Countdown to Turkey Day: Make Ahead Recipes

Welcome back to the Home Ec 101 Countdown to Turkey Day.

We’re getting ready for Thanksgiving without the overwhelm. If you need to catch up, click here to see what we’ve covered so far. in our twenty-eight part series

Today we are talking about recipes you can make ahead to reduce the amount of effort and time you need to spend cooking on Thanksgiving Day.

What to take into consideration when making preparing items ahead of time for Thanksgiving:How much storage space do you have?

Will you be able to safely store all of the items you wish to prepare before Thanksgiving? Will you have room in addition to your thawing or fresh turkey? Will you need to use a cooler with ice?

How will you reheat the items you have prepared ahead of time?

What appliances will you use to get everything heated in time for the meal? Don’t forget you can use appliances in addition to your stove and oven. Get creative; you can use your slow cooker, microwave, oven roaster, or InstantPot if you have those, too.

Now that you know how much room you have and how you will reheat the items, here are some ideas for items that work well when made ahead of time.

Make Ahead Recipes

Traditional dressing

Cornbread dressing

Gravy – use this technique but turkey stock instead of beef

Green bean casserole, but hold off on the fried onions until you are ready to reheat it before serving.

Cranberry sauce

Deviled Eggs – keep the yolk mixture in the piping bag (The Ziploc bag you will cut the corner off of until Thanksgiving Day.)

Corn pudding

Sausage balls

Collard Greens

Creamed corn

Dessert

Previously in the Countdown:Decided on the turkeyLearned about homemade stockMade a plan for all of our leftoversMade a plan to make doing the dishes easierEnsured we have enough place settingsCreated a plan to grocery shopCreated our soft menu planWritten a tentative guest listFigured out how our guests’ needs affect our plansCleared the tableSet the intention to keep it clear.Made a point to try to stick to the weekly chore schedule