Where to Order Your Thanksgiving Dinner for a Stress-Free Holiday
Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays of the year (especially if you’re a food person), but can also be one of the most stressful. Travel is expensive, families can be hard to deal with, and cramming a dozen people into a table that only seats half as many is a real challenge. Not to mention, cooking so many dishes, for so many people, sometimes seems like an impossible feat.
The good news is, several companies make Thanksgiving a whole lot less stressful by offering fully or partially cooked meals for delivery and/or pickup. The options below range from budget-friendly to very high-end, and there are options for traditionalists (that is, turkey eaters), vegetarians, vegans, and people who would rather eat ham than poultry. Scroll through and see if anything strikes your fancy, then place an order immediately. This way, you won’t have to worry about Thanksgiving dinner until it’s time to actually set the table and heat things up.
Fresh Direct
Where: Ships to certain counties in NY, NJ, CT, PA, and DE, plus Washington DC.
What you’ll get: Fresh Direct, a grocery delivery service, offers a variety of options for Thanksgiving dinner. As well as offering uncooked fresh and frozen turkeys for delivery, they’ll an already cooked feast right to your door. Choose between a small meal that serves 2-4 people, a medium meal that serves 6-10, or a large meal that serves 12-14. Each one comes with an appropriately sized turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a choice of vegetables and side dishes.
Price: $99 to $219
Whole Foods
Where: Available for in-store pickup. Locations in 42 states, Washington DC, Ontario, and British Columbia. (Learn more here.)
What you’ll get: You’ll need to head into a Whole Foods store to pick up your feast, which definitely isn’t as convenient as having it shipped right to you. That said, there are hundreds of locations across the country, and an online ordering system makes it easy to choose exactly the meal you want, and to sign up for a pick-up time slot. There are 12 meals to choose from, serving anywhere from 2 to 12 people. You also have the choice of classic roasted turkey or turkey breast, smoked turkey or turkey breast, prime rib, spiralized ham, or vegan mushroom étouffée as your main dish. Sides include all the classics, from mashed potatoes to stuffing to green beans.
Price: $39.99 to $279.99
Williams Sonoma
Where: Ships nationwide.
What you’ll get: Williams Sonoma is known for their high-end kitchenware and pantry ingredients, so it’s no surprise that their Thanksgiving offerings are just as luxurious. There are 17 different Thanksgiving dinners to choose from, serving anywhere from 4 to 12 people. One is a collaboration with Martha Stewart and includes a turkey, mushroom-leek stuffing, cranberry sauce, celery root and potato puree, sweet potato puree, cauliflower custard, and an apple-cranberry crisp. Others are more traditional, boasting sides like mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. You can choose between a whole turkey, a stuffed turkey breast, or a ham, and can order a feast with appetizers or without. These meals are pricier than most other options but guaranteed to impress.
Price: $179.95 to $699.95
Harry and David
Where: Ships nationwide.
What you’ll get: Harry and David is known for their gourmet fruit baskets, but their Thanksgiving dinner offerings are just as noteworthy. Perfect for anyone who can’t handle being spoiled for choice, Harry and David offers just two choices. There’s a traditional turkey dinner with creamed spinach, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pumpkin cheesecake. Or, you can switch things up with a honey-glazed ham, plus snap peas, scalloped potatoes, an artichoke and bacon frittata, and a New York-Style cheesecake. The website doesn’t specify how many people each meal serves, but looking at the quantities we’d guess 4 to 6 guests.
Price: $199.99 for a turkey feast, $219.99 for a ham dinner
Cracker Barrel
Where: Available for pickup at any Cracker Barrel location, in 45 states.
What you’ll get: The best part of picking up your Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel is that you’ll also be able to peruse the kitschy general store for cute fall decorations and fun Thanksgiving tableware. The Southern-inspired Heat ‘n’ Serve Family Meal serves 10 and comes with two roasted turkey breasts, cornbread stuffing, gravy, cranberry relish, a choice of three country sides, rolls, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. You can also order extra pies to go along with the feast, if your crowd has a real sweet tooth.
Price: $124.99
Boston Market
Where: Ships nationwide.
What you’ll get: Through Boston Market’s holiday home delivery, you can order one of eight Thanksgiving dinners for anywhere from 4 to 12 people. You can choose between whole turkey, turkey breast, ham, or a combination of turkey and ham. There are no veggie sides, but you’ll get things like mashed potatoes, stuffing, dinner rolls, and cranberry relish to go along with your meat. To finish, there’s apple and/or pumpkin pie.
Price: $99.99 to $139.99
Costco
Where: Ships nationwide, or available for pickup in-store.
What you’ll get: Like all things from Costco, this 8-person Thanksgiving dinner is inexpensive, crowd-pleasing, and gets the job done. You’ll need to cook up the two 2.5-pound turkey breasts, but the mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet corn, Brussels sprouts, baguette, pumpkin pie, and apple pie come ready to heat-and-eat. There’s also a carton of ice cream thrown in , for good measure. Note that everything arrives frozen, so order far enough in advance that it has time to thaw.
Price: $89.99
Goldbelly
Where: Ships nationwide.
What you’ll get: If you’d rather order your Thanksgiving feast a la carte, head to Goldbelly for dozens of options, from deep-fried turkeys to biscuits to fully-cooked turduckens. The site rounds up the best dishes from popular restaurants and regional chains, and makes them available far and wide. The possibilities are endless, and along with the convenience comes a high price tag. Still, if you want to order just a few favorites, or if you’re dying to try a turducken but too afraid to cook one, this is a great choice.
Price: Varies depending on the product, but a fried turkey for 10-12 people goes for $99.
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