Need some last-minute, cheap sides for Thanksgiving? Here are the most unfussy recipes to make on a budget.
Thanksgiving cooking has a way of enchanting the whole house: the warmth of the oven, the scent of melting butter, the familiar rhythm of everyone drifting toward the kitchen. But even the most comforting holiday traditions can feel a touch stressful when you’re navigating rising grocery prices or stretching your budget to feed a bigger table.
In restaurant kitchens, chefs keep a close eye on food costs by focusing on the main elements of each dish and assuming pantry staples—like cooking fats, milk and spices—are already on hand and shared across the menu. Home cooks do the same thing without thinking about it! The butter that enriches your rolls also glosses the green beans. The milk or cream in the mashed potatoes comes from the same carton you’re using for tomorrow’s coffee.
Luckily, most of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes we love are quite simple and use components we already have in our kitchens (like oils, butter, seasonings and spices). This makes it easier than you’d think to feed a crowd. When we focus on the cost of key components, a full spread of sides under $5 becomes entirely possible.
Below, you’ll find 10 cheap Thanksgiving side dishes that prove a warm, memorable Thanksgiving doesn’t require a big budget, just a little careful planning.
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DAN ROBERTS FOR TASTE OF HOME
Mashed Potatoes
The potatoes are the star of everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving side dish, and they’re wonderfully affordable: about $1 worth of russets for a full batch. Everything else—milk, butter, salt and pepper—comes straight from the fridge or pantry. Altogether, a standard recipe costs around $2.50 for a six-serving batch. Double the recipe for 12 people, and you’ll be at about $5.
A 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes generally runs a little over $3. This recipe uses 2 pounds, so the sweet potatoes themselves are just over $2. Even with the added butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon, this gloriously sticky-sweet side dish costs about $3.50 for a five-person serving.
Carrots have remained one of the most consistent bargains in the produce aisle—usually $1 to $1.50 per pound—and they carry this dish. The thyme, oil, honey and salt are tiny amounts pulled from staples you likely already have in the pantry, keeping this side around $2 to $2.50 for a four-person serving. When doubled for eight people, this dish will still be around $5 or less.
Fresh green beans usually cost around $2 per pound, and that’s your biggest cost for this recipe. The butter and seasonings only add a small fraction to the overall cost, which means the whole dish will cost about $2.50 to $3 for a small family-sized batch.
Cranberries themselves are surprisingly affordable—usually $2 to $3 per bag in November—and they make up almost the entire cost of a standard cranberry sauce recipe. The sugar and the liquid (water or a splash of orange juice) are probably already in your kitchen, keeping this bright, tart sauce around $2.50 to $3.50 for a 12-person serving.
A small butternut squash (about 2 pounds) typically costs $2.50 to $3, and that makes up nearly the full cost of this dish. Staples like a pat of butter, a little brown sugar and a few warming spices finish the recipe, bringing the six-serving batch to about $4 or less.
Brussels sprouts remain one of the best-value vegetables on the holiday table, usually around $2 to $2.50 per pound. Tossing the sprouts in ingredients like honey, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic salt adds pennies to the final total. Altogether, a six-serving sheet pan recipe lands right around the $5 mark.
Two cans of corn—one whole kernel, one cream-style—account for about $2 to $2.50, making them the main driver of the cost of this dish. The other ingredients (milk, eggs, butter, sugar, flour and seasonings) are common staples, so the total for this sweet dish comes to $4.50 or less for 10 people.
Flour is the hero of this recipe, and even a generous amount costs only a few cents when portioned from a larger bag. Milk, eggs and butter round things out using ingredients most cooks always have on hand. And because these rolls are homemade—not pulled from the freezer section—you get something that feels genuinely special without spending any extra. A two-dozen batch of warm dinner rolls typically lands around $3 to $4 total.
In a recipe like this, the greens make up most of the cost; using a 5-ounce bag comes out to about $3 for the base. Pecans, Parmesan and a pear add a bit more, but since the dressing uses pantry staples, the full salad still comes in around $4 to $5 for six people.
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