Thanksgiving dinner is a daunting task, even for experienced cooks. It’s a bit of a logic puzzle figuring out how to prepare ten different dishes with one stove and still have everything hot and delicious when it’s time to eat. Luckily, I enjoy puzzles. So I’ve put together this guide on How to Make an Easy Thanksgiving Dinner for Beginners to help guide any newbies out there, and ease you into the rite of passage that is cooking a Thanksgiving dinner.

How to Plan and Cook Thanksgiving Dinner – A Beginner’s Guide

About This Thanksgiving Dinner Guide

This Thanksgiving Dinner for Beginners plan includes a menu of 11 recipes, including: one appetizer, a cocktail, one main dish, seven side dishes, and one dessert. All the recipes are super simple to accommodate new cooks. You don’t want your first attempt at Thanksgiving dinner to be for a crowd of 20, so this menu serves approximately six people, with some leftovers. Start small, my friends. 

The guide also includes a complete prep schedule to help you get everything completed in time for dinner, no matter what time you like to eat your Thanksgiving meal. This Thanksgiving dinner for beginners can be prepared by one person (I’ve done it!), but if you have helpers, that’s even better.

My newsletter subscribers will also receive a pdf of the menu, prep schedule, and a full grocery list! So if you’re not already a subscriber, subscribe here (it’s free!):

If you want to plan out your own Thanksgiving dinner, or are attending a larger gathering and only need to bring one item, make sure to check out our Holiday Recipes category, and our Friendsgiving Recipe Roundup for more delicious Thanksgiving recipes.

The Shortcuts

I’m all about taking a few shortcuts with Thanksgiving dinner, especially if you’re a beginner. I have included a few simple shortcuts in this plan, to help keep you from pulling out your hair:

• Store bought pie crust – Pie crust is, on its surface, very easy, but it can take some finesse. Finesse can be learned another time, when you don’t have ten other recipes to cook. ;)
• Boxed stuffing mix – The stuffing recipe below uses boxed stuffing mix as a base, but is spruced up with a bunch of fresh ingredients. Wrestling with cubing and drying a huge loaf of bread on Thanksgiving is just more work than necessary. Save the from-scratch stuffing for when you’re only in charge of one dish.
• Roasted turkey pieces – This plan does not include roasting a whole turkey. *pearl clutch* Roasting a whole turkey is a LOT of work. Roasting turkey pieces takes half the time, is way less work, and still insanely delicious. Let’s start there and work up to the whole turkey another year.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Here are the recipes included in this Thanksgiving Dinner for Beginners plan:

Appetizers/Drinks

• Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip
• Cider Mimosas (fill glasses half way with Apple Cider, top off with Brut or Prosecco).

Side Dishes

• Simple Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes
• Cornbread Muffins (prepare cornbread batter, bake in a muffin tin, 10 muffins, same temperature, 16-18 minutes)
• Apple Walnut Stuffing
• Mushroom Herb Gravy
• Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans
• Lemon Butter Green Beans (double recipe, only one lemon needed)

Main Dish

• Cider Roasted Turkey (double recipe, using a full 4 lb. bone-in, skin-on turkey breast and two drumsticks, roast about 2 hrs. total)

Dessert

• Maple Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie

So, how do you cook all that with just one oven? Let’s take a look…

Thanksgiving Dinner Timeline

The Day Before:

COOK:

1. Maple Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie – cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate.
2. Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip (make cranberry sauce, assemble the dip and platter the next day) – you have the option to just make a double batch of the plain cranberry sauce and use that for both the appetizer and a side with dinner (the sauce in the appetizer recipe has jalapeño). 
3. Simple Homemade Cranberry Sauce – cool, then refrigerate.
4. Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes – cool, then refrigerate. 

PREP:

1. Dice sweet potatoes for Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
2. Clean and remove stems on green beans for Lemon Butter Green Beans
3. Chop apple, onion, and Celery for Apple Walnut Stuffing

Thanksgiving Day:

4 HOURS BEFORE:

1. Take 1 stick of butter out of refrigerator to warm to room temperature for Cider Roasted Turkey. 
2. Make Cornbread Muffins. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Assemble and serve Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip.
4. Serve Cider Mimosas now, or wait for dinner (save one cup for roasting the turkey).

3 HOURS BEFORE:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF for turkey.
2. Assemble Cider Roasted Turkey and begin roasting (will take approx. 2 hrs).

2 HOURS BEFORE:

1. Begin reheating Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes in a pot on the stove top over low heat (with lid, stir often, and add extra milk to keep it moist, if needed).
2. Cook Apple Walnut Stuffing. Keep it warm in a pot on the stove top with lid.
3. Cook Mushroom Herb Gravy. Pour into a gravy boat, cover with foil. 
4. Assemble Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans to get ready for roasting.

1 HOUR BEFORE:

1. Remove turkey from oven (check internal temperature first), cover with foil, and let rest.
2. Turn oven temperature up to 400ºF. Cook Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans.
3. Cook Lemon Butter Green Beans.

AT DINNER

1. Assemble and serve Cider Mimosas.
2. Enjoy the good food, good company, and good memories!

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the free pdf download of the Thanksgiving for Beginners Meal Plan, including prep schedule AND grocery list!

How to Make Cider Mimosas

Since you’ll have leftover apple cider from the Cider Roasted Turkey Breast, might as well make it into a quick cocktail!

1. Fill champaign flutes half way with apple cider
2. Top off with sparkling wine (I suggest a Brut or other dry sparkling wine)
3. Add a small sprig of rosemary for garnish, then serve!

Got questions? Ask away in the comments below. We’ll do our best to help you troubleshoot!

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