Assembled here in one place is a collection of make ahead recipes for your holiday meals. You want to spend those special times with your loved ones, not locked away in the kitchen, and we’re here to help you do just that.
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.
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
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.
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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
Creamy Mashed Potatoes from Sue Bee Homemaker
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast and Gravy from Biscuits and Burlap
Traditional Cheese Straws from Biscuits and Burlap
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
Sara’s Crescent Rolls from Cooking with Carlee
Cranberry Swirl Cornbread Muffins from Food Meanderings
Sweet Potato Biscuits from Biscuits and Burlap
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake from Cooking with Carlee
Traditional Pecan Pie from Biscuits and Burlap
Sausage Balls from Biscuits and Burlap
Make up to 5 days in advance
Pineapple Casserole from Sweet and Savory Meals
Make up to 2-3 days in advance
Sweet Potato Crunch from Peel with Zeal
3-Ingredient Cranberry Orange Sauce from The Seasoned Mom
Southern Squash Casserole from Flavor Mosaic
Make up to 1 day in advance
Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole from Healthy Seasonal 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.
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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.
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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
Wow, what a great collection of make ahead meals! My favourite are the Cranberry Swirl Cornbread Muffins from Food Meanderings, they look scrumptious! Cheers
They do look good, don’t they? Thank you!
I LOVE the idea of make ahead meals for the holidays! This will save me time and stress!
Glad to hear it, Cindy. Thank you!
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!
Thank you, Liz!
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!
You are so welcome, Lauren! Thank you.
This is a brilliant idea to save you time and save your sanity!
Thanks, Dana!
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!
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.