From bake-and-take side casseroles to festive drinks, these recipes are perfect to bring to this year’s Friendsgiving. Each dish is quick to pack and only has three steps or less, making them easy to prepare. Recipes like our Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole or our High-Protein Spinach Dip will have your friends raving the second the dish hits the table.
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Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole
Diana Chistruga
Thanksgiving isn’t complete without a homemade sweet potato casserole. We like to sprinkle chopped pecans on top along with the marshmallows for a bit of texture.
Whipped Feta with Pomegranate, Pistachios & Honey
This easy, quick appetizer is perfect for any gathering. Be sure to process the feta and cream cheese together until you see a smooth texture and ribbons start to form. Doing so will ensure any bits of feta are broken down, and you’ll avoid a grainy texture. The drizzle of hot honey adds a pleasant spice and plays well with the salty pistachios, but you could substitute regular honey or date syrup if preferred.
Fig & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Roll
Photographer: Jacob Fox, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
Buttery puff pastry is a tasty shortcut ingredient that can be used in many delicious ways. Here we roll out a pastry sheet and cover it with fig jam and crumbled goat cheese, then roll it up into a log and bake it. The end result is a sweet-and-savory appetizer that looks and tastes impressive, especially considering it has only three ingredients.
Roasted Broccoli Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
The vibrant colors and flavors in this crowd-pleasing roasted broccoli salad make it a must-have side dish for the holidays. For a twist, you can easily swap out the dried cranberries for raisins, chopped dried apricots or even pomegranate seeds to suit your taste or the season.
High-Protein Spinach Dip
Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
This spinach dip recipe gives the classic appetizer a high-protein twist. In addition to contributing plenty of protein, using cottage cheese and feta instead of cream cheese and Cheddar cuts back on saturated fat and calories. Serve this easy dip as a side dish, appetizer or snack with whole-grain bread and veggies for dipping.
Three Bean Salad
Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
This three-bean salad is a wonderful addition to any meal. Rich in fiber, folate, iron and potassium, beans complement a heart-healthy diet and are also a great source of plant-based protein and iron for anyone following a vegetarian diet. Bring this colorful, healthy dish to a barbecue, serve it as an appetizer salad or side dish, and even pack it for lunch.
Pumpkin Spice Bread
This pumpkin spice bread recipe is a snap to pull together. Pumpkin puree and maple syrup add sweetness to help cut down the amount of added sugar while ensuring this healthy loaf stays moist and tender. This easy quick bread is finished off with a sweetened cream cheese spread over the top to complement the spices.
Loaded Broccoli Salad
Photographer / Brie Passano, Food Stylist / Annie Probst, Prop Stylist / Holly Raibikis
This is the broccoli salad you will get special requests for. The combination of bacon, sour cream, mayonnaise, scallions and Cheddar is hard to resist.
Cranberry-Orange Punch
Abby Littlejohn
This gorgeous fruity punch is perfect for any party—serve it on its own for a fun mocktail that will please kids and adults alike.
The Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce
This is our go-to recipe for homemade cranberry sauce. It’s simple (just five ingredients!), is lightly sweet without being too sugary and has just the right amount of zesty flavor from orange peel. Plus, it’s so easy—it goes from stove to table in just 20 minutes!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Goat Cheese & Pomegranate
This gorgeous warm salad with nutty roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet-tart pomegranate seeds and creamy goat cheese is perfect for any winter meal—from a weeknight dinner to Christmas dinner or any other holiday celebration.
Fizzy Rosemary Cider Mocktail
Many types of mocktails are high in sugar, but this easy mocktail cuts down on the calories and carbs by using club soda and a sugar-free simple syrup.
