Martha has spoken: This is when you should be sitting down to your Thanksgiving feast.
What time to serve Thanksgiving dinner is one of those quiet debates that lives in every family. Some people swear by a late-afternoon feast, while others are plating turkey before the parade confetti even settles. With the holiday just around the corner, Martha Stewart weighed in with the time she prefers to sit down for the Thanksgiving meal—and her decree has sparked plenty of conversation.
What is Martha Stewart’s perfect time for Thanksgiving dinner?
@todayshow #MarthaStewart suggested a #Thanksgiving that starts in the early afternoon instead of at dinner time. What time do you serve your Thanksgiving meal? #TODAYShow ♬ original sound – TODAY Show
In a clip shared on the Today Show’s TikTok, Martha explained that serving Thanksgiving dinner at 2 p.m. helps keep the whole day from feeling rushed. “People are hungry, and they’re starting to circle the kitchen,” she says. “If you have a bunch of guests, you don’t want to wait until nighttime. You can eat, and then watch the big game, and then have more drinks and have fun, and eat dessert later.”
I’ll be honest: It’s genuinely hard for me to disagree with Martha about anything. But this is one place where I break ranks. Growing up, we ate around one o’clock, and it always bothered me that Thanksgiving dinner never happened anywhere near dinnertime. Now that I have my own family, we lean toward 5 p.m. It gives us the whole day to ease into cooking, hang out, and play games, and lets us avoid waking up before sunrise to coax a turkey into behaving.
Here’s What Our Editors and Readers Think
When I asked the Taste of Home team about their own Thanksgiving traditions, the answers were wonderfully all over the place. Some editors said their families aim for 1 p.m. but inevitably drift toward 2 p.m.. Others graze and snack on Thanksgiving appetizers through the afternoon before finally sitting down around 4 p.m., or even later. At least one night-owl editor swore their family won’t sit down early on any night, holiday or not.
Our readers were just as varied when we posed the question on Facebook. Is the ideal time 2 or 3 p.m., “so you’re hungry after breakfast, but you’re not doing dishes until 10 p.m.”? Or maybe you agree with the person who waits until 4 p.m. because then “everyone leaves by 7 and you can revel in the beauty of a turkey sandwich” (or other leftover turkey recipes!). Several stand behind a firm 1 p.m., while others prefer waiting until after the parade or simply “whenever the turkey is cooked.”
One reader summed it up in a way every home cook understands: Dinner happens when the work is finally done.
If there’s one takeaway, it’s that there’s no universal Thanksgiving hour. Every household has its own rhythm, and the best time is the one that lets you enjoy the day.
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