Make ahead Thanksgiving recipes save time and help ensure you'll have an enjoyable holiday with your family this year.
Fall flies by and then I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is just a couple weeks away. Does that happen to you, too?
If you use the weekends in October and November strategically, you can have several key turkey day recipes all prepped and ready to go with so little effort!
Make one or two during one weekend and another one or two the next weekend and your holiday dinner will be easy peasy!!
Make Ahead Thanksgiving Recipes
All the easy holiday shortcuts you need to get your Thanksgiving dinner on the table with less work. Enjoy the time with your family by making these recipes ahead of time!
The ONLY sweet potatoes that grace our holiday table. I've made these for 7 years in a row. (Maybe more!) I assemble the entire dish and freeze it. Let it thaw in your fridge the night before Thanksgiving. Or, check the post for instructions on how to make it ahead the day before and store in the fridge.
I swear this Italian sausage stuffing actually tastes better when it is baked the next day! Make it ahead the day before and simply bake it after the turkey comes out of the oven on Thanksgiving day.
You can bake these homemade dinner rolls the day before and then simply reheat them in the oven for 5 minutes before serving and they'll taste fresh. I usually make two pans!
This Italian bread is the base of my sausage stuffing but would be a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving bread basket. It also makes great leftover turkey sandwiches the next day. Pop it into your bread machine and the bread actually bakes itself.
Prep these in the morning and the mashed potatoes will take practically no work for you later in the afternoon. You could make them ahead the day before. Check out the post for reheating instructions if you want to go that route.
Another prep-ahead recipe, you could chop all the veggies and fruit the day before the holiday and simply pop it all into the Crockpot on the morning of the feast and let it cook itself.
My most popular make-ahead recipe on this entire site, thousands of readers have loved this freezer-friendly apple crisp. Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce if you want to dress it up a little fancier.
This homemade caramel sauce can be made up to a week in advance and is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert garnish for pecan pie, pumpkin pie, or my apple crisp from up above.
Everyone needs a little something to snack on when the turkey feast is hours away. Wake up Thanksgiving morning to a fresh pumpkin bread thawed from your freezer! Bake these weeks in advance for a special treat all season long.
Keep a bowl of these easy spiced pecans for sprinkling over your Thanksgiving desserts and side dishes for a homemade touch. You can make them days in advance in just minutes.
Apple pies are perfect for the freezer. Read how to bake the perfect one in advance here.
This cherry slab pie will take up very little room in your freezer and is the perfect make-ahead dessert to bake in the oven when you want to serve.
You will be shocked to see just how simple these elegant sugared cranberries are to make. Use them for garnishes on the Thanksgiving desserts table or as an addition to your table centerpiece. You can make them days in advance and just store in an airtight container.
This is a freezer-friendly cranberry sauce that is perfect for making ahead the day before or weeks in advance for holiday baking.
[…] 5 recipes you can prep ahead for Thanksgiving to save time […]