21+ Tips for A Stress-Free Thanksgiving

Let’s face it hosting Thanksgiving is a lot of work so I have 21+ tips for a stress-free Thanksgiving Dinner.

I want to first thank our amazing Host, Carol Lander from Blue Skys at Home for putting this amazing Thanksgiving Blog Hop Together.

If you’re coming from Thistle Key Lane, I hope you enjoyed Michelle’s beautiful Thanksgiving Centerpiece.

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Make a Timeline

While I’m outlining all of my best tips in a timeline format, it’s important for you to make your own personal timeline based on what and how you are planning for your Thanksgiving Dinner.

Give yourself enough time and space for self-care during this busy time. Depending on your situation, you might start your timeline at 4 weeks or even before.

With proper planning, you can have a stress-free Thanksgiving day.

This outline is strictly a suggestion of some things you might choose to do. Remember it is your choice!

3 Weeks Before Thanksgiving

Make Your Guest List

Your Thanksgiving Day might be just a small family affair or a large family gathering. It might be a Friendsgiving. It might even be something like a friend of ours does, she invites a few soldiers from our local naval base to join her family every Thanksgiving.

Invite Your Guests

This could be a formal mailed invitation, a phone call, an e-vite, or even a text depending on the formality of the day and/or who you are inviting.

Plan Your Menu

Decide what you’re going to serve. When I entertain or have a large dinner, I make my plans and then work backward with my calendar and plot out how I will execute everything. You can also plan what can be assigned to other guests if you prefer.

Plan an Activity

2 Weeks Before

Check to make sure that you have everything you need so your not panicking about a bowl for the mashed potatoes at the last minute.

Make sure everything is clean if not used often. Polish Silver if you’re using it.

If this is your first Thanksgiving and you don’t have all of these things, consider borrowing them from a family member and/or friends who aren’t entertaining or are coming to your dinner.

Delegate: If you are providing turkey, mashed potatoes, and dressing (none of these transport well) then let others bring the side dishes.

It’s OK to be specific about what you would like them to bring. You don’t need 5 green bean casseroles.

I personally hand off the desserts and appetizers and just make the main meal.

I also order my dinner rolls from a local bakery.

Plan out your Table

Plan Your Drink Area

You will want beverages for your guests. If you are serving alcohol, you can make it simple by just serving beer and wine. If you want a full bar there is more prep involved. I use THIS as a guide for purchasing liquor.

Plan your serving Dishes and Serving Pieces

My Mother-In-Law uses sticky notes on each dish about what will go in it. It’s a genius idea to make sure you have enough dishes.

Plan Your Cooking Prep Tools

Housekeeping Chores

Meal Prep

1 Week Before

Plan for a busy week. I have a blog post HERE about how to handle a stressful week. I also have an Entertaining with Ease series that you can find HERE.

The Turkey

One of the worst Thanksgiving mistakes is a completely frozen turkey the day before. I hear about it so often!

If your turkey is frozen you need 1 day for every 4 pounds of turkey for thaw time. So if you have a 20 lb., frozen turkey, you need to take it out of the freezer 5 days before Thanksgiving. So don’t count Thursday as you need it totally thawed and ready to work with that day. Take it out of the freezer the previous Saturday and put it in the Refrigerator.

Be careful with a fresh turkey they are only good for two days in the refrigerator before cooking. (Including brining)

We brine our turkey so that is 12 hours we need to take into account on our timeline.

Grocery shopping

Armed with your list, head out to the store. If you’re cooking on a budget check sale flyers and make a list for each of the grocery stores you need to shop at.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of Instacart (what a time saver and worth every penny) and Aldi. I save so much money by shopping at Aldi.

Make Ahead Food

I’m a big fan of things that can be made ahead of time. These things can be made one or two days before, stored in the refrigerator, and popped in the oven (if necessary) on the big day.

Remember some other space and time savers can be your slow cooker and/or toaster oven

House Cleaning

1 Day Before

Thanksgiving Day

Cooking Timeline

For the final preparations of the thanksgiving meal, I rely on a cooking timeline. Once we determine the time that we are going to eat, I work backward starting with when the turkey needs to go into the oven taking into account resting time and carving time once it’s cooked. Then I fill in the blanks with everything else.

It can be a lot of food prep and food cooking. You might consider a slow cooker and toaster oven to help with food prep and space for everything to be prepared on time.

While Turkey is cooking

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Do you Cook a Turkey?

I rely on the Butterball Turkey Site for all the best turkey information. They even have a hotline if you can’t find an answer on their extensive site.

What is a Traditional Thanksgiving Menu?

Don’t Want to Cook?

There are many restaurants and full-service grocery stores that prepare Thanksgiving Meals. In that case, you can just make a phone call for reservations or place an order.

A Stress-Free Thanksgiving Day

The ultimate goal is to have a memorable turkey day with family and/or friends and to have a good time.

I’ve laid out a lot of things but remember, this is your party and you can make it as complicated or simple as you like. Whatever you plan make sure that works with your life and schedule.

You want it to be a stress-free Thanksgiving Day!

Before the first doorbell rings, take a deep breath and remember that it’s really all about the company and fellowship.

Now it’s time to head over to visit Kim at Perfecting Places. She is sharing how to set a Beautiful Table with Thanksgiving Table Runner Ideas.

Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

Peace,

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Living Large Podcast

We are on a two-week break but will be back on Monday, October 17th with a conversation with Leslie Saeta of @my100yearoldhome and author of the book “A Home to Share”. Click on the book below to get your copy before you listen to our interview.

Catch up with older Podcasts below: