Thanksgiving food hacks earn their keep in the last two days, when the oven is full, the counter has disappeared and somebody still wants gravy. These eight tips from Tasty are the small ones that actually move the needle: a wine glass standing in for a biscuit cutter, a drinking straw turning a zip-top bag into a vacuum sealer, potatoes microwaved and mashed in minutes instead of an hour. None of it needs a gadget you have to go out and buy, and most of it uses something already sitting in a drawer. They are perfect for a first-time host, a small kitchen with one oven, a make-ahead cook who wants Wednesday to do Thursday’s work, and anyone who has ever pulled soggy stuffing out of the oven and quietly panicked. A few of them are much easier to see than to read, so watch the video too!
The most useful Thanksgiving food hacks are the ones that buy back time on the day itself. Cut biscuits with the rim of a wine glass, and prep, peel and dice your vegetables the night before, then vacuum seal them in a zip-top bag using a drinking straw. Microwave potatoes covered for 8 minutes for fast mashed potatoes, and turn soggy stuffing into stuffins by baking it in a muffin tin at 325F for 30 minutes. Shred cold butter for pastry dough, peel garlic by shaking the cloves in a lidded container, and shake whipped cream in a jar.
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If you are serving a big meal for the Holiday, cook whatever you can ahead of time. Some dishes that can be prepared days before are soups, stocks, casseroles, gravy, 3-ingredient cranberry sauce, and gravy.
8 Thanksgiving Food Hacks to Try
1 – Cut perfect biscuits
Don’t have a cookie cutter? Try using a glass of wine. Roll the biscuit dough flat and use the wine glass to cut circles. Bake the homemade biscuits for 10 minutes.
A wine glass works for the same reason a cookie cutter does, a thin clean rim that is already the right size. Roll the biscuit dough properly flat before you start so every circle is the same thickness, which is what gets them all done at the 10 minute mark instead of some pale and some dark. Cut your circles close together to get the most out of that first roll. No cutter in the drawer, no trip to the store, and nobody at the table will ever know.
2 – Prep vegetables the night before
To save some time, prepare the vegetables the night before. Cut, peel, and dice. Once they are all prepared, transfer them to resealable plastic bags and seal them almost all the way through. Insert the straw on the end and inhale to vacuum seal. Once all the air is removed, take off the straw and seal it all the way through.
3 – Making pastry dough
If cold butter doesn’t mix well using a hand mixer, try shredding it first.
Cold butter and a hand mixer are a bad match, which is why the beaters mostly just shove the block around the bowl. Shredding the butter first does the cutting for you: the shreds are small enough for the mixer to pick up, and they stay cold while it happens. That second part is the one that matters for pastry dough, because cold butter is what keeps a crust flaky. Shred it straight out of the fridge and get it into the flour quickly.
4 – Quick mashed potatoes
Need to make mashed potatoes in a very short amount of time? Microwave the potatoes covered for 8 minutes. Mash with a potato masher, then add 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of milk, pepper, and salt. Mix until well combined.
5 – Soggy stuffing
If your stuffing turned out soggy, make them into stuffins. Fill the muffin tin with the stuffing, then bake at 325F for 30 minutes.
Soggy stuffing is not a lost cause, it is a shape problem. Packed into a muffin tin, that same stuffing gets far more surface area against hot metal, so 30 minutes at 325F dries and crisps the outside while the middle stays soft. What you end up with is individual stuffins with crunchy edges, which is the part everybody fights over anyway. Bring them to the table in the tin and nobody will guess this started as a rescue.
6 – Peeling garlic hack
Get a garlic bulb and place it upside down on a flat surface. Using the palm of your hand, press it down hard until the cloves come out. Place the cloves in a small container with a lid. Cover with the lid and shake vigorously until peeled.
7 – Hard butter
Fill a microwave-safe cup with water then microwave for 1 minute. Discard the water. Place the cold water on a plate, then place the warm cup upside down to cover the butter. Wait for 30 seconds before slicing.
8 – Whipped cream in a jar
In a jar, add 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of confectioner sugar. Cover tightly with the lid and shake well until it becomes thick.
No mixer, no bowl to wash, no splatter up the backsplash. One cup of heavy cream, a teaspoon of vanilla and a tablespoon of confectioner sugar go into a jar, the lid goes on tight, and the shaking does the work a whisk would have done. Keep going until it turns thick, and stop as soon as it holds its shape. This is a good job to hand a kid who wants one, and the jar it whips in is the jar it goes to the table in.
8 Thanksgiving Food Hacks and Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you cut biscuits without a cookie cutter?
Use a wine glass. Roll the biscuit dough flat, then press the rim straight down to cut your circles, and bake the homemade biscuits for 10 minutes. The rim is thin and perfectly round, which is the whole job a cookie cutter does. Cut the circles close together so you get the most out of the first roll.
What is the fastest way to make mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving?
Microwave them. Cover the potatoes and microwave for 8 minutes, then mash with a potato masher and add 3 tablespoons of butter, half a cup of milk, pepper and salt. Mix until it is well combined. It is the one side dish you can genuinely leave until late, which frees the stove up for everything that cannot wait.
How do you fix soggy stuffing?
Turn it into stuffins. Fill a muffin tin with the soggy stuffing and bake it at 325F for 30 minutes. The muffin tin gives the stuffing much more surface area against hot metal, so the outsides crisp up while the centers stay soft, and you get the crunchy edges instead of losing them.
What is the easiest way to peel a whole bulb of garlic?
Put the garlic bulb upside down on a flat surface and press down hard with the palm of your hand until the cloves come apart. Tip the cloves into a small container with a lid, cover it, and shake vigorously until they are peeled. It takes seconds, it needs nothing you do not own, and your hands stay clean.
