Thanksgiving Food Prep Schedule
Whether you are preparing the Thanksgiving Feast all on your own, or you are just doing part of it, the meal can feel very daunting. We live far from our family. Most years we like to get together with friends, but there have been those Thanksgivings where we have been completely on our own, and it is nice to have a plan to tackle the dinner in smaller chunks.
This plan has been really helpful to new moms, people working full time, and also the Turkey Day hosts who may only have smaller snatches of time each day leading up to Thanksgiving.
Here is what we do!!
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Thanksgiving Food Prep Schedule
Click here for a print friendly version. Grab it and tape it to your fridge or pantry door for easy access.
Let’s get down to the details!!
Friday: Get Supplies for Tablescape
This would be the Friday before Thanksgiving. This step could be done WAY ahead if you need to. It’s simply figuring out what you want your table to look like for your fancy feast. This is the day I try to be done doing any kind of shopping for my decorations (unless you are using fresh flowers). Having the decor and food prepped on different days just gives my brain a little more space, less stress and more creativity.
One shop I love to use for cute decor for my kids table is Lemon Drops N Lilies. They are one of our favorite affiliates! We purchased this table runner and darling turkey crayon holders for our table this year. I can’t wait to use them!! For 20% off your purchase, use our code: HAPPINESS
Saturday: take your turkey out of the freezer and put in the fridge to thaw!!
This step is super important!! Nothing is worse than finding your bird is still half frozen on Thanksgiving morning. If you have a really giant bird (around 20 lbs), you may want to put that guy in the fridge a full week before Thanksgiving to make sure you have proper thawing time.
Sunday: Make cranberry sauce, heath apple dip, & candied pecans
All 3 of these recipes take 15 minutes or less to make. You may think it would be really easy to make them on Thanksgiving. That is very true, but it is really nice to have as much done as you can ahead of time, and all three of these keep well in the fridge (pecans don’t have to be refrigerated).
You can find all of the recipes we use in for our Thanksgiving Menu in our VIP Freebie Library. Sign up as one of our VIPs (completely free!!), and we will email you the passcode for that library.
You can grab our Heath Apple Dip Recipe HERE! This one is a must have for all your holiday parties!!
Monday: deep clean the house & grocery shop
The closer you get to Thanksgiving, the busier the grocery store is going to be. Monday gives me enough time that everything should still be fresh, but also gives time before the crowds get super crazy. To avoid even more of the rush, I recommend going early in the morning or later in the evening.
It’s also nice to have a day out of the kitchen where you can get everything tidied up. If you have company coming, this is a good time to get linens washed, bathrooms cleaned and any other deep kitchen cleaning you want done. The rest of the week can be usually quick little wipe downs with clorox wipes, or whatever products you like to use to tidy up.
If you don’t have children in the house, you can do this even further ahead. If you do have kids in the house, have them help you out! Many hands make light work. We like to use these cute little job charts to assign out different tasks. Tap the image below to print yours!
Tuesday: Bake ginger cookies, and prepare pie crust to chill in the fridge
I think most people would say the most important part of the feast is dessert! We have an INCREDIBLE Pumpkin Cheesecake that we love to make every year. The crust of that cheesecake are these amazing Buttery Ginger Cookies. The cheesecake is a labor of love with small steps over a couple days, but it’s so worth it.
This also a great day to get your pie dough prepped and put in the fridge to get nice and cold. Chilled pie dough is one of the biggest secrets to a delicious, flakey pie crust!
Wednesday: Bake pies, make cheesecake, mix roll dough & put in fridge
This is the day we prepare all our desserts. I know some people have a tradition of having pie night on the eve of Thanksgiving. I think that is a really fun idea to let your desserts shine.
Wednesday is also a great time to mix up your roll dough. You can even roll them out if you want to. Pop them in the fridge on a greased cookie sheet or pan, so they can be baked the next day. There is something truly magical about piping hot rolls to go with your turkey dinner.
Our roll recipe is one of our most popular recipes, so make sure you grab that in our Thanksgiving Menu that’s in our VIP Freebie Library.
Find this recipe on our Thanksgiving menu in our VIP Freebie Library! Sign up here!!
Thursday - Thanksgiving day: Bake rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey, gravy, stuffing, green beans, salad, slice apples for heath dip, punch
It’s a busy day!!! But it is so worth it and super delicious! I love the memories made on this day. Don’t be shy to have your family and friends help you. This is usually what our day looks like:
Our boys go play football (annual Turkey Bowl with family & friends)
Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade while I prep the turkey
The boys get home and my husband helps me get the turkey in the oven
Set your fancy table
I also like to take my shower and get mostly ready before I start my baking, incase our company shows up early. I hate to be a mess when everyone is arriving!
Throw that apron on!! Take the rolls out of the fridge to come to room temperature before you bake them.
Finish fixing the rest of the sides: stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, green beans, punch, slicing apples
Time to eat and make wonderful memories together!!
Play games, watch football, sit around and talk, and go for a walk if you need to make some room for pie ;)
Have every one help clean up, or pop the dishes in the sink for later so you can enjoy your family and friends.
One final tip, and this is a personal preference. I like to eat Thanksgiving as a late lunch so we have time to digest before eating dessert. We eat dessert in place of dinner on Turkey Day.
For more some really awesome Thanksgiving activities, ways to use up all those tasty leftovers, and some fantastic ideas to do with your family to make you Thanksgiving more meaningful, check out these podcast episodes!
Check out some of our recent home & family hacks below:
