Thanksgiving is not a lazy man’s holiday. That is, unless you somehow get the privilege of bringing cheese and crackers or canned cranberry sauce for the 10th year in a row. To throw together this holiday dinner even if you’re dealing with a small crowd, you’re going to end up spending days preparing everything, and this doesn’t even include cooking it all on the big day. Plan on waking up at the literal butt crack of dawn to get started. It’s just not worth it.
That’s why we decided to make a list of the most thankless dishes. You know, the ones that require the most amount of work with the least payoff in the end. This way, you can pick and choose which dishes you’re going to waste your time making this year while we watch football with our feet up and a beer in our hand.
Photo: Motortion (Getty Images)
8 Thankless Thanksgiving Dishes
-
8. Cranberry Sauce
Buy fresh cranberries, wash them off, put them in a pot with sugar, orange zest, and other ingredients and waste prime napping time boiling them in a sauce. Or just open a can and watch your guests still not eat it.
-
7. Homemade Rolls
This should go without saying, but homemade rolls aren’t worth the effort. Can you imagine spending a day making dough, letting it proof, and then baking it? This isn’t The Great British Baking Show. Just open a package and dump it into a dish.
-
6. Green Beer Casserole
Just like sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole isn’t worth the amount of work. That is, if you’re wasting your time cutting, washing, and preparing fresh green beans. Dump them out of a can or a freezer bag and you’re looking at a much simpler, equally tasty side dish.
-
5. Stuffing
There’s a reason you can literally buy premade stuffing that only requires the addition of butter, broth, or tap water. It’s because making real stuffing is crazy time-consuming. We’ll take the boxed version over the extra work any day.
-
4. Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is one of the most well-known Thanksgiving desserts. If you make it from scratch, you’re looking at a crazy amount of work that begins with cracking open that Halloween jack-o-lantern. Once again, we’re all about cracking open a can. Better yet, buy a pumpkin pie on the way to your Thanksgiving gathering.
-
3. Gravy
You can spend a whole day making gravy using chicken or turkey scraps, adding spices, and taking time to guarantee it’s devoid of lumps. Or, you can open a package of gravy powder, add water, and be just as happy.
-
2. Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potato casserole is OK. It’s sweet, subtly savory, and a nice change from the other salty foods on the table. It just has so many ingredients and is so time-consuming. It’s not worth it for the payout.
-
1. Roast Turkey
So, you bought your 25-pound turkey weeks ago and it’s been taking up your whole freezer ever since. Now you have to thaw it out for days before seasoning it, pulling out the giblets, and finally roasting it for what seems like an eternity only to end up with dry, flavorless meat.
