How do you get everything ready and on the table on time for your Thanksgiving feast? It’s tough to figure out how to juggle your time and oven space to make it all and have it be warm when you’re ready to eat, but the voice of experience is here to help. And the key is making as much ahead of time as possible. These pro tips can help you plan, prep, and orchestrate the timing for your holiday dinner.
Several days in advance
- Pie crusts – Make them & roll them into flat circular disks and then freeze them until you’re ready to thaw and bake.
Two days in advance
- Soups – Cook them completely, then stick them in the fridge until you’re ready to reheat. Bonus points if you have a slow cooker to warm them in so you save stovetop space.
- Gravy – Instead of making gravy with roasted turkey drippings, buy giblets, turkey necks and wings from your butcher or use a recipe without turkey parts so you can pre-make it.
- Casseroles – No matter if it’s sweet potato, green bean or mac and cheese, your casseroles can be prepped and assembled two days before and refrigerated until it’s time to bake them.
- Cranberry sauce – This actually tastes better when made ahead and stored in the fridge.
One day in advance
- Pies – Thaw your prepared crusts, then fill and bake.
- Roasted veggies – Butternut squash or sweet potatoes are fine to make ahead and refrigerate overnight, but for Brussels sprouts, which release an unpleasant odor when reheated, it’s best to wait until Thursday.
- Mashed potatoes – You can peel the potatoes the day before and store them covered in water in the fridge until you’re ready to boil and mash ‘em on Thanksgiving.
- Stuffing – If you’re baking it in a casserole dish, you can assemble it a day early and stick it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it.
Thanksgiving Day – As you finish up steps in all of those dishes, keep these things in mind:
- If your turkey is frozen, make sure to leave plenty of time to defrost it, this guide can help.
- Don’t want to do the math on how long to cook your bird? No worries, the experts already did.
Source: Huff Post