5 Thanksgiving Dishes That Are Better Store-Bought

Thanksgiving is a day of family and friends, quality time, and, of course, great food. It is also, notoriously, a day of chaos — a struggle for oven space, sinks full of pots and pans, and ingredients that are inevitably forgotten until the last moment. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to prevent this mess: Buy some of your dishes or ingredients premade.

Many of us strive to make every dish from scratch, but even some of the best chefs in the country advise against it. “Unless you’re a professional chef, you’re probably not used to having to multitask so many dishes at once in a limited space,” says 2025 F&W Best New Chef Kelly Jacques, owner of Ayu Bakehouse in New Orleans. “I think you should outsource anything that’s going to stress you out or otherwise make you feel less present with your guests.”

Read on for five items that even chefs don’t make themselves.

Cranberry sauce

Phila Lorn, a 2025 F&W Best New Chef and co-owner of Mawn in Philadelphia, always picks canned cranberry sauce over homemade. “No doubt about it,” he says. Same goes for 2019 F&W Best New Chef Caroline Glover, owner of Annette and Traveling Mercies in Aurora, Colorado, who has prepared the sweet condiment several times and has determined that it’s not necessary to spend time on. “The nostalgia of the canned sauce just can’t be replicated,” she says.

Then there’s 2009 F&W Best New Chef Jon Shook, co-owner of Jon & Vinny’s, Helen’s, and Cookbook in Los Angeles, who serves both homemade and canned cranberry sauce at his Thanksgiving feast — “ridges and all,” he says. “It’s kind of disgusting, but also kind of perfect. You need both.”

Pies

Rather than creating their own desserts — a time-consuming task that too often takes up precious oven time — many chefs prefer to pick some up from a local bakery. Chicago-based chefs Paul Virant, a 2007 F&W Best New Chef and owner of Illinois restaurants Vistro Prime, Gaijin, and Petite Vie, and Giuseppe Tentori (2008 Best New Chef) order their pies from Hoosier Mama Pie Company, Brown Sugar Bakery, or Floriole. “I let the experts shine on turkey day,” says Virant.

Similarly, professional baker Jacques declines to make pies at home. “I’m usually working up until the last second on Wednesday evening before hopping on a plane last-minute, so I just bring something from my bakery,” she says. “It’s technically from scratch, but not necessarily made by me personally.”

Bread

“I’m not taking the time to make bread on Thanksgiving — it’s too much,” says 2009 F&W Best New Chef Vinny Dotolo. Instead, he grabs packs of fluffy Hawaiian rolls at the grocery store. “You’re not going to make them better than the store-bought ones.”

Brady Williams, a 2018 F&W Best New Chef and owner of Tomo in White Center, Washington, turns to his favorite Seattle bakeries for bread on Thanksgiving. “Whether it’s sourdough or Parker House rolls, with so many great bakeries in town, why wouldn’t we?”

Cream of mushroom soup

Many classic Thanksgiving recipes include ingredients that could easily be store-bought or homemade, like bread for stuffing, cornbread mix for corn pudding, or cream of mushroom soup for green bean casserole. “I’ve learned from experience that buying versus making cream of mushroom soup for green bean casserole is always a good idea,” says 2018 F&W Best New Chef Michael Gallina. Ultimately, the complexities of a homemade version are going to be lost under the pile of vegetables and fried onions.

Mashed potatoes

“Typically, I never make mashed potatoes from scratch,” says 2011 F&W Best New Chef Viet Pham, co-owner of Pretty Bird Hot Chicken in Utah. He prefers the premade version from Costco, but also approves of a box of instant mashed potatoes. “It cuts back on precious time and allows me to focus on other tasks and spending time with family and friends.”