Ree Drummond's Thanksgiving special contains a prep tip so clever and stress-reducing, you'll wonder why you haven't been using it all along.
Ree Drummond has always had a special ability to somehow make Thanksgiving feel less overwhelming—as if the whole feast might just come together with nothing more than a little planning and a lot of butter. That’s especially true this year thanks to her new YouTube Thanksgiving special, which lays out her entire holiday cooking game plan in the calmest, most reassuring way. In the video, she walks through exactly what she prepares every day in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.
And while I loved every minute of her enviably organized Thanksgiving plan, one tip stood out as a true must-steal move. It’s simple and smart, and it’s the sort of trick that will make you feel like you’re the star of your own cooking show.
The Simple Trick Ree Says Makes All the Difference
Early in the video, Ree drops the secret that anchors her whole week: On Monday, she chops every single vegetable that will be used for the big meal. Celery, onions, carrots, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash—anything she’ll need for stuffing, casseroles and the rest of the menu gets chopped and put into individual bags in the fridge. She even does the same with her fresh herbs, giving them a quick chop so they’re ready to be sprinkled into whatever she’s cooking later in the week.
As the week unfolds, those prepped ingredients slip neatly into every dish she makes, turning what could be chaos into a calm, steady rhythm. By the time Thursday rolls around, she’s not standing over a mountain of onions, eyes burning, questioning her life choices. Everything is prepped, all that’s left to do is enjoy the assembly.
For anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by the energy of the day—timers beeping, relatives wandering in with “helpful suggestions,” pans hissing and pots bubbling over—this level of early organization is a gift. One cutting board session on Monday saves a whole lot of stress later in the week.
How to Use Ree’s Best Thanksgiving Tip in Your Own Kitchen
You don’t need a multi-million-dollar ranch kitchen or a camera crew to pull this one off. All you need is a cutting board, a good knife, zip-top bags and room in the refrigerator. (Ree also suggests cleaning out the fridge before the grocery shopping starts!)
The Monday before Thanksgiving, treat yourself to one calm, focused prep session. Chop the vegetables you know you’ll need for each dish, then toss each ingredient into its own bag, label them if you’re feeling extra organized, and stash them in the fridge until you need them.
Come Thursday, you’ll glide around your kitchen like a TV chef with a lineup of little bowls already waiting for you. No last-minute peeling, no lost cutting boards, no mid-recipe scavenger hunts. Just ingredients ready to go and a dinner that feels a whole lot more manageable.
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