Thanksgiving is the day for breaking bread with family and friends and expressing gratitude for life’s blessings. A 2023 LendingTree survey found that 60% of respondents planned to host Thanksgiving dinner, with an average of 11 guests! Preparing for Turkey Day can be a stressful, chaotic mix of meal planning, guest lists, and time management, since everything revolves around the perfect dinner. Whether you are hosting or helping, don’t worry; Senior Planet researched apps to help you stay ahead of the game.

Start by giving yourself plenty of time to plan early.

Meal Planning and Recipes

When it comes to home entertaining, who couldn’t use a little help channeling their inner Martha Stewart or Wolfgang Puck?

• Plan to Eat: Simplifies meal planning and organizing recipes to help users create meal plans, make shopping lists, and track nutrition. ($5.95/month)
• Yummly: Much more than a meal planner, Yummly utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize recommendations the more you use it. (Free or $4.99/month)

Grocery Shopping

• AnyList: Hosting a Thanksgiving potluck? AnyList lets users create and share grocery lists. (Free or $9.99/year)
• SideChef: Allows users to choose a dish and it instantly creates a grocery list for easy pickup at the grocery store. (Free or $4.99/month)

Before heading to the grocery store, don’t forget to check out food bargains using digital coupon apps.

Guest Management and Invitations

Save money and time by emailing or texting invitations to your guest list.

• Evite: Established in 1998, Evite is a digital event and party planning platform featuring tools such as RSVP tracking, save-the-date reminders, gift ideas, and more. (Free with paid levels up to $249/year)
• Paperless Post: Similar to Evite, except the pricing tier requires users to purchase coins, which expire within 12 months if unused. (Free with paid levels from $10/25 coins to $100/1,000 coins).

Event Organization

Utilize the digital world to help manage your Thanksgiving budget, coordinate helpers, and program cooking times.

• Cozi Family Organizer: Get set for the big day with Cozi, a free app, to arrange daily schedules and tasks for your family and to keep track of who is bringing what for dinner.

• ChatGPT: Let this AI wonder be your sous chef for Thanksgiving dinner. ChatGPT can alter recipes for your headcount, help select foods based on your budget, and even create a cooking schedule to stay organized. (Free or $20/month)

Want to know more about Artificial Intelligence? Check out the Senior Planet AI Resource page here. 

Cooking Assistance

Get ready to conquer the challenges of preparing and cooking your feast.

• Kitchen Multi Timer: This app is long overdue – a simple and helpful kitchen timer that handles multiple cooking times for all the food on the big day. (Free or $3.99)
• Tasty: A popular and free cooking app offering over 10,000 recipes, video tutorials, detailed instructions, and tailored suggestions.

Leftovers Management

Nobody wants to throw away good food. Now there are new apps to help users run a more efficient kitchen and recycle leftovers.

• No Waste: Described as a no-waste food assistant, users can track food items, manage leftovers, create pantry inventory lists, and sort food by expiration date. (free or $5.99/month)
• Olio: This free app allows members to share leftover food with their community. Olio has over 8 million members and promotes “sharing more; wasting less.” To use it, take a photo of your food, choose a pickup location, and arrange for someone to collect it.

What apps do you use (or plan to use) to ease Thanksgiving hassles? Would you use AI to plan a menu?  Share your experiences in the comments!

Deborah Reale is a digital marketing and communications consultant specializing in social media, analytics, content writing, and editing. Ms. Reale has written for Business Development Magazine, Construction Industry Today, and quoted in Investor’s Business Daily and the book Social Media in Action. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a graduate degree in business administration.

Photo: Deagreez via Getty Images