- Rachael Ray told Insider the key to a stress-free Thanksgiving is sticking to what you know.
- She recommends making "something you're very secure about" rather than trying to learn a new dish.
Thanksgiving is full of holiday cheer, and holiday stress. There are dozens of dishes to make, table settings to place, and awkward family conversations to navigate.
You can't control everything, especially the latter. But when it comes to the menu, Rachael Ray has some advice that will make your Thanksgiving far more enjoyable.
"I think that people get very nervous about holidays in general, and it's the wrong occasion to be nervous," Ray told Insider at Burger Bash, an event during the New York City Wine and Food Festival in October.
"You should make something that you're very secure about, whether you're bringing a side dish or you're roasting the pheasant or the turkey or the goose or the pig," she added. "Don't try to make something you've never made before or with tons of ingredients."
And when it comes to the main dishes, the Food Network star believes "simple is best."
"There is nothing you can't cook with a bit of stock, a little bit of olive oil, a hot oven, or a hot pot. There's nothing you can't purée. There's nothing you can't roast," Ray said. "Only you know what happens in your kitchen. And I just think people should calm it down, quite frankly."
"Make sure you know what it is you're doing," she added. "Who wants to be uptight on a holiday? You have tons of people coming, different personalities in and out of the house."
If you're hosting this year's Thanksgiving, Ray also has some tips for staying calm — including waking up early.
"You're inevitably going to screw up if you don't get up early," Ray said. "You need to be in and out of the shower early. Just brush your teeth, get clean, make sure you smell OK, and then get to work. Seriously. Because inevitably things will go wrong."
"Especially if you have a hot kitchen or lots of kids running around, lots of people coming and going, it's inevitable," she added. "Life's going to happen. It's going to get weird. So you have to be prepared to be calm. It's your job to stay chill."
Once Thanksgiving dinner is done and dusted, Ray also has some tips for turning leftovers into something delicious.
"Curries, chilis, any kind of ragù, those are your basics," she said. "Burritos, leftover stuffing in your waffle iron. You can also make a stuffing ball and drop it like a matzo ball into broth."