Wondering how to organize your kitchen for Thanksgiving before the week gets away from you? It comes down to making space and making decisions early, so Thursday is just cooking instead of cooking plus hunting for the roasting pan. These seven tips from TODAY work through the pantry, the fridge and the freezer in the order you will actually need them: clear out what has expired, build a mock timeline, pre-measure your dry ingredients into labeled containers so you can dump and stir, and give the holiday its own shelf so nobody snacks on the evaporated milk. They are perfect for a first-time host, a small fridge, a long guest list, and anyone who has ever bought a second can of pumpkin because they could not see the first one. The labeling and the freezer bags are worth watching in the video!
To organize your kitchen for Thanksgiving, clear the expired items out of the pantry, fridge and freezer first, then make a mock timeline and check what you already have so you do not overbuy. Pre-measure dry ingredients into containers and label them with tape and a pen, and give the Thanksgiving groceries their own area in the pantry. Free up fridge space by making cranberry sauce ahead, since it keeps for up to a month, and freeze mashed potatoes and gravy flat in bags, using plastic or foil containers rather than glass.
RELATED: 8 Thanksgiving Food Hacks and Tips
To ensure a smooth dinner preparation, check out these Thanksgiving tips and hacks from TODAY. This guide will help you organize your kitchen for Thanksgiving, allowing you to spend less time cooking and stressing out. I find most of these tricks helpful, and they can save you a lot of time during the holiday season. Give them a try and see for yourself.
Here are some recipes you might want to try: 3-Ingredient Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Plus Variations), Southern Chicken and Stuffing Casserole Bake, Award-Winning Buttermilk Cornbread Recipe
Thanksgiving Day Tips and Hacks
1 – Clean out pantry, fridge, and freezer
Get rid of all the items that are expired from your pantry or fridge.
This is the least glamorous step and the one that makes every other step possible. You cannot store a make-ahead cranberry sauce in a fridge that is still full of half-empty jars from August. Work through the pantry, the fridge and the freezer, pull anything expired, and be honest about the containers you have been moving around rather than using. What you are really doing here is buying shelf space, and shelf space is the whole game this week.
2 – Create a mock timeline
Check if you already have the things or ingredients you need so you don’t buy too much.
A mock timeline is a dry run on paper: what gets made on which day, and what has to be in the house before that day arrives. Walk it against the shelves you just cleared, because a list written at the kitchen table always includes two things you already own. That is how most Thanksgiving grocery bills get away from people, three bags of onions at a time. Write it down once, then shop from the list instead of from memory.
3 – Measure out dry ingredients
If you are making a pie crust for example, you can take a container and pre-measure the amount so that you can dump and stir when you are ready to bake. Do this with the other ingredients, and label with tape and pen.
4 – Create an area for Thanksgiving items
Allocate space in your pantry for Thanksgiving. Let your family know that the items are for the holiday.
Groceries bought five days early are only useful if they survive five days. Pick one shelf or one bin, put everything for the holiday in it, and tell the household out loud that the shelf is off limits until Thursday. It saves you the Thanksgiving morning search as well, because everything for one meal sits in one place instead of spread across three cupboards. Label the shelf if labeling helps, and expect to tell at least one person twice.
5 – Utilize the space in the fridge
Cranberry sauce can keep in the fridge for up to a month so you can make it ahead of time. Eggs and dairy items can also be stored in the fridge in advance. Make sure to check their expiration dates. You can measure them in advance and store them in airtight glass containers.
6 – Cook mashed potatoes and gravy to store in the freezer
Transfer the mashed potato to a freezer bag, seal it almost all the way through, and flatten it. Remove all the air and seal completely. This will save you a lot of space. The night before Thanksgiving put it in the refrigerator on a plate to defrost.
7 – Use plastic or foil containers for freezer
Stay away from glass as they can shatter in the freezer.
Glass and the freezer are a bad combination, because what you froze expanded as it froze and a full glass container has nowhere to give. Plastic and foil flex instead, which is why the make-ahead dishes go into those. Foil pans have a second advantage worth planning around: whatever you froze can go straight into the oven in the same container, so there is one less dish to wash on the day you have the fewest clean ones left.
How to Organize Your Kitchen For Thanksgiving
Frequently Asked Questions
How far ahead can you make cranberry sauce?
Cranberry sauce keeps in the fridge for up to a month, so it is one of the first things to get out of the way. Making it early is really a storage decision as much as a cooking one, because it turns a Thursday job into a jar that already has a home on the shelf.
How do you save fridge space before Thanksgiving?
Clear the expired items out first, then use the space deliberately. Eggs and dairy can be stored ahead, so check their expiration dates and measure them out into airtight glass containers in advance. Make the cranberry sauce early since it keeps for a month, and move anything that can be frozen into flat bags instead of tubs.
Can you freeze mashed potatoes and gravy ahead of Thanksgiving?
Yes, and flat is the trick. Transfer the mashed potato into a freezer bag, seal it almost all the way across, flatten it, then remove the rest of the air and seal it completely. Flat bags stack and save a lot of space. The night before Thanksgiving, move it to the refrigerator on a plate to defrost so it is ready to warm through.
Why should you not use glass containers in the freezer?
Glass can shatter in the freezer, so stay away from it for anything you are freezing ahead. Plastic and foil containers are what to use instead. Foil has the extra advantage of going from freezer to oven in the same container, which is one less thing to wash.
