Have you wanted to host an intimate Friendsgiving but weren’t quite sure how to pull it off? Forget about having another entire Thanksgiving dinner. I’m sharing everything down to the last detail about hosting a Friendsgiving Appetizer Party so you’ll have plenty of ideas and an easy plan to follow.
What You’ll Find In This Guide
- 7 recipes with all the proper Thanksgiving flavors and feels without being a repeat of the traditional dinner
- a stress-free timeline (preparation is broken down into a few easy tasks over several days)
- convenient shopping links to create your own beautiful table with the same items seen in this post
- Lots of inspiration & encouragement
- The only thing left is sending out the invites!
Thanksgiving truly is a special time. Taking the time to reflect on simple joys and the people who bring a sweet fullness to our lives… well, those are the things that make us truly rich! And one of the best ways to express just how much those things mean to you is with a Friendsgiving celebration!
An Appetizer Dinner
This year, I showed my gratitude and gathered up some very special people for a rustically cozy Friendsgiving appetizer dinner! An appetizer dinner is one of the best ways to host a casual Thanksgiving get-together with your friends, especially if you’re also planning a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with family on another day. Here’s why:
- You get to mix it up. You don’t have to serve the same foods that you or your friends might already be preparing and eating for the traditional meal.
- It’s not as heavy. Thanksgiving is a big food holiday. Offering an opportunity to get together and nibble a bit here and there instead of having a sit down meal can be a nice change of pace.
- It creates space for new traditions. We all have our family favorites made just the way our family likes it, but so do our friends! Instead of worrying about who’ll make the cornbread dressing the right way, an appetizer dinner allows everyone to make room for new favorites and for new traditions to emerge.
Want to Know More?
How to Plan An Appetizer Party shares all my tips for planning an appetizer menu that eats like a meal and every guest is satisfied! It’s a great little resource for the holidays.
You can also check out more Thanksgiving app recipes here.
Where To Host Your Friendsgiving
If you’ve been reading long, you know I am a huge proponent of inviting others over for dinner in your home. Whether it’s around your dining room table, in the kitchen or on the patio, there’s just something about the “sense of belonging” and specialness when we’re invited into the places where each other lives.
Having said that, it’s also a lot of fun (and relieve a lot of stress) to get together at a location on occasion! This can be especially helpful during busy times like the holidays when you might be prepping for big family dinners and overnight guests in your home.
When Hosting Potluck Style Is Important
For our Friendsgiving get together, we gathered at a gorgeous thoroughbred barn on the beautiful Blue Heaven Farm in Versailles, KY, managed by Jamie and Shannon Corbitt. Of course, we had to have Shannon stay and eat with us! She let us tour the barn, spend time with the horses and never fails to be some of the best fun to be around.
Jamie and Shannon took care of all the details at the barn and made it so easy for us to set up on property. We rented table and chairs, packed up our dishes and food… This is when co-hosting or hosting potluck style comes in handy- one person handles setting the table, another the rentals, food prep is shared. This makes the load light, and doing it together creates just as many shared memories as the dinner itself!
Our Friendsgiving Appetizer Menu
It’s Thanksgiving, so we had to make sure our food was as special as our guests!
The traditional Louisiana meat pies on this menu aren’t difficult, but take a little time to make. We balanced that with choosing quick and easy recipes to round out the rest of the menu. Plus, we included a signature drink because that’s an easy way to make any gathering extra memorable.
- Sparkling Rosemary Apple Cider
- Mini Pimento Cheese Balls (served with green apple slices and strawberry jalapeño jam)
- Southern Sweet Potato Soup
- Autumn Pear & Fig Green Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette
- Louisiana Natchitoches Meat Pies
- Homemade Jalapeño Cranberry Sauce
- Mini Apple Bread Loaves
All recipes are linked below.
Check out How to Plan An Appetizer Party for all my tips on planning an appetizer menu that eats like a meal.
How We Set The Table
I always look forward to setting a Thanksgiving table. All of my table top favorites- layers, texture and a bountiful focus on the food- seem to naturally come together to create an inviting, cozy, autumnal atmosphere that’s just right for the holiday.
