Now that you're done orchestrating a belt-loosening, applause-inducing Thanksgiving dinner for a houseful of guests, get ready to do it again in a mere three weeks.

Or not.

You could join those who have discovered the ease of ready-to-heat-and-eat holiday meals prepared by a local grocery store. Practically every major grocery chain and many independent markets sell holiday meals featuring fully cooked roasted turkey, glazed ham or prime rib along with side dishes for one flat price.

Bayview Thriftway in Olympia has been offering complete turkey meals during the holidays since at least the 1980s, said Kevin Storman, one of the owners of Storman Inc, which operates Bayview Thriftway. Albertsons has sold holiday meals for more than 15 years. Top Food & Drug started offering the holiday packages three years ago to answer customer demand and stay competitive, Cheryl-Ann Jones, the chain’s director of food service, wrote in an e-mail to The News Tribune.

“People are just more time-starved,” Storman said. “People like spending more time with their family in activities, and not being tied to the kitchen for hours and hours.”

Entrees and sides come cooked and refrigerated. All customers have to do is warm them up.

Besides saving time, say Storman and other grocery executives, pre-cooked holiday meals have improved to the point that they taste homemade.

“With our meals, all of the sides are made from scratch and are not the typical frozen side dishes,” wrote Top Foods’ Jones. “People are really shocked by the amount of food – (the turkey dinner) is really a good value at $59.99.”

Prices vary depending on the size of the spread and the type of ingredients. Dinners tend to cost more from upscale grocers such as Bayview, Stadium Thriftway in Tacoma’s Stadium District and Metropolitan Market in Tacoma’s Proctor District.

For instance, the Metropolitan Market’s holiday meals allow customers to choose four out of six side dishes made from scratch, including its popular green beans and carrots with garlic sauce, said Paige Lamb, Metropolitan’s food service director. The centerpiece of its $99.99 turkey dinner is the oven-roasted, all-natural, free-range Diestel brand turkeys.

“It’s a true, turkey roasted flavor. It has ... no hormones, no antibiotics, no MSG,” she said. “It’s all around a better bird quality-wise and health-wise.”

The dinner has proved so popular that by a week before Thanksgiving, Metropolitan stores in Tacoma, Federal Way and Seattle had already sold more of the holiday meals than during all of last year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, she said.

“We’re like, what’s going on? There’s supposed to be a recession,” Paige said. “We’ve had an overwhelming response.”

Lamb thinks it’s due to the Diestel turkey, the array of side dishes and the package price. Though the Diestels cost more than last year’s variety, Metropolitan kept its turkey dinner price the same as last year in light of the tough economy, she said. Two Seattle-area competitors offer Diestel turkey meals for $129.

Metropolitan Market in Tacoma and Federal Way Offers three holiday dinners. Each serves 6 to 8, plus leftovers.

• 10- to 12-pound natural Diestel turkey, 14 ounces cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, 16 rolls, 28 ounces old fashioned turkey gravy, four side dishes, $99.99.

• 8-pound Kurobuta ham, 16 rolls, pumpkin pie, four side dishes, $119.99.

• 4-pound natural Snake River Farms prime rib, 1 pint au jus, 1 pint horseradish sauce, 16 rolls, pumpkin pie, four side dishes, $159.99.

Customers choose four out of the following side dishes: Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, roasted butternut squash, French green beans and carrots with garlic butter, savory sage stuffing, holiday Waldorf salad.

To order, call or visit a local Metropolitan Market deli department or go to www.metropolitan-market.com/holiday.