Thanksgiving Dinner Shortcuts to Save You Time

 

 

If you are in charge of cooking dinner this Thanksgiving, you should know that it is not an easy task. Between roasting a juicy turkey to finding room to cook all the side dishes on the stove to rolling endless amounts of pie dough, you are probably going to appreciate some help. Here are some Thanksgiving dinner shortcuts to save you time.

Related: Talking Thanksgiving Prep with Nicole Sassaman

Thanksgiving Dinner Shortcuts to Save You Time

Tablecloth

Many of us think that we have to spend all kinds of time ironing the tablecloth so it looks perfect for Thanksgiving dinner. News flash: no one is going to see the center of the table once the centerpiece and dishes are in place. So, all you really need to do is to iron the sides and the corners.

Turkey

Thanksgiving Dinner Shortcuts to Save You Time

The turkey is the one thing that takes the most time on Thanksgiving. Why not save yourself some time and buy a turkey that is already pre-cooked. You an order one ahead of time and just heat and serve. You won’t need to deal with cleaning, stuffing, seasoning and basting.

Sides

Did you know that you can save 45 minutes of precious time by ordering your holiday sides from your grocer’s deli or a local restaurant? You can order everything from mashed potatoes to yams to stuffing and you won’t have to spend time peeling, slicing and dicing. The good thing about these sides is that they are already cooked so all you have to do is heat and serve.

Related: Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipe: Grilled Peppers Hors D’oeuvre

Green bean casserole

If you need to oven to cook the turkey or something else, make your green bean casserole in the slow cooker. Just throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for about 7 hours on low setting.

Pie crust

Making homemade pies take so much time with all the rolling you have to do with the dough. Instead, use frozen pie crusts to make your pies. You can really use any pre-made pie crust but the frozen ones already come in a pie pan. Display your pies on Thanksgiving-themed plates for a nice touch.

These Thanksgiving dinner shortcuts will save you oodles of time in the kitchen on the holiday, which means more time for you to relax with your family! After all, that’s what Thanksgiving is really all about!

Do you have any favorite Thanksgiving dinner shortcuts to save  time? Tell us in the comments!

21 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Dinner Shortcuts to Save You Time”

  1. These are great tips for shortcuts to save you time at when preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I bake my own turkey but I use a cooking bag which save a couple hours anyway. I am going to try the green bean casserole in the crock pot this year because it would be so full of flavor in the crock pot. Thanks for sharing the tips.

  2. I never thought of buying a pre-cooked turkey. Normally we fight for space in the freezer for the weeks coming up to Thanksgiving or Christmas. My family usually brings over sides, but its always at our house every year. I never really get a break from doing it anymore. Great tips here though! Our cheat is just buying the buy, not making it ourselves! LOL!

  3. I would have never thought to make my green bean casserole in my slow cooker. Thanks for the tip and all of the others. I’ve got to make several dishes this weekend (green bean casserole is one of them) for our reunion and now I know how to juggle it all.

  4. I usually host some friends and family at two different meals so I can use all the time saving ideas I can get. Thanks! I have thought about getting the sides premade. I think I will do that this year.

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