Listen, everyone loves a super cheesy homemade macaroni with like seven cheeses and a dash of truffle in there for good measure. But in this economy, most American families don’t have the funds to make every Thanksgiving side dish the way Bon Appétit recommends. What we really need right now are inexpensive Thanksgiving side dish recipes that deliver on flavor, feed a crowd, and don’t require you to break the budget for a random ingredient you’ll never use again — because let’s be real, chopped walnuts are not a staple in most people’s kitchens.
With that in mind, here are 16 inexpensive Thanksgiving side dish recipes your family will enjoy, and your bank account won’t begrudge. These twice-baked sweet potatoes with streusel topping from A Cookie Named Desire feel very elevated, but they’re not pricey to make — they just take a little more time. In the end, you’re left with sweet, crunchy sweet potatoes that are almost like little personal casseroles.
Budget Bytes’ corn pudding has a delicious cheddar crust on top that looks absolutely phenomenal. The recipe costs a little over $6 altogether, and all the ingredients — sour cream, cheddar cheese, half-and-half — are things you’ll likely use up in other recipes anyway. If you’re a fresh cranberry sauce person, you probably already know that it’s pretty cheap to make.
Damn Delicious’ recipe is so simple that it only takes five ingredients, and one of them is water. It’ll be ready in 20 minutes and only cost you a few bucks. We need not reinvent the wheel here — potatoes are cheap, and mashed potatoes are perfect.
This recipe from Damn Delicious will teach you how to make the perfect batch on the stovetop in about 45 minutes total. Nothing screams fall like roasted veggies, and they don’t need much to taste amazing. All The Healthy Things’ roasted asparagus recipe seriously only calls for the veggies themselves, a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and a lemon.
OK, maybe butternut squash is actually the most “fall” vegetable of them all. All The Healthy Things’ mashed version is a little sweet, a little savory, and one you’ll be so happy you added to your table. Something about a mound of glazed carrots looks so fancy and festive!
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