My 2023 Thanksgiving Kitchen Essentials! Everything You Need To Prepare For The Holiday.

Welcome to my 2023 thanksgiving kitchen essentials guide! This includes everything you need to make the holiday come together easily without stress. Includes favorite recipes, my go-to products that I have an use and more!

I am so, so excited to bring you my annual HowSweetEats Thanksgiving series this week! Along with alllll the Thanksgiving kitchen essentials.

Because I LOVE celebrating this holiday! Over the next week I’ll be sharing a bunch of new recipes with you, but in the meantime, let’s get prepared.

These are things that I use to make the big meal happen. I LOVE cooking Thanksgiving. It’s actually enjoyable for me, because it’s familiar recipes (no testing, no photography, nothing!) and brings such nostalgic vibes to the day. Since cooking is my job, the meal also comes easy to me, so I can tell you EXACTLY what you need in your kitchen. I’ve tried every kitchen gadget alive. There are what I recommend.

I highly suggest getting these things NOW (like, today) so you have them in time and aren’t scrambling a day before or even the day of, when life is rushed and items are sold out. As I made this list, I went through and actually bought the items I had to repurchase for the holiday. In the next week or so I’ll share my Thanksgiving timeline, and I honestly use the entire week to prep, which makes it super easy. Not all day, every day, but I do certain things every single day to make the actual holiday stress-free and much simpler. Many of these tools below help!

Classic Recipes – A Traditional Thanksgiving

Also, my huge Thanksgiving recipe guide is right here, but I wanted to list a few traditional favorites below that I always make. These are the absolute BEST if you’re looking to add a classic to your list.

Turkey Stock (I make this every year for gravy. It is a GAME CHANGER.)

Butter and White Wine Drenched Turkey

Grilled Turkey (we grill or smoke a second turkey, always)

The Best Stuffing Ever

How Sweet Eats Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Parker House Rolls

Vanilla Bourbon Cranberry Sauce

Honeycrisp Harvest Salad

Pumpkin Dream Cake

Pumpkin Dream Cupcakes with Espresso Frosting

Apple Cider Sangria

MY THANKSGIVING KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

While practically EVERYTHING gets used in my kitchen on Thanksgiving (and the week prior!), these are the ones that I can’t live without. The meal has to happen with these things! The below are all the items that I use in my kitchen – so they are personally tested by me!

• Stainless Steel Roasting Pan. This is the second roasting pan I use that is wonderful. It is very high quality at a great price – I find the quality is just as great as All Clad, which is much more expensive. I also have the Greenpan Roasting Pan and it’s phenomenal too.
• Mackenzie Childs Roasting Pan. This is my favorite piece on Thanksgiving. It is so beautiful and I absolutely love it. It also works fabulously as a roasting pan, and then I place it on my stovetop and make my gravy in it too. It’s stunning – but also backordered until January.
• Mixing Bowls. For a multitude of reasons!
• Kitchen Shears. Can’t really prep the turkey without these.
• Sharp Knives. This is a must when cooking any large meal. Global makes my favorite, and you can buy a block or in singles.
• Cheese Cloth. For my butter wine drenched turkey. A must have for the perfect golden crispy skin.
• Kitchen Twine. Must have for trussing. I always have this in my kitchen.
• Basting Brush. I have multiples of these.
• Turkey Baster. This is my favorite one!
• Meat Thermometer. Also a favorite.
• Turkey Lifters. When I bought these a few years ago, it was life changing. These help so much.
• Electric Carving Knife. This makes carving one (or in my case, two!) turkeys so much easier and quicker. I know this is a controversial item, but Eddie carves the turkey and a regular carving knife set would take him forever.
• Carving Board. My favorite carving board that is beautiful.
• Large Platter. To serve all that turkey, or whatever your main may be!
• Fat Separator Cup. Love this for gravy!
• Shaker Bottle. Also a must have to make perfect gravy.
• Whisk. Again, gravy! I suggest having two on hand.
• Gravy Boat. It has to have somewhere to go! I’m partial to this one with a warming base.
• Measuring Cups.
• Measuring Spoons.
• Microplane. Mostly for grating nutmeg or citrus.
• Stock Pot. For boiling potatoes or making turkey stock, one of my favorites. This is another piece I use as “decor in my kitchen.” I adore the MacKenzie Childs version of this too – order now because it delivers in two weeks.
• Baking Sheets. These are my absolute favorite. Target has a similar one.
• Multiple saucepans. For things like melting butter to making cranberry sauce. If you’re looking for a new set, I also highly suggest these GreenPans which I use everyday.
• Multiple casserole dishes. The Staub ones are my favorite. I also suggest having a square one.
• Hand mixer. I use this for my mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes! I find that you have much more control over whipping with this. If you whip too much, the potatoes can become gluey. For beginnings or infrequent cooks, a hand mixer is the way to go.
• Potato Masher. I use this or a ricer – the ricer will give you silky soft potatoes!
• Large strainer. For all of those potatoes.
• Mandoline. This is perfect if you want to make scalloped potatoes, but is also great for slicing many fruits and veggies.
• Vegetable Peeler. My favorite one!
• Heavy duty pot holders. Because that turkey is heavy and HOT.
• Pie Plate. This is my go to pie plate. Can also double as a serving dish.
• Rolling Pin. The only one I use.
• Drink Dispenser for sangria or punch. I use at least one or two of these on holidays. Mine is similar to this MacKenzie-Childs one and it only comes out to play on special occasions. Everyone LOVES it and always asks where it’s from. It’s just so pretty.
• Wood chips, if you are smoking a turkey. I have this Traeger Grill and use it to smoke our turkey each year. It is everyone’s favorite thing, and the leftovers are incredible. I can’t recommend the Traeger enough if you enjoy grilling. It’s one of the best purchases we’ve made!

Happy holidaying.