Whole Story

Looking for an all-encompassing guide to help answer your questions about turkey buying, cooking, carving and more? Well, we’ve got you covered! It’s our job to think about turkeys all year long so when it comes down to the quintessential turkey holiday, you know you can depend on us for the best. Let’s break it down. Buying First off, let’s take a quick look at why we think you should get your turkey from us instead of somewhere else.  All of our turkeys are raised with these standards:

• No antibiotics — ever
• No animal byproducts in feed
• No supplemental growth hormones (federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones when raising poultry)

Every turkey we sell meets these strict quality standards, so no matter what type of bird you serve, you can feel good about what you put on your table. Now, about those types. We offer a wide variety of frozen, fresh, value, organic, kosher, heirloom and more. How to choose? We put together this easy reference A Bird for Every Budget cheat sheet. Just match it up with what is right for you and your family. And since Whole Foods Market goes to the effort to know exactly where our turkeys come, we thought you'd like a chance to meet our turkey farmers and ranchers and find out a little bit about the people behind your holiday dinner. Cooking Preparing and serving a centerpiece turkey can create anxiety for even the most seasoned cook. Questions abound, such as: What’s the deal with brining? Should I stuff the turkey or not? What equipment do I need? How big a turkey should I cook? We’ve put together our Cooking A Perfect Turkey guide — full of cooking tips and recipes to help instruct your once-a-year turkey preparations and assure success. Recipes include this traditional style Golden Roasted Turkey, this new take for Ginger Glazed Turkey with Roasted Fruits and this Turkey Breast with Mushroom-Leek Stuffing for those who don't want or need to cook an entire turkey but would like the "turkey with stuffing" experience. Carving Honestly, carving the turkey can be just as stressful as cooking it! While I personally wouldn’t want anyone to feel bad about their carving abilities (I’ve messed up plenty in this area myself!), we’ve gathered our best tips and created this photo walk-through of how to carve your turkey, step by step. My carving may not turn out quite as well as these photos, but it’s a heck of a lot better than before. Leftovers Some people like leftovers and some don’t. I always plan to have lots of leftovers so I don’t cook for a few days after Thanksgiving. Regardless of your preference, you can use our Servings Calculator to help figure out how much of everything — from hors d’oeuvres to sides and dessert — you’ll need for your meal. And in our Holiday Leftover Tips guide, we’ve got you covered with ideas for making sure those leftovers are packed up safely and used up well with all kinds of ideas for turning them into new dishes. A Fun Bit of Thanksgiving Turkey Trivia Looking for safe dinner table conversation? Check out our turkey trivia video for some fun facts and a break from the holiday madness. Got questions about turkey that we didn’t cover? Let us know and we’ll try to help!