How To Prepare Your Farmhouse Feast

Hosting the perfect holiday dinner takes a lot of preparation! Choosing recipes, buying groceries, and coordinating cooking times can intimidate even the most seasoned host. Fortunately, there are plenty of prepared meal options to take one big task off your list: the meal.

The Bob Evans Farmhouse Feast®, a farm-fresh holiday meal made simple. The entire meal is packed cold into one big box and ready to pick up (or have delivered where available!) when you're ready.

Our Farmhouse Feast is the best way to simplify your Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinner during the holidays, but keep in mind you do need a little bit of time to prepare before you put it on your table. To make it even easier, we’ll walk you through all the steps needed to prepare our Premium Farmhouse Feast®, which serves 8-10 guests.

Getting Started

The Farmhouse Feast is designed to heat multiple dishes in the oven at one time. To optimize your cooking space, it’s helpful to have an oven with multiple racks. You’ll also want items such as aluminum foil, cooking spray, an apron, potholders, and towels on hand to help keep your kitchen (and your outfit) ready for dinner.

Once you've ordered your Farmhouse Feast and you've picked it up or had it delivered, here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 - oven safe dishes (2 qt. minimum) for mashed potatoes and macaroni & cheese
• 2 small saucepans (2 qt. minimum) for green beans and gravy
• 2 small microwave-safe dishes for bread & celery dressing and corn
• 2 serving forks or sets of tongs for slow-roasted turkey and hickory-smoked ham
• 3 serving spoons for sides
• 1 slotted serving spoon for green beans
• 1 ladle for gravy
• 2-3 heat-resistant rubber spatualas for preparation and stirring.

We’ve planned this timeline for to have dinner at 6pm, so you can adjust as needed. You'll need at least two and a half hours to heat, serve and enjoy! Click below to create your own timing schedule.

Download Your Own Feast Schedule

3:30-3:45pm: Turkey Time

• 3:30pm (2 hours 30 minutes to dinner) - Preheat your oven to 325*F
• 3:45pm (2 hours 15 minutes to dinner) - Place the turkey in the provided aluminum pan. Cover the pan and cook in the oven for 2 hours.

The beauty of turkey is that it will cook in the oven while you prep the other dishes. Turkey doesn’t require too much supervision, but you should check on it periodically to make sure it’s cooking nicely. Check the temperature at 1 hour 45 minutes - according to the USDA, your turkey should be cooked to 165*F

4:45-5pm: Warm Up The Sides

• 4:45pm (1 hour 15 minutes to dinner) - Place mashed potatoes in a 2-quart oven-safe dish. Cover with foil and heat in 325*F oven for 1 hour. Remember to stir the potatoes after half an hour.
• 5:00 pm (1 hour to dinner) - Place ham in a 2-quart oven-safe dish. Cover with foil and heat for 40 minutes. Place macaroni & cheese in a 2-quart oven-safe dish, cover and heat for 40 minutes. We recommend coating the dish with cooking spray to prevent the noodles from sticking.

The Premium Farmhouse Feast comes with both turkey and ham, so with a little over an hour to go it's time to warm up those savory slices of hickory-smoked ham. Creamy macaroni & cheese is often not grouped in with traditional Thanksgiving sides, but we can't imagine a holiday meal without it!

5:15-5:40pm: Countdown To Dinner!

• 5:15 pm (45 minutes to dinner) - Remove cover from turkey and ham and continue to heat for 30 minutes
• 5:40 pm (20 minutes to dinner) - Place dressing in a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 10 minutes. Heat green beans in a small sauce pan on stove top for 8 minutes. In a separate saucepan, heat chicken gravy for 8 minutes. Then, place corn in a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 6 minutes.

If you have any additional garnishes or special condiments, now would be the time to start gathering them for the table. It's also a great time to nominate someone to put ice in the water glasses and giving your guests a heads up dinner is almost ready.

Finishing Touches

• 5:50 pm (10 minutes to dinner) - Set the table and gather your guests! Don’t forget the rolls, pumpkin bread, and cranberry relish.
• 6:00 pm (Meal time!) - Enjoy your farmhouse feast with friends and family! Be sure to save room for your Pumpkin and Double-Crust Apple Pie.

It's time! You've finished preparing a homemade holiday feast and now you can enjoy your "hard" work! We'll even let you take all the praise for how great it tastes.

With a little planning and preparation, you can host a holiday dinner that your family will always remember.

Learn More About Farmhouse Feast