Are you planning for a Thanksgiving feast for friends? Need some fresh Friendsgiving Ideas? Here are some of the best budget tips and recipes for serving dinner and dessert this year.
Whether you’re taking a dish to a potluck or prepping for a cozy sit-down dinner party, these Friendsgiving Ideas will help you get organized and ready to celebrate — on a budget.
Are you gathering with friends this year and find yourself looking for Friendsgiving Ideas that won’t break the budget? It’s a sad realization of adulthood that one Thanksgiving meal can cost as much as a week’s groceries.
Yikes. Like your Aunt Vera’s Double Rum Fruit Cake, that’s too rich for my blood!
Thankfully, we’ve got Friendsgiving Ideas to help you enjoy a great holiday meal without overspending.
Why It Matters
People are more important than things. In hosting a Friendsgiving, you already recognize the value of relationships, especially with people you’re not related to. Gathering with friends is more important than how fancy or expensive the food.
Debt isn’t worth it. Overspending at the holidays just isn’t any fun; neither are bills that you’re still paying in February. Keeping your Friendsgiving costs under control will benefit you for months to come.
Frugal food tastes amazing! It doesn’t have to be expensive to taste good.
Budget Tips
There are many ways to host budget-friendly holiday meals. Here are some Friendsgiving Ideas to help you save on food costs:
- Shop the sales. You can pick up some great deals for the holiday as well as for the coming months.
- Let the prices plan your meals. As hard as it is to forego some traditional favorites, if it’s too expensive, then save it for another time. Plan your meals around ingredients you can source affordably.
- Choose budget recipes for Friendsgiving. While it’s tempting to pull out all the stops at the holiday, enough is as good as a feast. Ma Ingalls says so. Choose recipes that are naturally budget-friendly. (Hint: scroll down for some yummy ideas!)
- Think outside the box. Part of the fun of a nontraditional
- Be mindful of leftovers. Chances are when you prepare a large feast, you make too much. Save those leftovers! While they are great reheated the next day, there are lots of meals that can be made from leftovers.
Hosting Suggestions
If you’re not used to hosting a large party, here are Friendsgiving Ideas to help you be the host with the most:
- Check your tableware. Decide if you’re going to use real dishes or paper plates. There’s no right answer here, but if you plan on using china or ceramic dishes, count your plates now and make sure you have enough. The same goes for silverware and napkins.
- Borrow, rent, or buy what you need. Obviously, borrowing is the more economical way to go. If you want a more formal table setting and yours is a large group, ask friends to see who you can borrow from and then figure out a way to tell yours apart from theirs. If you end up buying something, you may be able to sell it later to recoup some of the cost.
- Does everyone have a place to sit? Again, if it’s a casual potluck where folks will mill about, no problem. But, if you’d like to have everyone sit at the same time, make sure you have enough table space and chairs for everyone. Again, borrow, rent, or buy what you need.
- What about kids? If you’re not a parent, this may be something new. Review these tips for kids table thanksgiving activities.
- Send leftovers home. If you anticipate a lot of food, load up on some meal prep containers so that you can send leftovers home with friends.
FAQs
Friendsgiving is basically a Thanksgiving celebration shared with friends. It can be on Thanksgiving itself or is often held on an alternative date to accommodate for friends who may be visiting with family on Thanksgiving itself.
You don’t have to have turkey dinner at Friendsgiving, but you can. Do what you and your friends enjoy most. The whole point of Friendsgiving is to spend time with people who are special to you.
One person or household can host Friendsgiving, you can hold a potluck, or friends can chip in on the cost while one or more plan and prep the meal. It really depends on your group and who has what time available for party planning.
Recommended Recipes
There’s no right way to plan your menu. It’s really up to you and what you want to do this year. If you’re doing a lot of cooking, remember there are lots of Make-Ahead and Freeze Thanksgiving Recipes.
Consider these delicious Friendsgiving Ideas for your meal plans:
Easy Appetizers
Simple Main Dishes
Super Sides
Desserts
This post was originally published in November 2016. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Barbara J Pfieffer
Your link for turkey with stuffing doesn’t work.
Jessica Fisher
Thank you for letting me know, Barbara. It’s been fixed now.
Sally
Thanksgiving is the one meal that doesn’t change from year to year. Something can be added, but the basics MUST be present: turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn pudding, rolls and cranberry sauce. We typically don’t do appetizers or drinks before the meal, but wine may be served with the meal. There’s pie for dessert. The pie can be pumpkin, pecan, apple or sugar cream pie.
I like the tradition of having the same meal year after year.
Jessica Fisher
Amen.
laura
My sister always made a stuffed pumpkin, filled with vegetables, nuts and fruits and then drizzled with maple syrup and baked…it was beautiful and aromatic but I never really liked it. She’s due with her first this weekend (!) so she’s not going to be here with us. This year my son’s birthday falls right on thanksgiving so we are building new traditions around that – birthday cake anyone? He’s turning three so balloons are required as well;)
We will venture to my in laws again this year where 26 of us with gather. My MIL provides the traditional components and then the rest of us bring sides and desserts. My husband requests ham as he’s not a turkey lover, so I am bringing that, roasted squash, blueberry pie, pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheese cake, and then an assortment of pickles and relishes that we preserved. Since I truly can’t stand the feeling of being over full, I usually just nibble in the morning and then enjoy a modest plate to taste it all when dinner is served around 2pm. I tend to not love pie, even when I make it, so dessert isn’t my favorite. If I make a cheesecake that may change though;) I really just enjoy the feeling of a full house with chatter and lots of the cousins running around! Growing up we ALWAYS listened to Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant at noon. I’m not sure all my husband’s relatives appreciate the sentiment of the song but it’s an absolute for me, even if it’s in my own kitchen while prepping my contributions. We also love the leftovers, sometimes even more than the big meal.
Jessica Fisher
It all sounds delicious! Happy Birthday to your son!
Stephanie M.
One of the things I like to make are hollowed out oranges stuffed with sweet potatoes that have been cooked, mashed, and have a little orange juice and cinnamon in them for some added sweetness. Then they get topped with mini marshmallows and baked till they are hot.
Another recipe I like is yellow squash casserole made with saltine cracker crumbs, cheddar cheese, eggs, milk, and sliced cooked yellow squash.
My favorite pie is the apple crumb pie I make, but I also make pumpkin pie which I love too.
It depends from year to year what I choose to make depending on how many people are coming. I never have a gigantic crowd; this year will be ten and that’s plenty for me. I used to make so many sides and appetizers that people really had a hard time eating. Last year, I looked at the above picture on this post and just loved the way it looked without a whole lot of other things on the plate so I made exactly what I saw in the picture. I had a small group last year and it didn’t seem necessary to make a huge amount of food. Our plates looked just like in the picture and it was enough for our small group without enough leftovers for a month. This is how I’m doing it again this year; the only difference is I’m also making stuffed mushrooms which is another side I have been making for years. One appetizer and it will be Stromboli. And also soup before the meal – meatball tortellini. I used to make so many appetizers and then the star of the dinner isn’t enjoyed. It took me many years to tame myself into not making enough food for the whole country. Ha Ha
Jessica Fisher
I’m so honored that you planned your Thanksgiving based on one of my pictures! Your menu sounds delicious!
We do stuffed mushrooms on NYE. A tradition and I’ve finally trained a few kids to like them!
Happy Thanksgiving, friend!