How to Plan a Make-Ahead Thanksgiving (+ our favorite recipes)

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday — mainly because there are no gifts involved! It’s also not nearly as consumer-driving as Halloween, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas.

Plus, I LOVE making all sorts of delicious fall foods, desserts, and other Thanksgiving favorites this time of year.

The only thing I don’t love about our large holiday gathering is the last-minute rush to prepare the food at the exact right time while everyone is waiting and watching!

As a result, I’ve nearly perfected the art of making ALL my favorite Thanksgiving recipes in advance!

Yup, you read that right!

I’m to the point where I almost don’t do any cooking on the actual holiday — just re-warming the food.

And I promise, it still tastes amazing!

A Few Benefits of Make-Ahead Recipes:

• Less stress — the bulk of the food is ready before the holiday.
• Less mess — you can have it all cleaned up before guests arrive.
• There’s time to run back to the store if you forget something.
• You don’t have to wake up at 4 am on Thanksgiving to get the turkey started.
• You can actually go to church on Thanksgivng.
• You can use the bones from the turkey to make extra broth ahead of time — which you can then use for gravy, stuffing, and to reheat the turkey meat.

The only downside (from my perspective) is that you won’t get that nice Norman Rockwell moment with your family eagerly waiting while you place the giant turkey on your table.

Just buy the puzzle to do after your meal, and call it good! 😂

Have I convinced you yet?

Ok then, let’s dive into some of my favorite make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes, and how you can easily make them ALL ahead of time!

How to Make Your Turkey Ahead

Yes, it’s fully possible to make your turkey several days in advance and still serve tender, juicy meat at your holiday meal.

I’ve been doing it this way for YEARS and no one has complained yet!

I’ve also heard from hundreds of you over the years — that you now also make your turkeys in advance. So this method works for more than just me. 🥰

STEP 1 = Season your turkey as desired (I use garlic, salt, pepper, onion, thyme) and place BREAST DOWN in an oven-safe “turkey bag”.

STEP 2 = Roast turkey according to directions on oven bags (based on the weight of the turkey). Allow turkey to rest in the juices until it’s cool enought to handle.

STEP 3 = Remove meat from the bones and refrigerate in a large food storage container.

I usually try to cut large chunks of meat, and I keep the bones in the legs so someone can eat those! I also separate white and dark meat so people can choose their preference.

STEP 4 = Make bone broth with remaining bones. You can then use this broth for gravy, stuffing, and when you reheat the turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

Just put the bones in your largest slow cooker, fill it with water, and cook on low for 24 hours.

STEP 5 = Reheat turkey meat in slow cookers or large roasting pan, covered in broth.

I use 2 slow cookers — one for dark meat, one for white meat. I cover the meat with bone broth and turn the slow cooker on low, starting about 4 hours before we’re going to eat.

If you want to do it in the oven, you’ll probably only need 1 hour at 250ºF — but make sure you pour broth in the pan and cover with a lid or tinfoil so the broth doesn’t evaporate.

It won’t look as pretty as a nicely dressed bird, but it will taste amazing and you’ll save yourself so much stress and mess!

Make-Ahead Hot Side Dishes

Every recipe below can be made 1-4 days in advance, covered, and refrigerated until your Thanksgiving Meal.

Simply preheat your oven to 350ºF and throw everything into the oven at the same time (about 45 -60 minutes). Or cook in a slow cooker on low for 4 hours.

Make sure your food is covered if you’re reheating it in the oven.

• Sausage Stuffing
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole
• Loaded Baked Potato Casserole
• Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
• Roasted Carrots
• Easy Vegetable Bake 
• How to Make and Reheat Roasted Vegetables
• Gravy — just make your gravy (with broth) in advance and reheat it in a slow cooker or on the stovetop.

Make-Ahead Cold Side Dishes

• Easy Layered Lettuce Salad
• Broccoli Bacon Salad
• Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad
• Loaded Kale Salad
• Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce :: You can freeze this weeks in advance.
• Finger Jello :: always a winner with kids!

