Top 5 Tips for Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for a Crowd
- Begin planning a couple weeks ahead. Keep a notebook designated for the holiday and use it to write shopping lists, guest lists, food assignments, etc. Write a timeline of things that need to be done, most importantly for the 2 days leading up to dinner and the day of.
- Delegate! Ideally, you'll be able to treat dinner as more of a potluck where each guest brings a dish or two. Also, never turn down someone who offers to help!
- Don't leave all the shopping till the last minute. You run the risk of stores being out of that one item you need. I like to shop the week before, then do a quick, last minute run for fresh produce.
- Don't forget to defrost the turkey! Depending on the size, it might take up to 5 days. If you're in a bind, you can put the bird in a cool bath, but the easiest way is to simply plan ahead and clear space in your fridge. You can improvise on a lot of the other side dishes, but yeah, you kind of need that turkey.
- Make sure you have all the tools you need. If you don't have a roaster pan and always buy a disposable one each year, make sure you get one! Carving a turkey with an electric knife is infinitely easier! Don't forget a meat thermometer! If you rely on that little plastic button to pop, your turkey will likely be dry. Make a list of the items you need and just double check you have them all.
Disclaimer: This is a collection of opinions from us and our families. Not fact! Feel free to add your own comments below!
The TURKEY
Jessica: I've brined my turkey for years, however, after reading this article, "The Truth About Brining Turkey" I've decided to just salt my turkey this year. Just like that, I've saved myself an immense amount of time! Also, remember that the turkey is best when it gets the chance to sit for at least 30 minutes after cooking, to let the juices redistribute. Plan for the turkey to be done cooking about an hour before you'd like to serve dinner. Cover it tightly with foil and just let it sit tucked away somewhere. Now you're free to use the oven to cook other dishes! One other huge time saver my family discovered a couple years ago was using a roasting oven to cook the turkey. It was done in half the amount of time and as an added bonus, freed up the oven to cook other items. Regardless of how you cook the bird, be sure to have a meat thermometer on hand!
Amanda: I made a turkey once, and once was sufficient for me. Since then? We buy the turkey breast. It is the most... realistic... as I can get and still not get the heebie-jeebies! I really love turkey, but man, I don't do so well with all the rest that goes along with it as it lays out in it's thawed Thanksgiving glory.
Nellie: I've never actually been solely in charge of making the turkey so I don't have any great tips there, but like Amanda, my family would always just buy the turkey breast. It's all ready to heat up and slice neatly and it's moist and delicious every time! Saves a ton of time, especially since then you obviously don't have to deal with actually stuffing the turkey!
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| Photo Credit |
MASHED POTATOES
Jessica: OK, this is one part of the meal I don't really cut corners on. Homemade mashed potatoes all the way. I just can't fathom serving instant at Thanksgiving. One time saver though is to make them early in the day, then just keep them warm in a crock pot. Asking older kids peel the potatoes also helps!
Amanda: No cheating! You just can't. Nothing like homemade mashed potatoes! They are a must! I'm with Jessica- you can prep these in advance. Even peeling and chopping potatoes the day before and leaving them in the pot of water in the fridge saves a lot of time day-of.
Nellie: Apparently I am in the minority here, but I actually like instant potatoes better and it saves so much time! I don't like the flakes very much, but if you have potato pearls, I swear they taste very close to the real thing, especially with enough butter and gravy!
GRAVY
Jessica: In the past, I've made gravy from the juice at the bottom of the turkey pan. However, each time I got frustrated because it was either too salty, buttery, flavorless, etc. Gravy is usually the last item to go on the table and there I was, getting frustrated, right before I was going to serve dinner! So I let myself off the hook and used canned or a packet after that. You know what? It tastes good and is easy to make. Problem solved.
Nellie: I prefer the packet kind over the canned because then you can replace the required water with the broth/juice from your turkey and it makes it taste a little more "homemade."
