Nearly Half of Thanksgiving Cooks Plan to Put a Twist on a Classic, a YouGov Survey for Target Finds

Thanksgiving tradition still rules the table, but a large share of home cooks plan to change things up this year. A YouGov survey conducted for Target found that nearly half of Americans who celebrate the holiday plan to put their own twist on a classic recipe, even as 7 in 10 say they value Thanksgiving food traditions.

Target released the findings on Oct. 22, 2026, alongside its holiday food lineup. The results point to a holiday where the turkey stays put while the sides, desserts and appetizers get the experiments.

What the YouGov Survey Found

According to Target’s announcement, as published by Blue Book Services, YouGov surveyed 1,070 U.S. adults online, 1,014 of whom celebrate Thanksgiving. The fieldwork ran Oct. 5-6, 2026, and the results were weighted to represent U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

The headline numbers pull in two directions. Seven in 10 Americans said they value Thanksgiving food traditions, yet nearly half of those celebrating said they plan to put their own spin on a classic recipe this year.

The survey also found that nearly a third of those who celebrate say appetizers are just as important as the main meal. An equal share said they snack throughout the day leading up to dinner, which makes the hours before the turkey comes out a meal of their own. Hosts who serve hot snacks in that window often hand the job to an air fryer toaster oven so the main oven stays free.

YouGov is a London-based market research and polling firm founded in 2000, according to Wikipedia’s profile of the company, and it operates in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia.

Where Cooks Are Making Changes

Target said desserts and side dishes are where guests see the most room for a personal spin. That fits the way the classic menu is built. Wikipedia’s entry on Thanksgiving dinner notes that mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes are standard sides, and that green bean casserole, invented in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly for the Campbell Soup Company, has since become a Thanksgiving standard.

Those dishes are easy to adjust. Families already rotate through the casseroles that defined American family dinners, and a small change such as a new cheese, a crunchy topping or a different herb can make a familiar side feel new without upsetting anyone who expects it.

Desserts offer the same room to play. Pumpkin pie anchors the course, but the lineup on a holiday dessert table can stretch across the pies that show up on Thanksgiving tables across America, from pecan to apple, and a crumb topping or a caramel layer is an easy way to tweak a family recipe.

Shortcuts help when an old dish gets a new look, and clever kitchen tricks for home cooks such as prepping toppings a day ahead keep the extra steps manageable on the big day.

Nostalgia helps explain why tradition still carries so much weight. Classic sides such as green bean casserole date to the mid-century kitchens behind the foods boomers loved with a passion, and the survey’s 7-in-10 figure shows how strongly celebrants still value those traditions even while planning a twist.

The New Twists on Target’s Shelves

Target used the survey to introduce what it called nearly 60 new and trending food and beverage items. On the dessert side, its Favorite Day brand is offering pies in new sizes and flavors, including Apple Caramel Crumb. The holiday lineup follows the first Good & Gather cookbook, which Target launched on Aug. 3, 2026, with 100 recipes developed by its test kitchen team.

For sides, Target listed Good & Gather Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Good & Gather Parmesan Cheese Topped Roasted Vegetables. The retailer also added Kooshy Sourdough Stuffing, Oh Puree! Mashed Potatoes, Magnolia Table Biscuits and a Good & Gather Warm Apple Cider Smoked Ham.

Appetizers got their own push, which matches the survey finding about snacking. Target said it has more than 10 new Good & Gather frozen appetizers, including Blueberry and Brie Cheese Sticks and Feta Cheese and Honey Cheese Bites. Frozen bites like these can go from the freezer to a countertop oven, following the package directions, while the turkey roasts.

Tradition Still Anchors the Meal

For all the tinkering, the classics are not going anywhere. Target is bringing back its Thanksgiving meal for six for $30, the same $5-per-person value as last year. The bundle includes a Butterball turkey of up to 10 pounds, potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, soup, fried onions, stuffing mix, gravy and bread. Prices are before tax, valid Nov. 8-29, 2026, and the meal offer is not available in Alaska or Hawaii.

The retailer’s Good & Gather frozen turkey is also back at 79 cents per pound for the third year in a row. John Conlin, Target’s senior vice president of merchandising for food and beverage, said in the announcement that the company wants to make Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving easy and budget-friendly, mixing familiar favorites, new food trends and convenient shortcuts.

That mention of Friendsgiving reflects another way the holiday has changed. Wikipedia’s Friendsgiving entry describes it as a Thanksgiving-themed feast eaten with friends, typically before or instead of a family dinner, and notes that the term was first used online in 2007. A meal among friends can be a natural place for a host to test a new take on an old favorite before bringing it to the family table.

The YouGov numbers describe a holiday with a fixed center and flexible edges. Seven in 10 celebrants value the traditions, nearly half plan a twist, and Target says the sides and desserts are where those twists are most likely to land.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Winnebaggo – CC0/Wikimedia Commons