What To Bring To A Thanksgiving Potluck: 28 Easy Recipes
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Still looking for what to bring to your Thanksgiving potluck or this year’s Friendsgiving? This list of 28 recipes includes festive (and shareable!) appetizers, sides, desserts, and cocktails that’ll definitely bring some joy to your holiday table.
Whether you’re gathering with friends, family, or neighbors this season, the best memories are made around good food. So we’re here to help you find the perfect recipe, with ideas that are easy to make, crowd-pleasing, and full of seasonal flavor!
Shareable Appetizers
Appetizers are probably the most fun part of a Friendsgiving feast. This is when everyone gets to graze, chat, and the drinks start to flow. If you’ve signed up to bring a starter, check out some of our favorite ideas below and you’ll be the hit of the night.
Spinach Artichoke Dip Phyllo Cups
This is one of our favorite holiday appetizers because it’s so easy, and so adorable! These bite-sized apps are easy to make ahead of time and bake in about 10 minutes or less. Bring them to a Thanksgiving potluck or Friendsgiving with people you want to impress!
Whipped Brie With Calabrian Chiles
If you’re looking to add a little spice to your holiday appetizers, then this whipped brie is for you. Silky smooth brie topped with calabrian chiles in oil and served with some flatbread crackers makes for a great addition to any cheese board or appetizer spread. Just be sure to make plenty because you won’t want to miss out on this one.
Quick and Easy Baked Brie En Croute
Step it up this Thanksgiving and take your melted cheese game to the next level with this baked brie en croute. The flakey, buttery crescent roll dough combined with the creamy brie results in a perfect bite. Add on jams, fresh herbs, or even roasted garlic for additional fun flavor combinations. And since it only takes 20 minutes in the oven, it can be made practically anywhere, anytime.
Cheesy Spinach And Artichoke Dip
Dips are a must-have at any gathering. This easy spinach and artichoke dip is gooey and cheesy, just like how your favorite restaurants make it, and perfectly dippable with crostini, pita, or tortilla chips. Bonus: you can make a big batch of it in the slow cooker if you want a hands-off cooking method, and a way to keep it warm all night long.
Charcuterie Board
Every holiday party needs a charcuterie board. The good news is, it can be as much or as little work as you want. And there are no limits to how creative you can get with what you add to your board. We love using a couple different cheeses (with different textures), two or so meats, crackers, and bread. And if you wanna make your spread really stand out, add a fancy jam, grapes, and/or nuts.
Spanish Baked Goat Cheese In Tomato Sauce
It’s easy to have this recipe prepped ahead of time so it can be popped in the oven when the party starts or when you arrive at your friend’s potluck. The spicy tomato sauce and creamy goat cheese make for an excellent accompaniment to a charcuterie board or cheese plate.
Friendsgiving Side Dishes
You can’t have a Thanksgiving dinner without too many sides. (If you’re not working with a double decker plate then you clearly don’t have enough sides!) Here are some of the dishes we just can’t get enough of during the holiday season.
Crispy Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potato is one of our favorite sides during the fall season and that’s no exception for Thanksgiving. We love adding a little chipotle powder and paprika to these crispy sweet potatoes for a savory side dish. If you’re looking for a sweeter sweet potato dish however, check out our twice baked sweet potato casserole!
Cinnamon Applesauce
We can’t think of a better way to use up any remaining apples you have laying around from your apple picking adventures this year. With just a little work, you can turn those apples into the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving. It’s amazing what a little sugar and cinnamon can do to make some fresh apples into a delicious, healthy treat.
Oven Roasted Parmesan Green Beans
Green beans probably aren’t exactly what people look forward to on Thanksgiving, but if you’re gonna have a green vegetable, it might as well be good. And you can easily do that by adding a little minced garlic and grated parmesan. Plus, they bake in the oven for just 15 minutes for an easy, no-fuss side dish.
Fall Vegetable Medley
A simple mixture of butternut squash, shallots, carrots, and bell pepper makes for an easy roasted side of veggies that will go with any Thanksgiving dinner. Add a little extra fall flavor with some garam masala, paprika, and turmeric.
Twice Baked Sweet Potato Casserole
Did you know you can make individual servings of sweet potato casserole right in the potato skins? This is our favorite way to serve this dish because everyone can get their own personal potato (or potato half)! Other than just being really stinking cute, we also love that this way we don’t have to waste the potato skins or the nutrients they’re packed with!
Air Fryer Twice Baked Potatoes
These air fryer twice baked potatoes are perfect for Thanksgiving for two or smaller gatherings. These are easily my favorite potato side dish during the holidays. They have the fluffiness and creaminess of mashed potatoes, but the added toppings and flavor of baked potatoes. It’s the best of both worlds all in one recipe.
Fresh Bread and Maple Butter
Want to show off your homemade bread with that sourdough starter you’ve worked so hard to keep alive all this time? Make some fresh maple butter to go with it, or with any other fresh bread, for a perfect addition to any Thanksgiving dinner. We also love this maple butter with crescent rolls, corn bread, beer bread, or any other carbs we have around on Thanksgiving.
