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22 Must Haves for Thanksgiving Meal Prep

In charge of the Thanksgiving meal prep this year? Here are the 22 essentials you’ll need, with lots of tips along the way!

Making sure you are ready to prepare a Thanksgiving meal is critical!

Guess what? Many stores may be closed Thanksgiving day when you are cooking, so having everything on hand is so important.

Luckily, I’ve got some hosting under my belt for both Thanksgiving and Christmas! My family makes a big deal out of both of these meals.

We will cover the basic pieces you need to get you through the main dish of turkey, side dishes, and even dessert!

Thanksgiving-Last Minute-Flatlay-Porch Dayreamer-Tablescape

Defining a Traditional Thanksgiving Day Meal

Ah the aroma of the savory Thanksgiving dishes is the warmest welcome to the season!

It’s quite the production to put on a meal that you don’t normally cook and whoa that turkey is always a bit of a challenge.

Big giant bird and all those parts…what to do, what to do?

Let’s talk about what is involved with preparing a typical Thanksgiving meal:

  • Turkey – usually cooked in the oven
  • Mashed potatoes white or sweet
  • Green beans or asparagus
  • Casserole that maybe is green bean or sweet potato 
  • Stuffing
  • Cranberry relish or jelly
  • Gravy
  • Pie or something sweet for dessert

Does that sound like your typical meal? Turkey and side dishes make it sound so much easier.

The trouble is usually you are feeding a crowd larger than normal, so it gets more complicated in general. 

Your best offense is to ask people to bring the side dishes and dessert, while you tackle the table, decor, and turkey.

Thanksgiving meal prep tools

There are lots of fun ideas to decorate before company arrives for Thanksgiving!

To me decorating is the easy part, but the meal is always one that makes me a little anxious 🙂

Contains hand selected products, with affiliate marketing links where I may earn a small commission if a purchase is made. {full disclosure here}

Thanksgiving Meals Aren’t Always Perfect – Don’t Be Hard on Yourself

Not too long ago, the turkey I’d pre-ordered from the grocery store had been defrosted incorrectly!

My dad was in charge of picking of the turkey, didn’t look or smell the turkey, checked off his to-do, and brought home a ROTTEN turkey. 

It was the day before Thanksgiving! Do you think they had ANY turkeys left? Nope.

What did my mom and I do? Well, we yelled at my dad first – ha, ha! Then ran to the grocery store for a solution. 

We ended up making two chickens instead! So sometimes, you have to make do with what you have.

thanksgiving turkey golden brown

After some arguing about prep with my mom, I made mine chicken the way my former Italian mother-in-law made hers (you see why we argued) and she made hers the way she usually did.

This was our turkey Thanksgiving 2017. Isn’t it beautiful and it was one of the best turkeys we’ve ever made!

Yes, my former MIL Millie passed on a great recipe that makes the best turkey – God rest her soul.

Pin It for Later!

Thanksgiving Meal Prep: 22 Essentials You Need

I’m going to list for you all of the things I’m going to suggest you need to make sure you have in your kitchen for Thanksgiving meal prep and serving the meal.

Then we will walk through each one in detail, so you understand exactly why you need each piece.

  1. Roasting pan
  2. Baster
  3. Turkey lifter / forks
  4. Carving knife and fork set
  5. Oversized cutting board
  6. Chopper
  7. Chef’s knife
  8. Electric Carving Knife
  9. Measuring cups and spoons
  10. Glass measuring cup
  11. Mixing bowls
  12. Potato peeler
  13. Potato masher
  14. Sauce pan
  15. Saute pan
  16. Baking dishes
  17. Meat Thermometer
  18. Fat separator
  19. Gravy boat with warmer 
  20. Gravy ladle
  21. Serving utensils
  22. Serving platters

It’s all about the turkey friends! That will make or break the whole meal.  How many movies show the dreaded dry turkey!

Let’s talk about the tools you need to make this darn bird because it’s not something you make regularly. 

Thanksgiving Turkey Prep 

First, figure out what size turkey that you need. Here is a great calculator for what size turkey to buy and how long to thaw by weight.

Thawing is really the important part of the equation. One year I had to move my meal out one day (divorces make things complicated).

Well, the turkey was dry that year because all of the juices drained out sitting in the refrigerator an extra day.

Thanksgiving-Turkey-and-Side-Dishes-on-Weathered-Wood-Background

When cooking a turkey, my number one tip is to take the plastic bag with giblets and the neck out of the turkey!

You don’t want to cook it with those items inside 🙂 Here is a link to Butterball’s fresh turkey cooking directions (I’ll be using it too!) and detailed below. 

Turkey PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 325° F. Drain juices and pat dry with clean paper towels.
  • Place turkey breast-side-up on a flat rack in a shallow roasting pan 2 to 2½ inches deep.
  • Turn the wings back to hold the neck skin in place. (Tucking the wings will help stabilize the turkey in the pan and when carving) Brush or spray skin lightly with vegetable or cooking oil for best appearance.
  • Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer deep into the lower part of the thigh without touching the bone. If the turkey is stuffed, and the thigh is up to temperature, move the thermometer to the center of the stuffing.
  • Place your turkey in the oven. Cooking times below.
  • When the turkey is about ⅔ done, loosely cover the breast with a piece of foil to prevent overcooking.
  • Your turkey is done when the temperature with a meat thermometer is 180° F in thigh and 170° F in breast or stuffing.
  • Lift turkey onto platter, and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Turkey Cooking Times by Weight (Regular Oven)

Weight Range (LBS)Cook Time (Unstuffed)Cook Time (Stuffed)
6-72-2½ HRS2¼-2¾ HRS
7-102½-3 HRS2¾-3½ HRS
10-183-3½ HRS3¾-4½ HRS
18-223½-4 HRS4½-5 HRS
22-244-4½ HRS5-5½ HRS
24-304½-5 HRS5½-6¼ HRS
How Long to Cook a Turkey by Weight (Regular Oven)

Tools You’ll Need to Cook a Turkey

First things first, you need a roasting pan! A roasting pan has a rack and will let the juices drip into the pan, so you can use them later for making gray.

