21 Easy & Crowd-Pleasing Friendsgiving Food Ideas Everyone Will Love

Gathering with friends for a Friendsgiving celebration is all about good food, laughter, and shared memories. But let's be real—planning a menu that’s both easy to make and delicious enough to impress your friends can feel overwhelming!

Whether you're hosting a full feast or contributing a single dish, we've rounded up Friendsgiving food ideas that are easy to prepare, budget-friendly, and guaranteed to be crowd-pleasers.

From creative appetizers to hearty mains and sweet desserts, these recipes will take your Friendsgiving spread to the next level—leaving everyone feeling full, happy, and ready for seconds!

Related Reading: How to host a stress free friendsgiving

21 Easy & Crowd-Pleasing Friendsgiving Food Ideas Everyone Will Love

01 | Pumpkin Risotto with goat cheese

Sailor Bailey

Tender gnocchi is tossed in a creamy brown butter sauce and topped with fresh sage, walnuts, and parmesan. It’s the perfect Fall comfort food.

02 | Creamy Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sausage

Julia’s album

Creamy Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sausage, Thyme, and Sage is the ultimate Autumn comfort food.

03 | Pumpkin Risotto with goat cheese

Platings and Pairings

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese & Dried Cranberries is a perfect fall comfort food – Rich, creamy & perfect for an elegant weeknight meal or a vegetarian Thanksgiving.

04 | Creamy Pumpkin Chicken Enchiladas

Skinny MS

Even though cinnamon is mostly used in sweet recipes like cakes, pies, and muffins, it’s actually a traditional Mexican ingredient. Adding a pinch of cinnamon to this dish isn’t enough to make it taste sweet, but it’s just enough to deepen the flavors of the other spices. This recipe will surely be a hit!

05 | Pumpkin Beef Bolognese

Serving Dumplings

A rich, hearty meat sauce with tender chunks of pumpkin that melt in your mouth. While it may sound like a time-consuming dish, it’s actually incredibly easy to throw together.

06 | Butter Chicken Pumpkin Curry

A Saucy Kitchen

This delicious recipe is a wonderful Gluten Free + Whole30 + Dairy Free Option!

07 | Quick butternut squash lasagna roll ups

Mollys home guide

A fun twist on classic lasagna, filled with creamy goodness and lots of flavor, perfect for dinner and sure to impress your family or friends.

08 | Pan Fried Cheese Broccoli Gnocchi

Savvy Bites

Tender broccoli and gnocchi in a creamy cheese sauce create a delicious, effortless meal.

09 | Garlic Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

Eat Well 101

Ready in less than 30mn, these delicious fresh green beans are roasted with a rich mixture of parmesan cheese and minced garlic. They’re so easy to make – they’ll make an excellent addition to your Holiday table!

10 | Easy Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Kristine’s Kitchen

This Twice Baked Potato Casserole is rich, creamy, and loaded with bacon and cheese. This easy side dish is one of the best holiday casserole recipes!

11 | Holiday Grazing Table

pinterest . com

12 | Thanksgiving Deviled Eggs

Delicious Table

13 | Turkey Cranberry Sliders

I heart eating

These simple turkey and cranberry sliders are an easy way to repurpose leftover Thanksgiving turkey and cranberry sauce into a tasty new meal.

14 | Maple Walnut Sweet Potato Skins

Savory Nothings

Take twice baked sweet potatoes to the next level with this delicious brown sugar maple walnut topping. Perfect as a Thanksgiving side dish!

15 | Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

Damn Delicious

An easy, no-fuss, make-ahead crumbly stuffing loaded with so many amazing flavors and a kick of heat that the whole family will go crazy for! 

16 | Apple Butter Meatballs

The Magical Slowcooker

These slow cooker apple butter meatballs are smothered in a delicious sweet and savory sauce made by combining tangy chili sauce, warmly spiced apple butter, and maple syrup.

17 | Mini Baked Potatoes

Roasted baby potatoes are loaded up with sour cream and chives. They're a great finger food that everyone will love.

