10 Thanksgiving Shortcuts Grandma Would Admit She Used
The secret to a memorable Thanksgiving dinner might be hiding in a box of stuffing mix or a can of cranberry sauce. According to Butterball’s 2026 Thanksgiving Outlook, 85% of Thanksgiving hosts want guests to help, yet only 38% actually ask for assistance.
And while 69% of consumers surveyed by Butterball want to preserve their holiday traditions, that doesn’t mean every dish needs to start from scratch. Sometimes the smartest kitchen tricks are the ones Grandma knew all along: when to take a shortcut, where to add a homemade touch, and how to get dinner on the table without spending the entire holiday cooking.
Using Boxed Stuffing and Adding Her Own Touch
Nobody needs to know that the stuffing started in a cardboard box, especially when the finished dish tastes exactly how the family likes it. Stove Top, developed by home economist Ruth Siems, has helped Americans prepare stuffing for decades, and Purdue University recognizes Siems as the inventor of this familiar convenience food.
The trick is treating the mix as a starting point rather than the finished product, adding sautéed onions, celery, butter, or familiar seasonings to make it your own. That’s especially useful when stuffing remains a Thanksgiving favorite, with 42% of respondents naming it among their favorite parts of the meal in Butterball’s 2026 survey.
Serving Cranberry Sauce Straight From the Can
Those perfectly ridged slices of cranberry sauce might be one of Thanksgiving’s most recognizable kitchen shortcuts. Ocean Spray traces its cranberry sauce business to 1930, when its founding growers were already producing and marketing the familiar holiday accompaniment.
For a quick presentation upgrade, arrange the slices on a serving plate, or spoon whole-berry sauce into a pretty bowl and add a little orange zest. The result still brings that sweet-tart contrast to the Thanksgiving table, minus the extra saucepan and stirring.
Making Green Bean Casserole With Canned Soup
Some Thanksgiving shortcuts become traditions so beloved that nobody wants to change the original recipe. Green bean casserole is a perfect example; Campbell’s credits Dorcas Reilly with creating the dish in the 1950s using green beans and condensed cream of mushroom soup.
Reilly once explained her goal: “I wanted to create a quick and easy recipe,” and the approach clearly endured.
Campbell’s 2025 State of the Sides report found that 44% of respondents considered green bean casserole the most iconic Thanksgiving side, giving this humble pantry-based dish an impressive place in holiday history.
Buying Refrigerated Pie Crust Instead of Making Dough
Homemade pie filling deserves applause, but you don’t have to make the crust from scratch. Refrigerated pie crusts, including Pillsbury’s ready-made version, eliminate the measuring, mixing, and rolling normally involved in preparing pastry.
Simply fit the dough into your pie dish, add the filling, and bake according to your recipe, freeing up time for everything else that needs oven space. Even the American Farm Bureau Federation’s traditional Thanksgiving shopping basket includes frozen pie crusts, reinforcing how ordinary this convenience has become in holiday meal planning.
Reaching for Canned Pumpkin Pie Mix
Pumpkin pie already has enough going on without measuring every spice individually. Prepared pumpkin pie mix offers a convenient alternative to starting with plain pumpkin, and Libby’s includes its Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix in several dessert recipes.
The key difference is that prepared pie mix and plain canned pumpkin aren’t interchangeable without adjusting the other ingredients, so follow the directions for whichever product you use. Add your favorite finishing touch, and you still have a holiday dessert that feels right at home beside the coffee pot.
Related: This Michigan Town Is Turning Pumpkin Season into a Weekend of Family Fun
Warming Store-Bought Dinner Rolls
Warm dinner rolls can make a crowded Thanksgiving plate feel complete. Fortunately, you don’t need to bake yeast rolls from scratch to get that fresh-from-the-oven experience, especially when you can warm packaged rolls just before serving.
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2025 Thanksgiving survey even recorded a 14.6% decline in the average price of a dozen dinner rolls compared with the previous year, although actual store prices vary.
Brush the warmed rolls with melted butter, tuck them into a cloth-lined basket, and save your baking energy for the homemade dish that matters most.
Related: 8 Glimpses of What Family Dinner Looked Like in the 1970s
Making Instant Mashed Potatoes Taste Special
Peeling, boiling, and mashing potatoes can take up precious kitchen time when you have several dishes to attend to at once. Instant mashed potatoes offer an alternative, with products like Idahoan’s prepared potato mixes designed to make the familiar side dish in minutes.
Prepare the potatoes according to the package instructions, then experiment with butter, cream, roasted garlic, or chopped herbs to suit your family’s preferences. They may not replace a beloved scratch-made recipe for every household, but they can be a perfectly sensible backup when the Thanksgiving cooking schedule starts slipping.
Keeping Frozen Vegetables Ready for the Big Meal
Not every Thanksgiving vegetable needs washing, trimming, and chopping while the turkey roasts. Frozen peas and other prepared vegetables offer a simple way to add an extra side dish, and frozen peas remain part of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s long-running traditional Thanksgiving dinner basket.
Cook them according to the package instructions, then finish with butter, black pepper, or whichever seasoning complements the rest of your menu. It’s an uncomplicated solution for when every cutting board is occupied, and another pot is the last thing you want to wash.
Using Prepared Gravy When There Isn’t Enough Time
Gravy brings turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing together, but making it from scratch can add another job to an already busy kitchen. Prepared options such as Heinz HomeStyle Roasted Turkey Gravy are designed to be heated and served, offering a convenient starting point.
Add a little turkey pan drippings or your preferred seasonings for a more personalized flavor, and adjust the consistency as needed. With Butterball reporting that 84% of Thanksgiving hosts plan to serve turkey in 2026, a gravy backup seems like a practical way to keep dinner moving.
Letting Someone Else Bring a Side Dish
Perhaps the most useful Thanksgiving shortcut doesn’t come from the grocery store. Asking a guest to bring macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, or dessert takes an entire dish off the host’s prep list while letting everyone contribute something familiar.
Butterball’s 2026 findings highlight how much help hosts would welcome, and Rebecca Welch, the company’s director of retail and international brand management, observed that “a little support can go a long way.”
Assigning dishes in advance also gives the host a clearer idea of what’s coming, which is much easier than discovering three surprise pies and no dinner rolls when everyone arrives.
The best Thanksgiving shortcut isn’t about doing less for the people you love; it’s about spending less time cooking and more time enjoying the meal together.
