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Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner can be stressful for even the most experienced host. No matter what, something usually ends up going wrong, whether it's a burnt casserole setting off the fire alarm or the dog helping himself to the buffet. There are ways to mitigate potential kitchen disasters, though, and most take only a bit of planning.
Not having enough turkey to go around or having so much left over that you're pawning it off on strangers means you bought the wrong size. Butterball recommends between 1 and 2 pounds of whole turkey weight per person, depending how big their appetites are and if you want leftovers. You can use a handy calculator on the Butterball website to get it just right.
There are some things you may not be able to buy until a day or two before Thanksgiving, such as fresh rolls or delicate produce, but there are lots of items you can buy well ahead of time. Consider doing most of your grocery shopping a week or more before Thanksgiving. You'll save time by avoiding huge crowds and long lines that start a couple days before Thursday. And if you do need a last-minute run to the store, it will be for only a few things.
Related: Best Thanksgiving Buys at Costco
With so much going on in the kitchen, it's easy to overlook simple things, including turning the oven on. That's what happened one year to Michele Sponagle, a food writer and cookbook author. "Guests arrived and commented that they didn't smell anything cooking," Sponagle says. "Emergency trip to Costco for pre-cooked chickens and Thanksgiving was saved."
Related: Could Buying Thanksgiving Dinner Be Cheaper Than Cooking?
I host Thanksgiving for my family each year, and I create a timeline, shopping lists, and plan out other logistics well before. I decide what I can make Tuesday or Wednesday, figure out when I need to put the turkey in the oven if we plan to eat at 4 p.m. and even what serving dishes items will go in. It helps you feel in control of the situation, and a loose timeline the day of lets you mingle with guests without worrying.
Planning also helps avoid eating Thanksgiving dishes in shifts, like what happened to The (Madison, Wisconsin) Capital Times' food editor Lindsay Christians the first year she cooked Thanksgiving dinner. "I didn't know how to cook multiple things at once. So I made the green beans and I brought them out and we ate them. Then I made potatoes, and I brought them out, and we ate them," she says. "By the time we got to dessert, my partner and his friend were completely drunk and I was quite tipsy, and we all agreed it was the best dessert ever."
If you prefer a sit-down dinner, that's great! But Thanksgiving doesn't have to be a formal affair. A buffet setup might work best for your family, and sometimes it's the only good way to do it if you have more guests than you can comfortably seat. The food will look just as lovely arranged on a kitchen counter as on a dining room table.
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No matter the format of your meal, be sure to set the table or set up the plates, silverware, napkins, and other odds and ends ahead of time. It'll save time on the hectic day of and your peace of mind, because one thing will be already checked off the list. Some people even set the table the night before Thanksgiving.
We've all heard horror stories about house and garage fires caused by deep-frying turkeys. If you're going to deep-fry (and you should try it sometime, because it's delicious), make sure you do it safely. Never set up the fryer near or inside the house or garage, make sure the turkey is completely thawed and dry, and always have the correct type of fire extinguisher nearby.
Turkeys are usually purchased frozen, and they need a lot more time than you'd think to thaw before cooking. The safest way to thaw a turkey is by letting it hang out in the refrigerator, which takes one day for every 4-5 pounds. If you're in a jam and need to thaw your bird more quickly, you can do it in a cold water bath, which will take about 30 minutes per pound.
Those plastic pop-up thermometers placed in commercial turkeys are meant to pop up at 165 degrees, but they're unreliable. Your best bet for testing whether a turkey is cooked perfectly is an instant-read meat thermometer. Take the temperature of both the thickest part of the thigh and the breast to be sure it's done.
Related: Instant Read Digital Thermometers and Other Kitchen Accessories You Didn't Know You Needed
Some people really enjoy having a whole, bronzed turkey as a centerpiece on their Thanksgiving table. But cooking a whole bird can be difficult and take up an oven for a long time. There are better ways to cook a turkey, such as spatchcocking it — that just means removing the backbone and pressing it flat — to ensure the white and dark meat cook in the same amount of time. Or try cooking it sous-vide, or just a breast if your family doesn't like dark meat. Check out those techniques and more with these 16 Creative Ways to Cook Your Turkey This Thanksgiving.
