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Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year? If you are new to this huge event, you may wonder where to start. Today, I am sharing 20 Thanksgiving time-saving tips to help you have a successful party and minimize stress. I grouped these tips into activities you can do the day before the party, the morning of the Thanksgiving dinner, and during the Thanksgiving dinner. So, to help you save time today, I put together these Thanksgiving time-saving tips.
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In case you don't know me, I have been hosting parties since 1995 and genuinely enjoy planning, organizing, and making meals for these events. Yes, that must sound like I am crazy, but I love to feed people and enjoy creating activities for kiddos to enjoy and allowing adults time to soak in the moment. My husband and I have hosted Thanksgiving for 28 years and have had our share of large and small groups.
The Day Before Thanksgiving Time-Saving Tips
The first section lists tips that will help you the day before Thanksgiving.
Pull out serving and cooking tools
Instead of running around and trying to find all these items on the day you need them, pull them out and set them in a non-workspace area. This could be in the dining room, a pantry (Affiliate Link) section, or even the basement. Keeping these items in one place will remind you what you need the next day, and you can ask a family member to get it for you when you are ready.
Don't worry about ironing the tablecloths.
It's not necessary. The trick I use is to wash and dry the tablecloth (Affiliate Link) and place it right on the table.
Write up a meal prep timeline.
Start with the time you want to eat. Then, subtract the cooking and prep time for the different meals and side dishes. My husband and I write up the time each year since our side dishes change from one year to the next. For example, if you want to eat at 4 PM, work backward for the dishes that need to be cooked closest to dinnertime to farthest away from dinner.
Make desserts the day before or buy them already made.
While I love hosting and cooking for people, I'm not particularly eager to bake, so each year, we buy the dessert portion of the party at the local bakery. We used to make pies the day before and set them aside. It worked well and didn't take long. And, since our pumpkin pies do not need to be refrigerated, they can be left out. We would add a piece of waxed paper over them to protect them.
Gather plates, forks, knives, spoons, and cups and place them on a buffet.
Keeping these items out and ready for the next day will make it easier for you to delegate setting the table the next day. These items can be stored in another area of the home. Maybe a place where you are doing your buffet table. We didn't want to use paper plates for our parties, so we purchased cheap white porcelain plates over the years that we washed and reused each year for our parties.
Grab your serving dishes and servicing spoons and place them together on your buffet.
Pulling the serving dishes out the day before helps us to know what we need to do the next day. I use sticky notes (Affiliate Link) and label (Affiliate Link) each bowl with the recipe name to remind us.
Assemble the folding tables and chairs
If you can't fit everyone around your main table, you may want to have some folding tables and chairs set up. Setting this up the day before works the best. You don't need to worry about setting these tables up when you need time to cook.
Remove unwanted things from your refrigerator
It's essential to make room in your refrigerator. So, clearing it out the night before by having leftovers for dinner clears out the unwanted things and fills your tummy.
The Morning of Thanksgiving Time Management Tips
The following section will help you prep and set up the morning of Thanksgiving.
Have a buffet
While it is lovely sitting down and passing the food around the table, it does take a lot of time, so instead, since COVID, we have the food all in one place, where everyone who is bringing something can place the food there, and we can all eat at the table without shuffling the bowls around.
Set the table early in the morning.
Setting up the table and decorating the centerpiece first thing in the morning or even the night before allows your day to be more about food prep and cooking. I like to set the table in the morning. It looks pretty and doesn't have to be done at the last minute. Pull out chairs, too.
Don't stuff the turkey.
Stuffing the turkey will extend the cooking time by 2 hours! If you have a turkey that is 8 pounds, it will take you less than 3 hours to cook. But, if it is stuffed, it will take 5 hours to cook.
Prep salad ingredients
Prep salad ingredients in the morning, place them in bags, and store them in the refrigerator. It helps when I have to make a salad at the last minute. You can even buy precut food if you can afford it.
