Free tools · Thanksgiving timeline

Thanksgiving timeline planner

Tell it when you sit down to eat, the turkey and the sides, and how many ovens you have. It counts back to what to make days ahead, when the turkey goes in, and which dish goes in which oven at what temperature, and it flags the dishes that won't fit. No sign-up.

Dinner dateSit down to eat at

Turkey weight, lb

(7.3 kg). Not bought yet? The turkey calculator sizes it for your guests.

Right now the turkey is

Your kitchen

A dish fits on a rack beside the turkeyStuffing inside the bird (USDA recommends a dish)

Turkey in10:50 amat 325°F (163°C)

Turkey out3:05 pmthen rests 55 min

Oven sides3 of 3fit the ovens

Dinner4:00 pmThursday, Nov 26

The turkey rests 55 minutes instead of USDA's 20, so the oven is free for the sides sooner. America's Test Kitchen says a turkey needs at least a 30-minute rest and stays hot while the sides heat; a butcher it quotes says an hour for a bigger bird.

Dinner rolls: baked and frozen ahead, reheated in foil, to share the oven.

Your Thanksgiving timeline

Dinner at 4:00 pm, 16 lb (7.3 kg) turkey, one oven.

The oven, hour by hour

Turkey · 325°Fin 10:50 am, out 3:05 pm

to 350°F

350°FGreen beans 3:15-3:45Stuffing 3:30-4:00Rolls 3:45-4:00

Two dishes an oven (one a rack), one in a countertop oven. Heating a cold oven takes about 20 minutes; changing a hot one, about 10.

A week before Thursday, Nov 19

Bake and freeze the rollsBake them fully, cool, wrap in foil and freeze. They keep about a month. Thaw on the counter, still wrapped, the morning of the dinner. Recipe

4 days before Sunday, Nov 22

Move the turkey to the fridgeStill in its wrapper, on a tray to catch drips, at 40°F (4°C) or below. FSIS allows 3 to 4 days at this size; starting on the long end is safe, since a thawed bird keeps 1 to 2 days in the fridge.

3 days before Monday, Nov 23

Make the cranberry sauceBring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water (200 g, 240 ml) to a boil, add a 12 oz (340 g) bag of cranberries and boil gently 10 minutes. Cool at room temperature (it gels as it cools), then refrigerate. It keeps up to a week.

2 days before Tuesday, Nov 24

Make the gravyFrom roasted turkey wing stock, so it doesn't wait for the drippings. Cool it quickly and refrigerate; up to 2 days ahead is the sweet spot. Recipe

The day before Wednesday, Nov 25

Prep the stuffingCube and dry the bread, cook the onion and celery. Chill the wet ingredients and keep them apart from the dry; USDA says mix them only just before baking.
Bake the pumpkin pie15 minutes at 425°F (218°C), then 40 minutes at 350°F (177°C), until a knife near the centre comes out clean. Cool 2 hours on a rack, then refrigerate: it keeps 3 to 4 days.
Bake the pecan pie50 to 60 minutes at 350°F (175°C), until the centre reads 200°F (93°C). Cool 2 hours, then refrigerate uncovered until cold. It keeps 3 to 4 days. Recipe

The big day Thursday, Nov 26

10:30 amovenPreheat to 325°F (163°C)Giblets out of both cavities. Pat the bird dry, set it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.
10:50 amovenTurkey in the ovenFSIS gives 3 hr 45 min to 4 hr 15 min at this weight. This start time uses the long end, so a slow bird still makes dinner.
2:35 pmovenStart checking the temperatureInnermost thigh first, then the wing and the thickest part of the breast. Done is 165°F (74°C) in all three places, whatever a pop-up timer says. If it is done early, tent it with foil and hold it.
3:05 pmovenOut of the oven, let it stand55 minutes before carving. FSIS says 20, for quality, so the juices set; America's Test Kitchen says a turkey needs at least 30 and stays hot while the sides heat, so the extra time goes to the oven.
3:05 pmovenSet the oven to 350°FWe allow 10 minutes for a hot oven to change temperature.
3:05 pmStoveFinish the gravyBring the made-ahead gravy back to a boil. Pour the fat off the roasting pan, deglaze the browned bits with a splash of stock and whisk them in. Recipe
3:15 pmovenGreen bean casserole into the oven, 350°FSoup, milk, soy sauce, beans and half the fried onions mixed in a 1½ quart (1.4 L) dish. 25 minutes, then stir, top with the rest of the onions and bake 5 minutes more. Out of the oven at 3:45 pm.
3:15 pmStoveStart the mashed potatoesPeel and cut them, cover with cold salted water and bring to a boil, then simmer 15 to 18 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance. Drain, dry them in the hot pot for a minute or two, and mash with warm milk and butter. Keep covered on the lowest heat. Recipe
3:30 pmovenStuffing into the oven, 350°FMix the wet and dry parts now, spoon into a greased 9x13 in (23x33 cm) dish and cover. 30 minutes, until 165°F (74°C) in the centre. Out of the oven at 4:00 pm.
3:45 pmovenReheat the rolls, 350°FStill in their foil, about 15 minutes. Out of the oven at 4:00 pm. Recipe
4:00 pmCarve and serveCarve across the grain. Anything left out at room temperature longer than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F, 32°C) gets thrown away.
4:00 pmPecan pie out of the fridgeSlices taste best after 20 to 30 minutes out of the fridge, so take it out when you sit down. Recipe
5:05 pmLeftovers in the fridge by nowIn small, shallow containers so they chill fast. Eat within 3 to 4 days, or freeze for 2 to 6 months.

Turkey times are USDA FSIS's at 325°F (163°C), set to the long end of the range; start checking at the short end. Done is 165°F (74°C) in the thigh, wing and breast.

