45% Of Mashed Fans Think One Cracker Barrel Side Is Superior To The Rest

Everyone has their own opinion on the best things to order at Cracker Barrel. The popular chain restaurant provides a unique combination of shopping at a country store alongside enjoying homestyle food. Side dishes are a vital part of this experience and, in the minds of Mashed fans, one side is far ahead of the rest. On November 3, Mashed published a poll on YouTube asking readers to choose their favorite among five Cracker Barrel side dishes. Unsurprisingly, folks were enthusiastic about the best foods at the iconic chain. A whopping 17,000 votes poured in over just a week, and the results are officially tallied.

While people's love of Cracker Barrel may have been expected, it wasn't quite so expected that nearly half of the voters have the same favorite side dish. Of those polled, 45% think the chain's hashbrown casserole is the GOAT when it comes to rounding out your Cracker Barrel meal. While the poll didn't differentiate between Cracker Barrel's original hashbrown casserole and its loaded hashbrown casserole, both are classic side dishes at the chain, with plenty of Cracker Barrel fans even searching for the key to recreate the casserole at home. Even so, nothing quite lives up to digging into this dish at the restaurant, and it seems that Mashed readers agree. 

While the competition wasn't as close as we expected, not everyone agrees that the hashbrown casserole is the winner when ranking the best Cracker Barrel side dishes. Still, potatoes are clearly a Cracker Barrel favorite. Next in line after the hashbrown casserole was another classic potato dish; mashed potatoes raked in 23% of the vote. Coming in third was something a bit on the sweeter side — 16% of voters said they prefer the fried apples. Bringing up the rear, 11% of voters were fans of the fried okra for their preferred side dish while only 4% gave their vote to the green beans. 

It's clear that Cracker Barrel's potato dishes reign supreme in the eyes of most Mashed fans. Even so, there were some folks in the comments section who expressed that their personal favorite side dish wasn't one of the five dishes represented on the poll. One commenter said, "I've just got to say that their mac and cheese is amazing," while another gave an alternative potato option, adding, "My favorite side is the pecan sweet potato casserole." Other honorable mentions in the comments went to biscuits and gravy, cabbage, dumplings, cauliflower cheese, coleslaw, and more. In the end, though, one commenter said what most people are thinking: "[Hashbrown] casserole hits different, let me tell you right now."