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Home » Cooking & Entertaining Essentials

Published: Oct 26, 2018 · Modified: Jan 30, 2024 by Pam

Make Ahead Recipes for Holiday Meals

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make ahead recipes

Make ahead recipes are absolute favorites around here. The more prep you can do in advance of a big holiday meal, the more time you will have to actually enjoy your family and friends. There will still be plenty of last minutes touches that can be a tag-team effort, and that is part of the fun.

So, these recipes are a far cry from having a caterer bring your meal in and set up a buffet. You'll still enjoy home cooked foods, and have enough to do to get the camraderie that comes from a group of individuals rolling up their sleeves and working together.

Table of contents

  • Make Ahead Recipes cut way back on holiday stress
  • My best tip for keeping food warm
  • Make ahead recipes listed by how far in advance you can make them:
  • Make up to 2-3 months in advance
  •  
  • Make Ahead Recipes up to 2-4 weeks in advance
  • Make up to 5 days in advance
  •  
  • Make up to 2-3 days in advance
  • Make up to 1 day in advance
  • A few items you may need for your holiday cooking:

Make Ahead Recipes cut way back on holiday stress

How many of you have been the host of a big meal and get all jittery wondering if you'll get it all done? You watch the clock like it's a ticking time bomb. Before you know it, you have 5 things to bake an hour, room in the oven for 3 dishes, it's an hour before everyone arrives and you still need a shower?

Don't let that happen. Take a little time to plan ahead and really enjoy the process of cooking - days or even weeks in advance. Then, when the big day comes you'll be cool, calm and collected.

My best tip for keeping food warm

make ahead recipes

Before we get to the make ahead recipes let me refer you back to my best tip for keeping food warm (or cool). I use this on the day of the big meal so I can bake something ahead of time and know it will still be warm at meal time. Check this post for that easy tip. 

Hey, did you know you can sign up here to get our weekly updates delivered to your In Box?

Make ahead recipes listed by how far in advance you can make them:

We'll start with the ones that could be made as far as 2-3 months ahead and move forward in time from there. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to make them that far ahead, but you could.

Make up to 2-3 months in advance

make ahead recipes

Creamy Mashed Potatoes from Sue Bee Homemaker

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast and Gravy from Biscuits and Burlap

make ahead recipes

Traditional Cheese Straws from Biscuits and Burlap

make ahead recipes

 

Make Ahead Recipes up to 2-4 weeks in advance

(Note: Breads are an excellent choices for making and freezing, so we're offering you several options)

Rosemary and Garlic Biscuits from Earth, Food & Fire

make ahead recipes

Sara's Crescent Rolls from Cooking with Carlee

make ahead recipes

Cranberry Swirl Cornbread Muffins from Food Meanderings

make ahead recipes

Sweet Potato Biscuits from Biscuits and Burlap

make ahead recipes

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake from Cooking with Carlee

make ahead recipes

Traditional Pecan Pie from Biscuits and Burlap

slice of pie with bite on fork

Sausage Balls from Biscuits and Burlap

make ahead recipes

Make up to 5 days in advance

Pineapple Casserole from Sweet and Savory Meals

make ahead recipes

 

Make up to 2-3 days in advance

Sweet Potato Crunch from Peel with Zeal

make ahead recipes

3-Ingredient Cranberry Orange Sauce from The Seasoned Mom

make ahead recipes

Southern Squash Casserole from Flavor Mosaic

make ahead recipes

Make up to 1 day in advance

Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole from Healthy Seasonal Recipes

make ahead recipes

We hope you've found several recipes here that you can "make ahead". We would love knowing that we've helped you find the way to enjoy a bit more time with your loved ones and still have a beautiful holiday meal on your table.

Don't forget to sign up here for weekly updates from Biscuits and Burlap.

To help you out even more with planning ahead we've been collecting recipes to a Pinterest board for some time now and you can see all of them here.  If you're not already following us on Pinterest you'll want to take care of that right now by clicking here. 

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read our full disclosure policy.

A few items you may need for your holiday cooking:

  • Check out this gorgeous baking dish
  • Need new wine glasses? This set is versatile and affordable!
  • Need to freshen up your cloth napkins? These are classic white napkins.
  • You'll love this natural looking Harvest Centerpiece
  • This link takes you to a whole page of beautiful white tablecloths

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Adrianne says

    October 27, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    Wow, what a great collection of make ahead meals! My favourite are the Cranberry Swirl Cornbread Muffins from Food Meanderings, they look scrumptious! Cheers

    Reply
    • Pam says

      October 28, 2018 at 2:57 pm

      They do look good, don't they? Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Cindy Gordon says

    October 27, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    I LOVE the idea of make ahead meals for the holidays! This will save me time and stress!

    Reply
    • Pam says

      October 28, 2018 at 2:56 pm

      Glad to hear it, Cindy. Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Liz says

    October 27, 2018 at 7:26 pm

    I was just talking to a friend about trying to find recipes that we could make in advance so Thanksgiving wouldn't be so chaotic! This list is perfect!

    Reply
    • Pam says

      October 28, 2018 at 2:55 pm

      Thank you, Liz!

      Reply
  4. Lauren Vavala | DeliciousLittleBites says

    October 27, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    Always a great idea to make some dishes ahead of time! I like my holidays to be low stress, with plenty of family time and this definitely helps! Thanks for some great ideas!

    Reply
    • Pam says

      October 28, 2018 at 2:55 pm

      You are so welcome, Lauren! Thank you.

      Reply
  5. Dana says

    October 27, 2018 at 8:08 pm

    This is a brilliant idea to save you time and save your sanity!

    Reply
    • Pam says

      October 28, 2018 at 2:55 pm

      Thanks, Dana!

      Reply
  6. Jackie says

    November 02, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    Love your website and newsletter. Thanks for all the wonderful make-ahead recipes! Going to start on them this weekend. May I ask what do you use mostly to wrap these for the freezer...foil, freezer plastic wrap, freezer paper...to keep from getting freezer burn? I know to make sure everything is completely cooled. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Pam says

      November 04, 2018 at 9:56 am

      Thank you for the kind words, Jackie. In general we like to wrap tightly with a plastic wrap and then follow that with aluminum foil. If you're wondering about a specific recipe from the round up that is from another blogger you could reach out to them for recommendations.

      Reply

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