18 | Cinnammon Apple Baked Brie

The Anthony Kitchen

An addictively yummy brie appetizer, featuring baked brie topped with cinnamon apples and walnuts smothered in a quick and easy caramel sauce. The perfect mix of sweet and savory, creamy and crunchy!

19 | Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Pecans and Cranberry

Modern Honey

These roasted sweet potatoes make a beautiful Thanksgiving side dish. 

20 | Honey Glazed Carrots & Parsnips

Pure and simple nourishment

These honey glazed carrots and parsnips are the most delicious side dish.

21 | Cranberry Brie Bites

Yellow Bliss Road

Cranberry Brie Bites are a delicious handheld, bite-sized appetizer that is just perfect for the holidays.

Hope you enjoyed this recipes in this post. Bookmark this page so you can try a new one every year.

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My 6 Step Saging Ritual: A beautiful way to cleanse the energy of your sacred space

It's time to begin working on cleansing our environments, our inner selves and our sacred spaces. Taking the time to go within to connect to your truth, uplift your energies by letting go of what no longer suits you. It truly is such a beautiful time of year. Be sure to check out my 21 day Soul Alignment workshop, It is the perfect method to reset and raise your vibration for the year ahead. 

CLEANSING RITUALS

Years ago, when I moved into my first apartment in NYC, a friend came over to my home with a beautiful sage stick and did a cleansing ritual to my space. At the time I was a little skeptical but looking back, that apartment always had the best energy and the most incredible things happened for me there. I always felt so safe and protected in that tiny little apartment.

From that moment on, I always loved saging and smudging rituals.  

After you sage a home or a room, the energy absolutely feels lighter and clean. It feels like you are giving love and care to your home with intention and that is very powerful when it comes to living blissfully.

It will help you to feel more connected to your space. Your home should feel like your sanctuary, where you rejuvenate yourself. It is where you preform self love acts like cleansing yourself, relaxing and taking care of your body, healing yourself, making memories with your loved ones, etc. Your sacred space deserves it and so do you! 

Related Reading: The incredible wellness benefits of Palo Santo

My favorite sage bundle ( I like it with lavender to make it smell prettier ) :

In recent years, more and more people have turned to saging, or smudging, as a way to cleanse their homes and create a positive, peaceful environment. But the tradition of smudging actually has deep, ancient roots, and its benefits go far beyond just clearing out negative energy.

Let’s dive into the importance and benefits of saging your home and explore how to incorporate this ritual into your own space.

The History and Cultural Significance of Smudging

Smudging, traditionally involving the burning of sacred herbs like sage, cedar, and sweetgrass, has been practiced for centuries by Indigenous peoples in North America as part of spiritual and healing rituals.

Beyond Indigenous cultures, similar smoke-cleansing practices exist globally, from incense burning in Asia to herbs used in Middle Eastern rituals. Each of these traditions recognizes the purifying and calming effects of smoke, which is used to cleanse people, places, and objects.

Today, many individuals incorporate saging into their personal routines, though it’s important to approach this practice with respect for its origins and the cultures that have nurtured it.

Why Sage Your Home?

Our spaces tend to accumulate energy, both positive and negative, from ourselves and others. Arguments, stress, and even the presence of other people can build up an invisible residue in a room.

Saging is a way to reset that energy, clear stagnant vibes, and create a peaceful, refreshing atmosphere. Here’s why saging is valuable for your home:

• Purifying and Cleansing: Burning sage releases negative ions, which, according to some research, can help improve mood. Many believe this helps dispel any lingering negative energy, which may contribute to mental and emotional tension.

• Setting Intentions: Smudging is more than just waving a bundle of sage around; it’s an intentional practice. Taking time to focus on what you want to release (negative thoughts, stress) and what you want to invite in (peace, calm, creativity) sets a powerful mental and emotional tone for your space.

• Creating a Sacred, Relaxing Space: Smudging encourages you to pause, clear your mind, and focus on creating an environment that feels safe, sacred, and comfortable. Whether you use your space for work, relaxation, or family, smudging helps cultivate an environment where you feel grounded and uplifted.

