Cooking for Thanksgiving is hard enough when you have a fully stocked kitchen all to yourself. The task gets even more difficult when you have limited supplies and roommates competing for valuable oven space. Is it even possible to whip up a decent dish in time for Thanksgiving at home or at your friend's place?
Though cooking as a college student can certainly be hard, it's not impossible. You can definitely make something to impress your friends and family on Thanksgiving — you just might need to get a little creative.
Whether you're planning ahead or scrambling at the last minute, these easy recipes make that Thanksgiving potluck a breeze. Here are six great dishes any college student can make for a holiday meal.
1. Easy Parmesan Garlic Rolls
All great meals begin with a good bread. Instead of buying a boring bag of wheat rolls from the grocery store, you can butter up your hosts by providing a pan of these pull-apart garlic rolls. They're easy to make, you can find all the ingredients at the store and they're all within your modest food budget.
To make these, you'll use frozen dinner rolls and bake them with butter, a generous helping of Parmesan cheese and a few seasonings, including garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Though you will have to pop them in the oven, they take less than 30 minutes to bake, so you can easily fit them in between your roommates' dishes.
2. Pear and Gorgonzola Salad
For a dish that requires absolutely no cooking whatsoever, spruce up a plain green salad with fruit, nuts and cheese. You can get a taste of fall with this pear and Gorgonzola recipe — or improvise your own using apples, dried cranberries, feta cheese, almonds or anything else your heart desires.
Bringing a salad is great because it's both healthy and easy to prepare. You don't have to worry about keeping it warm during the car ride over, and the fresh ingredients are bound to be a hit with pretty much everyone.
3. Crock-Pot Mashed Potatoes
Traditional mashed potatoes are a pain to make, requiring numerous pots and attention you likely don't have time to give them. However, if your friends have tasked you with providing this classic Thanksgiving side dish, you don't have to resort to boxed mixes. If you have a slow cooker, you're good to go.
Make this dish directly in the slow cooker by chopping up potatoes and leaving them to cook. Once they're soft, all you have to do is mash them up and add milk and butter. You can transport them in the slow cooker to keep them warm, so they'll be just as delicious when you get to the party as they were when you tested them.
4. Bacon Garlic Green Beans
Many families consider green bean casserole a Thanksgiving essential. However, making one takes time and oven space you might not have. As a healthy alternative, why not make green beans on the stove top?
This recipe uses only five ingredients: green beans, bacon, garlic, butter and salt. They're simple enough for any college chef, and if you cook the bacon in the microwave, you can even cut out a step.
5. Slow Cooker Stuffing
If you're feeling a little more ambitious, you might try making this cranberry pecan stuffing. It takes quite a few ingredients and requires a little prep on the stove top, but it can spend most of its time in the slow cooker where it doesn't require your undivided attention.
Like the mashed potatoes mentioned above, this stuffing has the added benefit of easy transportation.
6. Crescent Roll Apple Pies
No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without a great fall dessert. Pumpkin pie is classic, of course, but if you would prefer something easier to make, you could consider whipping up these personal apple pies that use store-bought crescent rolls instead of pie crusts.
To make this dessert, you'll wrap apple slices in crescent dough and spice them up with cinnamon and butter. They look beautiful and save you the trouble of cutting a whole pie into messy slices. For bonus points, serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream.
Have a Chill Thanksgiving
As a college student, you have enough to worry about without adding Thanksgiving dinner to that list. No matter what space and tools you're working with, it's possible to make a great Thanksgiving dish for your friends and family without unnecessary stress.
Try out some of these recipes or invent your own, and have a chill Thanksgiving this year.
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