The Ultimate Guide to a Make-Ahead Thanksgiving

What comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving? A blissful day spending time with loved ones and giving thanks while eating a delicious meal?

Or maybe a scene of absolute chaos is more familiar where something on the stove is smoking, you run out of butter and none of the food comes out at the same time? Just when you think you’re going to lose it, you realize there’s not room in the oven for the sweet potato casserole.

If the latter sounds more accurate, you are the part of the majority! 

Everyone is busy and preparing the largest meal of the year for a group of people with one oven in a single day is extremely challenging to to pull off. Not to mention more time is spent slaving away in the kitchen than spent with loved ones on Thanksgiving.

Make-ahead Thanksgiving meal on white plate.

The Solution

With a goal of making Thanksgiving a day spent with loved ones instead of in the kitchen, I developed and posted a series of 8 make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes.

However, I wanted to take it a step further and find a way to eliminate the chaos, stress and guesswork that comes with planning and preparing a full Thanksgiving meal.

So, I created a complete guide to show you exactly how to prepare and serve those 8 make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes with one oven and zero stress. The planning, checklists, timelines and instructions are all done for you. Pretty slick, huh?


What is on the Thanksgiving Menu?


Make-ahead Thanksgiving meal on white plate.

How This Guide Can Solve Your Thanksgiving Woes

When I started this project a few months ago, I began with interviewing others about their Thanksgiving experiences and the challenges they face when trying to cook for Thanksgiving. I took the most common complaints and created solutions for them with specially developed recipes and resources found in this guide as outlined below.

Problem 1 – Don’t Know What to Make

Solution: If you download this guide, you don’t have to decide what to make. All the classics are already there and trust me when I say these are some tasty recipes.

Problem 2 – Never Enough Time

Solution: This guide already has the recipes, planning, prep and schedule done for you. It even outlines a game plan for the days leading up to Thanksgiving with specific steps to save you time and stress so that you can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving Day. 

Problem 3 – Too Much Stress & Mess

Solution: Every single one of these recipes can be made/prepped days ahead of time. So, on Thanksgiving all you have to do is take each dish out if the fridge and either pop it in the oven, turn on a slow cooker or do a quick 2 minutes assembly in a salad bowl. 

The free guide also includes checklists and to-do lists to help you stay calm, collected and organized. 

Problem 4 – Never Enough Oven Space

Solution: Not a problem with these recipes! With a little creativity and the help of two slow cookers, this entire Thanksgiving meal can be made in one oven with ease! In fact, there might even be a little extra oven space for once! 

Problem 5 – Food Doesn’t Turn Out

Solution: These recipes were specifically designed to be dependable. A lot of testing and re-testing went into these tasty dishes with the sole purpose of making absolutely sure they were reliable and easy to execute. 

Problem 6 – Can’t Get the Timing Right

Solution: I got you covered! I’ve included a thorough yet simple and easy to follow Thanksgiving Day Timeline that I’ve personally tested This timeline tells you exactly when to do everything so that everything comes out perfectly at the same time without any last minute kitchen chaos. The timeline includes everything from when to put dishes in the oven to when things need to be stirred and basted. Each step of each recipe is clearly outlined both in the timeline and recipes.


Table with make-ahead Thanksgiving dishes.

What’s Included in the Free Thanksgiving Guide?

The best thing you will get out of this guide is more time with loved ones and less stress in the kitchen.  Also included in the free guide:

  • Complete Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Menu
  • Grocery List
  • Step-by-Step Game Plan and To-Do Lists
  • Thanksgiving Day Cooking Timeline
  • Serveware Checklist
  • 8 Custom Make-Ahead Recipes

This 17 Page Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Guide is 100% free with no strings attached. Just enter your email below and I’ll send you your free Thanksgiving guide right away!

The Ultimate Guide to a Make-Ahead Thanksgiving

FREE GUIDE

*We respect your privacy. You will never receive spam from Zested L emon.


Eat well, make memories and Happy Thanksgiving! 

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