Quick reference

Thanksgiving sides: oven time and how far ahead

The temperature and time each side needs on the day, and the earliest you can start it. Times are the recipe's own, the long end of its range.

Dish	On the day	Start	Recipe
Mashed potatoes	Stove	On the day	Ours
Turkey gravy	Stove	2 days ahead	Ours
Stuffing, baked in a dish	350°F, 30 min	The day before	Pepperidge Farm Moist & Savory Stuffing
Green bean casserole	350°F, 30 min	On the day	Campbell's Green Bean Casserole
Sweet potato casserole	350°F, 60 min	2 days ahead	Ours
Scalloped potatoes	400°F, 75 min	The day before	Ours
Baked mac and cheese	375°F, 30 min	On the day	Kraft Baked Elbow Macaroni and Cheese
Roasted Brussels sprouts	400°F, 17 min	The day before	Ocean Mist Farms, roasted Brussels sprouts
Dinner rolls	425°F, 12 min	A week or more	Ours
Cranberry sauce	Made ahead	3 days ahead	Ocean Spray Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin pie	Made ahead	The day before	Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie
Pecan pie	Made ahead	The day before	Ours

How the planner builds your schedule

It starts at the moment you sit down and works backwards. The turkey comes first: USDA FSIS's Let's Talk Turkey tables give the thawing and roasting times at 325°F (163°C), and the planner uses the long end of the roasting range, so a slow bird still makes dinner. With a 16 lb turkey, one oven and the classic menu above, a 4 pm dinner means the turkey goes in at 10:50 am and comes out at 3:05 pm, resting 55 minutes while the sides bake.

Then the hot sides. Each needs its temperature for its time and has to come out close to dinner: after its own rest if the recipe has one, and no more than 15 minutes early, covered. The oven model is ours, and deliberately plain: an oven holds 2 dishes at a time, one a rack, and a countertop oven one; a cold oven takes 20 minutes to heat (GE puts preheating at 10 to 20 minutes) and a hot one 10 to change temperature, our estimate; the turkey fills its oven unless you say a dish fits beside it.

When the oven is short, the planner tries three things before it gives up on a dish. It rests the turkey longer: USDA asks for 20 minutes, America's Test Kitchen says a turkey needs at least 30, and a butcher it quotes says an hour for a bigger bird, and the planner goes to 45 (60 from 16 lb). It switches dishes to routes that share the oven: stuffing and green bean casserole at the turkey's 325°F (USDA allows stuffing in a dish in any oven at 325°F or above, and Betty Crocker prints a 325°F method for the casserole), rolls baked ahead and reheated in foil, scalloped potatoes baked the day before and reheated. Only then does it flag a clash, with the fixes that would make it fit.

For the menu itself, our 21 Thanksgiving side dishes are sorted by where they cook, each with its oven slot and how far ahead it keeps.

Once it is all on the table, the plate matters as much as the timing. Our Thanksgiving tablescape sets the table, the table setting diagram places every fork, and the Thanksgiving board handles the grazing while the turkey rests. When the rest is over, how to carve a turkey has the cuts in order and the platter.

Sources

Read on September 26, 2026. Where we have our own tested recipe for a dish, the planner uses its times and links it; the rest come from the recipe on the package most cooks reach for.

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FAQ

Thanksgiving timing, answered

What time should the turkey go in for a 4 pm dinner?

At 325°F (163°C), unstuffed, a 12 lb turkey goes in by 12:40 pm, a 16 lb bird by 11:25 am and a 22 lb bird by 10:40 am. That counts back USDA's longest roasting time for the weight and its 20-minute rest, so preheat about 20 minutes before that. With one oven, start earlier still and rest the bird longer so the sides get the oven; the planner works out how much.

How do I cook Thanksgiving dinner with one oven?

Take everything you can out of the oven's day: pies, cranberry sauce and gravy are made ahead, and mashed potatoes and gravy go on the stove. The turkey has the oven to itself, and the hot sides share it after the bird comes out, while it rests. An oven holds about two dishes at a time, one a rack, so that stretch fits two casseroles and the rolls, not four casseroles. More room comes from a longer rest (up to 45 minutes, or an hour for a bird of 16 lb or more), casseroles that bake at the turkey's 325°F so the oven needs no change, or a countertop oven.

How long can a turkey rest before carving?

USDA says to let the turkey stand 20 minutes, for quality, so the juices set and it carves more easily. America's Test Kitchen says a turkey needs at least a 30-minute rest and stays hot while you heat the side dishes; a butcher it quotes, Ellie Logan, says an hour for a bigger bird. The planner stretches the rest only when the oven needs the time, to at most 45 minutes (an hour from 16 lb). USDA's 2-hour limit for food at room temperature starts when the turkey leaves the oven, so the leftovers go in the fridge 2 hours after that, not 2 hours after dinner.

What can I make ahead for Thanksgiving?

Cranberry sauce up to a week ahead (Ocean Spray), gravy up to 2 days ahead from roasted wings, pies the day before (baked pumpkin and pecan pies keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge), sweet potatoes roasted and mashed up to 2 days ahead, scalloped potatoes assembled the day before, and rolls par-baked and frozen weeks ahead. For the stuffing, cube and dry the bread and cook the vegetables the day before, but USDA says to keep the wet and dry parts apart and mix them only just before baking: never refrigerate stuffing that is mixed and unbaked.

When should I start thawing the turkey?

In the fridge, allow about 24 hours for every 4 to 5 lb: a 16 lb bird needs 3 to 4 days, so it goes in the fridge by the Sunday before Thanksgiving. In cold water it takes about 30 minutes a pound, with the water changed every 30 minutes, and the bird is cooked straight away. The planner counts back from your dinner either way.