The Biggest Meal of the Year Requires a Plan

It’s coming: the meal of the year. It’s the day when we (casually!) whip up the equivalent of a 10-course dinner in our home kitchens, without prep cooks, dishwashers, servers, or bartenders to help. We hunt for the turkey baster we haven’t seen in 364 days and the giant roasting pan tucked under a pile of trays in a back cabinet. We count napkins and napkin rings as we carefully undo the bubble wrap from the gravy boat that has been passed down for generations and is packed away every year after serving its tour of duty on the table.

Why all the fuss? I think it’s because Thanksgiving is just about people and food. It’s a lot of work for the host, but in its own way, has become a favorite holiday for cooks. You aren’t running around shopping for gifts or lighting off fireworks. The tradition of this day is centered at home. You cook a meal for people you care about, nurturing them and your connection in the most classic way, with good food.

How to Plan a Month in Advance

Start Thanksgiving Meal Planning a Month in Advance

Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Dishes — and What Not to Make Ahead

24 Make-Ahead Hors d'Oeuvres for Thanksgiving

18 Holiday Side Dishes to Make Ahead

Some of us spend months getting our menus ready, perhaps auditioning a new recipe, tinkering with a family favorite to make it feel new. We're rearranging recipes and wine pairings and menus like a card game. The winning combination results in a dinner where everything is cooked perfectly, no one talks about politics, and the pies are sheer perfection.

It’s no wonder a lot of home cooks joke that Thanksgiving is their Super Bowl. For the team at Food & Wine, it’s almost a year-round effort as we consider new breeds of turkey to roast, the stuffing or dressing, and gravy that will best complement them, what options we can offer vegetarian guests, and the pies that will bring everyone together in the end. We look at decades' worth of recipes for turkeys, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, biscuits, soups, pies, and everything else you could possibly serve on the day to make sure what we recommend will make this day of feasting.

The One-Week Plan

Plan and Cook a Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner in 1 Week

17 Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Desserts

Making a House Cocktail is the Nicest Thing You Can Do for Yourself This Thanksgiving

You don’t have to be a food magazine editor to put that amount of time and effort into planning Thanksgiving, but we’d like to use all those meetings and recipes to make the holiday a little easier on you. So, we made some lists, starting with a month-long plan for the person who loves to strategize almost as much as they enjoy hosting. Then there’s a guide that details a focused week of shopping, prepping and cooking. And, if you didn’t have the time or bandwidth to plot in advance (or you happen to welcome chaos), there’s an hourly agenda for starting your Thanksgiving prep in the morning, and sitting down to a meal late that afternoon.

Do It All in One Day

This Last-Minute Thanksgiving Menu Plan Will Save Your Holiday

11 Fast Hors d'Oeuvre Recipes for Entertaining

24 Easy Thanksgiving Desserts

Whatever your Thanksgiving style, we have you covered. And we raise a glass to you, the Thanksgiving host who makes the meal and the day worth celebrating.