Prepping for Thanksgiving can be a hassle. You have to plan your meal, shop for all of the ingredients, and spend hours (if not days) in the kitchen cooking. If you’re the host of the dinner, all of this work comes on top of preparing your home and yourself to receive guests. Just like that, a fun holiday meal with friends and family becomes an extremely exhausting chore.
Fortunately, there are many options for Thanksgiving meal delivery these days. If you don’t want to cook at all, check out the companies that deliver prepared meals to your door. All you have to do is heat the food and plate it! If you do like to cook but want to skip meal prep, many meal kit companies deliver ingredients and recipes so you can make stress-free gourmet food in no time.
We rounded up some of our favorite places to get prepared meals, meal kits, and premium meats in time for Thanksgiving dinner. So this Thanksgiving, you can focus on sitting back and enjoying time with loved ones.
Best Prepared Meals
1. SendAMeal.com
As the name suggests, SendaMeal is a one-stop shop for meal delivery of all kinds. The Colorado-based company ships prepared meals, sides, and desserts nationwide. Many of the company’s Thanksgiving meal options are designed to serve up to eight people, meaning you can cover dinner for your entire family.
SendaMeal’s most popular offering is their Thanksgiving Deluxe Turkey Dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, rolls, green beans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. You can also order ham, appetizers, lamb, and other combinations of Thanksgiving classics. There are even vegan options, which sets SendaMeal apart from many of its competitors!
Aside from meals that include lobster or steak, all of these items ship pre-cooked and frozen. When your food gets to your door, all you have to do is follow the simple warming instructions and get ready to enjoy your meal. You can use this delivery service for yourself or send meals as a gift to make a loved one’s day.
2. Rastelli’s
Rastelli’s is an online butchery that ships food anywhere in the continental US. For Thanksgiving, the company has a variety of roasts, sides, and appetizers guaranteed to be mealtime favorites. You can scale their offerings to work for a large family feast or a more intimate gathering.
One of their most popular items is a Garlic & Herb Prime Rib Roast. It’s a five-pound roast that you can either keep whole or cut into individual rib-eyes. To prepare it, you only need to stick it in the oven (it comes in a cooking bag with garlic sauce on top). Some of the other options from Rastelli’s include Turkey Roulades, Beef Wellingtons, Sausage and Cranberry Stuffing, Creamed Spinach, and more.
3. Omaha Steaks Thanksgiving Turkey Feast
Omaha Steaks has multiple custom Thanksgiving dinners. Here, you’ll find gourmet dinner options made to serve four to eight people, complete with holiday staples such as ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, vegetable gratin, and many dessert options. If you don’t want to create your own meal, you can choose from their Thanksgiving bundles.
Omaha Steaks (as you may have guessed) is well known for its selection of high-quality meats. So, the company naturally offers a la carte chateaubriand, a Pecanwood Smoked Frank Ham, and a Duroc Boneless Country Ham. If you have the sides covered, Omaha Steaks can provide the main dish.
4. Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner
Williams-Sonoma delivers over 100 different desserts, sides, and Thanksgiving entrees. The real show-stoppers are the Complete Thanksgiving Dinners, which come in four variations. The Southern Cajun Fried Turkey Dinner, for example, includes delicious cornbread dressing, spinach Madeleine, mashed potatoes, carrot souffle, and an appetizer.
If that’s not enough, you can add any number of other entrees and desserts to your cart. All of these items arrive at your door pre-cooked and frozen, so you only have to heat them and serve. To get your food by Thanksgiving, be sure to order by November 20th!
5. Hickory Farms Premium Turkey Dinner
Hickory Farms offers some amazing gift baskets and appetizers, so it may surprise you that they also deliver complete holiday dinners. Their Premium Turkey Dinner contains a few oven-baked favorites: Green Bean Casserole, Apple & Sausage Stuffing, Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes, and Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert. If you’re taking a break on turkey this year, Hickory Farms also has a Deluxe Holiday Ham Dinner with even more of their gourmet sides.
Lastly, Hickory Farms can provide other items for your table, including tasty charcuterie for your guests or high-quality wine. The company ships quickly anywhere in the US, but don’t wait too long, as holiday items may sell out fast.
6. Harry & David Wow Holiday Meal
Many companies force you to choose between turkey and ham, but the Harry & David Wow Holiday Meal gives you the best of both worlds. In addition to an oven-roasted turkey and spiral-sliced ham, you get to indulge in all sorts of gourmet sides such as Gruyere & Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Creamy Snap Peas, Zucchini & Corn Casserole, and more. This meal also comes with two desserts, so there’s guaranteed to be something for everyone.
Note: You want to have your meal delivered at least a few days in advance because the turkey takes two to three days to thaw in the fridge.
Best Meal Kits
1. Blue Apron Thanksgiving Meal Kit
If you have a Blue Apron subscription (or want to start one), you can take advantage of their Thanksgiving meal kit options. Blue Apron’s Thanksgiving feast box includes Roasted Turkey Breast, Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, Homemade Garlic & Herb Gravy, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Apple Crumb Pie. The meal serves six to eight guests, and the company recommends placing your order by 11/17.
If you’re preparing for a smaller gathering, don’t worry. Blue Apron also offers various premium dishes that serve two to four people, plus some seasonal add-ons. Anyone can order a Thanksgiving meal kit by signing up for a Blue Apron menu plan first. Each menu item comes with an easy-to-follow recipe card so you can wow your dinner guests in no time.
