After I made my very first Thanksgiving dinner many years ago, I developed a whole new respect for my Mom. She just always made Thanksgiving seem so effortless. We’d have tons of guests in our house and my Mom always put on a huge meal with delicious food. She was never frenzied or stressed, but always perfectly coiffed and ready to entertain.
After my first Thanksgiving disaster, I asked her how she did it. As it turns out 90% of the Thanksgiving meal was prepared and cooked ahead of time. Brilliant! I’ve since adopted her method and I now find Thanksgiving dinner so much easier
Start now and look for recipes that can be made ahead of time like this Cranberry Sauce or these Cheesy Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes.
There’s two things I really love about these Cheesy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes. First, they don’t dry out when they are reheated. Second, cheese. Who tries to get more cheese in their life all the time? This chick right here, that’s who. The older the cheese the better for this recipe, so don’t be nervous buying an extra old or sharp block of cheddar.
Pro-tip for boiling your potatoes. Cut you potatoes into 1 inch chunks rather than leaving whole to boil. This ensures that your potatoes will cook evenly.
This recipe is perfect for any meal when you’re entertaining from Sunday dinner to Thanksgiving to Christmas. Add it into your menu rotation and you’ll never be sorry.
Cheesy Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes about 6, peeled, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup shredded old Cheddar Cheese
- 1/4 cup Miracle Whip Original Spread
- 1 green onion sliced
Instructions
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Cook potatoes in boiling water in large saucepan 15 to 20 minutes or until tender; drain.
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Mash potatoes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Spoon into microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 5 to 7 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
Scrumptious Cranberry Turkey Bowtie Salad: A Perfect Blend of Sweet and Savory!
I make my perogies ahead of time.
I make my cranberry sauce ahead of time, as I find it thickens the longer it is refrigerated! ❤️
Looks looks delicious !
Pumpkin Pie of coarse.
Green bean bake.
we make our cranberry sauce a few days ahead
mashed potatoes
My pumpkin pie!
My favourite make ahead dish is layered jello! The kids love it
I prep all of my vegetables so they are just roast or boil away
My favourite make-ahead side dish for Thanksgiving and the holidays Scalloped Peas and Onions.
my favorite dish to make ahead of time is barbecue baked beans. So good!
I make my special potato and bread filling a few days prior, as well as a few desserts.
It makes everything much easier on Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Day, if we have some things already made or at least prepared.
We have veggie and fruit and cheese trays so I try to get most of that cut up at least the day before.
Thank you for sharing your recipe! I never even thought of doing this and combining these ingredients! I am anxious to try this!!
Make my veggies, cabbage rolls & periogies ahead of time, love to just reheat
I make fresh homemade dinner rolls the day before. and then just reheat them the day of.
pie is something that we make ahead. Most other things we make the day of.
I prep all my veggies ahead of time so that when its time, all I have to do is pop them in the oven and turn on the stove. Since my kids don’t like mashed potatoes, I do a roasted vegetable dish. I use carrots, baby or creamer potatoes, parsnips, turnips, garlic (left whole), onion, and celery and I toss them with a little bit of Italian salad dressing, and about an hour before dinner I pop them in the oven (covered) and roast them up.
I peel and wash all my veggies ahead of time,and make desserts!
I make apple and blueberrie pies ahead of time
Jonnie
oven baked French toast
I always make our peas pudding ahead of time 🙂 Thanks!
prepare the veggies ahead of time.
My favorite make ahead side dish for holiday meals is cabbage rolls.
definitely pumpkin pie and perogies too mmmm
we make perogies or meatballs
Have to make the pumpkin pie the night before and the pumpkin cheesecake so it has time to set .
I make a wicked potato salad that the whole Family goes nuts for!
Obsessed with Brussel Sprouts
Pumpkin Pie!! Yum!
We love a Broccoli salad
stuffing
Our favorite is pasta salad! Pasta, shredded cheeses (we use cheddar, havarti and mozzarella), black olives, diced peppers, green onion, mix 1/2 and half of Greek salad dressing and Kraft Miracle Whip, toss all together and the longer it sits, the better it tastes!
I make a potato salad and pie 🙂
Mine would have to be stuffing/dressing. I don’t like to actually stuff the bird, I like to make it ahead of time on the side.
I make apple pie the ahead of time.
Mmmmm my husbands Newfie stuffing lol
Delish
we always prepare an apple/blueberry cobbler the night before. yum!
I like to make the pumpkin pies early
curry carrots. They are always a hit and you can prepare them ahead of time which is handy!
cranberry sauce!
Potato salad.
Mashed potatoes and then you reheat the whole thing in the oven with more cheese on top.
I like to make ahead carmelized onions
I make a cheese ball ahead of time.
My favourite make ahead side dish would be a marinated carrot salad.
i make my cabbage rolls in advance
mine is candied yams
My favourite make ahead side dish is my famous spinach dip
Pumpkin pie, always tastes best made ahead
i bake pumpkin and apple pies ahead of time..and of course they are my fave
My favourite make-ahead side dish is a sweet potato casserole.
I like to make puff pastry pinwheels ahead of time…they freeze really well and save me so much time!
My favourite make ahead appetizer for the holidays is bacon & spinach wrapped chicken bites – so yummy! Thanks for the chance to win!
scalloped potatoes
Pumpkin pie & cranberry sauce.
Mashed potatoes
The pies ! Love the smell of baking ! “D
I make making potato salad ahead of time
Apple pie
Cranberry Sauce
Broccoli salad!
mashed potatoes
Apple crisp for dessert!
I love to make a mexican dip!
I make perogies a couple days before.
My pumpkin shortbread cookies!
My favourite make-ahead dish is the Cranberry sauce.
I love to make apple pie
I like to make a sweet potato/pecan casserole.
I love to make either my shortbread or french onion soup.
I make ahead dish is the potato salad.
My favorite make ahead Thanksgiving dish is Homemade dinner buns and pies 🙂 Thanks so much for the chance.
I made a quinoa stuffing ahead, it was YUM!
Garlic & Cream Cheese mashed potatoes. They can be made a couple days ahead of time, then baked the night before or the day of. They’re a bit of work, but the taste is worth it!
I’d have to say pecan pie.
Pumpkin pie 🙂
My favourite make ahead side dish for the holidays is a 3 fruit cranberry sauce. I found the recipe years ago. very yummy
Mostly the desserts get made ahead of time, pies, cakes cookies!
I make the dressing and the apple crisp in advance.
I usually make a few batches of Grandma’s spice cookies for neighbours and friends a couple of weeks before Christmas. Always gets me in the mood for more Christmas baking!
i make broccoli casserole bake. very easy
I make the tomato jelly salad passed down from famly!
My favourite make-ahead side dish for Thanksgiving and the holidays is butternut squash soup.
Cheesy Mashed taters with the skin on 😉
Cheesy loaded mashed potatoes
I make lots of dishes ahead of time for the holidays soups which I freeze home baked bread to freeze and mountains of ice Cream
i make homemade buns and cranberry sauce ahead of time.
apple pie
Sweet potato with brown sugar pecans on tops
My favourite make ahead meal is scalloped potatoes with cheese. They’re great the first day and even better the next day (or the day after that).
– amber y