Thanksgiving Planner – Servings Calculator, Menu Plan, & Shopping List

Planning for Thanksgiving is a massive task all unto itself! Mastering the skill of cooking such a massive meal for such a massive crowd is difficult, even for those with experience! To help, here are some best practices as well as a free thanksgiving planner pdf for you to download and use to keep it all perfectly organized. It includes a servings calculator to figure out how much of each food to prepare!

For many of us, Thanksgiving is the largest meal we will make all year long and the longest we will spend in the kitchen. Organization is your best friend to help reduce the stress and eliminate forgotten ingredients.

How to Plan Thanksgiving Dinner

Follow this process and you are guaranteed to be 100% prepped for the big meal year after year. All of these steps are included in your free Thanksgiving Dinner Planner PDF and includes a servings calculator!

1. Determine how many people will be attending. This should always be your first step because it influences every aspect of the rest of your Thanksgiving dinner plan.
2. Decide if you will be the only one cooking or if others will be bringing food. If you have family or friends coming to your home, it is not a faux pas to ask them to contribute to the meal. In fact, most guests prefer to not show up at your front door empty handed. Again, this is important to know before you decide on your menu.
3. Nail down your complete menu. Now that you know the answer to the first two points, you are prepared to create your menu. Decide on your main dish (often turkey or ham), sides, appetizers, desserts, breads, and drinks.
4. Simplify your menu responsibilities. This can come in a few different ways. If you have guests, ask them to bring at least one dish from your menu plan with them. Second, you can decide on what parts of your menu you can purchase already prepared. And lastly, you can always eliminate any dishes that are nice to have, but not essential to your Thanksgiving tradition.
5. Write down every single ingredient you need to prepare the dishes on your menu plan, as well as the amounts. Don’t leave out anything…even the salt and pepper. Don’t make any assumptions about what you do or do not have on hand. That is how you end up making those last minute trips to the store!
6. Create your shopping list from your ingredient list, again being very specific with the amounts of what you need so you don’t end up being 1 stick short of butter or any other ingredient. No one likes having to try to find an open grocery store on Thanksgiving day to get what you forgot.

Download Your Free Thanksgiving Planner PDF

This planner has a serving calculator, menu planner, and shopping list all built into one amazing resource for the big feast. Click here or on the picture below to download your personal copy.

You never have to guess how big of a turkey or ham to buy…or how many potatoes to make, or pies and rolls to bake! It is all built into this planner!

Looking for The Best Thanksgiving Recipes?

Here are the personal favorites for our family and ones that make an appearance year after year after year 🙂 Just click on any picture to be taken right to the recipe!

Craving more than Thanksgiving dishes? Subscribe to My Kitchen Escapades to get new recipes and a weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! You can also stay in touch on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube for all the latest updates.

Are You Part of the Squad?

Are you part of our private Facebook group that is all about working together as a family to get dinner on the table every night? Tons of resources, ideas, and support can be found every day. Come join the Squad for free!