It’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner and fortunately Trader Joe’s makes it easy to create a delicious vegetarian meal.

If you’ll be celebrating with a small group or don’t have a lot of time to cook, you can rely on TJ’s prepared foods. If you’ll be feeding a crowd or need a big dish for family potluck, you may find it more practical and affordable to prepare dishes using Trader Joe’s ingredients.

It’s important to note that Trader Joe’s stores aren’t open on Thanksgiving day and they are chaotic the day before Thanksgiving. If you must go the day before Thanksgiving, try to go early and don’t be surprised if some items are out of stock.

In fact, it’s best to stock-up on non-perishables and frozen items in the weeks before Thanksgiving to avoid disappointment. Necessities that sometimes sell out, include the turkey-less roast, stuffing mix, vegetable broth and fried onions.

If you plan ahead, all you should need to buy Thanksgiving week is produce, dairy, fresh baked goods and any chilled prepared foods you want to serve.

Here are ideas for each course of your Thanksgiving feast!

Appetizers

Serve TJ’s Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps with brie, goat cheese or TJ’s Cranberry Log on a plate garnished with dried fruit (cranberries or apricots), fresh fruit (apples or pears) and nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds) for a really easy and attractive appetizer.

Trader Joe’s offers a Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip and Brie en Croute (bake brie) in the frozen foods case. Garnish the brie with honey, nuts and dried fruit for a festive touch.

Onion and Feta Pastry Bites are another frozen appetizer that works well for winter holidays due to the caramelized onion.

A word of caution – several frozen appetizers that seem like they should be vegetarian, including Stuffed Mushrooms, Mushroom Turnovers and Arancini Bites, contain gelatin or meat-based broths.

Soups

Trader Joe’s offers Pumpkin, Butternut Squash and Corn Soups in shelf stable boxes that are a great staring point for a holiday soup. Season with salt and ground pepper as needed and garnish with fresh herbs, such as rosemary or sage.

The fresh Carrot Coconut Curry Soup in the chilled case would be an interesting choice for adventurous eaters.

Salads

The Trader Joe’s Spinach Salad Kit is lovely and festive with the addition of thinly sliced fresh apple or pear.

Trader Joe’s has a couple prepared chilled salads that are an especially good fit for the Thanksgiving table, including Squash & Quinoa and Persimmon Salad.

Entrees

I haven’t yet decided whether to serve Squash & Spinach Gratin or Pumpkin Ravioli with Alfredo sauce as my entrée.

If you’re looking for a turkey substitute, Trader Joe’s carries a Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast with Gravy – similar to the Tofurkey brand roast. This isn’t likely to impress turkey loving guests, but isn’t bad when accompanied by yummy Thanksgiving side dishes.

Side Dishes

Potatoes are easy to cook from scratch. However, Trader Joe’s has several convenience options in the frozen foods case, including Roasted Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes and Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

The only fully prepared stuffing option contains chicken sausage, but it’s easy to make your own vegetarian stuffing using TJ’s Stuffing Mix. A short cut product that will save you time and clean-up effort is the Mirepoix mix (diced carrots, celery and onion) from the produce section. Just stir sautéed Mirepoix into the stuffing mix along with vegetable broth. Dried cranberries, sautéed mushroom, walnuts or even the roasted chestnuts now available in the produce section make great add-ins.

Rice-based side dish options, include Squash Risotto, Rice Medley or Super Foods Pilaf from the frozen foods case. The latter is an especially nice choice if you don’t plan to prepare a sweet potato side dish, since the pilaf contains sweet potato. There’s also a Quinoa Duo in the frozen food case and Multi-Grain Rice Pilaf with Roasted Vegetables dish in the chilled case. Both include colorful vegetable pieces and are quite tasty.

If it’s just not Thanksiving for your family without a traditional green bean casserole, Trader Joe’s has you covered. They sell boxes of Condensed Portabella Mushroom Soup and cans of Fried Onions that work just fine for this dish.

If you’d like another green vegetable, consider Brussels sprouts. Trader Joe’s usually has several options ranging from fresh stalks to fully cooked sprouts. Chopped walnuts are great with Brussels sprouts.

There are several seasonal side dishes available in the chilled foods case. The Corn Pudding, Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Rice Pilaf are vegetarian. Unfortunately, the Cauliflower Gratin, Brussels Sprouts Parmyere and Scalloped Potatoes all contain cheese made with animal rennet.

Last but not least, Trader Joe’s carries two types of fresh cranberry sauces that are much better than canned or jarred versions. The Cranberry Orange Relish is my favorite – pleasantly chunky and tart.

Desserts

The fresh bakery table, features holiday favorites such as Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Apple Cranberry Pie, Fig, Pear & Cranberry Tart and Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding, Mini Pecan Pies, Mini Pumpkin Pies, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Carrot Cake and Apple Blossoms and Pecan Pie Ice Cream are available in the frozen foods case.

The keys to making these treats worthy of your Thanksgiving table are creative add-ons and attractive presentation. For example, pumpkin bread pudding isn’t much to look at, but if you cut it into single serving pieces, place in a cupcake liner and garnish with some dried fruit and nuts or even pumpkin ice cream and caramel sauce it becomes an impressive treat.

Ginger Molasses Cookies look festive arranged on plate with a white mini-pumpkin in the middle.

If you want to get creative, bake Kougins Amanns and serve with ice cream and tasty toppings, such as warm fruit, caramel sauce, or nuts. Note, these need to rise the night before so not a last minute option.

Drinks

Of course Trader Joe’s has plenty of festive drink options, including wine and champagne, spiced cider, cranberry and pomegranate juices & sparkling beverages, and flavored teas and coffees.