If you’re hosting a holiday meal or party this year, you know that the excitement of creating a wonderful experience for everyone means a lot of planning and organizing for you. And all that planning, organizing, cooking and cleaning can add up to a lot of stress.
To help make holiday entertaining — everything from meal prepping to serving and storing food to cleaning up — an easier and more enjoyable experience, we tapped experts to ask about their must-have items that make hosting a breeze. Ahead, we’ve rounded up 21 of the best products for holiday entertaining, organization and cleanup.
Smart ideas for serving
“The Marta Tasting Glasses from CB2 are my No.-1 recommended product for those who want to host and use real glassware,” says Kate Pauley, the founder of Create Dinners. “The reason they are perfect? They’re affordable (and easy to replace), are stackable, feel high-end, are ideal for water or wine and are perfect for managing pours.”
“Try choosing bowls, water pitchers and larger serving vessels that serve multiple purposes or pass as a sculpture,” Pauley says. “Water pitchers make for excellent vases for table centerpieces.”
Our Place’s ovenware set includes five pieces that nest together for space-saving storage. The set includes three baking dishes, an oven pan and a mat that can go from oven to table, cutting out the need for separate baking and serving pieces.
“Large serving bowls,” Pauley says, “can hold your fresh fruits and vegetables on a counter” when not being used to serve holiday dishes.
“It is perfectly acceptable to purchase things that will be thrown away at the end of the night,” Pauley says, especially if you don’t have a large collection of serving pieces. “The products look good, feel good to eat from and are sustainably made,” she says of Bambu Home’s disposable plates, cutlery and serving pieces.
This clever 6-in-1 server is a holiday hero! The versatile serving piece can be used as a dip bowl and sectioned appetizer tray, and the dome turns into a punch or salad bowl.
Keep hot dips and side dishes warm with this three-sectioned slow cooker. Each 2.5-quart cooker has its own controls to set the heat level for each individual item, including a “keep warm” setting.
Knowing what you’ll be serving food in is just as important as knowing what you’re planning to serve. Label serving pieces like platters, bowls, spoons and tongs with sticky notes ahead of time so you’re sure you have the right number and size serving pieces for all the delicious food you’re making for your guests.
One of our top organizing tips for any space in the home is to make use of vertical space. Tiered platters and baskets for serving allow you to apply the same organizing principle to hosting. Tiered serving pieces allow you to fit more food onto tables, counters and kitchen islands, maximizing the use of space.
Coolers aren’t just for outdoor events. They can be essential for creating space for drinks and ice when the refrigerator and freezer are already jam-packed. For a festive touch, choose the red or green colorway. With enough room to hold 28 cans and a lot of ice, it’s our pick for best cooler.
The best products for holiday meal prep and food storage
“The name of the game is pre-prepping everything you can before guests arrive,” says Kate Lubenesky, the president of W&P. “Our Cup Cubes Freezer Trays are perfect for making portioned holiday treats like loaf cakes and brownie bites: Mix up your batter, freeze, then you can bake directly in the tray so all you have to do is turn on the oven.”
In our roundup of the best meal prep storage containers, these collapsible meal prep containers get high marks for space saving. The leakproof containers are freezer-safe and a good choice for people with limited space.
“For fridge organization,” Lubenesky says, “storage bags are your friend. They are great for storing smaller portions of food, fitting into smaller areas of your fridge and keeping oddly shaped food that would be counterintuitive to store in plastic containers. For anything homemade, stick a piece of masking tape and an expiration date on your container to help you keep track and avoid food waste.” We're also big fans of Stasher bags.
Will you be sending your guests home with leftovers after the big holiday meal? These editor-approved inexpensive and lightweight food storage containers are stackable, freezer-, microwave- and dishwasher-safe, and they’re safe for hot, cold, solid and liquid foods.
“Prepping ingredients and full recipes ahead of the big meal means covering and storing lots of odd-sized containers and prep bowls,” Lubenesky says. “Our reusable stretch products were designed to fit onto virtually any container in the kitchen for easy cleanup and leftover storage (like the last pieces of pie!) without the single-use plastic waste.”
Everything you need to make cleaning up a breeze
“Tablecloths are wonderful because they not only look nice but they protect your tables and become a giant dust pan at the end of the night, holding the crumbs and bits that have fallen from plates,” Pauley says. “If it’s a disposable tablecloth or runner like this one we made out of butcher paper for an event, your job as the host is even easier: simply dispose of it!”
Make quick work of cleaning up plates, glasses and serving pieces by using a dishpan to carry dirty dishes to the kitchen. This collapsible dish basin has handles for easy carrying, and it can be stored flat when not in use.
When stocking up for holiday events, make sure to put basics like paper towels and trash bags on your shopping list. Bonus tip: Stash a roll of paper towels in an inconspicuous spot in the room or rooms where guests will gather so they’re right there when you need them to clean up inevitable spills.
Having extra trash bags on hand is essential during the holiday season. Hand them out before opening presents and ask people to manage their own discarded wrapping paper. Line trash cans with extra bags so that when one is full, you can remove it from the bin and have another one ready to go. Trash bags can also be used to protect the car interior when transporting Christmas trees and other holiday greenery.
This collapsible garbage bag holder is a smart buy for the holidays. Set it up in the corner of the room when opening presents to keep wrapping paper messes under control or use it during parties so guests can dispose of napkins, cups and other trash.
When it comes time to pack away holiday hosting items, “invest in some stackable containers for the pieces you don’t use on a regular basis,” Pauley says. “This keeps you organized, protects the pieces, makes for easy transportation if you’re taking your items somewhere and allows for easy storage under a bed or stacked in a closet.”