Make-Ahead Breads and Rolls

I’ve had good luck warming up homamde bread and rolls that I make the night before.

However, if you’re using pre-packaged refigerated dough (like for the pull-apart biscuits below), you’ll probably want to do that right before your meal.

• Semi-Homemade Cornbread
• From Scratch Cornbread
• 100% Whole Grain Dinner Rolls
• Semi-Homemade Bread / Rolls
• Pull-Apart Herb Biscuits — these are best to make just before the meal

Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Desserts 

Almost any “cold” pie or dessert can easily be made the day before and refigerated until after your meal — in fact, they often taste BETTER when allowed to sit overnight.

NOTE: If you prefer warm fruit pies, just place them on cookie sheets and pop them into a 250º oven for roughly 20 minutes.

These are some of our favorite cold pies and desserts.

• Pumpkin Pie Delight Dessert :: It’s just as delicious as your favorite pumpkin pie, but feeds twice as many people!
• Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie :: A cross between cheesecake and pumpkin pie.
• Double-High Pumpkin Pie :: Another amazing twist on a classic pumpkin pie.
• No-Bake Fruit Pies :: Tweak this recipe for raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, or peach.
• No-Bake Pudding Pie :: This is always a hit with the kids!
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie :: Another great make-ahead option.
• Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie :: A long-time favorite for me.
• Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars :: These are amazing!
• Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Bread :: Try it with applesauce instead of oil.
• Pecan Lemon Bars :: These freeze great too.
• 4-Layer Caramel Peanut Butter Fudge :: I only make this for the holidays!
• Simple Spiced Molasses Cookies :: So much flavor in this holiday treat.

A Sample Make-Ahead Timeline:

Here’s an idea of what I do on each day leading up to Thanksgiving Day.

SATURDAY

• Defrost the turkey
• Make applesauce (refrigerate until Thursday)
• Make a variety of bars and cookies (freeze until Thursday morning)
• Clean out my fridge
• Gather/print all my recipes
• Shop my pantry/freezer and make a list of everything else I need to buy for the meal

MONDAY

• Buy all groceries (including drinks and paper products, if necessary)
• Refrigerate drinks

TUESDAY

• Make the turkey (refrigerate until Thursday morning)
• Start the bone broth in slow cooker
• Make sweet potaotes and mashed potatoes (refrigerate until Thursday morning)
• Make stuffing and carrots (refrigerate until Thursday morning)

WEDNESDAY

• Make lettuce or brussels sprout salad (refrigerate)
• Make pumpkin pie and pudding pie (refrigerate)
• Make dough for rolls (refrigerate)

THURSDAY

• Remove cookies and bars from freezer to defrost on counter
• Remove bread dough from fridge and form into rolls, let rise
• Put turkey in large slow cookers with broth and start warming on low (4 hours)
• Bake rolls (15 minutes)
• Reheat potatoes, sweet potatoes and veggies (45 -60 minutes)
• Set up buffet with cold food and add hot food as guests arrive
• Enjoy your meal + dessert without all the stress and extra mess!

FRIDAY

• Choose some of these ideas to use up all your leftovers!

MORE Tips for Simple Holiday Gatherings

Along with making all my food in advance, here are a few additional tips and tricks I use to simplify my holiday gatherings.

• Start cleaning out your fridge now so you’ll have room for all the extra food.
• Stick to traditional holiday foods — don’t try to make something “new” or different.
• Stock up on paper products and aluminum pans to make cleanup much easier.
• Have extra containers on hand to send food home with guests.
• Double or triple line your trash cans so you don’t need to mess with putting a new bag in.
• Set up your food in a buffet style to lessen the number of serving dishes you need and to speed up the serving process.
• Clean the bathrooms before people arrive… clean the rest of the house after they leave!

A Few Thanksgiving Fun Facts:

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

In case you’re wondering, I won’t be out shopping on Black Friday 🙂