There are plenty of last‍-‍minute components to every holiday meal. This is exactly why it pays to prepare as much in advance as you can. Of course, some tasks lend themselves to advance prep (chopping veggies) while others are best left for the day of (mashing potatoes). We’ve taken the guesswork out of advance prep with this two‍-‍day checklist‍—‍a simple, step‍-‍by‍-‍step guide to what to do, and when to do it.

Two Days Before

Make and refrigerate cranberry sauce.
Make and refrigerate glaze for turkey.
If your turkey is frozen, put it in your fridge to thaw.
Make the cookie dough and refrigerate it.

One Day Before

Bake sweet potato or pumpkin pies and refrigerate.
Making fresh vegetable side dishes? Prep and refrigerate them now.
Prepare, combine and refrigerate the ingredients for your stuffing. (Don’t bake.)
If you are making bread or rolls, do it today. Store at room temperature.

Morning Of

Bring stuffing to room temperature.

Four Hours Before Mealtime

Put turkey into roast.

One Hour Before Mealtime

Bake the stuffing.
Bring cranberry sauce and pies to room temperature.
Finish the gravy.
Put potatoes on to boil for mashed potatoes.

30 Minutes Before Mealtime

Cook vegetable side dishes.
Mash potatoes.

Just Before Mealtime

Carve the turkey!

Dinner At‍-‍A‍-‍Glance: How much is enough?

Use this handy chart when you’re trying to decide how much food to prepare for your feast.

How Many Guests?	8-10	10-12	12-14	14-18	18-20
Whole Turkey	12-14 pounds	14-18 pounds	18-20 pounds	20-25 pounds	20-25 pounds
Dressing	10-12 cups	12-14 cups	14-16 cups	16-20 cups	20-22 cups
Mashed Potatoes	2 pounds potatoes	3 pounds potatoes	4 pounds potatoes	5 pounds potatoes	9 pounds potatoes
Side Dishes Vegetable, Rice, Pasta (½ cup per dish)	4-5 cups	5-6 cups	6-7 cups	7-9 cups	9-10 cups
Dinner Roll	12-15 rolls	15-18 rolls	18-21 rolls	21-27 rolls	27-30 rolls
Pies & Cheesecakes	1-2 pies/cakes	2 pies/cakes	2 pies/cakes	2-3 pies/cakes	3-4 pies/cakes