There are a lot of great “Friends” food moments to choose from, but one of the most memorable is the inedible trifle Rachel makes for Thanksgiving one year when she accidentally combines two very different recipes.

Ross’s Thanksgiving moistmaker sandwich is a close second for me, so I am combining the two to make savory single-serve trifles.

This vegan, gluten-free recipe serves 4 and is much more edible than the dish Rachel serves her friends.

Mashed Potato Ingredients
4 medium potatoes
0.5 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons vegan butter or margarine

Gravy Ingredients
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons 1-to-1 gluten-free flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon brown mustard

Stand Alone Layers
4 servings vegan (& gluten-free) turkey or chicken, cooked
1 can organic cranberry sauce, sliced

Stuffing Ingredients
4 slices gluten-free white bread
4 tablespoons egg replacer
1 teaspoon sage

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F for the stuffing and grease a 8″x8″ baking pan for it.

Begin boiling the potatoes over medium high heat. You can peel your potatoes if you prefer them that way, but as we’ve said before, we like things a little more rustic around here.

For the stuffing, toast the bread slices then break them up into bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl with the other stuffing ingredients.

When the stuffing is thoroughly mixed, pour it into the greased baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Start making the gravy. Whisk all the ingredients together, adding a little more broth if it’s too thick or a little more corn starch if it’s too thin. Because the final product has layers below and on top of it, it should be a thicker gravy.

Make sure your vegan turkey or chicken is properly heated or cooked. If it’s in larger pieces, you may want to slice or cube it.

Open the can of cranberry sauce and slice the roll into circles.

As the potatoes become tender, mash them with the soy milk and vegan butter.

Prepare your glasses or glass bowls for the four servings as the stuffing comes close to being done. The main thing here is that the dishes are clear so folks can see the layers.

Start by putting a quarter of the mashed potatoes in each of your serving dishes.

Then add a layer of gravy.

Put one serving of your vegan turkey or chicken in each dish.

Place a circle or two of cranberry sauce on top of the turkey.

Finally, add a quarter of the stuffing to the top of each serving dish.

Serve and enjoy with a Thanksgiving episode of “Friends.”

The Easy Route
You can get pre-made mashed potatoes, store-bought gravy and/or a box of stuffing if you don’t want to make any of those from scratch.

This is also a great way to use up any leftovers you may have from your Thanksgiving meal. Alternatively, you could make this into one big trifle and serve it as a meal.

The Pairing
Like many elder millennials, I grew up watching “Friends.” The final episode aired right around the same time I graduated from high school.

We recently rewatched the whole series from start to finish. Yes, Ross is more annoying than I remembered and there were a few other things here and there that didn’t age well, but I really loved rewatching a show that was such a vital part of my childhood.

During the pandemic, “Friends” was the ultimate comfort show to rewatch.

For those who haven’t seen it, the show follows six friends as they move from their 20s to their 30s, highlighting the romance, work and family milestones they hit along the way.

Monica (Courtney Cox) is a chef. Monica’s roommate, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), is an aspiring musician who frequently plays the coffee shop downstairs.

Ross (David Schwimmer), Monica’s brother, is a paleontologist who is going through a rough patch in his marriage.

Chandler (Matthew Perry), Ross’s best friend from college, does something business-y (it’s a running joke in the show). Chandler lives in the apartment across the hall from Monica and Phoebe with Joey (Matt LeBlanc), an actor who is getting bit parts in plays, commercials and TV shows.

In the first episode, the five of them are hanging out in the coffee shop when Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica’s best friend from high school, bursts in wearing a wedding dress.

Many of you know what happens over the next 10 seasons, but I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t seen the show, so I will stop there with the recap.

All six actors are just great in their roles. I was absolutely invested in the characters as the new episodes aired each week. Not only did I watch most episodes as they aired, I also frequently watched reruns.

That’s part of the reason for this pairing. As a kid, I absolutely loved the Thanksgiving meal, especially watching and helping my mom go through all these elaborate steps to make a gourmet feast for my dad, my brother and the two of us.

As an adult, I’m more disenchanted with the idea of Thanksgiving as I learn more about how Indigenous people were and continue to be treated here. Plus, I’m a vegetarian, so certain aspects of the meal are no longer of interest.

But sometimes I get deep cravings for the special childhood combination of stuffing, cranberry sauce, turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes.

And that’s how I feel about the show, too. If I’m in a hotel room flipping through the channels and “Friends” happens to be on, I still stop and watch. (We don’t have cable at home.)

Side note: Earlier this year, I watched the “Friends” reunion on HBO Max and I highly recommend it for anyone who was a fan of the show.

If you are a “Friends” fan like me, what’s your favorite episode? For me, it is probably the one where Ross hosts a high-stakes trivia game. Chandler and Joey face off against Monica and Rachel, and both hilarity and drama come into play.

Tell us your favorite episode in the comments.

Let us know if you make these trifles and/or watch “Friends!” Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes