The Best Holiday Side Dishes to Make Ahead
These make ahead holiday side dishes will give you one less thing to do for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, freeing up important time and energy. You know… so that you can make more food!
Or visit with family or do that puzzle or watch football. Whatever it is you want to spend your time doing, making side dishes probably isn’t at the top of the list.
Make Ahead Holiday Side Dishes
What would a holiday dinner be without mashed potatoes to drizzle that yummy gravy over?! Speaking of gravy, I have an amazing recipe for gravy you can make ahead and keep in the freezer until the big day. It's based on Jamie Oliver's Get Ahead Gravy. Serve it on your make ahead mashed potatoes and you've got a big chunk of your holiday meal already done. Make it weeks ahead of time, then just thaw and warm it up in a saucepan on the big day. Having it pre-made takes the pressure off. These are fast to cook up and make a delicious side dish. Even the cranberry sauce can be ready to go in the freezer. One less thing to make the day of! From freezer to slow cooker? It doesn't get much easier than that! Cornbread makes a nice holiday side. Mac and cheese is the ultimate in comfort food and goes with anything. No one has to know that you just pulled these out of your freezer just before cooking. The potatoes are cooked to tender perfection in a creamy, cheesy sauce with a golden crunchy top. This can be made ahead and frozen. Scalloped potatoes go especially well alongside a ham. Sweet potato casserole is a holiday staple at our house. While I've never tried it topped with marshmallows myself, this recipe sounds pretty delish! The trick to a more relaxed holiday is to make as many dishes ahead that you can. Butternut squash gratin is a nice healthy side dish. It reheats well, so it's a great make ahead recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas.The Best Holiday Side Dishes to Make Ahead
These are simple, fresh tasting and surrounded by puff pastry, which always makes everything better.
I hope that using these side dishes helps take some of the stress out of your holiday season. I know that being able to “cook” from my freezer has certainly done that for me.
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