Holiday meals involve a lot of prep and planning, but I’m sharing my tips and tricks for making this Thanksgiving even easier! This post is brought to you as part of my partnership with Bob Evans. As always, all opinions are my own.
This year is my first year hosting the big Thanksgiving dinner and I’m not going to lie – it’s a little nerve-wracking!
I mean, I certainly don’t want to be responsible for screwing up the big dinner that everyone looks forward to all year long!
I’ve been working with Bob Evans this year to share recipes featuring their refrigerated side dishes and I’m here to tell you that they are making Thanksgiving so much easier on me this year!
I’m going to share some of my favorite ways to doctor up Bob Evans side dishes to make them just a little fancier with minimal prep and loads of flavor. Whether you use every one of these shortcuts to make your meal easier or just one, I feel like we can all really appreciate how easy these little hacks are. Ready?
Sweet Potato Casserole Hack:
Bob Evans makes ultra creamy, perfectly seasoned mashed sweet potatoes. I love them on their own and feel like they go well with any dinner.
But, on Thanksgiving you need sweet potato casserole. Plain ol’ mash is fine for any other day of the year, but let’s live a little on the holidays!
I kept it super simple here and just heated 2 packages of Bob Evans Mashed Sweet Potatoes and spooned those into an 8×8 baking dish.
Top the sweet potatoes off with about a cup of chopped pecans and a handful of mini marshmallows.
The marshmallows will puff up and get that gorgeous golden brown on top in just about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
So easy and seriously good!
If you wanted, you could even take the topping from my sweet potato casserole and pop it on these mashed sweet potatoes. No one will ever guess this dish wasn’t made totally from scratch!
Cheddar Bacon Mac and Cheese Hack:
Have you tried Bob Evans Original Macaroni and Cheese yet? I’ve been singing it’s praises ever since I discovered. It’s honestly something that we always have on hand, because it’s so easy to complete a meal.
I mean, how many times have you stood in front of the fridge and wondered what to serve alongside your main dish? Mac and cheese to the rescue!
To fancy this mac and cheese up just a bit and make it feel even more homemade and special, I stirred in a heaping handful of freshly grated cheddar cheese, 4 slices of chopped bacon, and a tablespoon of fresh chopped chives.
This mac and cheese is outrageously good, you guys.
Mashed Potatoes Hack:
Ha. Just kidding.
Bob Evans Original Mashed Potatoes are so classically perfect for Thanksgiving that I didn’t even consider messing with them. The only thing I did was drizzle melted butter over the top and sprinkle on some fresh herbs.
A homemade turkey gravy would complete these, but I’m happy to eat mine plain.
Heaven.
Leftover mashed potatoes go great in my mashed potato puffs!
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Hack:
It’s not Thanksgiving without dessert and I decided to go big this time around.
Bob Evans Sliced Glazed Apples are one of my son’s favorite sides. He orders them anytime he spies them on a menu and he was so excited when I brought home a package from the store.
I kept things majorly easy with this one and started with a store-bought cheesecake. I warmed the apples as directed on the package and then spooned them right over the top of the cheesecake.
Drizzle on some caramel sauce and dessert is served.
Chopped pecans would have made the perfect addition to this too!
If you wanted to make a homemade cheesecake, I’d start with my pecan pie cheesecake and just skip the topping!
More holiday recipes to add to your menu:
Corn Casserole: You can’t have Thanksgiving without this creamy corn!
Homemade Scalloped Potatoes: White cheddar cheese and loads of creaminess.
Green Bean Casserole with Bacon: My from scratch version is oh so good!
Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Simple and delicious!
I hope you give a couple of these holiday hacks a try! I think they really make life easier without sacrificing flavor.
Happy holidays!
Kristine says
Thank you Karly! I LOVE these ideas! The holidays are stressful enough and I am thankful to have less stress trying to plan and cook a whole meal when what I really want to do is spend quality time with my family and not hours in the kitchen! I love to cook but am grateful for these shortcuts! 🙂
Karly says
Enjoy the time with your family this week, Kristine! <3
Doris Teddlie says
I love these ideas! I used to cook from scratch but as I get older I appreciate the short cuts. No one can tell the difference in the quality of the food, I spend more time with my family. It’s a win-win situation. My mom used short cuts like this for years and we never knew till I went through her recipe box!! She was an amazing cook, but she wanted less kitchen time and more family time too.
Vickie says
Karly – I love you! I have been using Bob Evans mashed potatoes for several years now. I only have 2 operating burners on my cooktop and these have been a life saver. I can’t believe how good these taste! I put a little heavy cream in the bottom of my slow cooker that has been sprayed with cooking spray. My microwave will hold 3 containers of the mashed potatoes at a time. I warm them in my microwave and dump them in my warm crockpot. Then I top them with butter and warm 3 more containers. I dump those on top and add more butter and black pepper. No one but me and my husband even knows. It saves so much time and no one even realizes that I didn’t mash them their self when time is of the importance. If you would eat Bob Evans thru the week when you have more time, why down someone who is using them for Thanksgiving? If you are using canned pumpkin puree for your pie, then there is no difference. If they didn’t taste good, I wouldn’t use them and I’m sure Karly wouldn’t either. I find criticism of using them thru the week but not on a holiday funny. Karly- YOU ROCK!
Karly says
No one ever knows when I serve them up either. They really are perfect! Love the idea of adding them to your slow cooker. 🙂
Betty Greeley says
I have to completely agree with Judy!!!
Judy VB says
It disturbs me, a processed food holiday meal. Not appealing at all. Bob Evan’s stuff is fine for a week day dinner side dish, but to service for a holiday meal? Nope.
Karly says
Not everyone has the experience, time, budget, or space to cook everything from scratch. These are some easy ways to dress up a holiday dinner easily…I might not use every single one of them for a holiday dinner, but I hope that people find the different options helpful.
Elaine Rimbach says
You go girl! I can’t stand pontificating arrogant people.
This recipe sounds delicious. Reminds me of the fantastic sweet potato casserole carried by Publix grocery at the holidays. I found your site when searching for a hack to add brown sugar to BE sweet potatoes. When and if you read this and know of a way to do that, I would very much appreciate your contacting me. ? Thanks.
Karly says
Hi Elaine! Glad you like the ideas!
I’m not sure what you mean about adding brown sugar to their sweet potatoes. Couldn’t you just stir some in to taste after warming them up? Or are you asking for something different? 🙂
Vickie says
Karly isn’t promoting a “processed Thanksgiving meal.” She is giving options when time is of an essence and other things take priority. Do you cook your own pumpkin for your pie or use canned pumpkin puree? No difference. Many people use canned, jarred or packet gravy mixes. People purchase premade dough for rolls or even premade rolls. I don’t know anyone who make everything from scratch and if they do, more power to them. Be disturbed if you want but I am using Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes again for I don’t know how many years now. No one has complained yet. Even Ina Garten admits to purchasing premade items for her meals to take away from the stress. It’s just potatoes for God’s sake. Relax and let live. and
pat Gooden says
I have been using BE Mashed Potatoes/ and sweet for years – I grate little onion into the mashed and it is very good
Karly says
They’re so good, aren’t they? I’ll have to try adding onion sometime.