Preparing meals at home is a Savinly-approved approach to cut costs while enjoying good food.
But what happens to your bank account when major holidays like Thanksgiving arrive? Getting ready for a large family celebration can quickly become far pricier than expected.
The average Thanksgiving meal for 10 is priced at $50.11, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, with the biggest expense being a 16-pound turkey at roughly $23. That leaves about $27 for potatoes, cranberries, sides and dessert. No matter how cleverly you shop, feeding a whole extended family on $50 seems almost impossible.
But we love a challenge. We crunched the numbers to see how economically we could feed a dozen people from our office — while still dishing up a satisfying holiday spread.
This wasn’t a potluck. This wasn’t a deli run. This was the Savinly Thanksgiving experiment.
How Much Does Thanksgiving Dinner Actually Cost?
Is the American Farm Bureau Federation’s figure too optimistic? We asked the Savinly Community Group on Facebook how much actual households spend on their Thanksgiving feasts.
Several readers said they budget about $125 to feed groups of 10, with some tables featuring both turkey and ham. But more people reported budgets in the $65 to $100 range for parties of four or five.
So we set a practical goal for ourselves: Prepare a (mostly homemade) Thanksgiving dinner for $10 (or less!) per person.
Estimating Costs for a Savinly Thanksgiving
Staff writer Jamie C. assumed menu planning and cooking duties. Her first assignment: price out ingredients for common homemade recipes and a few convenience items (boxed stuffing, canned gravy, etc.) at three stores: Publix, Walmart and Aldi.
Aldi offered the lowest prices for most items on our list — even though it doesn’t accept coupons. We did stop by Walmart for a couple of necessities Aldi didn’t carry (see below).
After tallying prices and weighing recipe options, it looked like we could feed 12 people for under $70. It seemed almost too good to be true, but the numbers added up.
What We Spent on the Meal
We already had olive oil, flour and basic seasonings at the office, so those weren’t included. Here’s what we purchased and some takeaways from the shopping trip.
Purchases at Aldi
Turkey
21-pound turkey: $27.43
Jar of gravy: $0.89
Fresh turkeys can be pricey, so despite the extra planning frozen poultry is the budget-friendly choice. Did you know it takes one day to safely thaw four pounds of turkey in the refrigerator?
Aldi impressed us with a Butterball turkey at $1.29 per pound — roughly half the cost at Publix for the same brand.
We bought our 21-pound bird a week before the event so it could thaw in the fridge. We dubbed it Rhonda.
Green-Bean Casserole
4 bags frozen green beans at $1.39 each: $5.56
3 cans fried french onions at $1.99 each: $5.97
20-ounce can cream of mushroom soup: $1.19
10-ounce can cream of mushroom soup: $0.49
Because green-bean casserole is a classic side and our sole vegetable, we bought enough to make a very large portion. It ended up in two separate dishes!
Mashed Potatoes
5-pound bag red potatoes: $2.79
2 boxes butter quarters at $2.69 each: $5.38
½ gallon whole milk: $2.09
Instant mash is the cheapest shortcut, but we decided to spend the elbow grease and make real mashed potatoes.
Although buying milk and butter increased the bill a bit (we also used butter for the rolls), Aldi’s low potato price more than made up for it — at least $1 less than other stores we checked.
Stuffing
3 boxes turkey/herb stuffing at $0.89 each: $2.67
The ongoing argument about whether Stove Top belongs on a Thanksgiving table could divide our team. Imagine how that conversation goes at your house.
Money won the debate: homemade stuffing would have set us back roughly $7, so the boxed variety was the economical choice.
Cranberry Sauce
Canned cranberry sauce: $0.99
Do you know how costly fresh cranberries are? We do: $2.49 for a 12-oz. bag.
We could have made homemade cranberry sauce for around $3.50, but the canned option at $0.99 was far more economical.
Rolls
2 canisters crescent rolls at $0.99 each: $1.98
The team was adamant there be rolls at the table. Who argues with more bread?
Frozen premade rolls were competitively priced, so we grabbed Aldi’s ready-to-bake crescents for $0.99 per eight-count canister.
Ice Cream
½ gallon ice cream: $2.69
Ice cream was a small indulgence — not strictly necessary, but it made store-bought pies feel a little more festive.
Total spent at Aldi: $60.12
Purchases at Walmart
Pies
Apple pie: $5.98
Pumpkin pie: $5.98
Jamie — her family’s de facto dessert maker and someone who usually bakes from scratch — agonized over whether to buy ready-made pies, bake them herself or shortcut with a pre-made crust.
