Thanksgiving Is Coming. Here’s How to Get Your Refrigerator Ready

Thanksgiving is November 26, and if you’re hosting, your refrigerator is about to get crowded. A frozen turkey may need nearly a week to thaw, holiday ingredients will compete for shelf space, and you’ll need room for leftovers afterward.

Sunday, November 15, is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, giving you 11 days to get organized before Thanksgiving.

Before the grocery shopping begins, here’s what to throw out, what to keep, and how to make room without wasting perfectly good food.

1. Start With the Leftovers

Pull out the containers hiding behind the milk, condiments, and produce. If you can’t remember when you made something, don’t take a chance on eating it.

Most cooked leftovers, including meat, poultry, soups, and casseroles, should be eaten or frozen within three to four days. That applies even when the food looks and smells perfectly normal.

A bad smell is an obvious reason to throw food away, but the absence of one doesn’t guarantee safety. Harmful bacteria can grow without noticeably changing a food’s appearance or odor.

Check the FoodSafety.gov cold storage chart for recommended refrigerator storage times.

Be careful not to confuse a food’s quality date with its safety. A “best if used by” date generally refers to quality, not an automatic expiration deadline. Our guide to what food expiration dates really mean explains the differences.

2. Empty the Shelves and Wash the Drawers

Work one shelf at a time so refrigerated food doesn’t sit out unnecessarily. If you’re doing a thorough cleaning, put perishables in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs while you work.

Remove shelves and produce drawers if your refrigerator’s instructions allow it. Wash them with warm water and dish soap, rinse, and dry thoroughly. Follow the manufacturer’s guidance if glass shelves need to come to room temperature before washing.

Wipe the refrigerator’s interior with warm, soapy water, paying attention to corners, door shelves, and the spaces beneath drawers where spills collect.

Clean the door seals, too. Food residue can accumulate in their folds.

Colorado State University Extension recommends this kind of thorough cleaning before holiday food preparation, when refrigerators are likely to hold more food than usual.

3. Check the Refrigerator Temperature

A clean refrigerator won’t protect food if it isn’t cold enough.

The FDA recommends keeping refrigerators at 40°F or below. A separate appliance thermometer is useful because the temperature setting on the refrigerator doesn’t necessarily tell you how cold the interior actually is.

Check the freezer, too. It should be at 0°F or below.

Avoid packing food so tightly that cold air can’t circulate. That becomes especially important during Thanksgiving week, when groceries, prepared dishes, and a turkey may all need refrigeration at once.

Keep raw meat and poultry in leakproof containers on a lower shelf, away from ready-to-eat foods. This helps prevent juices from dripping onto other ingredients.

4. Make Room for the Thanksgiving Turkey

A frozen turkey takes longer to thaw than many people expect.

According to FoodSafety.gov’s turkey thawing chart, refrigerator thawing requires approximately 24 hours for every four to five pounds of turkey.

Here’s how much time to allow:

Turkey weight	Refrigerator thawing time
4–12 pounds	1–3 days
12–16 pounds	3–4 days
16–20 pounds	4–5 days
20–24 pounds	5–6 days

If you’re preparing a 20-pound bird, you’ll need to begin refrigerator thawing several days before Thanksgiving. A fully thawed turkey can remain refrigerated for another one to two days before cooking.

Leave the turkey in its original wrapping and place it in a rimmed pan or other container large enough to catch any leaking juices. Keep it on a bottom shelf.

Never thaw a turkey on the kitchen counter. The outer portions can warm to unsafe temperatures while the center remains frozen.

November 15 is a good day to check whether that turkey will actually fit in your refrigerator, even if you won’t begin thawing it until closer to Thanksgiving.

5. Don’t Forget About the Leftovers You’ll Bring Home

After clearing out the refrigerator, resist the temptation to fill every available inch with groceries.

You’ll need space for cooked turkey, stuffing, casseroles, desserts, and anything guests bring.

Have clean, shallow storage containers ready before the holiday. Dividing leftovers into smaller portions helps them cool more quickly.

Refrigerate perishable leftovers within two hours of cooking or serving. Most Thanksgiving leftovers should be eaten or frozen within three to four days.

If refrigerator space is limited, move suitable foods to the freezer ahead of time, use up ingredients already on hand, and plan your holiday shopping around the available space.

The work doesn’t need to take all afternoon. A careful cleanout now will make Thanksgiving shopping, turkey thawing, and leftover storage much easier when the kitchen gets busy.