If you celebrate Thanksgiving, you know that it’s a day full of family, friends, and food. Almost everyone who celebrates the holiday knows that the most important part of that celebration is the dinner! It’s usually a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, casseroles, vegetable dishes galore, and rolls. Of course, most families end their celebration with a slice or two of pie.

If you’re hosting dinner this year, you know that it’s nearing time to prepare for the holiday. You probably are cleaning your oven and prepping it for the many dishes it will cook within the next few weeks. But … oh no! What happens if you go to clean your oven and it’s broken?

You have a few options:

1. Order Thanksgiving dinner.
2. Call your home warranty company (if you have one) to repair or replace your oven.

It’s a bit tempting to order your Thanksgiving dishes that require an oven, right? Less cooking, maybe less stress? Let’s take a look at the things you can’t make for Thanksgiving dinner without an oven… and how not having a home warranty could cost you in the long run!

Turkey

It’s the star of the show for most families, and without an oven it can be a real hassle to get it cooked! Of course, if you’re an adventurous chef, you can always deep fry it or cook it in a crockpot, but for most families a true oven-roasted turkey is the quintessential Thanksgiving Day dinner.

Luckily, there are a few options that you can use to order an oven-roasted turkey for the holiday. You can get a 10 pound (which should be enough for a family of about 5 to 7 people) pre-roasted turkey from Whole Foods for $80 or Honey Baked Ham for $50.

2. Stuffing

Traditionally, stuffing was cooked inside of the turkey, thus getting its name “stuffing.” These days, most cooks opt to cook it either around the turkey or separately. However, most families cook it in the oven, and without a working one, your options are pretty limited.

Luckily, you can order 2 pounds of stuffing from Whole Foods for $15, or a quart from Harmons Grocery for $10.

3. Rolls

Rolls are another delicious part of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but unfortunately, it’s hard to find a good substitute for oven baked rolls. You can always buy some that are freshly made from your local store, though! Whole Foods offers rolls at roughly $1 per roll.

4. Green Bean Casserole

This casserole blends fresh green beans, mushroom soup, and fried onions for a delicious combination that most Thanksgiving dinners need. Without a working oven, though, it’s hard to get the right texture on your beans or warm them up to the perfect temperature. Luckily, Harmons Grocery Store has a quart of the casserole for only $10, or you can order some for $24 from Honey Baked Ham.

5. Pies

Finally, what would a Thanksgiving dinner be without pie? You need at least a few different types of pie, but pie is awfully hard to bake without a working oven. You can order pies from Whole Food for $9 a pie, or pick some chilled versions up at your local grocery store.

At this point, you’re looking at about $137 for ordering the major Thanksgiving Day foods you can’t make with a broken oven. Of course, if you just wanted to order the entire feast, you could always do that for $215! Not to mention, you have to get your oven fixed eventually, which, on average, costs between $230 and $320 to repair.

Get a Home Warranty to Protect Your Oven

Your other option, if you have a home warranty, is to call your home warranty company up and open a service request on your oven! You’ll be paying a small service call fee that ranges between $60 and $100, depending on your plan. At Landmark Home Warranty, when you open a service request, we find you a trusted contractor to repair or replace your failed oven, provided it broke down from normal wear and tear. Compare your small service call fee to the almost $500 you’d pay to repair your oven and order Thanksgiving dinner, and protecting your oven (and the rest of your home’s systems and appliances!) just makes sense.

Learn more about Landmark Home Warranty and what coverage we offer on your home here.

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