When you imagine holiday cooking, you typically think of a large kitchen with family members gathered together and plenty of sides to pass around. If you live in an apartment with a small kitchen, you may think you’ll have to lower your holiday meal expectations, but you can easily work around a small space and ring in the holiday cheer with these tips!
Plan Some Shortcuts
Find sides you don’t have to cook in the oven. For example, you could do a charcuterie board as a first course. Not only will this require no cooking, but you can put it out in the living room, freeing up more time and space for you in the kitchen. Consider using alternate appliances, such as the microwave, to cook asparagus and baked potatoes or even heat up dishes you made in advance.
Cook in Advance
Speaking of making things in advance, food like mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and stuffing can easily be reheated in the microwave while your turkey or ham takes up all the room in the oven. Perishable food like salads can be tossed and made a few hours before and kept in the fridge before serving. Finally, pie, the star of the dessert table, can be made a few weeks in advance and frozen. Then, all you have to do is set out the pie to thaw.
Create More Space Before the Holidays
Before the holidays begin, it's time to get creative with the storage and counter space in your small kitchen. Start by creating more prep space by adding burner covers to your stove or adding an over-the-counter cutting board. By implementing these easy fixes, you can create more space to place finished dishes or cut veggies. If you need more room in your pantry or cabinets for all the holiday groceries, consider moving items you don’t use during the holidays to another closet. Finally, take some time and declutter and reorganize your kitchen. Take a good look around and consider if you own any unused appliances that can be given away. Check every drawer and consider buying some drawer organizers to help you find the necessary utensils you need while cooking. To learn more storage tips, check out How to Organize a Small Kitchen.
Use Your Entertainment Area
Whether it’s the coffee table in your living room or the extra table you added, go ahead and use all of your space to your advantage! Instead of making individual drinks in your kitchen, consider setting up a drink station on your coffee table where your guests can make their own drinks while being out of your way. If you added something like a folding table to your living room as a place for your guests to eat, go ahead and use that space as a place to either prep dishes or place dishes you have already finished making. You can use tinfoil to cover the dishes and help keep them warm.
Clean As You Go
Space is limited when cooking in a small kitchen, but it can feel even more cramped the messier it gets! To have your small kitchen working to its full potential, clean as you go. This could be as easy as picking up scraps and pieces of trash and tossing them in the garbage. To create more counter space as you go, put bowls and plates you’re no longer using in the dishwasher or the sink. Cleaning as you go does not mean you have to scrub your kitchen from top to bottom, but keeping your space tidy throughout the process can drastically reduce post-meal cleaning time and stress.
Consider Prepackaged Food
Typically, when thinking about holiday cooking, you probably think about making everything homemade, but sometimes, in a small kitchen, that’s just not in the cards. A great alternative to homemade cooking is prepackaged food. Today you can find all kinds of meal kits and precut veggies to help make your prep and cooking time faster. By doing a combination of prepping food in advance and buying prepackaged food, you can help reduce the number of dishes you’re cooking, all while making a delicious holiday meal.
Host a Potluck
Finally, if you’re hosting a large group of friends and family this holiday season, you may want to consider a potluck. A potluck is a great option because it allows you to focus on a dish or two while still having all the great sides of holiday meals. A great way to approach a potluck is assigning your friends and family various dishes. This helps you as the host because you’ll know what will be at the table, but this also helps ensure that you don’t have duplicate dishes.
Cooking a holiday meal in your small kitchen may sound intimidating but with a plan and some time to prep and organize, you can easily have a memorable holiday season surrounded by all your friends and family!
