16 budget-friendly Thanksgiving recipes for an affordable holiday feast

Emily Shiffer
Fri, 21 Nov 2025 23:06:00 +0000
Cheap thanksgiving recipes, Affordable thanksgiving recipes, Budget thanksgiving, Budget thanksgiving recipes, Cheap recipes, Affordable recipes, Frugal recipes, Frugal thanksgiving recipes, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving dinner ideas, Thanksgiving appetizers, Thanksgiving desserts, Thanksgiving sides, Thanksgiving recipes

Sitting down to an incredible spread of food on Thanksgiving is arguably one of the best things about the holidays. But with grocery prices peaking, serving Thanksgiving can get expensive—which is why budget-friendly recipes are always great to explore.

Budget-conscious home chefs and bakers shared their favorite affordable and frugal Thanksgiving recipes on Reddit to help others save money on their Thanksgiving feast.

From appetizers to side dishes to dessert, these are 16 budget-friendly Thanksgiving recipes to try this year.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Appetizers

Caramelized Onion Bacon Dip Deviled Eggs

"I've made almost every one of these variations in the serious eats post, but my favorite is to take caramelized onion bacon dip from scratch, mustard, and the egg yolks to make deviled eggs." - HunterHunted9

Thanksgiving Day Grazing Board

"Thanksgiving Day Grazing Board!! Enjoy." - sillyrabbit552

Sweet Potato Stuffed Mushrooms

"Sweet potato stuffed mushrooms. Peel, cube, and boil, and mash some orange sweet potatoes. Mix in some Greek yogurt (4:1ish potato to gurt ratio), drop of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and some chopped green onions. Peel and destem some mushrooms. Put a heaping tablespoon of sweet potato mash onto each cap. Bake for around 30 mins at 350. You can prep them a day or two in advance and. Bake them the day of. Adding sage, walnuts, brown sugar is nice. Or you can add curry spices and lime zest. I think next time I’m going to pop some bacon on top." - Manxome__Foe

Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs

"I recently had recommended to me cocktail meatballs. Frozen meatballs, cranberry sauce, and chili sauce in a slow cooker for a few hours. Some recipes call for other additions like brown sugar and spices." -

@the_recession_chef
Thanksgiving Shopping List: Stuffing! A cheap, easy and DELICIOUS recipe to ease the strain on your wallet and your anxiety! #thanksgiving #stuffing #recipes #easyrecipes #fyp

Side Dishes

Fall Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad

"This Brussels sprouts salad is easy and good (can swap out anything, really and use your own dressing and can make ahead) - I skip the pears and go for a cheaper cheese." - User Unknown

Vegetarian Pumpkin Dumplings

"If you have the other stuff, here's a good idea for canned pumpkin." -

Crispy Potatoes

"Crispify your potatoes. I made these last year. They were so good and cheap and easy to make as the ingredients are common kitchen staples." - Chemical_Actuator

Roasted Yams

"Roast Yams, literally just slice and roast yams in butter or olive oil n the oven until soft." -

Corn Pudding

"Corn pudding. I can't find the exact one but this sounds similar." - Zenosparadox1

Parmesan Crusted Carrots

"I make parmesan crusted carrots and everyone loves them." - wholesomefiddleblues

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

"Roasted garlic mashed potatoes! I use the recipe below but instead of mixing it with the mashed potatoes, I just add them finely chopped at the end."- jessisgonz

Spoonbread Casserole

"I like Spoonbread:

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 8-3/4 oz. can of corn, drained
1 8-1/4 oz can of creamed corn
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs

Serves 6–8.

Costs more, but it’s super fancy (like soufflé), yet still comfort food. My store always has dented cans of corn for cheap. And Jiffy’s less than a dollar. Leftovers are delicious with maple syrup + hot sauce." - editorgrrl

Classic Mac and Cheese

"This is my favorite Mac n cheese recipe, but I typically simplify it. I don’t bother with the crumbs on top and baking (brings down butter to 1 stick and no panko). I recently made a huge batch for church. I spent $6 on cheese (8 oz Gouda for meltability and 16 oz extra sharp cheddar for flavor - 3 store brand blocks of cheese I shredded), and 1 1/2 boxes of small shells (at $1 a box) because I think there’s a lot of cheese for the amount of pasta. Then factor $1 for the butter stick, and whatever the milk costs in your area. So you’re probably looking at a bit under $10 just for the mac n cheese, which is a good chunk of your budget, but it’s so rich and delicious, and you’ll have leftovers. Note that when you first combine the cheese sauce and pasta, it’s nice and creamy. When homemade Mac n cheese sits around or you’re dealing with leftovers, it turns to kind of a drier, paste-like consistency - I think from the pasta absorbing more of the milk. So reheat with some milk or even a bit of hot water to get it creamy again." - unlimited_insanity

Yorkshire Pudding

"For an interesting twist, Yorkshire puddings are really easy and minimal ingredients (and not actual pudding)." - Heuristicrat

@jennthornton18
$5 & $10 Thanksgiving Sides ??Budget Bites: Thanksgiving Edition- Episode 1 Cheap, Easy & SO good for the holidays! #budgetthanksgiving#budgetmeals#thanksgivingrecipe#sahm#feedingafamily#CapCut

Dessert

Peach Dump Cake

"1 (around 29 oz) can of peaches, 1 generic cake mix (we use yellow), 1/2 stick of butter sliced thinly, sprinkle of cinnamon if you have it. Dump undrained peaches in square cake pan then sprinkle the cake mix over it then dot the butter over the top. Bake at 350F until bubbly all over. Serve warm or cool. For 18 double it in about a 9" x13" pan. Take ice cream or Cool Whip to top. - hawg_farmer

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

"Pumpkin crunch cake. This stuff is SO good! And gotta have some of that pumpkin for Thanksgiving!" - alcristo

Jam Crescent Rolls

"Crescent rolls with your preferred flavor of jam. Just put some jam on the inside of the roll before you roll them up to bake them. Also works great with chocolate sauce." - gwig9