pumpkin pie in Nebraska or savoring a piece of pecan pie in Texas, you’re partaking in a beloved custom that stretches from sea to shining sea.
Americans’ Thanksgiving Pie Preferences, Broken Down By State
From apple to pumpkin to sweet potato, all the classic Thanksgiving pies are worth saving room for dessert on Turkey Day. But your personal pie of choice might be related to where you live.
As Americans gear up for our most food-centric holiday, the folks at Google took a look at pie preferences across the U.S. Specifically, they put together a map revealing the most uniquely searched Thanksgiving pies in every state and the District of Columbia.
It turns out people in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware are interested in sweet potato pie, while those in Texas are thinking about pecan pie.
Google’s “uniquely searched” data refers to pie varieties that showed a higher volume of searches in a given state compared to the country as a whole over the past month.
In addition to classic Thanksgiving fare, there are some less well-known pies generating interest in certain states. Pennsylvanians are looking at the molasses-based shoofly pie, for example, and Oregonians are apparently into tamale pie.
“Thanksgiving is one of the most fun food days of the year, especially if people can get creative with it!” Sabrina Elfarra, a Google Trends curator who worked on the data, told HuffPost. “Looking at uniquely searched potato dishes by state is a great way to see some of that creativity.”
Examining the U.S. as a whole, however, the top-searched pies over the past month are the traditional apple, pumpkin, key lime, sweet potato and pecan (though we must say, we don’t think of key lime as a Thanksgiving-time pie).
The Google Trends team also identified the top-searched side dishes of the past month: green bean casserole, cucumber salad, potato salad, twice baked potatoes and roasted potatoes. And the top trending side dish searches (i.e. those with the highest spike in traffic over the past month as compared with the previous) were butternut squash, okra side dish, roasted Brussels sprouts, baked potato and broccolini.
All that starch love seems to have inspired another map: the most uniquely searched potato dishes.
Searches for cheesy potatoes and potatoes au gratin are clearly up in the Midwest, while potato soup appears to be getting some love in the South.
We’re less familiar with some of the other dishes getting attention in certain states, but color us curious about potato candy and potato donuts.
“I hope this map inspires us all to try some new potato dishes we may not have heard of before,” Elfarra said. “Then, with full bellies, may we get to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday as couch potatoes.”
