Cracker Barrel Launches Holiday Menu With $119.99 Thanksgiving Meals

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store started serving its limited-time holiday menu nationwide today, anchored by two new items — Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes and the Country Fried Turkey Sandwich — and pre-orders for Thanksgiving Heat & Serve meals priced from roughly $119.99 to $189.99.

The rollout is the menu platform for the chain's "Get Your Season's Worth" holiday campaign, which aims to drive traffic on ordinary days across the season rather than concentrate demand on Thanksgiving itself. The company did not disclose projected sales impact.

What's on the menu?

The new items extend two existing equities: the Cinnamon Swirl flavor franchise and Country Fried Turkey, a returning seasonal plate.

• Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes (new): buttermilk pancakes swirled with cinnamon filling, drizzled with cream cheese icing, served with two eggs and a choice of thick-sliced bacon or smoked sausage. The format ports the chain's Cinnamon Swirl French Toast flavors into pancakes for the first time.
• Country Fried Turkey Sandwich (new): a handheld version of the returning plate — crispy turkey tenderloin, gravy and cranberry relish on a toasted bun.
• Country Fried Turkey (returning): hand-breaded turkey tenderloins with herbed pan gravy, country sides, cranberry relish, biscuits or corn muffins.
• Cinnamon Swirl French Toast Breakfast (returning): cinnamon streusel bread in signature batter, topped with cinnamon and cream cheese icings, with two eggs and a protein choice.
• Rich DIY Hot Chocolate (returning): whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and mix-and-match toppings.
• Cinnamon Swirl Latte: hot or iced, with whipped cream, icing drizzle and cinnamon.

The pattern is straightforward menu engineering: new variations built on flavors guests already order, which limits recipe development risk and reuses existing ingredients across dayparts, from breakfast through dinner.

The Thanksgiving carryout play

Heat & Serve meals, ready in two hours or less, are the off-premise piece of the campaign. Pre-orders opened this week at CrackerBarrel.com and through the chain's app, with pickup available Nov. 21 through Nov. 29. Prices vary by location.

• Turkey Family Dinner: typically around $119.99; one oven-roasted turkey breast, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, sweet rolls; feeds 4–6.
• Turkey Feast: typically around $189.99; two turkey breasts plus mashed potatoes and both pumpkin and pecan pies; feeds 8–10.
• Fresh-baked pies: typically around $14.49 each, in pumpkin, pecan, chocolate pecan, cinnamon roll and other flavors.

The attach items matter here. A $14.49 pie on top of a $119.99 dinner pushes the household check toward $135 before taxes, and the two-tier dinner structure gives the chain a price ladder that reaches both small households and larger gatherings.

The marketing behind it

Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Moore framed the campaign around incremental occasions rather than the holiday peak. "Some of the best holiday memories happen when you're not planning on making them," Moore said. "A breakfast that turns into a tradition. A family dinner where everyone can finally get together. A holiday meal where you get to enjoy the company instead of spending the day in the kitchen. That's what 'Get Your Season's Worth' is all about."

What does this change for operators? For Cracker Barrel, the menu stretches seasonal demand across roughly eight weeks instead of one Thursday, with the app-based pre-order window giving the chain forward visibility on turkey volume — the hardest input to forecast in a Heat & Serve program.

The holiday menu runs at Cracker Barrel locations nationwide for a limited time through the season, with online ordering available for pickup and delivery. The chain will support the campaign on Instagram and TikTok throughout the holidays.