The 11 Best Mail Order Turkeys in 2023

Fancy a trip to your crowded grocery store where you have to fit the crowd for a basic frozen turkey?

Didn’t think so.

There is now a huge selection of companies delivering turkeys to your door. You can order everything from free-range, heritage birds to your classic Butterball turkey.

Here are the best mail-order turkeys to get delivered these holidays.

The best mail order turkeys

To make your Thanksgiving as easy as possible, we’ve chosen eleven excellent online butchers who will deliver the very best mail order turkeys right to your door!

1. Crowd Cow

Crowd Cow is famous for its exceptional meats. Don’t let the name fool you, Crowd Cow offers more than beef, including lamb, elk, and bison, and their turkeys are among the best we’ve ever tried.

Their turkeys are antibiotic-free and come from small family farms with sustainable practices.

This Thanksgiving, you can order free-range whole turkey from Ferndale Market, a collection of family farms based in Minnesota.

Ferndale Market Turkeys are grown naturally, free range, and without the use of growth hormones. The turkeys are processed naturally, leaving you free to brine your turkey without worrying about over-salting.

Turkeys weigh between 10-12 pounds (enough to feed 5-7 people) and ship frozen.

2. Porter Road

Another excellent online butcher, Porter Road has built its reputation on its superior meats, including turkey.

Their turkeys are antibiotic-free and have no added hormones as well as being sourced from small family farms, like the Jolly Barnyard, where they are raised on open pastures.

They also offer some other specialties, such as free-range heritage breeds.

All of their meats are pasture-raised, humanely slaughtered, and sustainably raised.

3. Farm Foods Market

Farm Foods Market offers a variety of meats, including half and whole turkey.

Their turkeys are antibiotic-free with no preservatives or artificial ingredients added.

All of their poultry is humanely raised in open pastures without any hormones or steroids ever being administered to them.

They also offer free shipping on orders of $99 or more and their Frozen Guarantee means that if your order doesn’t arrive frozen, they will offer to send you a replacement or refund.

4. D’Artagnan

D’Artagnan offers an excellent range of Thanksgiving turkeys, including fresh, frozen, and smoked.

Their fresh turkeys are chilled for fast shipping and their pre-seasoned options come brined or dry-rubbed with salt, pepper, white wine vinegar, and herbs.

Their specialties include their Green Circle Turkey, which has been raised free-range with open spacious barns and promises no antibiotics and no added growth hormones from birth, and their slow-growing Narragansett and Bourbon Red Heritage turkeys.

5. Fossil Farms

Fossil Farms Premium Quality Nicholas Breed Turkeys are available for Thanksgiving delivery.

Their turkeys are raised from hatch to harvest in small batches on sustainable family farms and hand-selected for size, appearance, cleanliness, and flavor for maximum tenderness and juiciness.

The Nicholas Breed turkey is fed a vegetarian diet of farm local rye, oats, alfalfa, and soybean meal and is guaranteed to be 100% free of antibiotics, steroids, and hormones.

6. Omaha Steaks

America’s Original Butcher, Omaha Steaks’ turkey is 100% all-natural, with no additives.

They are stuffed and seasoned in the cavity and then generously basted with brown sugar and honey. Omaha Steaks’ oven-ready birds come with a cooking bag and pop-up turkey timer included, ready to go in the oven.

The Riehle family has been raising turkeys for more than 60 years in Indiana, feeding them a diet of corn and soybean meal. All their birds are 100% all-natural and hormone-free.

7. Cajun Turkey Company

If you’re looking for something a little different this Thanksgiving, you can go wrong with the Cajun Turkey Company.

Their Cajun-seasoned smoked turkeys are prepared in smokers fueled by hickory wood chips, giving them a rich flavor like no other.

The Cajun Turkey Company hand-selects only the finest premium turkeys, which they inject with proprietary “Geaux Juice” before hand-rubbing them with their own blend of Cajun seasonings and marinating them overnight before deep-frying in peanut oil. 

8. Organic Prairie 

As you might expect, Organic Prairie offers only the best in organic turkeys, which they source from sustainable family farms.

