Friendsgiving is the best part of Thanksgiving without having to spend time with your weird extended relatives. Doing fake Thanksgiving aka Friendsgiving with just friends means you can eat, drink, and have no one berate you about not being married yet. Unless your friends are terrible, in which case, stop inviting them. The only part of Friendsgiving that sucks is that you and your friends are responsible for paying for this elaborate meal and you have to cook it all yourselves. So what can you bring to Friendsgiving that won’t cost you a fortune, won’t take 7 hours to prepare, and is edible? We did some research on recipes that will make you look domestic AF.
Upgraded Comfort Side
Hopefully the friend who offered to host Friendsgiving will provide the turkey, leaving the rest of you to provide the best part of any Thanksgiving feast: the sides. If you’re short on time, you can totally do a quick vegetable dish, but everyone knows the backbone of Thanksgiving is the comfort food. Since the host will be super busy, provide a staple side dish like stuffing, potatoes, or mac and cheese. None of these are expensive or time consuming to make and will be heavily appreciated by everyone. Instead of doing the most generic box mix you can find, upgrade it a little bit so you seem like this badass chef. Do a baked mac and cheese with bread crumbs, or funeral potatoes (only called that because in the South, they’re comfort food you bring to someone’s house after a death in the family. Don’t make it weird).
Easy Dessert
If you’re really short on time, pick up a few pies from a bakery and call it a day. Or, if you know the host will be providing those, make your favorite cookies or cinnamon rolls. You can never have enough dessert at these events. My favorite cookies in the world are butter cake cookies. They are always a crowd-pleaser. I almost killed my lactose-intolerant coworker because I unknowingly made him a batch for covering a few shifts for me. He ate them all in one sitting. He still claims it was worth it. If you want to make a homemade pie, go ahead, but at least buy the crust because that shit is annoying to make from scratch.
Fall-Themed Cocktail
Much like dessert, there is never enough booze at an event with my friends. Most people will bring a bottle of wine, so if you don’t really feel like cooking, liquor up the masses by making a boozy hot cider or a fall-themed sangria. You can even do apple cider mimosas, hot toddies, or pumpkin pie martinis. If you really want to be Pinterest-worthy, hollow out apples as your cups and put in a little cinnamon stick as a garnish. They are so cute and clean up is just as easy as if you were using solo cups.
Appetizers
If there is one thing I know about Thanksgiving, it’s that the food is never, ever ready on time. Uggghhh. There is little that can turn me from bubbly ex-sorority girl to Beelzebub in heels faster than expecting to eat and having it delayed. Appetizers are always an afterthought at group events, so if you want to do something quick, pick up cheese, crackers, and fig jam and make a cute little platter. You can also make dinner rolls, cheesy pull-apart bread, goat cheese dip, pigs in a blanket, or a vegetable tray. Your host will be so grateful that hangry guests (me) aren’t breathing down her neck.
