These meal prep secrets and holiday cooking tips will make everything easier this year.
There are some people who are organizational rock stars when it comes to holiday cooking.
This year you’re going to be THAT person.
Once you get a handle on pre-prepping, the day-of is a breeze. The steps outlined below will make everything feel like a lot less work, free up a TON time and gives you back your pre-holiday sanity.
The first year I put this system into practice was the year I realized I would NEVER cook any other way. You’ll get out of the kitchen, and actually spend time with the people you love.
So, where do you start?
First, write out your menu.
Then break that menu down into a shopping list. Once you’ve got the shopping list, star all the foods that can be prepped ahead of time.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to tackle the pre-prep.
Steps to pre-prep your holiday meals and keep you sanity
Figure out all the things that need to be washed, chopped and seasoned
These are also the things that can then usually go into the fridge (or freezer) until you’re ready to use them.
Cut and season meat the day before. This can even be done the week of and kept in the freezer until you need it. Chop hard vegetables like carrots, Brussels Sprouts, and onions a couple days in advance. Wash and cut greens, up to 3 days in advance. Store leafy vegetables in a ziploc bag with a paper towel to absorb any moisture and keep the leaves fresh.
Measure out dry ingredients and separate into containers or ziplocs
Most desserts can be made in advance. Things like cookies can be made a couple days ahead. Pies and cakes are fine the day before.
If you like the “right out the oven” vibe, pre-mix the dry ingredients and put each into separate ziplocs. You’ll have one for cookies, another for the cake, another for the pie crust, etc. If you’re baking off cornbread or biscuits, make ziplocks for those dry ingredients as well.
To take your ziplocs to the next level, take a sharpie and write what’s in the bag along with anything else you need to finish the recipe (like this, BISCUITS: 2 eggs, butter and buttermilk). You can do this in less than an hour, a week in advance. You’ll have half your baking already done.
Pre-cook or pre-assemble whatever you can
Foods that need to be cooked before you can use them like pasta and hard boiled eggs are a great way to prep a day (or two) ahead of time. These things can go into the fridge and be ready to go directly into whatever recipe you want.
Doing this will save you not only the stove top space but ALSO the hassle of having to wait for water to boil before you can get that thing to cook.
Assembling in advance works for things like candied yams, lasagna or baked ziti, mac and cheese. Anything that gets fully cooked when it goes in the oven can be put together today and then popped into the oven tomorrow.
Cook what you can in advance
Some people don’t like to eat food that hasn’t been made day-of. But I always find there are some things that taste BETTER the next day. These are the things to cook off the day before and then do a gentle reheat day-of.
Foods that work well are any meats that gets stewed and any vegetables that get cooked down like greens and beans. If you’re making a soup, definitely do that at least a day ahead.
Depending on your menu and how many people you’re feeding, you can do any combination of these tips. But doing them all together, along with a little planning, will make sure you’re spending less time sweating in the kitchen and more time hanging out with your people.
I’ve put all this information along with a checklist and a few helpful worksheets that take you through all these steps, together in this download.
Everything is printable if you want to post it to the fridge. It’s also great for easy referencing as you set up your menu and prepare to conquer this holiday season like a CHAMPION.