Best Places to Preorder Thanksgiving Meals

Is it your turn to host Thanksgiving? You’ve got this! But if you’re short on time (or energy), you might be considering moving your feast to a restaurant. While that’s not a bad idea, you could also serve your loved ones in your home without having to do all the food prep. In fact, several restaurants and retailers are happy to do the cooking and deliver your meal straight to your doorstep.

If you’re determined to get a scrumptious meal on the table—without sacrificing time with family and friends—consider the following fully-cooked Thanksgiving meal options. No one has to know you didn’t make it all from scratch, and you can focus on decorating instead.

Blue Apron

If you have the time (and the will) to actually cook your Thanksgiving dinner—but want the menu created, recipes selected and ingredients prepped and sent to your door—Blue Apron is the way to go. And you don’t have to subscribe to this meal delivery service to do it. 

Just order the Classic Thanksgiving Box, which provides all the ingredients to cook a meal for six to eight guests. That meal includes turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and apple crumb pie. 

You can also order a bundle of three already-prepared Thanksgiving sides (cheesy mashed potatoes, loaded mashed potatoes and family-style cavatappi pasta and meatballs). These arrive chilled and ready to reheat in minutes. 

You can pre-order either option and have them delivered the week of Nov. 11 or the week of Nov. 18. 

Price: $94.99 for the Classic Thanksgiving Box.

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Bob Evans

Bob Evans is probably your best option if you’re on a budget. For $99, you can buy a hot Thanksgiving meal for a family of six. It comes with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, dinner rolls and a pumpkin pie.

You can preorder your Thanksgiving dinner (or just some a la carte sides) and pick it up the day of. Place your order anytime between now and November 26.

There are actually three heat-and-serve options (feeding 10, 8 or 4 people) which are packed cold and require a few hours to heat. You can choose between turkey and pot roast, and the sides range from mashed potatoes and dressing to green beans, corn and macaroni and cheese. The pies are either apple or pumpkin. All Bob Evans locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving. 

Price: Starts at $14.99 per person.

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Cracker Barrel

If Cracker Barrel is your go-to for southern comfort food, you’ll be happy to learn that they offer two heat-and-serve options for your Thanksgiving Day meal. 

The Heat & Serve Feast, which is enough for 8 – 10 people, includes two turkey breasts, cornbread dressing, turkey gravy, cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet yeast rolls, pumpkin pie and pecan pie.

The Heat & Serve Family Dinner, which is enough for 4 – 6 people, includes one oven-roasted turkey breast and the same sides, minus the mashed potatoes and the pies.

You can also order sides (like macaroni and cheese or a broccoli and cheese casserole) à la carte. Pick up your food between November 23 and November 28, but 24-hour notice is required. Cracker Barrel provides heating instructions for the cooking process, which takes about two hours.

Price: $114.99 for the Heat & Serve Family Dinner and $174.99 for the Heat & Serve Feast.

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FreshDirect

Any time of year, FreshDirect can deliver a classic Thanksgiving meal to your home in three sizes: small (serves 2 – 4), medium (serves 6 – 8), or large (serves 8 – 12). For this Thanksgiving holiday, you can pick a delivery day within the window of Nov. 20 through Nov. 23.

The small size includes a fully-cooked turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, gravy and cranberry sauce. The medium and large sizes have larger turkeys and more sides. Follow the heating instructions, and you’ll have dinner on the table in two hours and 15 minutes.

You can also order just the turkey or any of the sides and desserts à la carte.

Price: Starts at $99.99 for the small meal.

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Goldbelly

Goldbelly, a curated marketplace for gourmet foods, allows customers to order from a wide array of “Thanksgiving Feast Kits” from chefs and restaurants nationwide. Traditionalists can order turkey and all the fixings, but you can order anything from lamb to short ribs to turducken. All manner of sides and desserts are up for grabs, too. You can search the site by price, region of the country or type of food.