2. Home Chef Holiday Bundles
If you love Home Chef, then you’ll enjoy their holiday offerings. The meal-kit company offers a Boneless Turkey Breast Roast, which serves eight to ten people. The holiday side dishes serve up to six people and include Cheddar Cornbread, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples, Loaded Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, and White Cheddar Biscuits.
Every item comes with simple preparation instructions and all the ingredients you need so you can skip last-minute trips to the store. They also don’t require a lot of forethought. All of the sides are complete in less than an hour. If you don’t have a Home Chef subscription, you’ll need to sign up for one before you can order off the holiday menu.
3. HelloFresh Thanksgiving Feast
HelloFresh, a top-rated meal delivery service, offers a special Thanksgiving Feast that anyone can order without a subscription. There are two options for your meal: a turkey feast that serves eight to ten people or a beef tenderloin feast that serves four to six. The sides include some fancy takes on Thanksgiving favorites such as Roasted Delicata & Shallots, Ciabatta Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, and Apple Ginger Crisp.
If your family tends to get peckish before the food is ready, you might want to add the Cranberry Brie Crostini appetizer to your box. The HelloFresh meal makes holiday dinner extremely easy, so you can spend less time cooking and more time with your friends and family. You get to choose your preferred delivery date before Thanksgiving, but don’t wait until the last minute—the turkey takes four days to thaw completely.
This meal is a perfect option if you enjoy cooking for the holidays without the hassle of shopping and meal prepping.
4. Dinnerly Thanksgiving Sides
If you use Dinnerly, you can order holiday sides, desserts, and appetizers through your usual subscription plan. Their offerings include Herbed Sausage Stuffing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Skillet Green Bean Casserole, Sour Cream & Onion Biscuits, Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars, and Spiced Apple Oat Crisp.
The best part of ordering through Dinnerly is that all of these meal kits are kid-friendly. That means you can get the little ones to help you in the kitchen and make mealtime a family affair.
5. Purple Carrot Thanksgiving Box
Thanksgiving meal delivery can be hard for vegans and vegetarians. Fortunately, Purple Carrot offers a plant-based Thanksgiving meal kit box every year. It’s important to order this meal kit early, as it sells out every year!
The feast serves up to four people, and it includes fun dishes such as Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Oyster Mushrooms, Rustic Ciabatta Stuffing, Quinoa Stuffed Delicata Squash, and Pear Cranberry Crisp. This box is so popular that Purple Carrot reserves it for subscribers, so you’ll need to sign up for a subscription before you can order it. The company assures that even beginner chefs can make these gourmet dishes.
6. Goldbelly Thanksgiving Meal Kits
Want some wiggle room in what foods you can order? You can get almost anything your heart desires by browsing Goldbelly’s Thanksgiving options from restaurants all over the country. You’ll find full Thanksgiving dinners, Turkeys and Turduckens, classic and not-so-classic sides, plus hundreds of desserts.
Each restaurant has its own order requirements and instructions, so make sure you read the fine print before placing your order. It will be awkward for everyone if your turkey arrives after Thanksgiving.
Best Premium Meats
1. Uncle Ray’s Cajun Mild Deep Fried Turkey
It’s no secret that the perfect Turkey can take a lot of time to prepare. If you don’t have that kind of time, you can complete your holiday meal with a deep-fried turkey from Uncle Ray’s. There are two flavors: Cajun Mild (if you can’t take the heat) and Spicy (if you love a little Cajun spice). This turkey is shipped flash-frozen and only takes an hour to heat and serve.
2. Crowd Cow Whole Turkeys
If you like to know where your turkey comes from, Crowd Cow is the sustainable meat delivery company for you. They ship their pasture-raised, all-natural turkeys all over the US. Their free-range whole turkey weighs ten pounds and serves eight to ten people. The company website has plenty of handy recipes that you can follow to make your turkey juicy and flavorful in time for Thanksgiving.
If you’re a member, you can order Crowd Cow’s Thanksgiving Dinner bundle, which includes the ready-to-cook turkey and three pre-made sides.
3. Porter Road Chicken
Turkey is not everyone’s favorite. If you prefer to have a chicken option for your holiday meal, look no further than Porter Road. Porter Road is an online butcher shop that ensures non-GMO, vegetarian-fed, pasture-raised meats. You can order a whole chicken to feed five to six people and prepare it using one of the company’s recommended recipes.
4. FarmFoods Duck, Turkey, or Ham
Plenty of people enjoy duck for Thanksgiving. It’s easy to roast, and it can be a quality addition to a more intimate gathering. FarmFoods offers whole ducks that are free of preservatives, pesticides, and hormones. The company also sells whole turkeys and ham roasts, so you have your pick of holiday protein.
5. Snake River Farms Prime Rib Roast
Snake River Farms is an online butchery known for its phenomenal American Wagyu Beef. The retailer offers several types of uncooked roasts for the holidays categorized by serving size so you can be sure you have enough. Some of their offerings include Boneless Prime Rib Roasts, Tenderloin Roasts and Bone-In Prime Rib Roasts with beautiful marbling. The retailer has a Holiday Roast Guide and a Holiday Ham Guide on their website to make shopping easy.
Wrapping It Up
Ordering meal delivery for Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be all about saving time. While everyone surely loves the casserole you’ve made ten years in a row, sometimes it’s worthwhile to switch things up. Using one of these meal kit sites or restaurants for your desserts, main courses, or appetizers can add new flavors and new experiences to your holiday dinner.