Holiday Dinner Planner
iPhone app

Dinner party cooking schedule

Dinner party timeline

Put in your own menu — each dish's prep, cooking time, temperature and how long it can wait — and get a cooking schedule that fits your oven and stovetop, so you can be at the table when your guests are.

When are you eating?

Your kitchen

Ovens
Temperatures in
4

What's on the menu?

4 dishes

Tap to add or remove

Your dinner party timeline

Dinner at 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 3, 2026 · 4 dishes · 1 oven, 4 burners

  • First step5:00 PM
  • Cooking day2 hr 30 min
  • Oven changes1
  • Status1 clash

Your kitchen can't do all of this at once. Here's what's clashing and how to fix it.

Kitchen conflict

Roasted Carrots (400°F) and Scalloped Potatoes (350°F) need the same oven around 7:00 PM at different temperatures.

Checking for a fix that works…

Your oven and stovetop

Dinner party timelineSaturday, October 3, 2026 · Dinner at 7:30 PM
  1. 5:00 PM−2:30Preheat oven to 350°FAllow about 15 min
  2. 5:00 PM−2:30Prep Roast Lamb15 min hands-on
  3. 5:15 PM−2:15Roast Lamb into the oven1 hr 40 min · at 350°F
  4. 5:40 PM−1:50Prep Scalloped Potatoes25 min hands-on
  5. 6:05 PM−1:25Scalloped Potatoes into the oven1 hr 15 min · at 350°F
  6. 6:50 PM−0:40Prep Roasted Carrots10 min hands-on
  7. 6:55 PM−0:35Roast Lamb out of the ovenRest 20 min, loosely covered
  8. 6:55 PM−0:35Raise oven to 400°FFrom 350°F · allow 5 min
  9. 7:00 PM−0:30Roasted Carrots into the oven30 min · at 400°F
  10. 7:15 PM−0:15Roast Lamb rested — ready to carveKeep covered until dinner
  11. 7:15 PM−0:15Prep Asparagus5 min hands-on
  12. 7:20 PM−0:10Scalloped Potatoes out of the ovenRest 10 min, loosely covered
  13. 7:20 PM−0:10Start Asparagus on the stove10 min
  14. 7:30 PM0:00Asparagus off the heatStraight to the table
  15. 7:30 PM0:00Roasted Carrots out of the ovenStraight to the table
  16. 7:30 PM0:00Scalloped Potatoes rested and readyServe now
  17. 7:30 PM0:00Dinner is readyEverything should land together

Times are planning estimates. Check doneness with a food thermometer: 165°F (74°C) for turkey, chicken and stuffing.

Holiday Dinner Planner for iPhone

Host, don't hover over the oven.

Print the timeline or keep it in your pocket: the app nudges you at each step and keeps the next one on your Lock Screen.

  • A reminder for every step. Preheat, in, out, rest — each one arrives on time, even with the phone locked.
  • Cook Mode. The next step in huge type you can read across the kitchen. The screen stays awake.
  • Running late? It replans. Tell it the turkey needs 15 more minutes. Only the steps that depend on it move.
  • Next year is already done. Every dinner is saved. Use it again and the dishes, kitchen and guests come along.
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The app's timeline: turkey out of the oven, raise oven to 350°F, stuffing into the oven
Cook Mode: the next step, Prep Turkey, in large type with a 26-minute countdown and a Done button
Running Late: dinner is now projected for 9:25 PM, with options to move dinner or keep the time

Build the timeline from what each dish needs

For every dish, the planner needs five things. They're usually in the recipe, or easy to estimate:

  • Cooking time and what it cooks in — oven (with temperature), stovetop, slow cooker, air fryer or pressure cooker.
  • Prep beforehand: your hands-on time before it goes on the heat.
  • Rest: meat and gratins that need time off the heat before serving.
  • Once ready: how long it can wait and still be good. Soufflés and rolls: serve right away. Braises and gratins: they'll hold.
  • Burners for stovetop dishes that need a big pot or two pans.

The last one matters more than it looks. Dishes that can't wait get the minutes right before dinner; dishes that hold well are moved earlier to make room. That's how a menu with three oven temperatures can still work in one oven.

When a menu doesn't fit, and the fix

Take a four-dish dinner for 7:30: roast lamb at 350°F, scalloped potatoes at 350°F, roasted carrots at 400°F and asparagus on the stove. As first planned it doesn't work: Roasted Carrots (400°F) and Scalloped Potatoes (350°F) need the same oven around 7:00 PM at different temperatures. The planner tries moving each dish earlier, replans the whole meal each time and suggests the smallest change that works without leaving food waiting too long: Start Scalloped Potatoes 25 min earlier and give it a longer rest.

With that change the potatoes finish 25 min sooner and rest under foil, the oven goes up to 400°F for the carrots, and everything reaches the table at 7:30. Apply it in the planner with Use this fix.

Worked example

Dinner party at 7:30 PM, with the fix applied

Dinner
7:30 PM
First step
5:00 PM
Cooking day
2 hr 30 min
Oven changes
1
  1. 5:00 PM−2:30Preheat oven to 350°FAllow about 15 min
  2. 5:00 PM−2:30Prep Roast Lamb15 min hands-on
  3. 5:15 PM−2:15Prep Scalloped Potatoes25 min hands-on
  4. 5:15 PM−2:15Roast Lamb into the oven1 hr 40 min · at 350°F
  5. 5:40 PM−1:50Scalloped Potatoes into the oven1 hr 15 min · at 350°F · time set by you
  6. 6:50 PM−0:40Prep Roasted Carrots10 min hands-on
  7. 6:55 PM−0:35Scalloped Potatoes out of the ovenRest 10 min, loosely covered
  8. 6:55 PM−0:35Roast Lamb out of the ovenRest 20 min, loosely covered
  9. 6:55 PM−0:35Raise oven to 400°FFrom 350°F · allow 5 min
  10. 7:00 PM−0:30Roasted Carrots into the oven30 min · at 400°F
  11. 7:05 PM−0:25Scalloped Potatoes rested and readyKeep covered until dinner
  12. 7:15 PM−0:15Roast Lamb rested — ready to carveKeep covered until dinner
  13. 7:15 PM−0:15Prep Asparagus5 min hands-on
  14. 7:20 PM−0:10Start Asparagus on the stove10 min
  15. 7:30 PM0:00Asparagus off the heatStraight to the table
  16. 7:30 PM0:00Roasted Carrots out of the ovenStraight to the table
  17. 7:30 PM0:00Dinner is readyEverything should land together

What to do before guests arrive

The timeline shows hands-on prep one job at a time, and moves prep earlier when two jobs would collide. Anything scheduled before your guests arrive is prep you can do calmly; anything after is the part to keep simple. If the last half hour looks crowded, choose one dish that holds well — a gratin, a braise, roasted vegetables — and let it finish earlier.

For dishes at different oven temperatures, the guide to cooking at different oven temperatures explains when sharing an oven works and when it doesn't.

Questions people ask

How far ahead should I start cooking for a dinner party?

It depends on your longest dish plus its rest. In the example, the first step is at 5:00 PM for a 7:30 dinner — 2 hr 30 min ahead — because the lamb roasts for 1 hour 40 minutes and rests 20.

Can I plan dishes that don't cook, like a salad?

Yes. Choose “No cooking” for the equipment; the time becomes your hands-on work and it's scheduled near dinner.

Does it plan dessert?

You can add a dessert as a dish, but it's scheduled to be ready at the same time as everything else. Serving it as a later course isn't supported, so plan desserts that hold, or make them ahead.