Pumpkin pie isn’t expensive with a premade crust, but apple pie eats up a lot of apples.
“Fresh apple pie could be comparable cost-wise if we already owned the spices, but buying them would jack up our up-front expenses,” Jamie noted in our planning notes.
“It would also be far more labor-intensive — a factor when you’re cooking on company time. As heretical as it sounds, I think we should buy them.”
Spending less by choosing two pre-made pies allowed us to splurge on ice cream to top them. Most folks were (mostly) pleased.
Wine
3 liters Franzia cabernet sauvignon: $13.24 after tax
What’s a holiday meal without wine? For this dinner, we didn’t want to depend on guests to bring bottles, and alcohol can quickly inflate the total cost.
There’s middle ground, though. According to GoBankingRates:
The most recent average price of table wine is $6.30, according to Wine Business. Assuming you get three bottles for Thanksgiving dinner, that is $18.90 to add to the grocery list. That brings the average total for Thanksgiving dinner to $69.01.
We were dubious about the quality of this “table wine,” but opted for a boxed Franzia — we’re not total wine snobs.
Total spent at Walmart: $25.20
Grand total: $85.32
So we were $15.32 above our initial target. Worth it?
Time to put it together and see.
Preparing Thanksgiving for 12
With 10 adults and two children confirmed, we began prepping. Cooking kicked off at 8:15 a.m. for a 2 p.m. meal.
It was Jamie’s first time roasting a turkey, which brought understandable nerves. But honestly, if you spend nearly $30 on a bird, youdo notwant it ruined.
Here are some of the funniest notes from her timeline:
8:21 a.m.:It’s in. I followed Food.com’s directions to “season the cavity” and crossed my fingers. Unresolved mysteries: Why is there so much weird excess skin? Who eats the giblets? How do you “tuck” the wings? SHRUG. INTO THE OVEN.
8:39 a.m.:The turkey already smells tempting. Is that normal this early?
9:03 a.m.:Opened the oven door. Closed the oven door. It looks… browner. That must be a good sign.
Patience might not be Jamie’s strongest trait. Then a practical realization:
9:55 a.m.:Realizing this is a logistical jigsaw puzzle. Turkey will finish around 1:30–2 p.m.; rolls bake 10–13 minutes at 375°F; green-bean casserole needs 40 minutes at 350°F; the beans must thaw, etc. No wonder my mom usually handles this.
Hats off to holiday hosts everywhere.
We Pulled It Off — and the Final Tally
Jamie survived the marathon with help from several Savinly Readers eager for free food and to make Rhonda proud.
Our meal for 10 adults and two kids left us with an entire untouched green-bean casserole, half of each pie, half the carton of ice cream, half the boxed wine (?!), most of the milk, and enough turkey and potatoes to create many leftover lunches.
Not bad for $85.32!
We still had unopened items: an extra box of stuffing ($0.89); a spare jar of gravy ($0.89); and a full box of butter ($2.69). If we return those, our final bill for Thanksgiving for 12 drops to $80.85 — just $6.74 per person.
Key Takeaways
We gained real appreciation for how stressful it is to host a holiday meal for guests.
Our menu didn’t account for dietary restrictions, time-honored family specialties, or potluck coordination. We kept things simple, and even the price-checking nearly convinced us to order takeout.
While you probably won’t construct a spreadsheet to compare local grocery prices, these straightforward tips can help you host an affordable, tasty Thanksgiving:
- Watch for free turkey promotions at your usual grocery store. Many chains give you a free bird after spending a certain amount.
- Skip premium brand names.Most guests won’t notice generic ingredients once your sides taste great.
- Accept help.Putting Rhonda in the oven took teamwork. If someone offers to bring a dish, stop being polite and assign them one!
If you want low-cost vegetarian side ideas, check our epic list 37 money saving vegetarian thanksgiving recipes. For creative uses of leftovers after the meal, see these thanksgiving leftover recipes. And if you’re planning the whole meal, this guide to plan thanksgiving dinner can help keep you organized.
Our Thanksgiving math wasn’t flawless.
But documenting this Savinly experiment as it unfolded? Worth every cent.
Jamie C. (not the original author name) has contributed to a variety of outlets on topics including food, travel, wine and frugality. Most of her turkey-roasting knowledge was gleaned from online resources.
