Someone has to feed the team before the long weekend, and this year that someone is you. Thanksgiving catering for the office makes it easy to bring everyone together over turkey, sides, and pie without anyone having to cook. Let a local restaurant handle the food so you can focus on thanking your team for their hard work.
Below are 12 menus you can order for a Thanksgiving office lunch catering spread, from the classic turkey-and-stuffing lineup to global menus, plant-based options, and dessert. After that, we'll walk through how to choose between trays, individually boxed meals, and a group order. And if your team would rather bring dishes from home, our Thanksgiving potluck ideas for work cover that route.
12 Thanksgiving Catering Ideas for the Office
Every menu here works for a weekday lunch: it travels well, feeds a group, and doesn't require anyone to put on an apron. Most restaurants that cater offer these as trays, individually boxed meals, or both.
Classic Thanksgiving Catering Menus
1. The Full Thanksgiving Spread
This is the menu everyone pictures: sliced turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, and rolls. It's the right call for an all-hands lunch or a team that looks forward to the traditional plate every year. Order it as trays so people can serve themselves, and add a vegetarian main so the spread works for the whole table, not just the turkey fans.
2. Turkey Sandwich and Slider Platters
All the Thanksgiving flavors, in a format you can eat between meetings. Think turkey and cranberry sandwiches, turkey sliders, and a couple of veggie options on the same platter. Pair them with a soup or a fall salad tray and you've got a lighter lunch that still feels like the holiday.
3. Smoked Turkey and BBQ Sides
Barbecue restaurants are built to feed a crowd, and plenty of them smoke turkey breast around the holidays. Add brisket or ribs, mac and cheese, cornbread, and greens. It's a fun twist on the classic, and smoked meats hold up well on a buffet table.
Thanksgiving Lunch Catering Bars and Boxes
4. Mashed Potato and Mac and Cheese Bar
Mashed potatoes are the side everyone goes back for, so why not make them the main event? Order base trays of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, then set out toppings like gravy, bacon, crispy onions, roasted vegetables, and shredded cheese. People build their own bowl, and the bar stays vegetarian-friendly as long as the bacon and any meat-based gravy sits on the side.
5. Harvest Bowls, Individually Boxed
Grain bowls with roasted squash, greens, turkey or a plant-based protein, and a cranberry vinaigrette give you the flavors of the season without the 2 p.m. slump. Every bowl arrives boxed and labeled, so they're a good fit when people eat at different times or when you have a lot of dietary needs to cover.
6. Thanksgiving Brunch
If half the office is heading out early on Wednesday, move the celebration to the morning. Order trays of pumpkin French toast or pancakes, egg bakes, pastries, fruit, and coffee for a 9 or 10 a.m. delivery. Everyone gets a festive start to the day, and nobody has to choose between the team meal and beating holiday traffic.
Global Takes on a Thanksgiving Lunch
Plenty of Thanksgiving tables look nothing like a magazine cover. Lots of families mix the classics with dishes from their own traditions, and these menus bring some of that variety to the office.
7. Latin-Inspired Menu
Tamales, slow-roasted pork, rice and beans, and empanadas make a spread that's festive, filling, and easy to serve buffet-style. Tamales are a holiday tradition for a lot of families, so this one can feel just as special as turkey.
8. Mediterranean Spread
Roast chicken or lamb, herbed rice, roasted vegetables, hummus, and warm flatbreads or manakish. It's lighter than a classic Thanksgiving plate, and it's easy to keep vegetarian-friendly since half the menu already is.
9. Italian Family-Style
Trays of lasagna (one meat, one vegetable), butternut squash ravioli, roasted vegetables, and a big salad. Italian catering is about as crowd-friendly as it gets, and the squash ravioli adds a seasonal touch without trying too hard.
Menus for Dietary Needs
10. A Plant-Based Thanksgiving Menu
Instead of one lonely vegan side, order a full plant-based menu: a lentil or mushroom-based main, roasted root vegetables, wild rice, green beans, and a plant-based stuffing. Your vegan teammates get a real plate, and the meat eaters will go back for seconds anyway. For more ideas, browse our list of vegetarian and vegan catering ideas.
11. A Gluten-Free-Friendly Spread
Roast proteins, potatoes, roasted vegetables, and salads are naturally gluten-free. The usual traps are gravy, stuffing, and rolls, so check those items or ask for gluten-free versions. Filtering catering options by dietary need makes this a lot faster. Our roundup of gluten-free catering ideas for office events has more options.
Dessert
12. Pies, Cheesecake, and Bakery Boxes
Pumpkin pie is non-negotiable for a lot of people, and cheesecake keeps almost everyone else happy. Order both and you've covered most of the office. Pre-sliced pies, mini pies, or pie bars save you from cutting and serving, and a bakery box of cookies gives people something to grab on the way back to their desks.
Trays, Boxed Meals, or a Group Order?
Once you've picked a menu, the next decision is how it shows up. Each format fits a different kind of team.
Trays are the classic catered Thanksgiving lunch. Food arrives in large pans and people serve themselves. Trays work best when the team eats together, they make it easy to feed a big group with one order, and they feel the most like a holiday table.
Individually boxed meals come packed and labeled per person. They're the better pick when lunch times are staggered, when you're tracking a lot of dietary restrictions, or when you want less cleanup. No serving line, and no half-empty trays sitting out at 3 p.m.
Group orders let each person choose their own meal from one or more restaurants, all delivered together. For smaller in-office teams, Group Orders are an easy way to give everyone what they want without managing a big catering order. You can plan one ahead and set a spending limit, too.
Order Corporate Catering for Your Office Thanksgiving
With Corporate Catering, you can order trays or individually boxed meals for groups of up to 200 people in a single order. You can schedule up to 14 days in advance, which matters in the busiest food week of the year. Filter restaurants by cuisine, headcount, and dietary need, then track your order live from the kitchen to your office.
Catering is available in select cities, so check if it's available in your city. If it isn't there yet, Group Orders are an easy way to feed a smaller team.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance should you order Thanksgiving office catering?
As early as you can. Restaurants get slammed Thanksgiving week, especially in the days right before the holiday. Corporate Catering lets you schedule up to 14 days ahead, so you can lock in your menu and delivery window before the rush.
What should you order for a Thanksgiving lunch at work?
A classic spread with sliced turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie is the safe bet. If you want something lighter or a little different, turkey sandwich platters, a mashed potato bar, harvest bowls, or a Latin or Mediterranean menu all work well midday. Either way, include at least one vegetarian main.
How much Thanksgiving catering do you need per person?
Start from confirmed headcount, not the invite list, since a lot of people take PTO Thanksgiving week. When you order Corporate Catering, you enter your headcount at checkout and serving guidance is built in, so you can see how much to order before you place it.
Can you get gluten-free or vegan Thanksgiving catering for the office?
Yes. Many restaurants offer plant-based and gluten-free Thanksgiving dishes, and you can filter catering options by dietary need. For a mixed group, order a plant-based menu or a gluten-free-friendly spread alongside the classics, and double-check the gravy and stuffing, which often contain gluten.
How much does Thanksgiving catering cost?
It depends on your headcount, menu, and format. The easiest way to keep it in check is to set a per-person budget before you pick a restaurant. Our guide to planning a corporate catering budget walks through how to set one.
