Photo: bhofack2, Getty Images.
You don’t have to sweat through the preparation of a Thanksgiving meal (read: disaster) this day in age. With a few clicks, you can order a feast fit for a king (or finicky guests on gluten-free, organic diets) online. Whether through a subscription or delivery service, the hardest thing you have to do is answer the doorbell, unpack everything, and follow the heating instructions. Save time, skip the stress, and savor time with your family and friends rather than spending your holiday in a hot kitchen.
RealEats
Photo: Provided by RealEats.
RealEats, a chef-driven subscription-based service, will send your Thanksgiving meal to your doorstep in a thermal insulated box. Inside, you’ll find holiday menu items like maple rosemary turkey, turkey gravy, sage apple stuffing, cranberry orange relish, vegetable cassoulet, and sauteed kale in vacuum-sealed pouches. Keep the food in the fridge for up to a week or boil a pot of water immediately, drop the BPA-free plastic pouches in, and cook based on instructions (typically around six minutes). New York-based farms and purveyors supply the ingredients in the food, meaning your meal is not only healthy, it’s free from GMOs and preservatives. Meals are available in sizes serving 4 to 12 people at a price range from $60 to $150 for a week’s worth of food. This is ideal if you have relatives cohabiting with you all week and are short on elbow room. Prices range from $60 to $150 for a week’s subscription.
HoneyBaked Ham Company
Photo: @honeybaked_ham on Instagram.
If ham is your jam, the HoneyBaked Ham company will ship a fully-cooked boneless ham, sweet potato soufflé, and green bean casserole to your doorstep for under $100 – and it feeds 12 to 16. HoneyBaked hams are sourced from grain-fed stock in the Midwest and cured without extra water or juices. Slow-smoking for up to 24 hours keeps these hams extra moist. After being sliced to one-sixth of an inch, the hams gets a crunchy-sugary glaze. Shipped hams arrive in a cooler and require 24 to 36 hours of thawing in a refrigerator followed by 30 minutes of rest at room temperature. Heating is not recommended for the ham, so all you have to do is warm up the sides.
Williams Sonoma
Photo: Williams Sonoma on Facebook.
If you want a fancy-pants Thanksgiving meal, look no further than Williams Sonoma. On its website, you can design your own Thanksgiving meal to be delivered in insulated shippers cooled with ice-gel packs. Begin by choosing the type and size of your Willie Bird Turkey, straight from Sonoma, California. Get your bird pre-brined and bone-in or as a boneless smoked or roasted breast. Side selections are plentiful, from multiple varieties of stuffing (sausage, cranberry, and apple; mushroom, leek, and bacon; artichoke, kale, and Parmesan) and potatoes (truffle mashed potatoes, potato gratin with thyme and Fontina, potato and cheese casserole) to veggies (sweet yam casserole, creamed corn, green beans with cranberries) and pies (pumpkin pecan, chocolate hazelnut chess, salted caramel apple). Gluten-free options are available. Prices vary widely depending on your selections, but expect to shell out around $400 to feed the whole family.
Dean & Deluca
Photo: @deandeluca on Instagram.
If your food’s origins and purity matter to you, Dean & Deluca is your go-to Thanksgiving meal purveyor. The grocer ships raw and ready-to-cook all-natural free-range turkeys raised “on a vegetarian diet of local corn, rye, oats, and alfalfa” in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to your door. Want to forgo turkey this Thanksgiving? Dean & Deluca also delivers venison French rack, wild boar tenderloin, and Berkshire pork shoulder. Can’t decide? Go with the 10-pound Turducken. Prices vary wildly but expect to invest up to $100 for the protein portion of Thanksgiving dinner. Sides like mini savory tarts will set you back $36 and pies clock in around $65.