Benefits of Saging for Your Home and Wellbeing

1. Enhanced Clarity and Focus: Smudging is thought to reduce negative thoughts and mental clutter, which is especially helpful for maintaining focus and clarity, whether you’re working from home or trying to relax.

2. Emotional Resilience and Stress Relief: Sage has been shown to contain compounds that can help reduce anxiety and stress when burned, making it a natural addition to self-care routines.

3. Energy Refresh: Just like decluttering or deep cleaning, saging your home is a way to reset its energy. If you’ve recently had a rough week, experienced an argument, or had visitors, saging can help refresh and uplift the vibe of your space.

4. Improved Air Quality: While sage isn’t a cure-all for air quality, research suggests that burning sage may help remove up to 94% of airborne bacteria in a space. This can be a welcome benefit if you’re looking to reduce pathogens and other irritants in your home.

How to Sage Your Home: MY 6 Step RITUAL PROCESS

1. Set Your Intention: Before you start, decide what you want to achieve with the smudging. It could be clearing out stagnant energy, inviting positivity, or preparing for a new start.

   Journal away any negative or doubtful thoughts. Get it all out on paper so that your mind will have only positive thoughts going on inside of you.

   Journal what you would like to release from your life and what you would like to manifest more of. 

2. Open Windows and Doors: Allow airflow so the smoke (and any negative energy) has a way to escape.

   Set the mood by playing beautiful meditation music or your favorite background sounds. Talk openly to God in prayer that comes from the heart. 

3. Light the Sage: Using a lighter or match, light the tip of the sage bundle until it begins to smolder. Gently blow on it if needed to create a steady stream of smoke.

4. Walk Through Your Space (using Feng Shui): Starting at the entrance, move slowly through each room. When doing a sage cleanse, I like to identify each area of the room according to the Feng Shui bagua. (You can see how to do it in this post).

   When saging each area, I like to say a prayer or affirmation for what I want to either cleanse the area of or receive more of. For example, in the Wealth and Abundance corner, I would say something like "All my needs are taken care of and provided for" or in the Travel area I would say "I can't wait to take my trip to Bali".

   Let the sage smoke fill that area with the energy of your dreams. Wave the smoke gently with a feather or your hand, paying special attention to corners, mirrors, and around doorways, which are thought to hold energy.

5. Visualize and Recite Your Intention: As you move through your home, think about what you’re releasing and what you want to invite into the space. You can say your intentions aloud or internally as you go.

   Light your favorite candles and use the flame from the candle to light the sage. Move around the room or rooms from corner to corner allowing the smoke to move around the space. 

   Feel free to put out your favorite crystals to use with you as you do your Cleansing Ritual. Pyrite and amethyst are my favorite for any sort of cleansing or manifestation. 

6. Let the Sage Burn Out Safely: Place the sage bundle in a fire-safe bowl or dish and allow it to burn out on its own or gently press it into the bowl to extinguish it.

Tips for Mindful Smudging

• Use Ethical, Sustainably Sourced Sage: White sage is often overharvested, so look for responsibly sourced sage, or consider using alternatives like rosemary, cedar, or palo santo.

• Practice Regularly: Smudging can be a beneficial routine done weekly or monthly, especially when you sense heavy energy or need a fresh start.

• Stay Safe: Always smudge with caution, especially if you have pets or young children. Keep a fire-safe dish on hand and never leave smoldering sage unattended.

Final Thoughts

Saging your home is more than just an act of cleansing; it’s a mindful practice that can refresh your environment and reset your mind. By taking a few moments to perform this ritual, you’re inviting peace, clarity, and positive energy into your space. Embrace it as a simple yet powerful way to connect with your surroundings, refresh your energy, and create a home that feels both sacred and serene.

I enjoy the lavender ones and white sage with Eucalyptus. In addition to sage, I also love using Palo Santo, it is a holy smoke with so many incredible benefits and the smell is also very lovely. For me, something about the smell of sage isn’t my favorite but after I sage, I burn Palo Santo to enhance the smell. 

If you enjoyed this post, you may love my workshop, High Vibe Home which gives you my top tips for creating a sanctuary!

Title image via Grimorio bruxa