Use this post to find out when you can shop for the different ingredients that make up the Thanksgiving meal.
I don't know if anyone likes standing in line.
Do you?
If you do, I got to say you are more patient than I am.
What about standing in line on the day before Thanksgiving?
That's probably a big fat no for most of us. It would be easier to just buy the ingredients for the meal before hand. Here comes the dilemma, what if they go bad?
It's about fine tuning our desire to not stand in line with our desire to have fresh ingredients.
Don't want to buy your ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner at the last minute? Then you need to check out our Low Stress Thanksgiving Shopping Guide for all the answers. This guide will help you get ahead of the game and avoid the long check out lines. Know how early you can buy each ingredient with customizable printable shopping lists.
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🦃 Thanksgiving Staples
We have more detailed information on a few of the more popular Thanksgiving stables. For more info on these ingredients check out this posts:
- Turkey
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Cranberries
🧂 Pantry Staples
Anything that you can buy that doesn't need refrigeration, you might want to consider buying early in November. Stock up and this will cut down on your list later on in the month. You won't feel so overwhelmed.
Here are some items you may consider if they are on your ingredient list for Thanksgiving.
- Salt (an essential!)
- Flour
- Yeast
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Chicken Stock or Broth
- Dried Mushrooms
- Crispy Onions for Green Bean Casserole
- Spices
- Dried Herbs (fresh herbs should be bough close to Thanksgiving)
- Canned pumpkin (although I recommend cooking your own pumpkin)
- Sugar
- Molasses
- Sweet condensed milk
- Evaporated milk
- Corn starch or an alternative starch
- Cooking oil
- Anything frozen
You could do a pantry stock up only shopping trip to make it easy or include any of these items with your normal grocery shopping routine.
🧈 Butter
You can get this checked off your list at any time. Butter can last for months. Butter is one of those items that is often on sale for Thanksgiving, so you may want to wait to save a little but you for sure don't have to.
You don't need to freeze butter to keep it long enough, however if you are have more freezer space than fridge space, you may want to do that just for that reason alone.
🥧 Apples or Pumpkins for Pie
If you live in a place that grows apples or pumpkins, I recommend you hit up a local orchard or farm before they close for the year. Some places close right around or shortly after Halloween. Some remain open through Thanksgiving or later.
For the best pies, find out what the farmers recommends. Especially with the apples as most grocery stores nowadays offer mainly apples great for eating but not the best baking apples (you could always go with reliable Granny Smith).
Pie pumpkins can be stored at room temperature until you need them. They make great decoration. Apples should be put in the fridge. An apple you will use for a pie should last for several weeks as end of season apples are typically the ones with the longer shelf life.
📆 Latest Day You Need to Shop
It's my thought that you can finish your Thanksgiving shopping by the Monday before Thanksgiving.
You don't need to go any closer to Thanksgiving for anything. And at that time the only thing that you could be going for is more perishable items like green beans and green herbs.
Instead of standing in a long line the day before Thanksgiving you can be home preparing your meal for the next day.
If you aren't getting those items, then you go a week before Thanksgiving. Veggies like carrots, Brussels sprouts, celery, and all the root vegetables will easily last for a 1 week in your fridge.
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Feeling anxious about cooking the meal? Not sure whether brining your turkey is worth your time? Hate peeling potatoes for mashed potatoes but don't know any other way? Never sure when a pumpkin pie is done?
If you have questions like this that have brought stress or anxiety to what should be a fun meal to cook, then you need to sign up for our Thanksgiving Anxiety Reducing email list.
Got more questions about the Thanksgiving meal? Check out our Thanksgiving Troubleshooting page.
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