How can I Save Time While Preparing Thanksgiving Dinner?

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner can be a laborious process, often taking up most of Thanksgiving Day and perhaps several days before to get everything just right. While others are lounging and possibly enjoying parades or football games, you may find yourself in the traditionally phrased pose of “slaving” over a hot stove, basting turkeys, making pies, and preparing stuffing. If you’d like to save time while preparing Thanksgiving dinner, there are many shortcuts and alternatives you can try to help give you a little leisure time too.

First, to save time while preparing Thanksgiving dinner, you may want to shed the idea that preparing this meal is a process for the “chosen one” only. You don’t have to prepare every aspect of this meal yourself, and if you’re serving a lot of guests, asking them to bring something along can reduce the number of tasks you’ll have to do. Remember the first Thanksgiving was a potluck dinner — everybody brought something. In keeping with this tradition, consider asking guests to bring along a favorite dish. Assign such things as salads, sides, appetizers, or desserts to others so you can concentrate on preparing the main dish, usually the turkey and stuffing.

Sometimes you’re only cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a few folks, so you can’t completely depend upon them to help you share the work of preparing the meal. You may also want to discard the idea that everything on your table must be homemade. Instead you may want to save time while preparing Thanksgiving dinner by purchasing a few standards ready made.

Take advantage of all the bakeries and grocery stores that are baking up pumpkin and pecan pies for the holiday. Consider buying stuffing mix instead of preparing your own toasted breadcrumbs. Purchase premade trays of crudités with dip, or use salad in a bag for your main meal. Don’t consider these concessions a failure, but instead rejoice in these modern and time saving conveniences.

If the meal you’re preparing is small, there are a few other shortcuts to try. Instead of cooking a whole turkey, a time consuming process, consider buying a large breast of turkey and cooking it instead. You’ll reduce your cooking time, even if you have to cook a couple of breasts, and it is generally easier to perfectly cook a breast than it is to prepare a whole bird. This time saver helps reduce the worry over defrosting, and spending a whole day watching the turkey cook.

You’ll also save time while preparing Thanksgiving dinner by enlisting the help of others in the home. Kids for instance may be at a loss of what to do on this day. Most of the day may be about waiting for dinner. Put your kids to work, setting the table, washing dishes, cleaning their rooms, or even preparing some of the side dishes. They’re often glad to help and anxious for the chance to get something to do.

Lastly, perhaps the most effective way to save time while preparing Thanksgiving dinner is to purchase the dinner from local grocery stores. Many large stores now offer complete dinners, with all the fixings, for pretty reasonable prices. You may have to spend a few minutes using the microwave to warm potatoes or other sides, but you’ll be able to spend the majority of the day not cooking — a thing for which many cooks are truly thankful.