Make Ahead Holiday Dinner
Stress no more.
By Erin Henderson
This blog is inspired by, and therefore dedicated to, Christina, who left a question on our You Tube channel about how far in advance to make mashed potatoes.
I love this question because we here at TWS are absolute, confirmed, died-in-the-wool loyalists to cooking in advance and getting as much done as possible before the big day. At least if you want to have fun at your own party.
There have been a few other questions regarding a make-ahead menu for the holidays, so I thought a quick list of what, when, and how items for your feast can be made in advance would be helpful right about now.
You might also like: The 7 Day Plan to Planning Christmas Dinner
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General Advice
- Plan a menu with a mix of items that can be served hot (turkey and gravy), cold (salads), and room temperature (stuffing, roast carrots, rolls). This will lessen the demands on the stove and oven.
- Use and abuse your slow cookers, Instant Pots, and pressure cookers.
- What’s great about cold weather entertaining? You can use your back porch as a cooler! Store items (well-sealed to foil the nosy attempts of curious animals) outside until they need to go on the table or in the oven.
Meats and Main Courses
Turkey
Turkey can be cooked a day ahead and still taste fresh and hot on the day.
Leave it to Ina Garten for this genius method of cooking and carving your turkey the day before, including making the gravy, and reheating to absolute perfection within 45 minutes of sitting down to dinner.
Simply store your carved turkey on a platter with a little chicken or turkey stock at the bottom of the tray to keep it from drying out, tightly cover it, and store in the fridge overnight. Do the same for your gravy.
Bring the chilled turkey up to room temperature for about an hour. While this is happening warm the gravy in a sauce pot on low heat for it to loosen up, then spoon it across the bottom of an oven proof serving platter. Set the carved turkey on top and place the whole thing in 350°F oven to reheat for about 45 minutes.
Beef
When I was working in restaurants, beef tenderloin was the hero of any big function for its ease, versatility, and crowd-pleasing, wow factor.
Chefs would prep the tenderloin a day in advance and reheat the next day to amazing results. Just season your raw beef and sear it off in a hot pan. Place the seared beef on a baking tray in a 350°F oven and roast until the beef reaches an internal temperature of about 125°F. Place in the fridge to cool. Once cool, cover tightly and leave in the fridge until needed the next day. Put the beef back in a 350°F oven and heat until 130°F for medium-rare. Let rest for about 10-15 minutes, carve, and serve.
Once the beef is cooked, you needn't rush to get to the table. Serving beef tenderloin at room temperature is a boon for stress-free hosting – and it might even be tastier. Leaving a cooked filet out for an hour or two in standard room temperature (20°C-25°C) shouldn’t run the risk of any harm.
Salmon
A lot of salmon lovers prefer to eat their fish cold – especially when it’s smoked.
Just roast your side of salmon the way you like, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day. Serve cold with your favourite sauces.
Pasta
Unfortunately, I’ve never found a recipe for make-ahead pasta that actually tastes good. However, you can certainly make robust ragus and meat sauces well in advance to great success.
The only exception to this would be lasagna, which can be prepared and assembled the day before and left covered, uncooked in the fridge and baked off the next day.
Sauces
Gravy
This can be one of the most stressful parts of any holiday dinner. Trying to manage the carving of the bird with the pan drippings and getting together a gravy at the last minute can be a harried experience for even the most experienced of hosts.
My vote would be to make it in advance (I’ve heard some chefs keep a stock frozen in their fridges for big family dinners), but you can certainly make a killer gravy five days in advance with a flavoured stock, thickened by roux and finished with some of those precious drippings. Shocked and awed? Don’t be. Mark Bittman has a great recipe.
Cranberry
You can buy a can at the supermarket any time. No need to wait til the big day. Just kidding! Sort of.
Cranberry sauce, just like any jam or jelly can be made weeks ahead of time.
Hollandaise
Believe it or not, hollandaise isn’t the delicate snowflake food bloggers want you to believe.
My first culinary instructor was a master at eggs benedict for a crowd and would treat our Saturday morning class to this luxe breakfast. His trick for keeping the Hollandaise flowing? In pro kitchens, it’s kept off the burner but on the shelf at the back of the stove to stay warm from residual heat. In home kitchens? An old-fashioned Thermos works just fine.
Sides + Salads
Green Salads
Tossing delicate lettuces and typical salad veggies with the dressing in advance will lead to wilting and unappealing texture. However, you can certainly prep the vegetables and store separately in containers in the fridge up to three days in advance. The salad dressing can be made up to a week in advance. Just toss everything together right before serving.
Hearty Salads
Think robust vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celeriac, kale, and root vegetables that can hold up, and even improve by being made a day or two in advance. Salads I lean on during the holidays is our Red Salad and a Fennel and Walnut salad. Both last days in the fridge for days and get better with time.
Casseroles
Scalloped potatoes, classic green bean, French tian, lasagna, mac and cheese, sweet potato … shall I go on? Any stacked dish that incorporates some kind of combination of vegetables, cream, cheese, meat, and/or pasta can easily be prepared and assembled the day before and baked off right before serving.
You might also like: The Art of the Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
I typically make these a la minute, but that’s not to say you can’t save time by making them a day in advance. Once mashed, tightly seal in a container and leave in the fridge. Reheat by warming a little milk and butter in a sauce pot, and adding the cooled potatoes, stirring and adding more milk as necessary until they loosen and become creamy again.
Stuffing
No problem. Stuffing is made from stale bread, after all. You can make this up to four days in advance and safely keep it in the fridge. Weeks – and even months – in advance if freezing.
Roast Brussels Sprouts
Roasting Brussels sprouts ahead of time is not advisable as they get soft being stored in the fridge. However, you can prep your sprouts, as well as any accoutrements you will be roasting with them (bacon, garlic, onion, dressing/sauce etc.) and then bring together and cook right before serving.
Baked Sweet + Regular Potatoes
This should be done right before serving for best results. Potatoes can turn black when exposed to the air for long, and the texture can change, so it’s best to leave this one to the day-of.
Desserts
Pies
Yes. Yes. Yes. Make the pie, allow to cool, wrap well, and freeze for up to three months. When ready, bake in the oven to reheat.
Cookies
Yes. Frozen cookie dough is the best. But if you want the actual cookie, just spoon off the dough and bake as needed.
Cakes
Loaves, bundts, and sheet cakes can all be frozen. Just allow the cake to cool, wrap well and freeze for up to three months. When ready, allow the cake to thaw at room temperature on the counter and then carry on with the decorating.