Thanksgiving cooking timeline
Thanksgiving is easier when most of it is done before Thursday. Here’s what to do and when, from three weeks out to the moment you carve, for Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26.
Two to three weeks before
- Count your guests and set the menu. Write down every dish, then decide which ones guests will bring. A Thanksgiving sign-up sheet lets relatives claim a dish from one link, so nobody brings a duplicate.
- Save your recipes in one place. Clip each recipe into ClipaRecipe, so you’re not hunting through browser tabs on the day. Scale them to your guest count while you’re at it.
- Order or buy the turkey. Use the turkey size calculator to pick the size: about 1 pound per person, 1½ for leftovers.
- Check your equipment: a roasting pan big enough for the bird, a meat thermometer, enough serving dishes and spoons.
The week of Thanksgiving
- Weekend before
- Shop for everything that keeps: canned goods, butter, flour, stock, wine. Start thawing a large frozen turkey in the fridge (one day for every 4 to 5 pounds, so a 20-pound bird needs about 5 days).
- Monday
- Start thawing a 12- to 16-pound turkey in the fridge if you haven’t already. Make pie dough and freeze or chill it.
- Tuesday
- Make cranberry sauce; it keeps for a week. Make stock for gravy. Shop for fresh produce.
- Wednesday
- Bake pies. Chop onions, celery and other vegetables. Assemble casseroles and stuffing, cover and refrigerate (unbaked). Set the table. If you’re brining, start today.
Thanksgiving day, for dinner at 4 PM
This schedule is for a 14-pound unstuffed turkey, which takes about 3 to 3¾ hours at 325°F. For a different size, move the first three steps earlier or later.
- 11:00 AM
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Pat the turkey dry, season it and put it in the roasting pan.
- 11:30 AM
- Turkey in the oven. Take the casseroles and stuffing out of the fridge.
- 1:00 PM
- Peel the potatoes and keep them in cold water. Make any salads, without the dressing.
- 2:30 PM
- Start checking the turkey’s temperature. It’s done at 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh, the wing and the breast.
- About 3:00 PM
- Turkey out, loosely covered with foil to rest. Turn the oven up for the casseroles and stuffing (most bake at 350°F to 375°F). Boil the potatoes.
- 3:30 PM
- Make the gravy from the pan drippings. Mash the potatoes. Warm the rolls in the oven.
- 3:45 PM
- Carve the turkey. Dress the salads. Put everything in serving dishes.
- 4:00 PM
- Eat. Put leftovers in the fridge within two hours.
Make the day easier
- Use cook mode. Open each saved recipe in ClipaRecipe’s cook mode: the screen stays on, the amounts are in every step, and it shows a timer button for each time in the steps.
- Plan oven space. The turkey takes the oven all morning. Use the stovetop, a slow cooker or an air fryer for sides that don’t need the oven, and let guests bring dishes that are ready to serve.
- Give jobs away. Someone can carve, someone can make the gravy, and someone else can wash up.
Questions
What can I make ahead for Thanksgiving?
Cranberry sauce, pie dough and most pies, stock for gravy, and chopped vegetables can be made one to three days ahead. Casseroles can be assembled the day before and baked on the day.
When should I put the turkey in the oven?
Count back from dinner: the roasting time for your bird at 325°F, plus 30 minutes for resting and carving. A 14-pound turkey for a 4 PM dinner goes in around 11:30 AM.
How long should a turkey rest?
About 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covered with foil. That’s the time to bake the sides and make the gravy.
How do I keep everything warm?
Use the resting time to bake sides, keep mashed potatoes in a slow cooker on low, and warm plates in the oven after it’s turned off.
Keep the recipes you cook
Paste a link from any recipe site and ClipaRecipe saves just the ingredients and steps, with credit to the cook. Scale servings, cook with timers, and find it again next time. Free.