Their organic products are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture as well as the National Organic Program and Global Animal Partnership, so you know that their birds have been raised with no antibiotics or growth-promoting hormones.

9. Nueskes

If you’d like a little traditional turkey this Thanksgiving, but don’t need the hassle of cooking a whole bird, then Nueske’s applewood smoked, honey-glazed, boneless, spiral-sliced turkey breast is just the thing for you.

This boneless turkey breast is brined with honey and spices such as garlic, bay leaf, black pepper, and thyme (which ensures that it’s moist and delicious) before being slowly smoked over applewood for up to 16 hours! This means the meat has a deep rose color and an amazing smoky flavor.

10. Butterball Premium 

With a great range of sizes to order, Butterball’s Premium All Natural Turkey is the kind of bird you can prepare in advance and leave cooking until your guests arrive.

Each of the turkeys is 100% natural, with no artificial ingredients, steroids, or hormones. It’s hard to resist the juicy flavor of this organic free-range bird!

If you’re looking for an extra special Thanksgiving meal then look no further than the Butterball Premium All-Natural Turkey.

11. Burgers Smokehouse

Despite the somewhat misleading name, Burgers Smokehouse actually produces an amazing Hickory Smoked Whole Turkey.

Some will argue that this is the best mail order turkey on the market with a deep rich flavor and crispy skin.

This tasty bird is hormone-free, antibiotic-free, and Certified Humane. A real crowd pleaser!

What to look for when mail ordering a turkey?

As you might expect, there are plenty of mail-order turkeys out there around this time of year, but how do you make sure you get the right one for you?

Well, here are a few important factors to take into consideration.

Size

A turkey is a notoriously large bird, but the last thing you want is to end up with a dud that can’t feed everyone.

However, in terms of size, bigger isn’t always better though as it’s important not to over-order and have leftovers that you’ll end up throwing away. As a general rule, you need about one pound of turkey per person.

Precooked vs frozen

In addition to the convenience of having it delivered to your door, you can also get your turkey pre-cooked.

This is a great option if you are short on time or your oven isn’t working properly.

On the other hand, some people prefer to have more control over their turkey and buy it frozen so they can cook it themselves. When buying a frozen turkey, it’s important you give it adequate time to thaw out fully, which can take a while with a large whole turkey.

Pre-seasoned or plain

Another choice is getting your turkey pre-seasoned or plain.

You can get your turkey seasoned with different flavors, like rosemary and garlic, which can make things a little less complicated on the day. You can also get your turkey flavored with more exotic spices, like the offerings from the Cajun Turkey Company.

Free-range and organic

Most of the turkeys on our list are either organic, free-range, or both. Organic means the turkey was fed only with organic feed while free-range means the turkeys were allowed outdoors, within certain specified metrics.

The free-range and organic options on our list also tend to come without any of the added hormones or antibiotics that come with non-organic meat products.

FAQ

To make sure you’re fully prepared for Thanksgiving, we’ve gathered together some of the most commonly asked turkey questions and answered them for you:

How much turkey to order per person?

As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to order around one pound of turkey per person, assuming you plan to serve it as part of a traditional Thanksgiving roast.

What is a heritage turkey?

A heritage turkey is a breed of turkey that is typically raised according to traditional farming methods from older breeds of turkey.

Heritage turkeys are almost always free-range and organic, as these breeds were developed before the introduction of modern commercial poultry practices and most farms choose to keep them that way.

Heritage turkeys often grow slower, which increases the depth of flavor you’ll find in their meat.

How long to thaw a frozen turkey

How long it takes to thaw a frozen turkey will depend on the size of the turkey. Allow at least 24 hours per five pounds of turkey to make sure that your bird is fully defrosted.

Wrapping it all up

If you’re looking for a great Turkey this Thanksgiving, then our list of the best mail order turkeys is just what you need! The excellent butchers on our list will provide you with the highest quality turkeys that will leave your guests asking for second helpings!

And if you’re not crazy about turkey, why not check out our list of the best websites to order meat online and treat yourself to some quality beef, chicken or pork.