This was something I didn’t have handy my first Thanksgiving and had to run out and grab one. 

large-roasting-pan-turkey
Turkey Roasting Pan

To keep the turkey moist, you will baste it in it’s own juices.

My recipe calls for using a baster and squirting the juices UNDER the skin and it makes a huge difference in the moisture!

turkey-baster-metal
Turkey Baster

Next, picking up the bird for carving can be a difficult prospect if it’s a large turkey.

You may want to invest in turkey lifters!

turkey-forks
Forks for Lifting a Turkey

Finally, do you have a large cutting board and carving fork and knife set?

Trust me you need these and will use them many times over for meals other than Thanksgiving.

Another helpful tool is an electric carving knife for turkey, ham or beef. You’ll you it your whole life!

oversized-cutting-board
Oversized Cutting Board
carving-knife-fork-set
Carving Fork and Knife Set
electric-carving-knife
Electric Carving Knife

Now let’s move on to the side dishes – yum!

Mashed potatoes and my mom’s dressing are truly my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving-Side-Dishes-on-Weathered-Wood-Background

Oh and maybe the apple pie I make too 🙂

Turkey Stuffing/Dressing or General Chopping

First and foremost, you’ll need a cutting board or TWO!

In my home, I have two so I can work on two items without having to wash and dry in between. 

I’m a HUGE fan of having one of these vegetable choppers, but also a chef’s knife will do.

easy-food-chopper
Easy Food Chopper
large-chefs-knife
Large Chef’s Knife

There is a LOT of cutting and chopping that happens when you make stuffing. 

Or if you are making a cranberry relish or slicing the kind in the can LOL! 

Side Dish Prep Bowls and Measuring

Most of the side dishes will require measuring utensils and multiple mixing bowls. 

I LOVE my stainless steel measuring cups and spoons. They look nice and stainless steel is naturally food safe.

stainless-steel-measuring-cups-spoons
Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons and Cups
nested-glass-mixing-bowls
Nested Glass Mixing Bowls

Think not only about dry ingredients, but measuring wet ingredients too.

2-cup-glass-pyrex-measuring-cup
2 Cup Glass Measuring Cup

I use this glass measuring cup almost ever day! Great for heating water in the microwave.

Potato Prep and Mashing

Have you ever tried to peel a potato without a potato peeler or mash potatoes without a masher? Don’t skip these! 

I always end up googling “how to make mashed potatoes” every Thanksgiving morning!

EASY Mashed Potatoes Recipe now linked so we can always find it 😉

To make peeling the potatoes MUCH easier, invest in an electric potato peeler. It will save your hands too!

automatic-electric-potato-peeler
Electric Potato Peeler
smooth-potato-masher-hand
Smooth Potato Masher

Love this potato masher because it gets rid of the lumps for smoother mashed potatoes.

A large glass mixing bowl is perfect for mashing potatoes.

Boiling and Sauteeing

You will a large sauté pan for making things like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Plus cooking down onions and garlic. Anything that needs to be boiled or sautéed!

sautee-pan-with-clear-lid
Large Sauté Pan

Having a pan with a taller lip will help splatters and to contain everything you are cooking.

Having a sauté pan with a clear lid, which is excellent seeing items you need to be simmered slowly.

Baking and Serving

You’ll never have too many glass baking dishes or you can use pretty stoneware too.

I like glass so I can see through to make sure everything is cooking properly. 

But I also love the stoneware dishes in pretty colors for serving dishes on the table or buffet.

pretty-baking-dishes-green
Green Stoneware Baking Dishes

Plus after I make the mashed potatoes, in a sauce pan, I’ll put them in the covered dish for serving. 

I’ll put the potatoes into the refrigerator and then into the oven to heat up right before the meal.

ceramic-pie-dishes
Ceramic Pie Dish Set

Then there are the pies that go along with the season. Make sure to have a set of ceramic pie dishes handy!

Gravy Making

Here is where my mom and I cheat. We use a gravy starter and mix it with the juices of the turkey. It comes out perfectly!

You’ll need something that separates the fat from the turkey drippings to make the gravy.

fat-separator-gravy
Fat Separator

This fat separator is easy to use because you can pour the juices right out of the bottom!

Gravy Serving

Again, not something you usually have laying around so invest in a gravy boat and ladle

This gravy boat is amazing because it keeps all sauces warm using a simple tea light. I need this in my life!

heated-gravy-boat
Gravy Boat with Warmer
gravy-ladle
Gravy Ladle

Serving Dishes

Think about all of the things you are serving for the meal and having several platters available. Going for a serving platter set is probably the best option.

My hope is you got some of these items as gifts along the way, if not buy them as you see them. ESPECIALLY a serving platter for the turkey!

large-serving-platters
Serving Platter Set

Last, but not least serving utensils. You will need these ANY time you entertain.

Seriously, these are critical and you don’t want to get caught without large serving utensils.

serving-utensils-stainless-steel
Serving Utensils and Container

Look for serving sets on sale or at Home Goods, so you never get caught without having them on hand for those side dishes everyone brought 🙂

You’re Prepared Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

You’ve got this! Hopefully, you found this guide helpful and it has instilled the confidence to tackle hosting Thanksgiving this year.

It’s now time to be the hostess with the “mostess” over at my house 🙂

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Until next time…

Porch Daydreamer

Tracey

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