Beat the Clock with 1, 2 or 3-Hour Holiday Dinner Menus

To make sure your menu hits the 3-hour mark, prepare the recipes in the order listed.

• 3 Hours Ahead: Get the ham into the slow cooker. Make the cake.
• 2 Hours, 25 Minutes Ahead: Mix the salad.
• 2 Hours Ahead: Make the dip.
• 1 Hour, 40 Minutes Ahead: Make the gratin.
• 1 Hour, 20 Minutes Ahead: Make the biscuits.
• 45 Minutes Ahead: Assemble the crudités and crackers, then set out the dip.
• 25 Minutes Ahead: Broil the ham. Warm the biscuits. 

Add a little surprise to your crudités platter by steering away from the carrots and celery and grabbing yellow wax beans, radicchio leaves, and several kinds of radishes instead. 

Try our Spinach-Artichoke Dip with Crackers & Crudités

Making the ham in the slow cooker frees up the oven for the rest of the feast.

Try our Slow-Cooker Pineapple, Pepper Jelly & Bourbon Ham

Try our Black Pepper & Parm Biscuit

Try our Cheesy Sweet Potato Gratin

Hearty greens, like kale and collards, can be dressed and cooled in the fridge while you pull everything else together.

Try our Kale & Collard Salad with Lemon Dressing

Try our Cranberry Walnut Upside-Down Cake

To make sure your menu hits the 2-hour mark, prepare the recipes in the order listed.

• 1 Hours, 30 Minutes Ahead: Start the soup. Make the frico.
• 1 Hour Ahead: Make the celery root mash. Simmer the green beans.
• 30 Minutes Ahead: Get the salmon in the oven. Make the sauce.
• 15 Minutes Ahead: Finish the green beans.
• 5 Minutes Ahead: Reheat the soup and the mash. 

This speedy version of frico (cheese crisps from northern Italy) uses the microwave. In just a few minutes, you can transform a pile of cheese into a crunchy garnish for our creamy soup.

Try our Mushroom Soup with Microwave Frico

Try our Salmon with Green Olive-Caper Sauce

If the green beans aren't just out of the skillet come dinnertime, don't fret. This is the kind of side that's great warm or at room temperature.

Try our Sautéed Green Beans with Red Onion

Try our Celery Root Mash

Get the frozen stuff. It makes everyone look like a pastry chef, and, with just a little effort, you can pull off a showstopper like this pear tart. Try for all-butter if you can find it.

Try our Frangipane Pear Tart with Cherry Jam Glaze

To make sure your menu hits the 1-hour mark, prepare the recipes in the order listed.

• 1 Hour Ahead: Put the roast in the oven.
• 50 Minutes Ahead: Make the mousse.
• 35 Minutes Ahead: Roast the carrots.
• 25 Minutes Ahead: Assemble the grissini. Put the olive-bar medley in a bowl.
• 15 Minutes Ahead: Make the salad.
• 5 Minutes Ahead: Warm the rolls. 

Twirl thinly sliced prosciutto around grissini (crispy breadsticks) for a super-quick appetizer.

At the supermarket olive bar, fill up a tub with assorted olives, peppers, pickles, and other tasty nibbles. Transfer the mix to a pretty bowl. Starter, finished!

Try our Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce

Try our Rosemary Roasted Carrots

If you can't find persimmons, replace them with mango.

Try our Green Salad with Persimmons & Feta

Try our Blender Chocolate-Mint Mousse