Where to buy Thanksgiving ingredients in Switzerland

In November, Americans all over Switzerland start to panic about finding all the special ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner. Here are some tips on where find these Thanksgiving ingredients and alternatives if you can’t.

If you prefer not to cook, see Where to eat out Thanksgiving dinner in Zürich

Turkey

First a warning: a whole turkey is ridiculously expensive in Switzerland. Expect to spend at least CHF 100 and up to CHF 300 depending on the size of the turkey.

Second, you should pre-order turkeys a few weeks in advance because they sell out quickly. Most orders are fulfilled by local farms and they only have so many turkeys. Most butcher shops or meat counters at big groceries can order one for you.

• Farmy.ch is selling turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas priced from CHF 139-309. Must order in advance.
• Bühlhof Farms near Lucerne sells turkeys for Thanksgiving and has lots of info in English on their site.

Third, some sources sell fresh refrigerated turkeys, so you need to pick up the turkey right before you want to cook it.

You can sometimes order turkey online from Coop, but they usually don’t show up on the website until late November. When they arrive, they sell out quickly.

Some groceries will stock a few frozen turkeys the week before Thanksgiving, but you are lucky if you find one. In 2020, my friend found a few at Lidl in mid November. I have bought whole turkeys at Coop and Jemoli before, but I got one of the last ones.

For several years, our friends ordered the turkey from a local butcher, who also cooked it for us. We picked it up on Thanksgiving in a heat box. It costs about the same as just buying the turkey raw and much more convenient.

As an alternative, we simply have roasted chicken instead. Honestly, it’s more delicious anyway.

Stuffing mixes

AmericanFoodMarket.ch sells Stove Top Stuffing mixes, cornbread and pork flavor. CHF 5.90 last time I checked.

The BritShop.ch has lots of stuffing mixes that you might try. Coop also sells the British Paxo stuffing mix.

Canned pumpkin

Many groceries in Switzerland near large American expat populations will carry Thanksgiving ingredients like cranberries and canned pumpkin the week before Thanksgiving, but not much sooner. Americans start to worry the first week of November but around the 15th of November, canned pumpkin suddenly shows up at the Coop and everyone calms down. But they sell out quick, so hurry!

I’ve bought Libby’s canned pumpkin at Coop, Globus and Jelmoli. I’ve never seen it at my Migros. You can order canned pumpkin online at American Food Ave.

I saw that Coop online sells a jarred pumpkin puree that might work. It looks quite wet, so I would strain it before using it for pie. Most groceries also sell frozen pumpkin cubes. You would need to cook and puree them like fresh pumpkin, but at least you don’t have to skin and cut up the pumpkin.

Cranberries

Some grocery stores carry fresh cranberries starting the week before Thanksgiving. I’ve seen them at Coop, Migros and Jemoli. They are usually near the fresh berries in the produce section. 

Alternatively, you can buy jarred cranberries (aka Preiselberren) from some groceries. Coop sells the jarred cranberries shown below. IKEA sells a lingonberry preserve which is pretty close.

Brown sugar

Brown sugar is a difficult ingredient to find in Switzerland. You can buy it online at expat shops like American Food Ave or American Market. One of our readers suggested My American Market, which has a wide selection but does not handle customs.

The Orell Füslli bookshop in Zürich has an international food section and sometimes carries brown sugar (along with canned pumpkin and mince pies). Brown sugar is available in person or online from the Dutch shop in Adliswil (Albisstrasse 33 8134 Adliswil). My friend has bought it online from iHerb. Occasionally I’ve bought it at Globus or Jemoli.

Note: Do not confuse American brown sugar with “brown colored” raw sugar like Demerara and Muscovado. These are not soft American brown sugar. Don’t ask the people that work at the store. They will always point you to the raw sugar and say, “This is brown.” Sigh.

DIY Brown Sugar

If I run out of my imported stash, I will just use raw sugar and it usually works fine. If you want to go to an extra effort, you can easily make your own brown sugar by combining a cup of regular sugar with a tablespoon of molasses. You can buy molasses in most Reformhaus shops (health food stores). You can buy molasses online on Galaxus, Purevita and Amavita.

Do not buy Birnenmelasse, which is a different product. Check the ingredient list before buying. It should not include Glucose syrup.

Corn syrup

If you need corn syrup for pecan pie, you may need to import it or order from one from the Expat shops. American Food Ave and American Market both sell Caro corn syrup.

You can often buy glucose syrup at many Asian groceries and it works exactly the same. My friend says rice syrup also works well. You can purchase rice syrup in many health food stores like Müller Reformhau or Egli.

Pie Dough

If you want to use pre-made pie dough, every grocery in Switzerland sells it. The one closest to flaky pie crust in America is Butterkuchenteig. Make sure to buy the circled shaped ones and not the rectangle. They also sell gluten-free and vegan versions. I much prefer homemade and if you want to try making your own, here’s my favorite recipe.

I hope this little guide helps. Around Thanksgiving time, monitor the expat Facebook groups as there will be a lot of chatter about where to find these ingredients and you might get a hot tip. Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving!

See more food in Switzerland posts 

Note: The featured photo at the top of this post is by Pro Church Media on Unsplash.