If you want a swanky, high-class meal (a Spiced Sugarcane Lacquered Quail Kit, anyone?), this service can provide that, too. Just keep in mind that the delivery details, heating instructions and prices vary widely since you’re literally choosing among dozens of food providers.

Price: Varies.

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Harry & David

The gourmet gift basket company isn’t just for fancy fruit and candy. They’re also happy to help with a heat-and-serve Thanksgiving dinner. Harry & David will ship you the whole meal or just a side or two, and you can choose among several types of holiday feasts (including turkey, ham and prime rib), as well as brunch (which includes turkey and ham).

Order by Nov. 22 to get your meal in time for Thanksgiving and pay standard shipping fees. There’s also an express 2-day shipping option.

Price: Starts at $269.99 for the Gourmet Turkey Feast.

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HelloFresh

Are you a subscriber to HelloFresh? If so, this is another great option when you’re keen to cook but want all the shopping and recipe selection done for you. They will send you a box with everything you need to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal that feeds 8 – 10 people. 

What will you make? Roast turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce and an apple crisp for dessert. Follow the instructions (which also include a turkey carving guide), and you’ll have dinner on the table in four hours.

Price: Depends on your meal plan.

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The Honey Baked Ham Co.

The Honey Baked Ham Co. might not be the first place that comes to mind when someone mentions Thanksgiving. However, this brand offers more than just ham.

The Honey Baked Ham Company offers holiday meals centered around ham—but also turkey, pork roast, pot roast or BBQ ribs. 

For Thanksgiving, you can choose between a slow-smoked ham or an oven-roasted turkey. Both serve 14 – 18 people and come with green bean casserole, stuffing and gravy. 

The food is shipped frozen and the package includes thawing and serving instructions. Or you can pick up your food at your local Honey Baked Ham store. The estimated first available delivery date is Nov. 8.

Price: $164.99

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Metro Diner

This southeastern-based restaurant chain—known for modernizing diner classics—puts its imaginative spin on Thanksgiving dinner. You can order their heat-and-serve Holiday At Home Feast (for delivery or pickup) in three sizes, which feed one, four or eight people.

Choose between turkey and ham as your main course. Both come with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, green beans (or street corn) and stuffing (or macaroni and cheese). Or choose some side dishes à la carte. Order your feast for four or more by Nov. 8th, and Metro Diner will throw in a free pan of pumpkin bread pudding. After that, you’ll have to pay to add dessert. To be there by Thanksgiving day, you must place your order by Nov. 26.

Follow their heating instructions, and you’ll have dinner on the table in 35 minutes.

Price: $16.79 for one person, $63.99 for four people, or $125.49 for eight people.

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Omaha Steaks

Despite its decidedly beefy name, Omaha Steaks offers an excellent selection of turkey dinners delivered right to your door for Thanksgiving. Of course, you can order steak—or ham, lamb or prime rib, for that matter. Then build the rest of your custom-sized meal by selecting sides like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, sausage and cranberry dressing, green bean casserole and creamed corn. 

Or let Omaha Steaks do the menu planning for you and choose from one of their “Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner” packages. The meal will be delivered “frozen fresh” and packed in an insulated, reusable cooler with dry ice. 

Price: Starts at $139.99 for a feast for four, and shipping is free. During the Omaha Steaks Semi-Annual sale (going on now), you can save 50% off sitewide.

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Williams Sonoma

This upscale cookware retailer will whip up a homemade Thanksgiving meal in their test kitchens, freeze it and ship it to your door. You can choose a standard turkey (serving 8) or one that’s been spatchcocked (split down the back and flattened) to reduce cooking time (serving 8 to 10).

You can also buy just the Williams Sonoma turkey (in five sizes) or any of the sides on their own. While you’ll need to roast the turkey, all you have to do with the frozen sides is warm them up in the oven. As you’d expect from this swanky store, the sides are gourmet versions of traditional classics.

Price: $269.95 for the Complete Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner.

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Curious about what stores will be open and closed this year for Thanksgiving Day? Check out our list here.

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