The short answer: holiday cooking goes smoothly with three things decided early: the menu, a cooking timeline that works backward from serving time, and one grocery list split into shop-early and shop-late items.
- Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving dinner, starting with how to plan Thanksgiving dinner.
- Christmas: Christmas food and Christmas treats and baking.
- New Year's: New Year's Eve dinner ideas and a New Year's Day meal.
Our picks for holiday cooking
Thanksgiving EditionPrintables
Meal Planner & Grocery List: Thanksgiving Edition
Plan the perfect Thanksgiving: our meal planner in a warm harvest design, with a Thanksgiving Day timeline, a guest & dish sign-up, an aisle-sorted grocery list and pantry and freezer trackers.
Printables
Christmas Budget & Gift Planner
Set a budget for every person, log each purchase, and watch what's left - plus printable gift, card, menu and to-do pages.
Printables
Family Recipe Binder
Section dividers, four recipe page layouts with room for the family story, 4x6 and 3x5 cards and a conversion chart - print it or type into the fillable version.
Starter pickPrintables
Meal Planner & Grocery List
Weekly meals, a grocery list sorted by aisle, and pantry and freezer inventories so you shop once and waste less.
Browse holiday cooking by topic
Guides (3)
- Easter Dinner Ideas60 Easter dinner ideas: ham, lamb and chicken mains, sides, deviled eggs, desserts and drinks, plus 3 menus for 8 priced at $35 to…
- New Year's Day mealPlan a traditional New Year's Day meal: black-eyed peas, greens, cornbread and pork, what each one means, a budget shopping list a…
- New Year's Eve Dinner IdeasEasy New Year's Eve dinner ideas: 6 make-ahead menus (steak, pasta, shrimp boil, fondue, appetizers, brunch), a per-person budget …
Ideas and how-tos (1)
- Hanukkah foodHanukkah food guide: traditional fried and dairy dishes, why they're eaten, dinner menu ideas, an 8-night meal plan and safe fryin…
How to use this page
For the rest of holiday planning (budgets, gifts and to-do lists), see our Christmas planning guides and Thanksgiving planning guides.