How I Use AI to Plan Thanksgiving Dinner in 15 Minutes (no stress, no forgotten dishes)
It’s November 7th and you know what that means.
Thanksgiving is in 20 days, and the mental countdown has officially begun.
You’re starting to think about it. The menu. The timing. Who’s coming. What dietary restrictions you need to remember. Whether you’re hosting or traveling. When to buy the turkey. How to coordinate seventeen side dishes so everything’s hot at the same time.
And if you’re like me, you’re already feeling that low-grade anxiety that comes with being the person responsible for Making Thanksgiving Happen.
This year? You can plan entire thing in 15 minutes using AI.
The menu. The timeline. The shopping list. The cooking schedule. All of it.
The Thanksgiving Problem Nobody’s Talking About
The problem with Thanksgiving isn’t the cooking. Most of us can cook.
The problem is THE COORDINATION.
You’re trying to:
Remember everyone’s dietary restrictions
Plan a menu that makes sense together
Time multiple dishes so they’re all done at once
Remember when to start each thing
Keep track of what you already have vs. what you need to buy
Do all of this while also managing work, kids, life
Your brain is the project manager for a multi-dish, time-sensitive operation.
And honestly? That’s too much to hold in your head.
How AI Plans Thanksgiving For You (In 15 Minutes)
Here’s what I did yesterday. Took me 15 minutes total.
Now I have a complete Thanksgiving plan, and I don’t have to think about it again until next week.
Step 1: Tell AI Your Situation (2 minutes)
I opened ChatGPT and basically just told it what I’m planning:
GUESTS: 3 adults, 4 kids (ages 3-8), one person has a gluten allergy, the kids are picky
WHAT I WANT: Traditional Thanksgiving food (turkey, stuffing, etc.), not too complicated, everything ready by 3 PM, some make-ahead options so I'm not dying on Thursday
WHAT I HAVE: Standard kitchen (one oven, one stove), I can prep things Wednesday evening, budget is around $200-250 for food, help me plan this entire meal.
GIVE ME:
1. A complete menu that works for everyone
2. A shopping list
3. A day-by-day prep schedule
4. A minute-by-minute cooking timeline for Thursday
Make it realistic. I'm a regular mom.
That’s it. I just brain-dumped my situation.
Step 2: AI Creates Your Complete Plan (Instant)
ChatGPT came back with:
I cannot tell you how much mental space this freed up.
I don’t have to remember any of this. I don’t have to figure out timing. I don’t have to worry about forgetting something. It’s ALL right there.
Step 3: Adjust to Your Real Life (5 minutes)
AI gave me a great starting point, but I adjusted a few things:
Swapped green beans for Brussels sprouts
Decided to buy the pies instead of making them
Added a kid-friendly charcuterie board to snack on
Moved some Wednesday prep to Tuesday because I have more time Tuesday
The plan is flexible. AI gives you the framework, you adjust based on reality.
Step 4: Save It Somewhere You’ll Actually Look (2 minutes)
I copied the whole plan into:
My Notes app (labeled “THANKSGIVING 2025”)
Also saved it in the ChatGPT conversation so I can ask follow-up questions
Now I can pull it up any time without thinking.
Total time: 15 minutes. Thanksgiving: PLANNED.
The Prompts You Can Use Right Now
You don’t have to wait. Here are the exact prompts you can copy-paste today:
For Traditional Thanksgiving:
GUESTS: [ages, dietary restrictions, preferences]
WHAT I WANT: [traditional, simple, make-ahead options, etc.]
WHAT I HAVE: [kitchen setup, prep time available]
BUDGET: $[amount]
Create a complete Thanksgiving menu with:
1. Main dish + sides that work for everyone
2. Shopping list organized by store section
3. Day-by-day prep schedule
4. Minute-by-minute timeline for Thursday
Keep it realistic for a home cook.
For Thanksgiving Sides Only (Not Hosting the Full Meal):
WHAT I'M THINKING: [mention any ideas you have]
RESTRICTIONS: [any dietary needs]
CONSTRAINTS: [must travel, needs to stay warm, etc.]
Suggest [number] side dishes that: Are easy to transport, can be made ahead, will feed [number] people and include the shopping list and timeline.
For “Help, I’m Overwhelmed and Need to Simplify”:
GUESTS: [number and ages]
CONSTRAINTS: Limited time, limited cooking skills, small kitchen
Give me:
1. A minimal menu (what can I buy pre-made?)
2. A simplified shopping list
3. The easiest possible cooking timeline
4. What I can skip without anyone noticing
I need this to be as low-stress as possible.
For the Day-Of Timeline Only:
[List everything you're making]
My oven temperature options: [350°F, 375°F, etc.]
Everything needs to be ready by: [time]
Create a minute-by-minute cooking timeline that tells me: When to start each dish, when to put things in/take things out of the oven, what can be done ahead and what to do while things are cooking
Account for only having one oven and four stove burners.
What This Actually Solves
Before AI planning:
Mental load: Carrying the entire Thanksgiving plan in my head for weeks
Stress: Constantly worrying I’m forgetting something
Day-of chaos: Frantically checking recipes, forgetting timing, serving cold food
Exhaustion: Spending all day in the kitchen without a clear plan
After AI planning:
Mental load: Everything is written down, I can forget about it until I need it
Stress: Minimal, I trust the plan
Day-of flow: I just follow the timeline
Energy: I can actually enjoy the day because I’m not mentally tracking seventeen things
The difference is night and day.
The Questions I Know You’re Thinking
“What if my situation is different from the examples?”
That’s the beauty of this. You just tell AI YOUR specific situation. It adjusts. Different number of people? Tell it. Different dietary needs? Tell it. Cooking at someone else’s house? Tell it. AI adapts the plan to you.
“What if I don’t like what AI suggests?”
Just ask it to revise:
“Replace the Brussels sprouts with something else”
“Make this menu simpler”
“Give me a different dessert option”
“I don’t like that recipe, suggest another”
You’re in control. AI is just helping you organize.
“Can I do this for other holidays?”
YES. This works for Christmas dinner, Easter brunch, birthday party meals, any time you’re cooking for a group.
Just adjust the prompt to the occasion.
“What if something goes wrong on the day?”
Then you adapt. The plan isn’t a rigid contract. But having the plan means you have a starting point instead of chaos. If the turkey takes longer? You know what else you can do during that time. If you forget an ingredient? You can ask AI for a substitution.
Why This Matters
Thanksgiving shouldn’t be something you dread because of the mental load.
You don’t have to spend weeks holding the entire plan in your head. You don’t have to lie awake wondering if you’re forgetting something. You don’t have to be the only person who knows when everything needs to happen.
You can get the plan OUT of your head and INTO something you can actually follow.
That’s what AI does. It organizes what you already know needs to happen. It creates the structure. It remembers the timing.
You still do the cooking. You still make the decisions. You’re still the one making Thanksgiving happen.
You just don’t have to carry it all in your brain anymore.
✨byte size takeaway✨
Thanksgiving is in 20 days.
You can spend the next three weeks mentally planning and stressing about coordination. OR you can spend 15 minutes with AI right now and have the entire thing planned.
Menu. Shopping list. Timeline. All of it.
Then you can stop thinking about it until it’s time to actually cook. Your brain isn’t a meal planning computer. Let AI be the meal planning computer.
✨
Try the Thanksgiving planning prompt TODAY and tell me how it goes. Drop a comment or DM me on Instagram @bytesizemom, I’d love to hear:
Your biggest Thanksgiving stress point. What you’re trying to figure out. Your “I can’t believe I have to coordinate all this” moments.
Let’s survive the holidays together. 🦃✨
