Remember when Thanksgiving wasn’t complete without Grandma’s cranberry mold or her buttery scratch-made cornbread dressing? 🍂
In this nostalgic journey through the 1950s–1970s kitchen, we’re revisiting 25 forgotten Thanksgiving side dishes that once filled family tables with warmth, laughter, and the smell of love baking in the oven.
From Betty Crocker classics to handwritten recipes tucked inside flour-dusted cookbooks, these sides tell the story of what Thanksgiving used to feel like — comforting, simple, and made from scratch.
✳️ Featuring: Cornbread Dressing with Giblet Gravy, Cranberry Mold, Sweet Potato Soufflé, Green Bean Casserole, Spoonbread, Broccoli Rice Casserole, and more vintage favorites!
💬 Tell us below: Which of these dishes did YOUR grandma make every year?
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📺 Thank you for watching! This video was written, voiced, and produced with care by Nostalgia Calling. Every episode is crafted to bring back the flavors, stories, and comforts of the past—one nostalgic bite at a time.
✨ WATCH NEXT:
25 Forgotten Cookie Recipes From Betty Crocker’s Vintage Cooky Book → https://youtu.be/60fHdauzlaI
25 Forgotten Side Dishes Your Southern Mama Made (That Deserve a Comeback) → https://youtu.be/Jq4AJ0E20b4
30 Sunday Dishes No One Makes Anymore →
👋 About Nostalgia Calling:
Nostalgia Calling is a warm and heartfelt celebration of vintage food, Southern traditions, and 20th-century life. All videos are original creations, thoughtfully scripted, voiced, and edited with care.
Each video takes 3 to 4 days to produce—from writing and narration to visuals and editing—because I believe stories from the past deserve to be told with love and attention. I use a mix of modern tools and old-fashioned storytelling to bring these memories to life.
🎨 Everything you see—from the voiceover to the visuals—is handcrafted to honor the past and spark sweet memories.
🔔 Subscribe for more nostalgic recipes and retro food history: https://www.youtube.com/@NostalgiaCalling
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⚠️ Content & Copyright Notes:
This video may include historical imagery, vintage cookbook references, and educational commentary in accordance with YouTube’s Fair Use guidelines. All media is used with transformative intent for commentary, storytelling, and historical preservation.
My grandma made the creamed onions & added peas. Yum!
I still cut up the giblets and put it back into the stuffing like my mom did. her stuffing was pure heaven.
My mother made the carrot,raisin salad. I loved it. She's been got 18 years now.😢
I’ve been making giblet gravy since forever.
Dressing and giblet gravy, corn casserole, which you call corn pudding, broccoli casserole, and sweet potatoe puff are still staples in Texas and Louisiana. If they aren't at the table at Thanksgiving, you're doing it wrong.
I still do giblet gravy, as did my mother and grandmother.
I was in charge of salad, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, and gravy at all of our family functions, starting when I was very young. I also got stuck with washing all the dishes and dirty pans, but spending all of that time in the kitchen meant I could hear all the older family member’s gossiping. They’d forget I was there after a while, and boy did they spill the tea.
Cant make giblet gravy cuz turkeys dont come with giblets anymore
I will be slow cooking turkey thighs in the crock pot with stuffing and when it's done I will place it under the broiler for the crispy effect or I will spatchcock a whole turkey.
I'm a couple years shy of retiring from Turkey duty.
Dressing and gravy, the glazed carrots, and glazed sweet potatoes (not the mess with marshmallows you showed) are the only things that were on our table that you even slightly touched on. And honestly, I wouldn't want to have the rest of these on my table at any time. Some sounded positively horrid!