Cooking a turkey with breasts facing down and wings up is less traditional but not a mistake, since experts such as Martha Stewart endorse it. But serving that way will complicate carving, so flip the bird before it gets to the table. Nutritional consultant Ariane Resnick didn't know to the first year she cooked a turkey. "Once we figured out why it was impossible to cut into and flipped it over, everyone commented that it was the most moist turkey they'd ever had," Resnick says.
No matter how you cook it, basting the turkey in the oven isn't going to do anything besides make the skin limp. It will also keep lowering the oven temperature every time you open the oven door, so your turkey will actually take longer to cook. Don't waste your time.
All the golden turkey juices and fat at the bottom of your roasting pan are liquid gold. Don't waste a drop; use them to make your gravy. All you have to do is pour them into a fat separator, cook the fat with flour, then add the drippings and supplement with chicken or turkey stock.
Most people throw away the giblet bags (assuming you remembered to take them out before cooking the turkey!), but the neck, heart and gizzards hold lots of flavor. Use them to make a giblet gravy that's even more flavorful than just using the drippings alone.
Though it can look lovely, stuffing a whole turkey might be dangerous. Stuffing is pourous and can hold on to salmonella from the turkey unless it's cooked to 165 degrees. The problem: Once the very middle of the stuffing is 165 degrees, the turkey is going to be way overcooked. Just cook the stuffing separately to avoid problems. (Watch out for these Scary Cooking Hazards, too.)
Some cooking methods, such as using a slow cooker or cooking in an oven bag, tend to overcook a turkey so much that it barely resembles a turkey anymore and can't be carved traditionally. That's what happened to Eddie McNamara, a chef and author, when trying a turkey-in-a-buttered-paper-bag method. "It lived up to the hype in producing the moistest, juiciest, most delicious bird I've ever eaten, but the meat was literally falling off the bone. I tried to plate it from the kitchen, away from the guests because the slices just fell apart into an unappetizing mound of turkey shreds. The meat and bones looked like a scene from a horror movie. It made perfect BBQ pulled turkey the next day, though."
Sure, the turkey is the centerpiece. But the sides are what makes the meal on Thanksgiving. What's turkey without cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy? Don't focus all your energy on creating the perfect turkey at the expense of the side dishes.
Related: Cranberry Sauce and Other Thanksgiving Dishes People Love to Hate
A weird thing happens when you mix mashed potatoes too much, especially if you use a food processor or hand mixer: They get gluey and stringy. It's because too much of the starch has been released. To avoid the problem, use a potato ricer or a hand masher. If you already have gluey potatoes, try turning them into a casserole with cheese and breadcrumbs on top to make up for the texture.
We all love our pets, and they deserve some turkey too. But it might be best to keep them out of the kitchen on such a busy day. Even if they don't swipe the whole turkey, they may get hold of something they shouldn't, such as oven mitts covered in turkey grease. That's what happened to Anita Crotty, a food writer and editor. "At some point, we all realized one of our two dogs had disappeared — unusual, given that she was almost guaranteed that some drunk person would drop an hors d'oeuvre or two," Crotty says. "After a very brief search, we found her squirreled away in the mudroom, slowly devouring the turkey-soaked mitt. Thankfully, the mitt was natural canvas stuffed with cotton batting … but she was pooping strings and padding for a week."
Serving dishes that should only be eaten hot is a logistical nightmare at Thanksgiving. When planning a menu, add recipes that are served cold or at room temperature, such as vegetable salads dressed in vinaigrette. Not only will that probably allow you to make the dishes ahead of time; it'll free up stove and oven space, too.
Just because Aunt Bernice doesn't like marshmallows on her sweet potatoes doesn't mean you have to leave them out. If you absolutely love a dish, go for it. You're the one cooking. Make sure you are doing what you love, and not just trying to please everyone — because it's not possible.
You can't do this for some things (such as the turkey, obviously), but take a cue from chefs and taste what you're cooking as you're cooking it. You'll be able to perfect seasonings and avoid disasters such as serving candied yams in which salt was swapped accidentally for sugar. Just make sure to use a clean spoon every time you taste.
