The Holiday Table Report: 193 Old-Fashioned Christmas and Thanksgiving Foods, Ranked
Report · 29-page PDF + Excel workbook
2,038 readers cast 9,103 votes on 193 vintage holiday dishes, plus 3,428 poll answers: what people want back on the holiday table, what they would leave in the past, and why.
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- Licensed for use across your company
- Every figure reproducible from the data
Which old-fashioned holiday foods do people still want, and which should stay in the past? This report ranks 193 Christmas and Thanksgiving dishes by reader votes, groups them by type, shows the reasons readers gave for loving or rejecting each one, and sets it all beside 29 polls on holiday mains, family dinners and hosting.
Key findings
- 71% of 9,103 votes on vintage holiday dishes were hearts: old-fashioned food is loved, not mocked.
- 88% / 87% for candy & sweets and cookies, ahead of every other food type; gelatin molds trail at 43%.
- 93% hearts for the relish tray across 270 votes, the quiet star of the study.
- 67% would rather eat a 1970s classic than today’s dinner; 59% say home cooking was better in the 1970s.
What’s inside
- 29-page PDF report
- All 193 foods ranked with 95% ranges, pooled by food type and by article
- The 15 favourites and the 15 dishes readers would leave behind
- Why readers loved or rejected a dish: reasons overall and by food type
- 29 polls on holiday mains, Sunday dinners, serving, baking and hosting
- Dataset: Excel workbook (foods, food types, articles, reasons by food, polls)
Sample and method
| Panel | Readers of piacipizza.com, a US food-nostalgia publication |
|---|---|
| Field window | Sep 26 to Oct 30, 2026 |
| Signals | 9,103 photo votes from 2,038 readers; 2,664 reason taps; 3,428 poll answers |
| Format | PDF + XLSX, instant download |
Readers judged photos of each dish, not the food itself. The panel skews US and over 40; it is not a national sample.
Who uses this
Food and grocery brands planning holiday ranges, packaged-food and bakery teams, restaurant and catering menu planners, food media and recipe publishers.