I haven’t actually seen this being used, but since Hypnotic Pattern in DND5E can require a stick of incense as a component if you’re using spell components, I imagined someone casting that by twirling a thurible (incense burner on a chain) above their head, and somehow physically throwing the scent into the targeted area, and then a (mostly) harmless explosion of colorful, sparkly gas charms any affected targets through sheer fascination.
Yeah, you could easily reflavor component-requiring Animal Friendship as “just feeding the animal and somehow flawlessly avoiding harm”, just to make it ambiguous whether this is actually magic or just mundane.
Good news! The 5e Artificer is the perfect class for spell flavoring and it's actually written into their class description. From Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, page 11:
Yes, but you're still affected by antimagic and whatnot. No matter how you flavor it, you're a true caster under RAW. This is the kind of thing that the old spell-like abilities from 3e would have been useful for.