STUFFING
Jessica: I really like stuffing and have tried a myriad of recipes over the years. Most were just too much work! I think one year I even made homemade bread, dried that out to make homemade bread cubes, etc, etc, etc. I've decided a simple Stove Top stuffing with add-ons is the way to go. I like to add celery, onion and craisins to mine.
Amanda: Stuffing! I LOVE STUFFING! Know what I love more? Laying out loaves and loaves of bread and breaking it (perfect job for kids. I loved this job as a kid!). My mom makes killer stuffing. We are serious stuffing eaters in our family, and it has to be the homemade kind. The recipe is a cinch! Super easy, just a few ingredients, and pretty darn fast. Plus, the smell = Thanksgiving to me. I'm also a not-for-stuffing-stuffing-in-a-turkey kind of stuffing gal. (Just me.) Growing up we always had "turkey stuffing" and "good stuffing." They were on separate sides of the table. Can you tell my mom and I were partial to the "baked in a 9x13 stuffing?" Never to touch turkey innards.
Jessica: Amanda, you do realize you now need to post your Homemade Stuffing recipe, right?
Nellie: We always had the Pepperidge Farm variety (comes in a bag, instead of a box) growing up and to this day, that is still my absolute favorite kind (so much better than Stove Top!). I remember mixing up TONS of it for Thanksgiving...we would make it in advance and then keep it warm in a crock pot. I like it just made plain with water or chicken broth, but my mom always added a can or two (depending on the size of the batch) of Cream of Mushroom soup to give it a little more flavor.
Jessica: Great, now I'm torn. Abandon Stove-Top for Pepperidge Farm instead, or try the Amanda-Fam homemade version? Hmmm...
Amanda: Ok! Fine, fine!
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| Photo Credit & Recipe for Sweet Dinner Rolls |
ROLLS
Jessica: I love making bread. Love it. However, when you're trying to make 10 other dishes, it's just not a wise idea to also try and make homemade rolls. Yet there's just something about hot, buttered rolls that were baked that day. My cheat? Use Rhodes roll dough! All you have to do is arrange them on a pan, let them rise, then bake them. EASY. Seems like fresh bread is a little overshadowed by all the other dishes too.
Amanda: I'm all about Rhodes rolls... or even Crescent rolls! Bread is heavenly in all forms, so I'm not picky. It's also not a good "make them from scratch" time for bread in our house. I'm all about store-bought on Thanksgiving.
Nellie: I was raised on nothing but homemade rolls and I just can't do anything else, especially on Thanksgiving! If you are the only one making all the food on Thanksgiving, it might be something that you just can't do, but maybe delegate this one out to someone who likes to make bread? Or delegate something else so that you have time? Another thing we've done is have a different type of bread...like muffins or poppy seed bread or something else that can be more easily made the day before.
SWEET POTATOES
Jessica: Let's face it, once you put all the brown sugar, butter and marshmallows in with the sweet potatoes, you've lost any and all advantage to fresh taters. So using the canned version is just fine in my book. However, the cost difference is significant- fresh sweet potatoes or yams are so insanely cheap this time of year! So what you can do is prep and bake them days ahead of time, then assemble your dish and bake the day of. Since the potatoes are already cooked, your dish will bake for less time on Turkey day and you have the satisfaction of knowing their the cheaper and most likely healthier homemade version.
Amanda: I've never tried canned, but I LOVE sweet potatoes! Especially when they're slathered in brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows Yum! No one else in my family likes them, so that just means more for me. Make sure if you use fresh to check out the easiest way to bake a sweet potato!
CRANBERRY SAUCE
Jessica: I've toyed around with homemade cranberry sauce in the past and I find people just prefer the traditional stuff. From a can. I do like getting the whole berry version though, as it looks better than the jellied-looking blob with the can imprints.
Amanda: I. Adore. Canned. Cranberry. Sauce. I seriously could eat this stuff with a spoon (too much information? Did I gross you out again?). Jellied is my fave. I save fresh cranberries for cranberry cake and stick to canned on this one! Plus, those can lines? They're perfect to direct your cutting knife! :) Bring on the processed jellied blob!
