Which thanksgiving dishes make ahead

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy Rating: 4. I discovered this excellent Thanksgiving gravy recipe years ago! The gravy will keep for 3 months when frozen in an airtight container.

By SUE How to Freeze Pumpkin Pie Got extra pumpkin pie? That's the opposite of a problem. By Sarra Sedghi. Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread Rating: 4.

By Laurie Bennett. Best Spinach Dip Ever. Best Spinach Dip Ever Rating: 4. This is my dad's recipe. The entire family loves it! A flavorful spinach mixture fills a tasty bread bowl. Your family will love it, too. By Shawna. Easy Homemade Pie Crust. Easy Homemade Pie Crust Rating: 4. This pie crust is my personal favorite and is made using a food processor, which makes cutting the butter into the flour very simple.

By the way, you can make a double batch of this, and freeze the individually wrapped dough for future pie-related adventures.

Apple Pie Filling. Apple Pie Filling Rating: 4. Freezer apple pie filling. With this recipe, you can treat your family with pies year-round. By Terri. Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes. Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes Rating: 4. You can make these ahead several days and store in the fridge.

If baking cold, let stand 30 minutes first. By Carol Evans. Inspiration and Ideas closeup of a serving of brown sugar- and pecan-topped sweet potato casserole. Just stash them in the freezer, and you'll have even more to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Breasts. Caramel Pecan Pie with lace placemat. A cheese ball coated with chopped nuts with crackers on either side. Close looking into a bowl of creamy make ahead mashed potatoes topped with a melting pat of butter, and fresh cracked black pepper.

Rating: 4. Make-Ahead Garlic Toast. Savory Pumpkin Hummus. Chef John's Potato Roses Rating: 4. Baked rose-shaped potato gratins would be great for entertaining, since you can make them ahead, and keep them warm in the pan, or cool and reheat in the oven when you are ready to serve. The technique is straightforward, but make sure you season the potatoes generously. Rich Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy. If you're like me, I can't stand the last minute rush and expectations in making the turkey gravy.

You have one shot and it better be good! Well, this takes out all the stress of that last minute dash. Can be frozen or refrigerated for five days. This is honestly the best turkey gravy I've ever had. You dirty a few pots and pans, but it sure beats the last minute rush Thanksgiving Day.

Let me know what you think. Bon appetite! By john. Cranberry Bread Pudding Rating: 4. By Mike Smith. Chef John's Buttermilk Pie. Chef John's Buttermilk Pie Rating: 4. Not only is this buttermilk pie easy to make and beautiful to look at, it's also bursting with the kind of bright, tangy flavor that no other custard-style pie can touch. This is sort of like a vanilla custard, meets lemon meringue pie, meets very light cheesecake.

Except better. Snickerdoodle-Crusted Apple Pie. Snickerdoodle-Crusted Apple Pie Rating: 4. What happens when you combine two of our favorite things into one pie? Buttery cookie crumbs scented with cinnamon act as both crust and crumble topping, making this an easy and delicious dessert option for your Thanksgiving table.

By Ashley Baron Rodriguez. Spanakopita II. Spanakopita II Rating: 4. The recipe for these spinach and feta appetizer triangles came from a Greek family friend.

They may be frozen prior to baking. Chocolate Cream Pie I. Chocolate Cream Pie I Rating: 4. Creamy chocolate-filled pastry. Top with whipped cream and grated chocolate if you like. By Debbie Cavitt. Holiday Cranberry Sauce.

Holiday Cranberry Sauce Rating: 4. This recipe was given to me by a friend of mine. It has been a family favorite for over ten years. I make it for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas dinner. Turkey Cheese Ball for Thanksgiving. Turkey Cheese Ball for Thanksgiving Rating: 4. Any cheese ball recipe can be turned into the shape of a turkey for a festive appetizer for your Thanksgiving dinner.

All you need is some creativity! By Allrecipes. Cheesecake with Cranberry Glaze and Sugared Cranberries. Cranberries and orange are a natural pairing, and I wanted to combine them in a cheesecake fit for the Thanksgiving table.

The cranberry glaze is a really beautiful color, and the sugared cranberries are the perfect topping. Most of the work is done the night before, so it's not even that hard to make. By LauraF. Cranberry, Apple, and Fresh Ginger Chutney. This piquant chutney is not as sweet as traditional cranberry sauce. The bite of the fresh ginger will become more pronounced as the chutney rests.

If you have any left after Thanksgiving, try it in turkey sandwiches with a smear of cream cheese. By foodelicious. My cranky old oven is very small and slow, so I devised this method of cooking holiday meals.

The slow cooker keeps the turkey breast moist, and cooking the dressing in the same cooker gives it a wonderful flavor. By Fishwrap. Olive Puffs. Doing it this way allows me to use an utterly scrumptious, homemade turkey stock in dishes like my stuffing and mashed potatoes, and it keeps me from having to stress out over making gravy in real time on the day of.

Instead, I know that this key piece of the meal is already finished and I can make an extra-large batch, because you never have enough gravy. This one is easy: Mash and season your potatoes the day before, then stow them in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.

Reheat by putting them in a saucepan over low heat and mixing in more warm milk and butter — the added liquid will make them extra luscious, smooth, and flavorful.

Check out our collection of Mashed Potato Recipes to find the perfect recipe for your table. Setting the table the day before Thanksgiving will save you a headache on the day-of. It pays off to go ahead and make sure you know what you'll be serving each dish in. I've even gone so far as to use sticky notes to mark what goes where. If you're worried about dust settling, you can always use a second tablecloth to go over the whole setting.

You can wash your vegetables and cut them, and even make your salad dressing, but please don't dress your salad until the very last minute, otherwise the whole thing will turn into a soggy, unappetizing mess. Related: 22 Simple Fall and Winter Salads.

It's tough to reheat a roasted bird without drying it out, so I recommend letting the turkey be something you actually do day-of. The bonus here is that the aroma of the turkey will make your house truly smell like Thanksgiving, and there's no candle that can do that for you. Just make sure the turkey is seasoned and ready to go right into the oven first thing in the morning on Thanksgiving Day. For more inspiration, explore our entire collection of Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Recipes.

By Maddy Sweitzer-Lamme October 05, Pin FB Share. All rights reserved.