The 4 Best Mail-Order Turkeys, According to Our Tests

Our Favorite Mail-Order Turkey

Our favorite mail-order turkey in testing was the Kelly Turkeys Whole KellyBronze Thanksgiving Turkey for its juicy meat, wide size and budget options, and commitment to animal welfare. If your guest list and budget are on the smaller side, we recommend the Farm Foods Market Jaindl Grand Champion Whole Turkey because it's not too big and the flavor is excellent, for an unbeatable price.

How We Tested Mail-Order Turkeys

This story includes data from two sets of testing that incorporated 14 mail-order turkeys. We rated each bird on shipping and packaging, how fresh the raw turkey seemed, and how long it took to defrost. We also made notes on each brand's agricultural practices and any organic and similar certifications.

We weighed each bird and prepared and cooked them all the same way, using a simple recipe to let the meat's flavor shine. After rinsing and drying each turkey, we seasoned it inside and out with salt. Then, we refrigerated the turkeys for 8 to 24 hours. When it was time to cook, we removed the turkeys from the fridge an hour before roasting, seasoned them with more salt, pepper, and olive oil, and roasted at 425°F for 1 hour. Next, we reduced the oven temperature to 375°F and cooked the turkeys until the meat registered 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. We let each rest under foil for 45 minutes before carving and tasting for flavor, texture, and juiciness. We also weighed the turkeys post-cooking and noted how much was lost.

After completing our cooking and taste test, we revealed the prices of the turkeys to consider value. We compared prices per pound, making sure to incorporate shipping fees to account for the true final cost.

What We Looked For in the Best Mail-Order Turkeys

Size

As a rough estimate when roasting a whole turkey, you want about 2 pounds per adult and 1 pound per child you plan to serve. But it's always a good idea to tack on a few extra pounds above that to ensure everybody's stuffed and you have a few days of leftover turkey sandwiches. If you have a lot of people to serve, consider buying two separate smaller birds rather than one huge one — they'll both thaw and cook faster.

Fresh vs. Frozen

Fresh turkey tastes better than a frozen and thawed bird but has a much shorter shelf life. A fresh bird is good for a week at maximum, and it'll take up a lot of space in a cramped refrigerator before a big holiday meal. If you plan to order a fresh turkey, see if it's possible to choose an arrival date as close as possible to your cooking date — there may be upgraded shipping options that work better for an extra fee.

Frozen turkeys are more versatile since they can be stored in the freezer for months before cooking. However, thawing is a big consideration. It takes days to thaw a turkey — a week or more for the largest birds — and you need to work that into your planning.

Agricultural Practices and Certifications

Not every turkey is raised in the same way, and that affects the quality of its meat. Free-range birds, which aren't confined to cages and have space to move around and exercise, tend to have more flavorful meat, as do turkeys that can forage for food rather than eating only grain. But these turkeys are also more expensive per pound.

You can check a brand's website for more complete details about how it treats its turkeys, but one thing to look for is a USDA Organic certification. This guarantees minimum standards, like that the birds aren't given growth hormones or unnecessary antibiotics, that they have space to move around, and other regulations about feeding and treatment.

Some turkey brands focus on regenerative agriculture, which seeks to restore fertility to the ecosystem even as it produces food. This can involve rotating turkeys and crops through different areas of land, letting birds forage freely in the wild, and other practices. There are multiple organizations with different types of regenerative and animal welfare certifications, all with their own varying standards.

Shipping and Packaging

Many sellers offer free shipping and guarantee it in time for major holidays, but you should check the fine print and make sure you order in time. Packaging was a big part of where turkeys ranked on our list because a defrosted, late, or beaten-up bird can undoubtedly ruin Thanksgiving. If the bird ships frozen, we'd advise ordering a bird early and storing it in the freezer to avoid any last-minute issues. A frozen turkey should arrive frozen firm, with any ice packs or dry ice at least partially intact, while a fresh one should be refrigerator-cold. Whether you order fresh or frozen, make sure you know the exact day the turkey will arrive and have plans to get it into cold storage as soon as possible. (This means you'll need to free up space in your fridge or freezer in advance!)

Other Mail-Order Turkeys We Tested

Strong Contenders

D'Artagnan Organic Turkey ($99 at D'Artagnan)

The turkey was very tasty, but our top picks surpassed it. It arrived a little banged up, but it was otherwise easy to roast, and the quality of the meat was exceptional.

Porter Road Whole Turkey ($158 at Porter Road)

This was one of our favorites in a previous round of testing because we liked that it came with giblets and the meat was juicy. It was very white-meat heavy, so this is a good pick if you and your guests aren't fans of dark meat. However, we think the shipping process could be improved.

Organic Prairie Whole Turkey ($160 at Organic Prairie)

We felt that this turkey was a great deal for the size and quality of the bird, especially considering the price of other organic turkeys. The air-drying and dry-brining process gave this bird an incredible flavor. We just wish there were more size options; larger gatherings would require two of these birds.

What Didn't Make The List

We tested quite a few turkeys that didn't make the cut. Most picks that didn't make our list failed us on taste and texture. Some were too dry or tough, while others tasted bland or underwhelming overall. Others were middle-of-the-road when it came to flavor, but we didn't find the price to be worth it. Others earned top marks when we tasted them, but the ordering or delivery process was just too much of a headache for us to recommend. We had a few banged-up turkeys, several defrosted birds, and some confusing tracking information. There are also a couple turkeys we really loved in previous tests that were no longer available or out of stock to re-test for 2024.

Our Expertise

• Jennifer Zyman is commerce testing editor for Food & Wine and a recovering restaurant critic with a culinary degree and over 15 years of food writing experience. Her work has appeared in Atlanta Magazine, Bon Appetit, Eater Atlanta, The Kitchn, Local Palate, National Geographic, Southern Living, and Thrillist.
• Nick DeSimone is a Food & Wine commerce writer who updated this story with the results of our latest testing. A former professional chef, Nick is an expert in pasta-making and Italian food in general who's also written for Allrecipes, Eater, USA Today, Mashed, The Kitchn, VegNews, and more.