Why do Americans use rotisserie chicken for Thanksgiving?
Mini Thanksgiving Dinner With Rotisserie Chicken
A2 English listening practice · American English · Picked for people who know a little
When American singles, students, or small households want a Thanksgiving dinner without cooking a 14-pound turkey, the standard hack is a rotisserie chicken. Almost every American supermarket sells one for $5 to $10, already roasted, hot, and ready to eat. Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chicken became a cultural meme in the 2020s. The chicken stands in for the turkey, served with the same sides: mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing or dressing, and pie. American TikTok and YouTube have a whole genre of “mini Thanksgiving” videos built around this swap.
In this clip, a creator builds her mini Thanksgiving: “Our beautiful turkey, aka a rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy.”
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How common in written English
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In American Costco, Sam’s Club, and Walmart rotisserie aisles
- ▸In American Thanksgiving content on TikTok and YouTube (every November)
- ▸In American college-dorm cooking content
- ▸In American single-and-small-household lifestyle blogs
- ▸In American food podcasts about cheap-meal hacks