Can you freeze Thanksgiving side dishes? Yes, you can! Put your feet up this Thanksgiving with this Make-Ahead and Freeze Thanksgiving Side Dishes freezer cooking plan.
While you may want to Cook a Turkey on Thanksgiving Day itself, the side dishes are pretty flexible. You can make and freeze sides like Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom and Onion Gravy far in advance and buy yourself valuable minutes in the days leading up to the holiday.
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When you’re a food blogger, you learn things about holiday cooking that you might not otherwise consider. One year I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal a few days after Halloween so that I could take photos and share the recipes before you needed them.
I had a major epiphany that has changed my life. I even recorded it on Facebook:
I cooked Thanksgiving yesterday — and it reminded me WHAT A CHORE that meal is to me. I spent all day. And I didn’t really enjoy it. So, I’m on a mission to see what I can do to make this work — without all the hassle and without buying a fake food meal at the store. Thinking of make-ahead and freeze….
November 4, 2013
And I did just that. That year and the years following I established the tradition of freezing Thanksgiving side dishes a few weeks in advance. I could spread them out over several days and build a stash in the freezer. I was more peaceful and I’ve come to enjoy the holiday so much more.
Why Do This
You buy yourself time. One of the benefits of Thanksgiving is seeing friends and family you haven’t seen in awhile. If you’re stuck in the kitchen, you don’t get to enjoy their company as much as you could. When you freeze your Thanksgiving side dishes, you buy yourself more free time over the holiday week.
You can experiment with recipes. If you’re someone who likes to try new recipes, you can do freeze Thanksgiving side dishes that might be new to you, without the pressure of it working out. Bonus: you can do a taste test and make sure it’s something you want to serve on the big day. (If your recipe doesn’t specifically offer freezing instructions, be sure it’s on the list below of Thanksgiving Side Dishes to freeze.
You can serve more of your favorites. When you spread out your cooking time over several weeks, you allow yourself more room for variety. Freeze Thanksgiving side dishes and you can have more dishes prepped and ready than you could probably prepare that day.
What Can You Freeze
There’s an incredible number of foods that you can freeze that serve as Thanksgiving Side Dishes. Consider this general list:
- sweet potato casserole – Prep but do not bake. Chill, cover, and freeze. Thaw before baking.
- green bean casserole – Prep but do not bake. Chill, cover, and freeze. Thaw before baking.
- mashed potatoes – Prep, chill, cover, and freeze. Thaw before reheating.
- cheesy potatoes – Prep but do not bake. Chill, cover, and freeze. Thaw before baking.
- mac and cheese – Prep but do not bake. Chill, cover, and freeze. Thaw before baking.
- dinner rolls – Bake and cool on a rack. Wrap and freeze. Thaw and reheat in the oven.
- cranberry sauce – Prep and cool. Cover and freeze. Thaw before serving.
- soups – Prep, chill, cover, and freeze. Reheating in a pot on the stove. See Tips for Making Soups for the Freezer
- gravy – Prep, chill, cover, and freeze. Reheating in a pot on the stove.
- fruit pies – Prep but do not bake. Cover and freeze. Bake from frozen.
- nut pies – Bake and cool on a rack. Wrap and freeze. Thaw and serve
- cinnamon rolls – Prep but do not bake. Freeze. Thaw and allow to rise before baking. See How to Freeze Cinnamon Rolls.
- compound butter – prep, wrap, and freeze. Thaw in refrigerator.
Recommended Supplies
Here’s some of the packaging that will come in handy to freeze Thanksgiving side dishes:
A Freezer Cooking Plan
To make it easier to freeze Thanksgiving side dishes, I’ve put together a freezer cooking plan that includes:
- a prep checklist
- a detailed cooking plan
- a detailed grocery list
- recipes for mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, apple pie, and pie crust
- printable labels for easy labeling of the finished products
Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, taking a few dishes to share to a family gathering, or simply want to get ahead on holiday-style meals this season, this freezer cooking plan is for you!
Cooking up these items takes only a few hours and the rewards are huge! If you haven’t noticed already, these dishes also work for Christmas, New Years, and any other big feast you’ve got planned over the next couple months.
Make your holiday dinners delicious and easy without feeling stressed; freeze Thanksgiving side dishes.
This post was originally published on November 18, 2015. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Catherine Nathanson
Hi Jessica,
This is great! Thanks so much for sharing the great recipes and a kick in the pants to get started earlier this year. I was wondering if you knew how to adapt the recipe for the Pumpkin Onion Rolls for use without a bread machine. We haven’t made the step up to a bread machine yet and I would need to make them by hand.
Jessica Fisher
Yes! It’s going to be similar to however you make other rolls. If making the dough by hand: Combine the buttermilk, oil, and sugar in a medium-size saucepan and warm slightly over medium heat. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the yeast. Stir and allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes. Add the flours, egg, pumpkin puree, onion flakes, salt, and poppy seeds. Stir to combine well. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and
knead for 5 minutes to create a smooth, elastic dough, adding more all-purpose flour as necessary. Transfer to a greased bowl and turn the
dough ball to coat. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Then proceed with the recipe. I’ll add this over on that recipe’s page.
Catherine Nathanson
Yeah! These rolls sound delicious. Thanks for adding the extra info so we can make them this year for Thanksgiving. Your recipes have really transformed how we cook in our family.
Kelly
Have you ever done a “healthified” broccoli rice casserole? Like you did with the green bean casserole? My mom’s recipe has Cheez Whiz ?, canned cream of soup & minute rice in it. Any ideas? I
Jessica Fisher
Yes! It’s in the current Month of Meals plan. It’s got chicken in it as well. https://fishmama.com/product/a-month-of-fabulous-fall-meal-plans/ I haven’t blogged it yet since it’s not super photogenic. LOL!
Sherry
Hi Jessica!
Curious about the cinnamon rolls…
We have make a tradition out of your cinnamon roll turkeys (Thanks for the fun memories!) I have made homemade rolls many times, but always buy the canned for the turkeys. Thinking of trying the homemade like you started doing. I noticed they are not cut in the photo above where you have them bagged. Did you freeze them that way before slicing?
Jessica Fisher
They are sliced in the bag. I sliced them, freeze them on a tray, and then put them in the bag to go back in the freezer. You can read more about that process here. Then I usually freeze a ball of dough (or make that part fresh on the day before Thanksgiving) to make feet, feathers, and beak. It saves so much time to have at least part of this recipe already made!
Amanda
Hi Jessica! In the latest email I received there is a picture of different colored pans, I think they might be foil? They are in the header picture at the top of the email. I love them! Is this something you have found in stores? I’m curious where I might find them…
Jessica Fisher
I found them at Party City. 😉
Amanda
Great, thank you!!
Casey Fitzgerald
Thanks for sharing these easy ideas. I can wait to try. I have a couple questions. Re heating the gravy if freezing ahead of time? I don’t own a microwave. The cranberry dressing do u let that thaw and serve?
Jessica Fisher
Thaw the gravy and then reheat in a pan on the stovetop. Whisk to help the texture. Cranberry sauce: thaw and serve chilled.