In her new YouTube special, The Pioneer Woman’s Thanksgiving Playbook, Ree Drummond makes one thing very clear: Thanksgiving shouldn’t feel like a marathon you never trained for. The holiday is big, yes. There’s turkey involved, yes. But stress? “Completely optional,” she says with the confidence of someone who’s cooked more turkeys than most people have eaten.
For 2025, Drummond is focusing less on perfection and more on practicality: planning smarter, prepping earlier, and giving yourself permission to take shortcuts when you need them. Here are the biggest takeaways from her new special (and what she wants every home cook to remember this year).
1. Start Early (Earlier Than You Think)
If Ree could tattoo one message on America’s collective forearm, it would be this: Do not wait until Thanksgiving week to start prepping. In the special, she breaks down her ideal timeline:
- Two weeks out: finalize the menu, buy shelf-stable ingredients, and make your plan.
- The weekend before: prep long-lasting sides and anything that can freeze beautifully — think rolls, pie dough, soup bases, and casseroles.
- Monday–Wednesday: chop, assemble, marinate, measure, and refrigerate.
Her philosophy is simple: “If I can do it before Thursday, I do.” The point isn’t efficiency for efficiency’s sake: it’s to leave you with enough space on Thanksgiving Day to actually be present instead of peeling potatoes in a panic spiral.
2. Make-Ahead Dishes Are Your Best Friends
Ree has always been a champion of make-ahead cooking, but in this special, she pushes it even further. Her message: almost everything can be made ahead in some way. Mashed potatoes? Make them the night before and warm them slowly with cream. Stuffing? Assemble it completely, refrigerate, and bake before serving. Cranberry sauce? “If you’re making that on Thanksgiving Day,” she jokes, “you’re doing it wrong.” She emphasizes dishes that thrive after a rest, like casseroles, pies, vegetable bakes, and reminds viewers that leftovers taste better when the cook wasn’t overwhelmed to make them.
3. Don’t Cook Alone (Unless You Want To)
One of Ree Drummond’s most comforting tips: delegate without guilt.
In the special, she laughs about how many years she spent doing everything herself, only to realize she didn’t get a gold star for suffering. Now she insists:
- Have someone else make a pie.
- Put a guest in charge of the salad.
- Assign the table setting to a teenager with Pinterest energy.
Thanksgiving is meant to be communal. Let people help — not because you can’t do it, but because you don’t have to.
4. Choose Recipes You Truly Love (Not What You Think You “Should” Make)
Ree gives permission many home cooks desperately need: stop making dishes nobody likes. If your family doesn’t eat green bean casserole, skip it. If you love cornbread dressing more than classic stuffing, make the one you like. “It’s your Thanksgiving,” she says. “Cook the meal your people will eat.”
That small shift — cooking from joy instead of obligation — takes surprising pressure off the holiday.
5. Reset Your Mindset: Thanksgiving Isn’t an Exam
Toward the end of the special, Ree shares the most important tip of all: let go of the pressure to perform. Your turkey doesn’t have to look like the cover of a magazine. Your mashed potatoes don’t need to be photo-shoot smooth. And if your gravy breaks? Ree says it best: “Pour it into a gravy boat and call it rustic.” Thanksgiving isn’t a culinary test — it’s a meal. And meals, she reminds us, are meant to be enjoyed.
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