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Price: $39.99 for the smallest meal
Feeds: 5-7 people
This Thanksgiving my husband and I decided to forgo cooking and let someone else do the hard work for us. We chose to order a small Thanksgiving meal from Publix grocery store in our neighborhood. From what I understand, many chain grocery stores offer this service so if you don’t have a Publix near you, this option may still be available to you with another company.
The Publix meal came with these fully cooked items: A 10-12 pound turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry-orange relish, and a cranberry-apple cobbler.
The whole meal is enough to feed 5-7 people, or in our case 2 adult and 1 child with a lot of leftovers.
The food itself each had clear reheating instructions with both microwave and conventional oven options for most of the food items.
Taste: It wasn’t as good as homemade but it was very filling and good enough to come back for seconds and thirds. I think most of the issue was our impatience to eat so we heated most of the items in the microwave instead of the oven. This could have been the reason the taste wasn’t as good as it could have been. *Almost every label with microwave instructions warned that the dish would taste better if reheated in a conventional oven*
Turkey: Surprisingly well seasoned and tender. I didn’t care for the drumsticks, though I usually love that part of the bird, but in this case there were a lot of tendons in the legs which was unexpected. I had never seen something like that before. It made it difficult to cut and eat the drumsticks and the taste was bland in that area. The white meat portions of the turkey were juicy and well seasoned.
Cornbread Stuffing (Dressing): This was a tad too watery for my taste. I prefer the stuffing to be fluffy but since everything is frozen after it’s cooked and before they hand it to you, the ice must have melted and left a pool of water in the stuffing which caused it to become mushy. It was very well seasoned and would have been superb if not for all the water.
Mashed Potatoes: They are obviously instant potatoes I could tell from the texture alone. It wasn’t bad but definitely not as good as fresh. This dish also had more water than is necessary or desirable in mashed potatoes, again, due to their freezing process. Some butter and cheddar cheese and/or gravy revives this dish and makes it better tasting.
Gravy: This too was obviously made from a canned or bottled mass-produced gravy, so not as good as homemade, but it wasn’t bad. Very smooth with just the right amount of salt. They give you a lot of gravy to ensure every bite you take can be smothered in it if you so desire. If I had to compare this gravy to something I would say it tastes just like the kind you would get in a restaurant buffet.
Cranberry/Orange Relish: I didn’t taste this at all. As a matter of fact, it’s in our refrigerator unopened. I think we’re both too weary to try this. I don’t care for cranberries and to imagine it with orange juice doesn’t appeal to me. I’m sure one of us will try it before too long.
Cranberry/Apple Cobbler: I did just admit to not liking cranberries, but I love apple and I love cobbler and I needed something sweet to eat for dessert after all that other high-sodium food so I tried this dish. It’s actually pretty decent for a store-bought dessert. I didn’t care too much for the rubbery taste but I didn’t notice it after the third bite. I actually had more today (the day after Thanksgiving) so it can’t be that bad.
Conclusion: From all accounts, we paid less money for this meal than most people this year did for their meals. One friend of ours claimed he paid about that amount just for his turkey alone! The fact that we got sides and dessert AND everything was already cooked made this an affordable meal that I would recommend to those trying to save a buck. I would not, though, recommend this to anyone with discerning tastes or those who actually love to cook. For the rest of us, this is well worth the money and reheating hassle. I think next year we’ll be more patient and will heat everything in the oven as is suggested.
James G said:
Well, for the price, and if it’s a small group, this sounds like a pretty good option to me.
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Maria said:
I plan to do the same this year, but when heating the turkey you can add cut up onions to the bottom of the pan then add those drippings to the publix gravy. Also add boursin garlic cheese to the mashed potatoes.
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Ed Dandrow said:
Im a single guy who bought a publix turkey dinner….after heating the turkey…I cut open the bag and my turkey exploded….leaving me with all off the bone and scattered in my sink….what did I do wrong….can anyone help…thank you…..amateur chef….
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Nicole said:
Wow. That’s definitely a unique problem. I’ve never had that happen or heard of that happening before. You may want to call Publix and ask about that.
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Dawn Hunt said:
The turkey is precooked and then sealed in a bag to freeze. They should have given you the turkey thawed however. My publix always does. You OPEN the bag, take out turkey, and put it in the oven to heat for I believe about 60-90 minutes. I’ve gotten the Publix dinners many times. You SHOULD NOT microwave them however, the dressing becomes a gooey glopppy mess! Heat everything up in the oven, it’s delicious.
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Newgent said:
I ordered the same dinner you did and I picked it up everything was frozen including the turkey. The turkey says it takes 2-5 days to thaw and tomorrow is thanksgiving. I will never do that again. Very disappointed.
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Jonnie said:
We are in a RV, si I ordered this turkey dinner from Publix in Marathon, Fl.
The turkey was pretty good, we heated it up on the gril. The stuffing was so thin it was pourable,like a thick soup.The mashed potatoes were sitting in water.I added cheese,bacon bits and butter to make them eatable.Im so thankful we didn’t have company.Publix is my favorite store.I can’t believe they sell this!
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Jo Ella said:
I’m guessing that you should have removed the turkey from the plastic bag before heating, Ed! It is sort of shrink-wrapped to the meat. I’m guessing that the pressure built up as it was heated, and I’m surprised that it didn’t explode in the oven or when you first pulled it out of the oven. I’m glad that you were not hurt or burned by the hot turkey.
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E.D. Cole said:
Short and sweet it was a $44 dollar waste will never buy again
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Esther Fernandez said:
The turkey was OK. The potatoes were not mashed but still edible with a chunk of butter. Dressing was inedible as was the green been casserole. Never again will I order prepared food from Publix
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Sandra Lodato said:
I agree about the potatoes and dressing. What I do is get the turkey cooked start the oven at 200 in the a.m. then about 2 hours later up it to 250 . Depending on when you eat and we usually sit down around 1:00p.m. bunp it up to 300. This ensures that the turkey is juicy and delicious. DO NOT HEAT UP AT 350. The dressing I drain but I also add oysters and have to drain them and I also add a little sage which really bumps it up. The potatoes I don’t buy I make my own. Add some string beans or greens a cold tray (tomatoes,cuke,olives,pickles) rolls and a delicious strawberry or cherry cheesecake and or double layered chocolate cake and watch the food disappear and the smiles appear.
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Dawn Hunt said:
The liquid in the dressing and potatoes sinks to the bottom. You have to stir them to reconstitute. Then you HAVE TO put them in the oven to warm for 30-45 minutes. The stuffing is perfect, not gloppy, and the potatoes deliciously tasty, too. It’s premade and packaged but you still have to heat it like homemade to make it taste right.
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Dawn Hunt said:
Ed, the turkey is supposed to be removed from the bag and put in the oven to reheat, along with the stuffing. The bag built up so much pressure it exploded. good thing you weren’t hurt.
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