You should make as much food as possible ahead of time so the day of is less hectic. Pies, bread or cornbread for stuffing, cranberry sauce, salad dressings, and most appetizers such as meatballs or dips can all be made a day or two ahead of time. Some prep work can be done early too, including chopping onions and celery for stuffing or roasting sweet potatoes for a casserole.
Your stove and oven space will be at a premium for the day. Consider other ways to cook and keep food hot until you're ready to eat. I always look for one or two slow cooker recipes, such as this corn casserole, so I can make it in the morning and forget about it. You can also keep food such as mashed potatoes hot in the slow cooker for a few hours. Look specifically for recipes to cook in an Instant Pot, air fryer, or other appliances to free up oven space.
Even if you're an old pro at hosting Thanksgiving, your guests will want to bring something with them. Take advantage of their willingness, and plan for it. Can your sister-in-law, who always shows up early, bring the spinach dip everyone loves? Maybe someone can bring rolls that you'd have bought anyway, or things you can never have too much of, such as desserts or bottles of wine.
Everyone loves Thanksgiving leftovers, but it's practically impossible to own enough containers to send everyone home with all that they want. So make it a rule at your dinner that if someone wants to take leftovers home, they need to bring their own containers. That way, no one is worrying about getting containers back, and you don't end up with 50% fewer containers than when you started. Just make sure to let everyone know beforehand.
Related: Food Storage Tips to Help Cut Waste
Thanksgiving is a big meal, but you'll probably be having guests over for a couple hours before dinner is ready. Chances are, those guests will be imbibing, watching football, and just general merry-making. It's best if you have some snacks or appetizers during that time to keep guests busy and satisfied, especially if you have kids or guests with special dietary needs. Don't forget to eat some yourself so you're not famished by the time dinner is ready.
It might be tempting to leave leftovers out while everyone recuperates on the couch, but you should pack them and get them refrigerated as soon as possible for health safety reasons. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting them into the refrigerator within two hours of preparation to prevent food poisoning.
Related: Here's How Long You Have to Safely Eat 25 Unrefrigerated Foods
If you're hosting a big dinner, there can be a lot of pressure that goes along with it. It may be in your best interest to use a frozen pie shell or make cornbread for your dressing from a box of Jiffy. Calculated shortcuts to save time and effort are just fine and well deserved, and don't let anyone shame you into thinking your cooking isn't as good because of it.
You may feel the kitchen is your domain and that you can make an amazing dinner all by yourself. While that's likely true, why not accept help? Willing participants can easily help with prep work such as peeling potatoes or chopping vegetables, and even by doing the dishes throughout the day. Accepting help doesn't make you any less capable.
Helpers can be a little overzealous and might not understand that you have everything planned. Make sure those hovering relatives have specific tasks to keep them busy, even if it's drying dishes or keeping children busy and out from underfoot. If you're into planning, you can ask guests ahead of time if they'd help with certain tasks, and some might appreciate the opportunity to be helpful.
Nothing is perfect, and your Thanksgiving will not be either. That's okay, because you've planned, prepared, and done the best that you could; the day will turn out fantastically whether the pecan halves make a perfect pattern on the pie or not. It can be easy to spend an inordinate amount of time on a single task, but if you find it happening you need to ask yourself if it's really that important. Chances are, a little perspective will get you back on track — and the pie will taste great whether it looks like a professional made it or not.
Thanksgiving may mean a lot to you and your family, but it shouldn't be something that gives you anxiety or turns into something you dread. If that happens, take a step back and evaluate what Thanksgiving really means to you — you know, the touchy feely stuff. As long as everyone has a great time together, who cares if the turkey is dry? Remind yourself that your self-worth is not dependent on a single meal.
Once the pressure is off and the kitchen is cleaned, make concrete plans to relax. That means something different to everyone, from putting some mint schnapps in the hot cocoa before bed to scheduling a massage the next day. Whatever your choice for relaxation after hosting Thanksgiving is, do it and don't compromise. You deserve it.
