Do you want to avoid Thanksgiving cooking chaos this year? Check out our top 5 Thanksgiving Organizing Tips to help you prepare for this holiday season with ease.
Tip #1: Create your menu early
Whether that means delegating dishes or just asking everyone what their favorite holiday treat is, figure out what all will be served a week or so before. This way everyone can have plenty of time to plan their grocery list.
If you’re coordinating with others, planning ahead is essential for helping identify gaps in the types of food being brought. It also helps avoid miscommunication so everyone knows what signature dishes others like to bring. A simple shared spreadsheet can make this even easier!
Tip #2: Take inventory
Take a moment to go through your pantry and kitchen to see what ingredients and dishes you have. This will help you avoid buying duplicates and make sure there are enough cooking supplies and serving dishes for all!
It is especially important to pay attention to things like seasonal spices and baking accessories that only get used around the holidays and are likely to get mistakenly re-bought once a year.
If you’re cooking with others, have them do the same so you can share special ingredients and serving ware!
Tip #3: Create a cooking schedule
Avoid being rushed by creating a cooking schedule for the day-of and the days leading up to your celebration. This includes determining what can last an extra day, what prep work you can do ahead of time, and what needs to be served right away when you’re ready to eat. This is especially important if you plan to make a dish that takes a long time to cook to make sure you’ll have ample cooking space, storage, and time to prepare all of your different items.
We recommend doing as much prep ahead of time as you can and don't be afraid to recruit friends and family for help!
Tip #4: Label your serving dishes
Labeling your serving dishes before plating can help you visualize your tablescape to make sure there is room for everything and to make sure you have enough serving bowls, plates, and flatware.This is also a great opportunity to label any allergens in case you are having new guests!
If you want to go the extra mile for aesthetics, labeling dishes is also a fun opportunity to design cute place cards that go along with your Thanksgiving theme!
Tip #5: Create a plan for leftovers
Planning for leftovers is important so that you can make sure at the end of the Holiday, your fridge isn’t overrun with food that will go bad in a week. Planning for leftovers can mean incorporating them into your meal plan for the following week or preemptively clearing out room for them in your freezer!
You can also plan to send your guest home with the leftovers, in which case we recommend having disposable leftover containers ready to give out! See this awesome TikTok for a great Thanksgiving leftover hack!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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