Which States Spend Most Time Prepping Their Holiday Meals

Emily Wagner
·Editor
Updated
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Photo via On The House

How much time will you spend in the kitchen for your big holiday meal? Will you wake up before sunrise to get those mashed potatoes extra fluffy, or just wing it an hour or two before the guests arrive?

The answer may depend on where you live.

A new survey finds Kansans race through their holiday meal the fastest, taking the gold for first place with a mere 3.6 hours spent on prep.

Mississippi residents are either just relaxing as they cook, or maybe they just really appreciate a thorough marinade. They spend the most time preparing their holiday meal: 7.1 hours, or nearly twice as long as those speedy Kansans. Several other Southern states join Mississippians in taking their sweet time for holiday meal prep.

The Del Monte-sponsored study surveyed 2,500 Americans around the country. (Attention Kansans: Del Monte helpfully includes some quick recipes on their site to help get you out of the kitchen faster.)

California is tucked comfortably in center of the list, ranked #15 in the U.S. for the fastest holiday meal preparation.

What’s your holiday meal preparation like? Do you have your meal down and is it all systems go from the minute the oven is turned of? Or are you a slow burn chef who likes to stretch the cooking out over a day and make an event of it? Do you savor the time in the 

Check out the top 25 and bottom 5 to see where your state lands. (The study doesn’t bother listing states 26 through 45, but you’re somewhere between 5 and 6.5 hours.)

Now get out the timer and find out if you are keep pace with your neighbors.


THE TOP 25 ‘MOST SPEEDY’ U.S. STATES FOR HOLIDAY MEAL PREP

#1:  Kansas (3.6 hours spent on holiday meal preparation)
#2:  Iowa (3.7 hours)
#3:  Delaware (3.8 hours)
#4:  North Dakota (3.9 hours)
#5:  New Mexico (4 hours)
#6:  Nebraska (4.1 hours)
#7:  Montana (4.2 hours) 
#8:  Idaho (4.2 hours)
#9:  Utah (4.3 hours)
#10: Hawaii (4.5 hours)
#11:  Connecticut (4.5 hours)
#12:  Alaska (4.6 hours)
#13:  Illinois (4.6 hours)
#14:  Vermont (4.7 hours)
#15:  California (4.7 hours)
#16:  Washington (4.8 hours) 
#17:  Massachusetts (4.8 hours)
#18:  Louisiana (4.8 hours)
#19:  Tennessee (4.9 hours)
#20:  Minnesota (4.9 hours)
#21:  Wyoming (4.9 hours)
#22:  South Dakota (5 hours)
#23:  Ohio (5 hours)
#24:  New Hampshire (5 hours)
#25:  Nevada (5 hours)

Below are the slow cookers! 

THE TOP 5 ‘MOST DEDICATED’ STATES FOR HOLIDAY MEAL PREP

#1:  Mississippi (7.1 hours on average for holiday meal preparation)
#2:  Kentucky (6.9 hours)
#3:  Alabama (6.7 hours)
#4:  Georgia (6.5 hours)
#5:  Texas (6.5 hours)