Cook Like the Pros This Thanksgiving: Restaurant-Tested Food Safety Tips for the Home Kitchen

The National Restaurant Association shares ServSafe best practices that restaurant kitchens use every day, from handwashing to handling leftovers

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thanksgiving, many home kitchens become the busiest kitchen on the block. Ovens are full, counters are crowded, the fridge is packed and extra helpers are in every corner. Restaurant kitchens handle that kind of rush every day. They keep food moving while focusing on food safety by using routines developed with training by ServSafe®, a food safety training and certification program for restaurant professionals. This year, the National Restaurant Association is sharing those routines with home cooks so they can focus on time at the table.

"Restaurant kitchens run on plans and best practices that help keep food safe even on the busiest nights of the year," said Patrick Guzzle, vice president of Food Science at the National Restaurant Association. "Thanksgiving is the home cook's version of a Saturday night rush. Clean hands, clean surfaces and close attention to time and temperature are the same habits restaurant professionals rely on, and they work just as well at home."

ServSafe tips for a safe and smooth Thanksgiving:

• Wash your hands like a pro. Wash your hands and forearms with running water and enough soap to make a lather. Scrub hard for at least 20 seconds, including fingertips, under nails and between fingers. Rinse well and dry with a single-use paper towel. Wash every time you touch raw meat and ask helpers cooking or serving to wash their hands too. And if have any symptoms of illness, ask for help or order from a restaurant. Don't prepare any food.
• Don't overlook the kitchen sink. The sink is one of the most overlooked spots in the kitchen. Clean every surface regularly with soap or a cleaning solution, including corners and fixtures, especially if you've rinsed a turkey or any other meat in the sink. Even after you wash your hands, touching a dirty sink can put harmful bacteria back on them. 
• Pack coolers with a plan. If you're bringing dishes to someone's home or using a cooler for extra space when the fridge is full, keep raw meats separate from ready-to-eat foods like salads, desserts and drinks. Don't store drinks and raw meat in the same cooler, especially when cans or bottles sit in shared ice that could become contaminated. Fill coolers with ice before you leave home so food stays cold.
• Know the leftover rules. Cooked foods can be kept in the refrigerator for up to seven days, and that clock is cumulative. If leftovers were in the fridge for four days before you froze them, you have three days left after they thaw. Label every container so you know how long it's been in the fridge. Food stays safe in the freezer indefinitely, but over time it can get freezer burn and won't taste as good. If you buy a pre-cooked turkey, refrigerate it as close to Thanksgiving as possible, since the seven-day clock starts once the meat defrosts.
• Watch the clock and the temperature. Keep hot food at 135°F or higher and cold food at 41°F or lower so bacteria can't grow to unsafe levels. Put leftovers in the fridge soon after your meal, and don't leave food out for more than four hours.
• Thaw the turkey the safe way. Thaw turkey in the refrigerator or in the microwave – but then cook it right away. Never thaw it on the kitchen counter, where harmful bacteria can grow. And don't rinse turkey, or any other raw meat, in the sink – the raw meat and juices can contaminate the sink surfaces. 

"Leftovers are half the fun of Thanksgiving, and a little labeling goes a long way," Guzzle added. "In a restaurant kitchen, nothing goes into the walk-in without a date on it. Do the same at home. Write the date on every container and how many days it was in the refrigerator. The leftover clock starts on Thanksgiving – and you only get seven total days. The clock stops when you freeze the food and starts again at the number on your label when you take it out to thaw."

ServSafe is a food and beverage safety training and certification program run by the National Restaurant Association. It provides standard training on safe food handling, hygiene, sanitation and allergen awareness for restaurant professionals, who serve billions of meals every year.

About the National Restaurant Association
Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which is comprised of more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 15.7 million employees. Together with 52 State Associations, we are a network of professional organizations dedicated to serving every restaurant through advocacy, education, and food safety. We sponsor the industry's largest trade show (National Restaurant Association Show); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart). For more information, visit Restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants

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SOURCE National Restaurant Association