Nellie: Ditto to getting the canned kind! Everyone I know loves that stuff...even those who are very picky about everything being just right on Thanksgiving, so it's ok in my book!
GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Jessica: I made the mistake of buying a green bean casserole from a store deli once, thinking it'd make dinner that much faster. Eeeew. I have no clue what they put in that thing, but it didn't taste good at all. Green Bean Casserole doesn't take much time at all- just make the homemade version!
Amanda: I've never had it. I have a phobia of casseroles. (Have you read this? Are all my quirky eating habits coming out in this post?)
Nellie: Love green bean casserole. The homemade version is easy enough for anyone to make, so it's another good one to delegate out if you are the one in charge.
VEGETABLE TRAY
Jessica: Yes, cutting and assembling carrot sticks and celery is quite a bit cheaper. However, it also takes up a lot of time. Appetizers are what you're supposed to be nibbling on while you make the rest of the dinner, so save yourself the trouble and buy the $10 veggie tray at Costco!
Nellie: I'm not a veggie fan so I would probably just skip this one altogether! Who really needs an appetizer before Thanksgiving dinner anyways?! If you really need something to munch on, just open a couple of cans of olives and set those out. Although if I'm there, you'll need more than a couple of cans because I can eat that many just by myself!
CHEESE BALL & CRACKERS
Jessica: Cheese balls aren't hard to make and I find I like the homemade ones so much more. {I have a great recipe I'll post shortly!} The beauty of a homemade cheese ball too is that it actually tastes a lot better when it's given the chance to sit and let the flavors meld for a day or two! So keep an eye out for my recipe and put this homemade version on the "foods to make beforehand" list! Oh, and buy the crackers of course. I like plain, wheat crackers, Triscuits and Wheat Thins with a cheese ball.
Amanda: I was totally clueless on cheese balls until I got married- apparently we didn't "cheese ball" growing up? We were more chips and dip people I guess. My husband is sure that cheese balls make a holiday a holiday! Last year I bought a cheese ball. And it was the wrong kind. And it didn't go over well. He still reminds me of that epic fail (hello!? I thought a cheese ball was a cheese ball). I'm going to have to try Jessica's recipe this year! Either that, or take my hubs with me to the store and make him pick out the proper cheese ball.
PIES
Jessica: Homemade pies taste like heaven, but they also take a lot of time. I say pick and choose which ones you take the time to make yourself. Costco makes a mean pumpkin pie and it serves a crowd. Bakeries like Village Inn and Marie Callendar's also have amazing pies that you can pre-order and schedule when you pick up. If you do opt to make your own pies, at least mix the crust ahead of time. Fruit pies will go soggy, so you can't really bake them ahead of time, but you can assemble and bake them in the morning, when you're prepping the turkey.
Amanda: Sorry guys, not a pie fan (I know. You've all but shunned me at this point). I do love to take this time to enjoy other fall desserts like cobblers, cakes (shout-out again! Cranberry cake!), cookies, etc. Plus, all these can be yanked from the freezer the day before!
Nellie: I don't eat pumpkin pies because the consistency is weird for me, but I've made them plenty of times and they can be made the day before. Just don't forget the Cool Whip! I usually end up making some other kind of dessert for Thanksgiving to appease all of the "non-pie" people and most other types of cakes/cookies/desserts can be made in advance.
Additional Tips for Making Thanksgiving Dinner for a Crowd:
- The Ultimate Thanksgiving Survival Guide- I love how they give 4 plans of attack, based on what kind of dinner you'd like, traditional to small and intimate. They also have a, "Ultimate Procrastinator's Guide!"
- 10 Tips for a Stress-free Thanksgiving Dinner- these are great tips! Above all, the holidays are about spending time with those you love. So try not to stress out over every single detail!
- Cooking for a Crowd- I love her tip about planning a timeline, then adding an hour, just in case. I should do that...
- Thanksgiving Planning Tips from Better Homes & Gardens- love the interactive turkey roasting guide and video on how to carve a turkey!