Prepare and place the appetizers
Set up the appetizer tray, cover it with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator around noon. Having items in small, easy-to-cover trays and bowls can easily be placed on a platter (Affiliate Link) when the company arrives. This way, you will have them ready when people come over later.
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Delegate Tasks to Family Members
Assign tasks to family members like teenagers. They can easily support you by chopping vegetables or cutting cheese for the appetizer.
Empty the Dishwasher
Before the party begins, empty the dishwasher so it is ready for any plates, silverware, and glasses used at the party.
Pull Out Premade Dishes
Making premade dishes, like casseroles and stuffing, can be done the weekend before Thanksgiving. Placing them in the freezer adequately covered for a few days and then pulling them out the morning of Thanksgiving is plenty of time for them to defrost before reheating/cooking them in the oven for a 4 PM dinner works well. If you feel your dish is too dense to do this, you can pull it out and place it in the refrigerator the night before, then put it on the counter to finish defrosting.
Thanksgiving Dinner Time Management Tips
This final section shares my favorite time-saving tips during the meal and after.
Have dessert plates near the table
Have desserts, plates, cutting utensils (Affiliate Link), and forks near the dining room table. We like to serve the dessert at the dining room table. So, having these items nearby is super helpful. And we don't even have to get up after we eat.
Get help bringing food to the table/buffet
Ask people to bring the different dishes to the table as they are prepared. Since the serving utensils (Affiliate Link) are with the bowls, it will just be a quick transfer of the recipe into the bowl, and they can bring it to the table/buffet. The more people you have doing this task, the quicker the food will be at the table and ready to serve.
Get help clearing the table
With all your cooking, it's great to get help at this point. Before dessert, ask the teens or adults to help clear the table for dessert. It's a great motivation if they love sweets. And, since you have the dishwasher empty, everyone can place the dishes right in the dishwasher.
Get help disassembling
And the final time-saving tip is to get help disassembling the party area. If people are willing to help, you can have them help disassemble tables and chairs and return them to their homes. With more hands, the process of putting things away is much quicker.
I hope these 20 time management tips help you make your Thanksgiving day enjoyable.
May your Thanksgiving be enjoyable and without stress. What is your favorite time-saving tip for Thanksgiving? Please share below.
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Julie Bestry says
Wow, what a great way to explain to Thanksgiving novices how to pull it all together. We haven't done a big Thanksgiving with guests since I was a child; now, it's just three of us and cozy, as we haven't done a formal dinner in decades. Instead, it's hors d'oeuvres at at 5p and dinner about 6 or 6:30p, depending on when my mother and sister agree that the turkey looks done. We all have our favorites (I don't even eat meat), so planning is easy. My mom and sister use the week leading up to Thanksgiving to shop and prepare foods; my job is to lift heavy things, run errands for missing items, and set the table. Unfortunately, we've just had to cancel this year's Thanksgiving due to a family medical emergency, but perhaps we can do Thanksgiving in February? Meanwhile, your photos are gorgeous and I want that brie!
Janet Schiesl says
Lovely tips, I do most of the ones you shared, it makes things so much easier and less stressful. Thanks for sharing your tips.
Linda Samuels says
Like you, we love hosting, and especially Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays and meals. Reading all of your excellent tips got me excited all over again.
My husband and I tag team the responsibilities. We do some together and some separately. Our kids are a great help with the cooking and set-up.
We usually have a large group (around 25+) and do it as a sit-down. But I was debating this year whether to do it as a buffet. The space is tight, so I don't think that will work. We'll see. Dessert works well as a buffet. And by that point, people need to get up and move around after a big meal.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Sabrina!!!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Linda!
