How to Host the Perfect Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving is Thanksgiving without all the rules.

Pick a night, invite your favorite people, put too much food on the table, and stay awhile. It can be a full Thanksgiving dinner, a casual weeknight gathering, an office Friendsgiving, or something somewhere in between.

But if you’re the one hosting, there’s still a little planning involved. From figuring out how much food you need to deciding what everyone should bring, here’s how to host the perfect Friendsgiving—without spending the entire day in the kitchen.

1. Pick a Friendsgiving Date Early

The hardest part of hosting Friendsgiving might be getting everyone in the same room.

Friendsgiving doesn’t have to happen on Thanksgiving—or even during Thanksgiving week. Pick a date in November that works for most of the group and get it on everyone’s calendar early.

A Friday or Saturday night is an obvious choice, but a weeknight Friendsgiving can be just as fun. And if you’re planning an office Friendsgiving, turn lunch into the celebration instead.

The point isn’t when you celebrate. It’s getting everyone around the table.

2. Build a Friendsgiving Menu Everyone Will Eat

A great Friendsgiving menu starts with the Thanksgiving classics.

Think turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cornbread, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a few seasonal sides. Then make sure there are enough vegetarian-friendly options so everyone at the table can build a plate.

For Friendsgiving this year, Naked Farmer is serving a Thanksgiving spread with Roasted Turkey with Gravy, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Homemade Cornbread, Spiced Farro with Butternut Squash, and Cranberry Chutney, with Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes available as part of the vegetarian option.

The easiest way to plan? Start with the main meal, then let your friends take care of drinks, dessert, and anything else they insist on bringing.

3. Consider Friendsgiving Catering

If cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for a group sounds less like a celebration and more like a second job, there’s nothing wrong with outsourcing it.

Friendsgiving catering lets you keep the parts of hosting that are actually fun—setting the table, inviting your people, picking the playlist—without spending hours prepping and cleaning the kitchen.

Naked Farmer's Thanksgiving catering is available throughout November, with Thanksgiving and Vegetarian packages, a Thanksgiving Sides Package, and à la carte tray sides.

That also means Friendsgiving can happen whenever your group can make it work, rather than squeezing another dinner into Thanksgiving week.

4. Know Where Your Thanksgiving Food Comes From

Thanksgiving is a pretty good time to know the people behind what’s on your plate.

Our Thanksgiving Turkey comes from Joyce Farms in North Carolina, a family-owned farm rooted in generations of agriculture. Their Naked Turkeys are all-natural, grown on small family farms, raised with no antibiotics ever, and raised without growth hormones or growth stimulants.

Our sweet potatoes come from Scott Farms in North Carolina, where generations of the Scott family have made a living growing sweet potatoes from the land.

And the milk used in our Mac & Cheese comes from Dakin Dairy Farms in Myakka City, Florida, a multi-generational family farm with deep roots in Florida agriculture.

Good Thanksgiving food starts with good ingredients. And good ingredients start with knowing your farmers.

5. Keep Your Friendsgiving Table Simple

You don't need to buy an entirely new tablescape for Friendsgiving.

Use the plates you already have. Add candles, a few seasonal flowers or greenery, and serve everything family-style in the middle of the table.

If you want to make it feel a little more special, handwritten place cards are an easy addition. You could even write something you’re thankful for about each person on the back.

6. Ask Everyone to Bring Something

One of the easiest Friendsgiving ideas is also the most obvious: don't do everything yourself.

Even if you're ordering the main Friendsgiving meal, give everyone something small to bring. Assign drinks, wine, appetizers, dessert, ice, or flowers.

It makes hosting easier and gives everyone a small part in putting the night together.

Just coordinate ahead of time unless you want six bottles of wine and no dessert. Although we've heard of worse problems.

7. Don't Forget Friendsgiving Dessert

After turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and seconds, everyone will say they’re too full for dessert.

Give them a few minutes.

This year, we’re bringing something new to the Thanksgiving table: our Sweet Potato Loaf, made with sweet potatoes and dates for a dessert that feels right at home alongside the rest of the feast.

Add one to your Friendsgiving spread and leave it in the middle of the table for everyone to dig into.

Because there’s always room for dessert.

8. Send Everyone Home With Leftovers

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving is eating it again tomorrow.

Have a few containers ready so everyone can take home their favorites. If you have enough food left over, divide up the turkey and sides and send everyone on their way with tomorrow's lunch handled.

Future them will thank you.

What Should You Serve at a Friendsgiving?

If you're building your own Friendsgiving menu, a good rule of thumb is to include:

• One main dish, usually turkey, plus a vegetarian option

• 3–5 Thanksgiving sides

• Bread or cornbread

• Gravy and cranberry sauce

• At least one dessert

• Drinks, water, and plenty of ice

Most importantly, serve food people actually want to eat. Friendsgiving isn't the night to make everyone politely take one bite of an experimental side dish.

How Much Food Do You Need for Friendsgiving?

Start with your guest count, then give yourself a little room for seconds.

For larger groups, ordering family-style trays makes it easier to scale the meal without trying to calculate individual portions of every dish.

Naked Farmer's Thanksgiving catering packages are designed for groups and can scale from smaller gatherings to much larger Friendsgiving celebrations.

And yes, planning for leftovers is encouraged.

Hosting Friendsgiving? We'll Do the Cooking.

At the end of the day, the perfect Friendsgiving isn't really about getting everything perfect.

It's about getting your people around the same table.

So start the group chat. Pick the date. Invite the friends who always stay too late.

We'll handle dinner.

Naked Farmer Thanksgiving catering is available throughout November for Friendsgiving dinners, office Friendsgivings, family gatherings, and Thanksgiving celebrations.

You bring the people. We'll bring Thanksgiving.