Holiday Prep Like a PM
Growing up, my extended family all lived out of state, so we rarely had the experience of everyone coming together for the holidays. It was always my dream to have a big house, with a big kitchen and a dining room table that extended to seat my entire family. Now that the dream is a reality and the family I’ve grown all live locally, I love hosting Thanksgiving among other holiday gatherings. The first few Thanksgivings I hosted were chaotic, unorganized, and way over budget. But over the past 6 or so years, I’ve nailed down some recipes our entire family loves and developed an annual plan that makes hosting much easier without the day-of scramble, early wake-ups, and endless hours in the kitchen. Knowing I have a plan, I get to spend quality time with family when they are over, and we can all enjoy the day together.
If you’re hosting this year, here’s my plan to take all the guesswork out of planning and prepping. This works great for my family of 12, so you may need to adjust here and there if your gathering is larger or smaller. I even turned this into an Asana project, feel free to duplicate and customize it for your gathering!
Recipe List
I have always preferred the classic Thanksgiving foods, but also let’s leave out combining marshmallows with pineapple and sweet potatoes. That’s just weird. Here’s the basics I’m going for:
Dinner Rolls (from the store)
Gravy (packets from the store)
No pumpkin pie on that list? You read that right! If I’m already responsible for a perfectly moist turkey, someone else gets the pressure of making (or buying) the tastiest pie. Other items to delegate when people ask what to bring: appetizers, soup, mac n cheese for the kids (make sure it's stove top, your oven will already be full), and drinks.
Shopping List
Here’s your shopping list, ready for you to ‘add all to cart’. Go ahead and remove anything you don’t need like spices already in your pantry, paper plates and cutlery if you prefer dishes, and casserole pans if you have them. If you have guests in town, maybe consider adding some easy breakfast ideas like cereal, bagels and cream cheese, or cinnamon rolls.
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Prepping & Cooking
One month prior:
Schedule a house cleaner, if that’s your thing. I like to schedule for after Thanksgiving to help clean up the mess rather than prep for guests.
Confirm your guest list/guest count
Get your grocery list prepped and budget accordingly
Print or bookmark your recipes for easy reference
One and a half weeks prior:
Start cleaning out the fridge
Order your groceries for delivery or pickup. Double-check any out-of-stock items and be on the lookout for substitutions in your order.
5 days prior:
Move your turkey to the fridge to start thawing
3 days prior:
Chop the veggies for the stuffing (onions, celery, garlic) and save in a gallon bag or Tupperware in the fridge.
Chop herbs for the stuffing (sage, parsley, rosemary) and save wrapped in a paper towel, in a baggie in the fridge.
Toast the bread for the stuffing and leave covered with a towel on the counter to continue drying
2 days prior:
Prep your compound butter (don’t worry about separating into batches and wrapping in parchment, just save it in a Tupperware in the fridge.)
Make the cranberry sauce per the recipe, cool and store in the fridge. Trust me, it’s WAY better than the canned and totally worth the 15 minutes.
Prep the brine. Follow steps 1-3 of the recipe to cook and cool the solution, save it in a pitcher the fridge.
Morning of - day prior:
Brine the turkey – follow the recipe to clean the turkey, then dilute your brine following the rest of the recipe and pour it over the turkey in a large pot. Alternatively, I like to use a brining bag in a cooler to save fridge space. Learn from my mistakes and make a note of how many pounds your turkey is before throwing the label away!
Afternoon/Evening day prior:
This is the most intensive cooking session, but it goes by pretty quick if you can multitask recipes.
Prep the sweet potato souffle according to the recipe, cool and store in a casserole pan in the fridge. Wait to bake until the day of.
While the sweet potatoes are baking, make the regular mashed potatoes.
Make the mashed potatoes according to the recipe, cool and store in a casserole pan in the fridge. You’ll reheat to serve the day of.
Prep the green bean casserole according to the recipe. Double the recipe and store in the fridge. Wait to bake until the day of.
Plan out your schedule for the day of cooking backtracking from the time you want to serve. The turkey takes 13-15 minutes per pound to cook. We eat around 4pm, and warming the prepped potatoes and casseroles takes about an hour, so I figure out the turkey cook start time based off 3pm.
Pull your compound butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temp overnight.
Day of:
About 30 minutes before you need to start cooking the turkey, heat the oven to 350, take your turkey out of the brine, and give it a rinse. Keeping the skin on the turkey, separate the skin from the body and slather the compound butter under the skin and inside the cavity of the turkey. Once in the oven, the juices will start to drip and you’ll use that to baste the turkey every 30 minutes or so.
We have the luxury of owning a Treager, and smoking the turkey rather than roasting/basting is always a hit plus saves time and oven space. It’s a great option if you have one!
Cook the stuffing. This is the only big recipe left to cook the day of, and while you can totally add this to the ‘day before’ list, I think it comes out less soggy doing it the day of. All your veggies and herbs should already be chopped so follow the rest of the recipe and keep it on the counter at room temp until you’re ready to bake.
About an hour before the turkey is done, pull the mashed potatoes, sweet potato soufflé, and green bean casserole out of the fridge and let it come to room temp.
As soon as the turkey is done, pull it from the oven and cover with foil to let it rest.
Bake the mashed potatoes, sweet potato soufflé, stuffing, and green bean casserole. It’s a tight squeeze, but it should all fit! I up the temp to 375 to help it cook a little faster. Keep an eye on everything to make sure it doesn’t overcook.
30 minutes before serving, cook your gravy according to the packet instructions.
Once everything is cooked and ready, carve the turkey and line everything up on the counter for everyone to serve themselves. Don’t forget about the cranberry sauce in the fridge!
Day After:
Plan for next year – make notes on your recipes (if you printed them) of what people enjoyed and any modifications you want to make next year.
Hit up Walmart or another discount store and buy the clearance Thanksgiving plates/cutlery to have some cheap festive touches on hand for next year.
The Extras
If you want to be extra and make some desserts, here are two of my favorites, that you probably already have ingredients for in your pantry + leftovers from the grocery haul you just made.
If you have kids coming, I also like to set up some activities to keep them entertained. A cheap tablecloth they can color on, a puzzle table, cheap Lego kits, and gingerbread house kits are my go-to. I also have a mom who loves being an active grandma to help with the kid tasks, so maybe make sure you have a helper before committing to entertain the kids in addition to serving the meal.
Leftovers
One item I do NOT let my guests take home is the stuffing leftovers. I will buy an extra pre-mix to make more if needed so I can haveStuffing Waffles for breakfast the next few days. You add a little maple syrup, gravy, and an egg to the stuffing for the waffle mixture, cook on the waffle maker, and top with a fried egg. SO yummy!