Kitchen chaos doesn't have to be synonymous with holiday hosting. To keep calm during the festive season, pro chefs have mastered prepping ahead to help plan, store, and streamline before the big day begins.
From pre-portioning to organizing cookware, these behind-the-scenes tricks are guaranteed to get a kitchen ready for hosting.
5 Pro-Chef Prep Secrets That Will Change the Way You Do Holiday Meals
1. Do a Stock Take
Before you can even think about preparing food in advance, your first step should always be a stock check says Adam Gallagher, recipe creator and co-founder of Inspired Taste.
This practical holiday hosting tip ensures you don't overspend on duplicate items, while helping you avoid scrambling for substitutes on the big day when you find yourself missing an important ingredient.
Adam shares, 'A week or so before, I tidy and restock my baking cabinet. New bags of flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and spices go up front.
'Extras get labeled and stashed neatly in airtight containers like OXO Good Grips Pop Containers from Target.' These containers are air tight, preventing premature spoilage and items going stale.
2. Group by Category
While having a written plan for your holiday meals can be a good way to keep tabs on your menu and shopping list, having a physical reminder of ingredients can help make cooking smoother.
Adam continues, 'I also group pantry staples and meal prep items by category. Baking ingredients go on one shelf, while savory sides and herbs go on another, so I can quickly find what I need. Each year, I also relabel refrigerator shelves to match my cooking plan, such as 'baking day,' 'side dishes,' and 'leftovers.''
When grouping food items, consider using clear storage bins from The Container Store to help reduce visual clutter when organizing a fridge and organizing a pantry. Plus, it makes pulling out ingredients by meal simpler, reducing overwhelm.
3. Master Mise en Place
When grouping food items by meal, consider prepping some ingredients ahead to save time and stress on the main day.
Odette D'Aniello, founder and CEO at Dragonfly Cakes, shares, 'We pre-measure dry ingredients for baking days into airtight containers, create big tubs of frostings and fillings, and label everything with the date and dish.
'Having this kind of organization means that whether we’re baking hundreds of petit fours or preparing a garden feast, we can stay focused on making beautiful, memorable food for the people we love.'
It isn't just dried foods you can try this trick for. Prep vegetables ahead by cutting and storing them in glass food containers from Target to keep them fresh.
Similarly, for liquids, Adam shares, 'For freezing sauces, soup bases, or extra mashed potatoes, I use Souper Cubes, from Amazon, which help portion food neatly and make defrosting dinner after the holidays much easier.'
4. Set up Stations
When organizing a kitchen ahead of hosting, it is vital to set up stations and stick to them. This helps to localize tasks, minimizing mess and clutter, and reduce both foot traffic back and forth while cooking, preventing items from being misplaced.
Chef Steve DiFillippo, of Davio's Restaurants, always suggests organizing by what you need to do most. Just as you group ingredients in your kitchen storage, he recommends, 'Put your daily tools and ingredients right where you need them. Group stuff by station – prep, cook, plate, and so on – and keep the go-to items front and center.'
5. Create Timing Sheets
With everything prepped ahead, the final step is to create a timing sheet detailing the cooking times and temperatures of everything you need to heat up on the big day.
This should be in order from what needs to be done first, such as seasoning the turkey and putting it in the oven, down to the final steps, like reheating a pre-prepared sauce.
This doesn't need to be fancy. A simple magnetic notepad from Walmart on the front of your fridge can form your cooking command center, reducing mental load when you are juggling cooking with hosting.
Having a physical copy on display also means friends and family can jump in to help without derailing your plan.
Holiday Cooking Prep Essentials
Having a physical to-do list for holiday cooking can help you keep calm and avoid skipping steps when hosting.
Keeping ingredients together makes them easy to pull out when you get to cooking meals when hosting.
These glass, airtight food containers are ideal for keeping pre-prepared vegetables fresh and crisp in your fridge ahead of hosting.
Label shelves and bins to keep tabs on which ingredients are for which meal, helping to reduce confusion on hosting days.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has certified Attitude products as non-toxic, meaning they contain no harsh chemicals or artificial compounds. This spray is ideal for quickly wiping down counters between meals and prep work in a kitchen.
Sponge cloths are plant-based, making them an eco-friendly, hygienic alternative to traditional sponges and paper towels. They can be disinfected on the top rack of a dishwasher, too, making them more convenient than microfiber on busy holidays.
Meet the Experts
With the kitchen prepped, consider using a GFD basket to declutter and prep the rest of your home quickly.
