How Far In Advance Should You Order Thanksgiving Dinner From Cracker Barrel?

For those less culinarily inclined, sometimes Thanksgiving is best without the stress. Cracker Barrel has been serving customers on the holiday since it opened in 1969. But in 2016, it began offering take-home Thanksgiving meals, allowing patrons to enjoy festive foods from home among family and friends without too much stress in the kitchen. With a nostalgic name and old-timey vibe, it's a classic restaurant choice in the South. But with high demand, you'll want to place your order as soon as possible — a minimum 12-hour notice is required.

Cracker Barrel allows up to 15 days in advance to schedule individual orders and 60 days in advance to schedule catering orders. These meals are available while supplies last, but Thanksgiving is widely known to be one of Cracker Barrel's busiest days of the year, for both to-go orders and dining in. The to-go meals are recommended to be eaten within 72 hours. So, despite Cracker Barrel having the meals available between the 21st and 29th of November, the ideal pickup window for Thanksgiving Day is between November 23 and November 26. These dates are likely to fill up quickly, so schedule your order ASAP to ensure you won't be left without the titular dinner come Thanksgiving Day.

Some locations may not take online orders, and time slot availability varies by store. If this is the case, consider calling or stopping by your local Cracker Barrel ahead of time to place your order instead. It also has a waitlist option available online, in case you've read this article a bit too late. For the big day, pick-up instructions can be found on Cracker Barrel's website.

Cracker Barrel offers a wide variety of options for to-go catering on Thanksgiving. It has two solid picks for traditional Thanksgiving feasts, depending on the number of people you have at the table. The most popular option, the Heat & Serve Feast, serves eight to 10 people and offers two turkey breasts, dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet rolls, and two pies (pecan and pumpkin). To give your cranberry relish more texture, try topping it with toasted nuts. The Heat & Serve Family Dinner, serving four to six people, omits the two pies and mashed potatoes and only has one turkey breast.

If a Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving meal serves you well, you can explore other holiday meals available between December 21 and 28 (with the same order-ahead protocol as Thanksgiving). The Holiday Ham Feast swaps the turkey for a spiral-sliced, sugar-cured ham, and the pumpkin pie for an apple streusel pie. Instead of sweet potato casserole, you get mac and cheese with this pick. Cracker Barrel also offers a prime rib option, which includes a side of au jus and horseradish sauce. Sides include mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, roasted gravy, and rolls.

Regardless of which holiday you order for, a great tip is to order one of the smaller catering packages, and then subsidize the rest of your meal with unique homemade sides. Whatever you fancy, these catering options are ideal for people who would rather spend the day watching football or spending time with family than standing over the stove. Just be sure to get your orders in soon — they go fast.