Here's What's On Alex Guarnaschelli's Thanksgiving 2022 Menu

It's the next best thing to being invited to Alex Guarnaschelli's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Chances are you're not hanging with an Iron Chef this year, but you can still pull off a family celebration or Friendsgiving like a pro. Guarnaschelli is not only happy to share her menu for the holiday, but she is also helping people plan ahead with a kitchen timeline and some tips – all through Instagram.

As you might expect, the celebrity chef's Thanksgiving menu mixes the traditional – turkey and gravy, lots of side dishes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie – with a few gourmet touches. Alongside her post are some tips: "Don't panic. Be calm." and "Don't forget to be thankful." If your frozen turkey isn't defrosting yet, she advised putting it in the fridge now. A daily week-of guide, which could be used year after year, includes prep to be done from Monday through Thursday.

Guarnaschelli must be anticipating a case of pre-caffeine impairment since her to-do list includes a reminder to "drink coffee" – which is an activity on autopilot for a lot of us. Comments from followers perusing her Instagram list include, "I'm way behind" and "Yep! The peeps that don't cook for Turkey Day have zero clue what goes into this."

You can tell it's a holiday meal from the abundance of starch (sweet potatoes, white potatoes, pasta), sugar (pecan, apple, and pumpkin pies and brownies), and carbs (Parkerhouse rolls). Alex Guarnaschelli's menu on Instagram also includes epicurean elements: mozzarella pepperoni stuffing and endive and orange salad. There's a possible nod to her Italian heritage: pasta with mushrooms.

You'll find a non-starchy vegetable in the whole roasted cauliflower and a leafy green veggie in the form of endive, though it's not actually green in this case. Her endive and orange salad recipe includes a colorful mix of yellow endive, radicchio, and parsley with blue cheese and walnuts tossed in (via the Food Network). However, someone hoping for a touch of green could also serve a garden salad or green bean casserole.

Hopefully, you have done the grocery shopping by now, and are beginning the prep work, such as making and freezing raw dough (rolls), mixing the stuffing (to be cooked with the turkey), and setting the table (Wednesday). As one cat mom says on the post, "No one setting their table on Wednesday lives with a cat."

On Thursday, you'll stuff and roast the turkey. "You haven't made a turkey in 364 days so, of course, you're confused," she begins in her demonstration video on Julia Child's cheesecloth method for roasting a moist and evenly cooked turkey (via Facebook). Other day-of tasks include making the rolls, gravy, mashed potatoes, pasta, cauliflower, and brownies. Happy Turkey Day!