It’s the best time of the year and the most time you’ll spend in your kitchen! Our post today shares the five secrets to making delicious holiday meals faster and easier than you ever thought imaginable.
Did you know there are so many time-saving cooking tips worth considering that won’t change the taste or presentation of your meal, but they will save you big on time?
In fact, according to a Yahoo survey, many US States spend an average of four to five hours prepping holiday meals.
We are sure these numbers are not surprising given the amount of work that goes into putting together these special meals.
However, today we will share holiday cooking shortcuts so that you can spend less time in the kitchen and create a delicious spread that everyone will enjoy.
With the holiday season here, we are gifting you our most helpful secret shortcuts for holiday cooking, so keep reading to grab our most helpful tips and use them immediately!
#1 Secrets To Making Delicious Holiday Meals Faster and Easier Include Being Your Own Sous Chef
Being your sous chef is a well-known technique for saving time in the kitchen.
Most of the time, it is the pre-work that goes into ingredient prepping that hogs all of your time!
- Cutting, parboiling, grating, chopping, and so on take up 65% of the time spent in the kitchen.
- Precooking many of the ingredients is another time-suck, so get that done ahead of time as well.
- Don’t forget to prep fruit for your margaritas or other cocktails you might need to soak!
We recommend getting the complex prepping steps out of the way before the actual cooking.
Do this a few days before to allow you to whip up different holiday meals in no time.
Holiday Cooking Shortcuts: How To Store Your Prepped Food Items Which You Made Ahead
Another thing worth noting is how to store prepped ingredients.
The refrigerator is your best choice, but it is best to know how long prepped ingredients can remain fresh, and most ingredients are best done the day before and then refrigerated, especially
- dairy
- all meats
- all poultry
- all seafood
- all vegetables
- all fruit
Always practice safe food handling methods. You can’t risk illness from contamination.
#2Wield Those Kitchen Tools And Own Them Like A Boss
More simply stated, don’t cut and chop what you don’t have to, use technology to get it done faster and easier, which is a big part of our holiday cooking shortcuts that we use!
We love using our kitchen tools for cooking simple holiday meals they are a huge part of time-saving cooking tips worth considering, and we are sharing why right now!
Using the tech of choppers, peelers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, and the like, you can prep and cook faster than ever before.
Technology will help you spend less time in your kitchen, and it is one of the secrets to making delicious holiday meals faster! Use this tip!
In other words, this is one of those time-saving cooking tips that create a big advantage for those of you who love to cook big meals for the family on special occasions but want to cut your time in half!
In fact, a survey conducted on US kitchens revealed that households with modern tools spend less time cooking.
If you haven’t yet bought one, perhaps, now is the time to consider it.
Indeed, Black Friday was on November 25, but with a little search, you will find moderately priced modern kitchen tools to save time this holiday season.
Which Appliances Are The Secrets To Making Delicious Holiday Meals Faster + Easier?
- an immersion blender (for drinks and soups and so much more)
- A spiralizer for veggies and fruits
- bread machine
- Instant Pot
- an air fryer (as mentioned above) for almost every recipe
And the Air Fryer is what we mentioned last, but you can make so many meals in it, and one of our new faves is the recipe for air-fried Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi.
#3 Holiday Cooking Shortcuts: Set The Tables
While this isn’t cooking, it is still part of the blessed cooking scene; after all, you cook, and you gotta eat, so you need a table set up, right?
Get the table set days before the occasion, which also gives you a chance to wipe the windows and freshen the room ahead of time!
- If you are formally setting the table, flip the plates upside down and the glasses until the day of the party
- tie your napkins up with napkin rings
- swipe a fresh cloth across all of your silverware
Other Ways To Prep The Dishes + Silverware
- set up a buffet line
- use heavy-duty plastic cutlery
- use heavy duty paper plates or clear plastic plates
- set up trash cans for recyclables and garbage
- set up the bar area with everything your guests will need to tend themselves (bottle openers, glasses, etc.)
#4 Planning Is Everything For To Holiday Cooking Shortcuts
The biggest secrets to making delicious holiday meals faster and easier come down to a pen and paper or a computer and a charger!
- Write down your cocktails, appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts
- Mark who is bringing what portion of the meal
- Jot down who has allergies so you can have a meal they can eat or tell them to bring something
- Figure out how many dishes, glasses, and sets of cutlery you will need
- Configure the eating arrangements: Patio, kitchen, kids table, adult table, center island, etc.
- Pen in where the bar will go
- Figure out parking and traffic flow
- Don’t forget to make a sign for Bathroom In Use, Bathroom Open
- Decide if you will create a buffet or a sit-down meal and mark it down.
- Figure out if you need extra tables for food
- Mark down how many coolers you will need
- Don’t forget to mark down who to invite and how to invite
- Also, how much ice will you need and how much will you need to buy
- Mark down who is assigned to go out and get the extra ice
- How many coolers do you have, and how many will you need for beer or other cold items
You Get the idea because the organization will save you every time!
#5 Cook Absolutely NOTHING (all-star idea!)
There may be no need to cook bulk holiday meals if you expect friends and family for holiday lunches and dinners.
Your home will serve as the party spot, which is more than enough, so have everyone else bring the meals.
Why don’t you save all that cooking time by asking everyone to come along with a prepared dish?
It offers variety and an opportunity to sample great holiday dishes.
This will require adequate planning to pull off. In other words, your guests must be alerted to the fact that it is a potluck holiday meal and what they are expected to bring:
- an appetizer
- the cocktail mixers
- the main entree
- salads
- side dishes
- desert
- coffee bar items
Another thing you can do is to share holiday recipes with everyone else and ask them to bring along variations of the dishes.
Use our Secrets To Making Delcious Holiday Meals Faster And Easier This Year
Indeed, the options here are many, but the objective should be to spend less time in the kitchen.
We’ve given you holiday time-saving cooking tips worth considering as well as ideas for faster setup and easier cooking methods.
Try one of each and from our family to yours, happy holidays! ~ Dana XO
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