A curated list of YouTube videos to provide helpful guidance and ideas for your last-minute planning and preparation for Thanksgiving Dinner. 

Here’s a curated collection of helpful and unintimidating videos from various cooking and hosting experts who share invaluable tips. No matter your role this coming Thanksgiving Day, we are optimistic that you will discover something that will add an extra sparkle to your holiday!

Table of Contents

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Entertaining   |  Home Décor  |  Food   |   YouTube  |   Holidays  |  Wine  |  Kitchen

 

Appetizer Tips

 

The Ultimate Cheese Board Using Goat’s Milk Cheeses

A very approachable method of preparing a wonderful cheese board with confidence by keeping it simple – focusing on three types of French goat cheese. Produced by Tastemade and presented by wine & cheese expert Kirstin Jackson, also the author of It’s Not You It’s Brie.

The Ultimate Cheese Board: Goat's Milk Cheeses

 

A Quick Thanksgiving Appetizer: Cranberry Brie Puff Bites

This savory cranberry recipe from SideChef is “easy-breezy”, and if you like it, you can purchase all of the ingredients from their website, fulfilled by Walmart. Given that we love brie and cranberry sauce, this recipe caught our attention, especially since we tend to have cranberry sauce left over. This dish might indeed “wow” your guests, but try to refrain from confessing how easy it was to prepare!

QUICK Thanksgiving Appetizer: Cranberry Brie Puff Bites

 

Turkey Tips

 

10 Tips for a Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

A quick overview of 10 helpful tips to improve how you prepare and cook your turkey from John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen. Though admittedly this advice is better suited for less-experienced chefs, it can serve as a helpful reminder for seasoned cooks to review if you want to adjust your approach to preparing and baking turkey.

10 Tips For A Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey ft. Preppy Kitchen | Pantry Party

 

A Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner

For those needing help pulling together an entire Thanksgiving menu, this is the video to watch from Sam the Cooking Guy. His forte is making cooking accessible, easy, fun and delicious! In this video, he walks you through an easy-to-follow approach of how to prepare and cook a very traditional menu of: turkey, carrots, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes. Before watching this video, be sure to start defrosting your Turkey today, so it will be ready to brine on Wednesday!

COMPLETE STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO COOKING THANKSGIVING DINNER (ANYONE CAN DO IT!) | SAM THE COOKING GUY

 

How to Carve a Turkey from the CIA (Culinary Institute of America)

A terrifically easy video from the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) to follow not only to improve how you carve turkey but also chicken. You will quickly understand why this video has over 2 million views to date. The most important tip this master chef gives is to let your turkey rest for approximately 30 minutes. This will ensure more of the moisture is retained in the meat and will not run off, if you cut the bird prematurely. You can “reheat” the turkey by placing it in a warm oven. Another helpful tip is to leave the wings on while cutting the breasts, as they help to stabilize the bird on the cutting board.

How to Carve a Turkey

 

Food & Wine Pairing Tips

 

Wine and Food Pairing Made Super Easy

A helpful introductory video on food and wine pairing from sommelier Madeline Puckette, who is also the co-founder of Wine Folly, a site dedicated to helping people learn about wine. One helpful tip she gives is to envision wine as another ingredient within the given meal. The video references a visually intuitive pairing method poster designed by Madeline, also described in her article the Simple Science of Food and Wine Pairing.

Wine and Food Pairing Made SUPER EASY

 

Table Setting Tips

 

A Complete Guide to Setting a Gorgeous Holiday Table

This thorough overview of holiday tablescapes from Interior Designer Julie Khuu covers both the basics of table setting, as well as providing suggestions on selecting your preferred presentation style (Traditional, Eclectic, or Naturalist). Be sure to watch her Top 5 Setting Tips, starting at mark 7:53. One invaluable reminder is to set the table two or three days prior to Thanksgiving Day, as it will reduce stress and allow you to make adjustments as you get closer to dinner time.

How to Set a Gorgeous Holiday Table - Thanksgiving Tablescape Ideas

 

Appliance Resources

Given that many kitchens are pushed to the their limits on Thanksgiving Day, there is a higher likelihood that some appliances may give out at the most inopportune time. Before panicking, be sure to search the Internet – especially YouTube – with details on your model and corresponding symptoms. You may be pleasantly surprised that your situation can be remedied without any additional professional assistance. Here are just a few example YouTube videos that have helped thousands of homeowners resolve appliance issues on their own:

 

Recommended Reading

 

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