The Essential Thanksgiving Dinner Spreadsheet Trick for Stress-Free Planning
- TikTok user @victoriafoxco shares Thanksgiving dinner planning tips, including creating a spreadsheet for recipes, ingredients, and guest list.
Are you someone who relies on lists and spreadsheets to keep your life on track? Having everything on its neat little line, all perfectly aligned, sorted and grouped, can really help you feel like you've got everything under control—including your Thanksgiving dinner .
@victoriafoxco shared her favorite Thanksgiving tips and tricks on her TikTok channel and we spied an absolute gem in Part 3 of the series. We put it into practice last Thanksgiving and can't wait to do it again this year. "Of all the tips I share, this is probably the one that's most important," she says. We're listening.
"Every year, I make a spreadsheet that houses my recipes, my ingredients and my guest list," she explains. Keep reading for all the delicious details.
Related: 101 Best Thanksgiving Sides
How To Make a Thanksgiving Dinner Spreadsheet
Fox uses a three-tab system. In the first tab, she organizes all her recipes on separate lines with columns for corralling the cook time, bake time, oven temp and the dish the food will be served in. We think she's really onto something here. Having a bird 's eye view (pun intended!) of all this info can really help when you're trying to make sure everything is done at the same time—and can remind you to make sure you know where you stashed the turkey roasting pan last year.
The second tab is where she puts all the recipes she's making, along with their ingredients. Using this list, she goes through her pantry and fridge and crosses out items she already has, then creates a master grocery list of the remaining groceries, which also goes in this tab.
Related: How Many Pounds of Turkey Do You Need per Person for Thanksgiving?
The third tab is for the guest list, so you can make sure you have enough plates, glasses and silverware for everyone and is also super helpful if you're working on place cards for the big feast.
Easy, peasy and oh-so-orderly. "Love it. I'm a spreadsheet girly too," says one commenter of this unique planning technique.
Even better? You can edit it every year so you don't feel like you have to start planning from scratch each time. You can copy-paste to create a spreadsheet for every holiday gathering or entertaining event. The planning (and time-saving) potential is endless!
You can go the DIY route and build your own, or grab a copy of Victoria's spreadsheet at the link in her TikTok bio.
Related: OK, Wait—When Should I Buy My Thanksgiving Turkey?
This story was originally published by Parade on Nov 18, 2024, where it first appeared in the Food & Drink section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