I started with the tartan fringed throw blanket used as a table square and built the table around that. It lent an “old world lodge”/ rustic Ralph Lauren-inspired feel that we capitalized on with rich Spode Woodland dinnerware and thrifted trophy cups filled with pheasant feathers.
The warmth of worn wood against the polish of silver completed the feeling of time and tradition. Absolutely perfect for fall!
The centerpiece filled with seasonal fruits, veggies and pinecones- our version of deconstructed cornucopia- added the final touch before we filled the table with appetizers and draped extra throw blankets on the backs of chairs to invite lingering long after the last bite would be taken.
Thanksgiving is about more than just the food. It’s a time to gather and be mindful of what really brings us joy in life- the people we lean on, who cheer us on, who inspire us, laugh with us and to understand the ultimate privilege of getting to do the same for them.
Everything You Need For Your Friendsgiving Dinner
Table Links
- Spode Woodland Dinner Plates (or buy from Replacements, Ltd. here)
- dark brown seagrass placemats
- gracious brown dinner napkins | Hen House Linens (20% off with code SOUTHERNDISCOURSE)
- Stewart tartan fringed throw blanket
- crystal cocktail pitcher (Note size. This is a cocktail pitcher- tall and narrow. 34 ounces.)
- pewter pumpkin salt & pepper shaker set
- pheasant feathers
- wooden bowls (appetizer/dip size- holds 1 Cup/ 8 ounces)
- silver centerpiece
- brown glass stemware
- velvet ribbon
- paper loaf pans
- extra throw blankets over the chairs (green plaid)
Friendsgiving Recipe Links
- Sparkling Rosemary Apple Cider
- Mini Pimento Cheese Balls
- (I used this recipe to make about 20 (1.5 inch) individual mini cheese balls & served with green apple slices and strawberry jalapeño jam)
- Southern Sweet Potato Soup
- Autumn Pear & Fig Green Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette
- Louisiana Natchitoches Meat Pies
- (You could also use this short cut air fryer recipe or just make these sausage balls instead)
- Homemade Jalapeño Cranberry Sauce
- Mini Apple Bread Loaves
- (I used this recipe to make 8 (4x2x2 inch) individual mini loaves. I started checking for doneness at 20 minutes.)
Timeline (Total Time 5 Hrs. 45 Min.)
This timeline walks you through:
- how to make each dish ahead of time,
- how long each task should take,
- how to organize the tasks if you need to do just a few things in the evenings after work in the days leading up to your get together.
5 Days Before
- Do your grocery shopping.
- Have table & chairs delivered, if needing extra seating. (From, Ep. 1, I do this so I don’t have to own, store or clean these items.)
4 Days Before– 1 hour
- Set up table & chairs. (15 minutes)
- Get out items needed to set the table + serve & make sure they are ready. (15 minutes)
- Set the table. (15 minutes)
- Make the meat mixture for the Natchitoches Meat Pies. (15 minutes)
3 Days Before– 1 ½ – 2 hours
- Make, stuff (using the meat mixture) and crimp crusts for the meat pies.
- Layer uncooked pies in a freezer safe container with parchment paper between the layer and freeze.
2 Days Before– 45 minutes
- Make sweet potato soup.
- While soup simmers for the first 10 minutes, grate cheese for the cheese balls.
- While soup simmers for the last 10 minutes and then cools for storing, make cheese balls.
- Cover soup and cheese balls and store fridge.
The Night Before– 1 hour
- Make the mini apple loaves.
- While the loaves bake, make the cranberry sauce and let cool.
- While the cranberry sauce and the loaves cool, make the salad (except for slicing the pears) and the salad dressing.
- Glaze the loaves. Store the loaves, covered, in the pantry or on the counter. Go ahead and tie ribbon around them, if you like. Store cranberry sauce, salad and dressing in the fridge.
Day Of– 1 hour
- Begin warming the soup on the stove top on low.
- Make rosemary simple syrup and let steep while moving on to next steps.
- Add the pretzel sticks to the cheese balls and put on serving tray.
- Put the jam and cranberry sauce in dip sized serving bowls.
- Slice pears and add to salad.
- Fry Natchitoches meat pies while frozen. (about 30 minutes)
- Mix up the Apple Cider drink.
- Spoon the soup into the bowls.
- Add everything to the table. (Don’t forget your apple bread!)
Rate & Comment