Spanish Fried Cauliflower
Change things up a little this Thanksgiving with a delicious fried cauliflower. Add in a side of roasted garlic aioli and everyone at the party will be demanding it become a new staple. This recipe works best if you’re hosting or can make it fresh. But it can also be easily made ahead of time and reheated in an air fryer or in the oven at your friend’s house.
Crispy Potatoes With Whipped Ricotta
Looking for a fancier potato side dish for Thanksgiving? This recipe is exactly that. The whipped ricotta and chili oil really elevate the fried potatoes, and if you have a special sea salt, you can add that on for an extra pop of flavor. Our go to for this recipe is smoked sea salt.
Patatas Bravas
Did you know you can make patatas bravas ahead of time so you can bring it to a potluck? Make the sauce up to 5 days in advance and keep it in the fridge. Then fry the potatoes earlier in the day you want to serve them. Once you’re at the potluck, warm the potatoes in the oven, 20 minutes or so at 350 F should do, and microwave the sauce until hot (about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through). Combine the potatoes and sauce and drizzle with some garlic aioli, and voila!
Festive Cocktails
Be the Friendsgiving hero and bring a batch of ready to go cocktails, or the ingredients to make a couple simple recipes. After all, it’s not a party without something festive to sip on!
Maple Old Fashioned
Old fashioneds are great for potlucks because you can either bring the few ingredients needed to make them fresh, or you can make a big batch ahead of time and just bring that! These maple old fashioneds are perfect for an after dinner cocktail with a little sweetness to it.
Tequila Old Fashioned
Speaking of old fashioneds, if you know there’ll be guests who aren’t big on whiskey, bring a tequila old fashioned alternative! This cocktail is a little lighter and brighter and caters perfectly to non-whiskey drinkers (assuming they like tequila).
Gin Mule
The botanicals in gin help turn a regular Moscow mule into the perfect festive holiday cocktail. We don’t recommend batching this cocktail due to the carbonation, however with only 4 ingredients, it’s easy to bring everything you need to make them fresh for the whole party. And if you want to get even more into the holiday theme, add a fresh sprig of rosemary or thyme.
Mexican Martini
Serving drinks for a martini loving crowd? Add in a little change up with this Mexican martini that features tequila but adds in a little mezcal for the smokiness. This combination makes for a delicious, easy-to-drink fall cocktail perfect for Thanksgiving.
Dulce de Leche Martini
You can sign up to bring both cocktails and dessert with this recipe. Make a big batch ahead of time and keep it in the freezer so it’s pre-chilled and ready to pour after dinner when everyone is too full to move. While this may not be a traditional Thanksgiving recipe, the smokiness of the mezcal and the sweet dulce de leche liqueur certainly feel like fall to us.
Rosemary Vodka Lemonade
If you’re looking for a lighter Thanksgiving drink, I think this is the one for you. This bubbly lemonade-esque cocktail is made with vodka, limoncello, lemon juice, and rosemary simple syrup for easy drinking. And the rosemary simple syrup adds just enough to remember that it is, in fact, the holiday season.
Thanksgiving Desserts
Dessert is the moment we all actually look forward to during Thanksgiving… Right? And if not, it sounds like you need to check out some of our favorite desserts that always steal the show.
Sweet Potato White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yes, these cookies are made with sweet potato! They’re soft and chewy and taste like cinnamon, nutmeg, and white chocolate – what more could you ask for out of a Thanksgiving dessert? We love making these all season long, and while many people are skeptical to start, this is one of our most complimented and requested recipes from friends and family.
Sweet Charcuterie Board
Think charcuterie, but make it dessert. Apples and caramel, mascarpone cheese, mini chocolate chips, and fluffy brioche bread – mmm. This is the perfect Friendsgiving recipe to make if you don’t like to (or can’t!) cook. Leave that to your friends while you handle designing and decorating the perfect dessert grazing board that everyone will love.
Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Fudge
This creamy caramel and chocolate fudge recipe only takes 10 minutes to prep and 3 hours to set before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. It’s surprisingly easy to make and looks super elegant, making it the perfect dessert for Thanksgiving festivities.
4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge
If sea salt caramel chocolate fudge isn’t your thing, then give our peanut butter fudge a go instead. Even better, just make both since they’re so easy! But with just 4 ingredients and 10 minutes of work, you can have some homemade peanut butter fudge ready for all your guests to love in no time.
No Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip
Want to enjoy all the deliciousness of cheesecake with none of the difficulty? Then this no bake cheesecake dip is for you. And you can even prep this dish ahead of time so you have nothing to worry about while getting ready to go. Just grab the dip and whatever you choose to dip in it! We recommend some graham crackers and pretzels!
Nutella Puff Pastry Swirls
These fun little Nutella puff pastry swirls are easy to make, fun to eat, and loved by all. They’re the perfect dessert to bring to a Thanksgiving potluck or Friendsgiving. Just make sure you make plenty – they’ll disappear quickly!
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