Q: My partner and I will be out of the country the days immediately before Thanksgiving (on different trips). He gets back the day before and I get back the day of. It will be our first solo Thanksgiving together so I'd hate to miss out on the holiday completely.
Do you or any of your readers have any thoughts on traditional dishes to prepare about a week before Thanksgiving that will keep well in the freezer until the big day?
Sent by Virginia-Marie
Editor: Virginia-Marie, here are a few suggestions on things to make ahead and freeze:
• Turkey gravy (look for a tutorial on this early next week)
• Pie crusts
• Unbaked rolls or biscuits
• Baked casseroles or creamy gratins
• Stuffing
But most of the other major Thanksgiving dishes can actually be made very quickly and easily! Since there are just two of you, I suggest roasting a small chicken (here's how to do it), and then boiling a couple potatoes and quickly mashing them. Then you'll have a bird, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, gravy, and pies. Maybe throw a salad in too, for good measure, and a baked sweet potato.
Readers, any suggestions for Virginia-Marie and her small, cozy Thanksgiving dinner?
Related: Five Thanksgiving Prep Tips from Melissa Clark
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Comments (9)
Soups!
Cranberry sauce, biscuits (chemical/butter rising, not yeast), even the mashed potatoes you could freeze ahead of time.
I second the soups! Pumpkin soup (or butternut squash soup) is very thanksgiving-day -y and would freeze really well.
I also think you could make a small batch of Mark Bittman's braised turkey for the two of you, and braised meats freeze really well. You'd just have to pop them in the oven to warm them up. Add in some greenbeans (get your hubby to buy them when he gets back, they are really easy to top and tail and steam), and some stuffing... which, really, is stove top that hard to mix up on the day of? and you've got a feast!
Like others said--mashed potatoes, providing they have a decent amount of fat in them, freeze very nicely. I wouldn't even do them though. I'd just do a roast chicken, as suggested, roasted root veggies, which can all be thrown in a pan easily the day of with little prep, and a big green salad with fun stuff on it, like pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, cranberries, or pumpkin seeds. Cranberry relish is easy to whip up in 10 minutes the day of too: cranberries, a thin-skinned orange, a bit of sugar and some Grand Marnier all in the food processor.
What I would freeze would be desserts--pies, bars, etc. And as suggested the rolls--Sister Shubert's frozen yeast rolls are better than many homemade, in my opinion.
No reason to just freeze the pie crust - pumpkin and sweet potato pie freeze amazingly well. Even a sweet potato casserole without the toppings - defrost the day before, pop toppings on and put in the oven day of.
Cranberry sauce can be prepared now and refrigerated. It's so acidic it keeps in the fridge for at least a couple months.
Some years I've made enough cranberries for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and just refrigerated the Christmas portion. I'm making mine this weekend.
what is the situation with freezing gratins?
i've been making this delicious summer gratin from the kitchn with butternut squash & sweet potatoes & other types of potatoes (like purple ones!).
i'd like to make it for thanksgiving, but my mother is very serious about cooking as much as possible ahead of time. if it needs the oven & conflicts with the turkey, she is very suspicious.
it's also important that the dish come out really well, because she's skeptical about trying new things on the ultimate tradition-focused day. does anyone have any tips? (thanks!!)
i made a " mini thanksgiving" for my partner and i a couple of years ago:
-2 turkey cutlets, pounded out thin, and then filled with a stuffing that I made out of breadcrumbs, sauteed onions, celery and carrots and spices
- I rolled the whole thing up and stuck toothpicks in it.
- then, into the pan to brown on all sides, and into the oven for finishing
- I served it with mashed potatoes, packaged gravy and cranberry sauce.
Almost all the thanksgiving flavors - and it was DELISH!
Emily, I personally don't find that potatoes freeze well. I've tried but they just don't taste the same to me. I know others feel differently though! I know it's a pain but I recommend a test run. Make your gratin, freeze, and see what you think. Your mom sounds exactly like my mom, and I always do a test run before bringing a new food to Thanksgiving! Saves me from hearing "See? Just stick with the classics!"
For the original question, everyone has listed some great ideas--I routinely freeze Thanksgiving foods like cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls, and desserts like pies or cakes. I know some people passionately hate her, but Rachael Ray has done some Thanksgiving Day menus that you can easily put together in around an hour. There's nothing wrong with simple food that doesn't take hours to prepare! Or if you really don't think you'll be up for cooking that day, you could always postpone. My husband used to work in restaurants and would often have to work until kind of late that day. We'd just have something simple that night but then do our real dinner the next day. Gave us plenty of time to lounge around and cook.
Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I never would have thought of the cranberry sauce bit. I really appreciate each of you taking the time, and will definitely be drawing on your previous experiences.
Virginia-Marie