Jonda Sue Beattie says
What a great list! I am planning on doing almost all of them this year. I am hosting the Thanksgiving meal for my husband's family plus one of my sons. That son will also be at my home on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and I will use his help setting up the heavy table in my office for the buffet and pulling down some of the dishes and serving pieces that are stored up high. While my husband's family are coming in on Tuesday night when I will serve a light dinner that can be prepared ahead, they are also planning to go on a hike and other activities the day before Thanksgiving which will give me time to prepare a lot of the food. The day of Thanksgiving I am putting together an hourly schedule as I not only want to orchestrate when I prepare each dish but also must work it around my husband's care schedule.
I am really looking forward to enjoying this time with family.
Kim says
Hi Sabrina,
I sure do want to come to your house for Thanksgiving or any big family gathering. I have had family gatherings in the past in my small home but we are fortunate that we go to my sisters home now. Of course, in Canada we have already had our Thanksgiving Dinner and this year I suggested we go around and say what we are thankful about. This went so well and I think we will do this every year now.
Sabrina Quairoli says
That is lovely, Kim, I do that too. We move around a lite narrow glass candle to each person who is speaking.
Seana Turner says
So many things to do! I got onto your idea of making the dinner prep timeline a couple of years ago. I just stuck it in with all my Thanksgiving recipes and I look at it each year. There are a couple of elements of my meal that I can make ahead, and that really saves me.
This year, I think I might even set up my table in the dining room over the upcoming weekend. We don't sit in there to eat regularly, so why not, right?
Helpful to read this and have my mind refreshed on how to make the day run smoothly. 🙂
Janet Barclay says
I've read that it's not safe to eat stuffing cooked inside a turkey, so there's another reason not to do that! We did it all the time growing up and I don't remember anyone getting sick, but our food just isn't the same as it was back then, is it?
Sabrina Quairoli says
I heard that too. It also takes way longer to cook a turkey when you stuff it. I don't want to be up early in the morning to start cooking a turkey either. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. =)
Andi Willis says
Creating a timeline, especially with a complex menu, has saved the day many times in my house. I would add figuring out cooking/serving dishes and utensils a day or two before. Then if you need to borrow something, you’ll have time to do so.
Sabrina Quairoli says
Great tip, Andi, it's funny how we forget about the serving utensils. When I pull out the serving dishes, I make it a point to pull out the utensils right then so I have everything out and ready. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Happy Thanksgiving!
Seana Turner says
I am a believer in all of these suggestions. I am frequently the host for Thanksgiving, and I start early. I make pie crusts and freeze them a couple of weeks ahead. There is one sauce I can make on Tuesday. All chopping and measuring, as well as pies, are done on Wednesday. I don't usually eat in the dining room so I might set that up today:) Great ideas!
Sabrina Quairoli says
That's a great idea about making pie crusts and freezing. Thanks for sharing, Seana. Hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving!
Linda Samuels says
We're like you and love hosting Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how many total times we've hosted, but the first one we hosted was 35 years ago. My husband and I tag team it. When our daughters lived at home, they enjoyed being part of the Thanksgiving prep too. My biggest time-saving tip is to invest time in planning: when we'll shop, cook, set the table, and who will do what, etc. The other thing I've done is generate some simple Word documents that I update each year which also help keep me on track. My husband has his own lists that he's created. We work our lists together. However, my favorite time-saver is a color-coded index card graphic I made which helps me organize pie baking times and temperatures so that I can be efficient with the oven. Wishing you and your family a happy Thanksgiving!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Thank you, Linda, for sharing. That's wonderful that you and your husband work together through this holiday. We do the same thing. We love to cook, especially together so while my husband deals with the turkeys (yes, turkeys), I prepare with the sides. A few days before we start preparing the stuffing and dessert dishes. We reuse an Excel file list of ingredients that have all the recipe ingredients on it so we can tabulate how many of each ingredient we need. Then, we start shopping for the pantry items a few weeks before then the fresh items the Sunday before so we only have to go out and pick up the turkeys a few days before. It's a process but it is fun. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Natalie Gallagher says
Wow, that's a long history of hosting Turkey Day...I too always write up a timeline for what goes in the oven at what time. This holiday always calls for mad multitasking skills! Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one!