How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner Less Stressful?
Please join me in using these simple tips to make your Thanksgiving dinner stress-free. Whenever I host Thanksgiving dinner, I ask myself why I didn’t make this recipe earlier in the week and assign simple tasks to guests and family members throughout the day. I vow to make Thanksgiving easy by preparing some recipes ahead and creating a list of tasks that family members can do to pitch in. How to organize a big meal:
- Sign up for the Supper Sanity FREE Thanksgiving Guide.
- Plan the menu.
- Ask guests/family to bring something.
- Make-ahead and meal-prep ingredients.
- Generate a cooking timeline for Thanksgiving Day.
- Delegate tasks with a HELP WANTED sign-up list.
get the ultimate turkey Day Guide
Make Thanksgiving easy with the Complete Thanksgiving Guide. Includes tricks to get the family to help, tips for make-ahead recipes, cooking timeline, and more than a dozen recipes for the perfect turkey and delicious sides.
1. Download the FREE Printable Thanksgiving Planning Guide
2. Plan an Easy Thanksgiving Menu
Advanced planning goes a long way toward simplifying Thanksgiving dinner so you can enjoy a delicious, memorable meal. It’s a busy day, so consider your dining room and kitchen capacity, as well as your appliances, when choosing menu items. Special planning may be needed if you are making a turkey and don’t have a double oven. Review the cooking methods for each recipe to avoid having too many dishes that must be cooked in the oven simultaneously at different temperatures. Luckily, the turkey rests for 30 minutes after cooking and then carving, leaving 30 – 40 minutes of cooking time for other dishes that require the oven or broiler.
- Confirm the number of guests.
- Decide on a menu
- Adjust recipes for the guest count
- Print the recipes and start a folder
- This Butterball Turkey Calculator can help determine the turkey size and the time needed to thaw and cook a whole turkey.
Organize Thanksgiving Recipes
Tip: Use the Scale on Digital Recipes. For a stress-free Thanksgiving dinner-planning experience, gather your recipes, adjust the serving sizes as needed, and account for leftovers. Most digital recipes have a serving adjustment feature that saves time when calculating. Just hit the scale button on the recipe. Print or make copies of recipes and place them in a folder. This post, Thanksgiving Spatchcock Turkey and Classic Sides, includes all the recipes.
3. Encourage Guests to Bring Something
If guests ask what they can bring, take them up on it. Guests love to help! Look at your menu and ask if they want to bring one of your planned dishes. I caution you to ask for a side dish that needs warming in your kitchen. Have your friend or family member transport the food in a vessel that keeps it warm. Making room in the oven or on the stovetop for another dish in the final minutes before dinner time is challenging. Or you can suggest beer, wine, a flower centerpiece, mixed nuts, rolls, cold appetizers, or pies if they are not cooks or arriving from out of town.
4. Make-Ahead & Meal Prep Ingredients
You can prepare the following in advance:
- Appetizers – keep it simple
- Gravy
- Herb butter
- Cranberry relish
- Turkey Cornbread Dressing
- Sweet Potato Soufflé
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Desserts – my mom brings pies from a local bakery
That leaves these items for Thanksgiving Day:
When planning your menu, consider preparing some dishes ahead of time to reduce Thanksgiving stress.
5. Generate a Timeline Checklist
Create a comprehensive list of all the tasks that need to be accomplished and organize them into three categories:
1) Tasks for 1 to 3 weeks ahead
2) Tasks for several days before Thanksgiving
3) Tasks for Thanksgiving Day
Using checklists will help you manage stress by spreading the workload over several weeks. For Thanksgiving Day, create a spreadsheet and develop a timeline that incorporates the cooking steps for each dish. This timeline helps coordinate with family members and ensure everyone understands the plan.
Sign up for the free guide using the form above, and you’ll receive the checklists and cooking timeline in one convenient location.
6.Delegate Tasks with a Help Wanted Sign-Up List
Your family and friends may ask, “What can I do?” Please don’t ignore this request; take advantage of it! Before the big day, list tasks organized by time frames: jobs to do before dinner and those for after-dinner cleanup. The benefit of preparing a list in advance is that it allows you to focus on cooking without worrying about what others need to accomplish.
Another option is to write the chores on sticky notes and place them on the kitchen cupboard. You can label one side as “TO DO” and the other as “DONE!” How often have you experienced someone asking how they can help, only to see them disappear to watch football after they complete the tiny chore? You encourage everyone to participate throughout the day by displaying all the tasks.
Preparation & Delegation = Stress-Free Thanksgiving
By sharing the load, Thanksgiving dinner can become a group effort that brings everyone together to count their blessings. So take a deep breath, let go of some control, and watch how empowering it can be when everyone has a role! Delegating can do wonders for reducing the stress of meal planning!
Sign up for the free guide on the form above, and you’ll receive the checklists and cooking timeline in one place.
