Thanksgiving dinner is getting cheaper this year, with the classic holiday feast costing about 3% less than in 2023, according to a new White House report.
The traditional meal is seeing price drops across several key ingredients, including dinner rolls (down 22%), frozen vegetables (down 15%), and even the centerpiece turkey — giving American families a bit of relief after years of stubborn inflation at the grocery store.
Major retailers slash Thanksgiving prices
Walmart is leading the charge with Thanksgiving meal costs 25% lower than last year, including the lowest turkey prices the retail giant has offered since 2019. The company’s holiday meal package feeds ten people at under $4 per person, the White House noted.
Not to be outdone, Lidl’s Thanksgiving meal is $10 cheaper than last year’s offering, feeding the same number of people at just $3.60 per person. Aldi has also joined the trend, with its holiday meal package priced $7 below 2023 levels — marking its lowest price point since 2019 and averaging $4 per person for a group of ten.
Target has gone even further, touting its “lowest price ever” for a Thanksgiving meal that feeds four at under $5 per person, according to White House data.
Regional supermarkets are getting in on the action too. Schnucks, one of the nation’s largest privately held supermarket chains, is selling frozen turkeys at their lowest price in over 15 years.
Name brands vs. store brands: A narrowing gap
Interestingly, the traditional wisdom about store brands being the budget-friendly option isn’t quite as clear-cut this year. A Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute study reveals that a Thanksgiving meal for 10 using only name-brand products will cost around $90 this year — down 0.5% from last year — while the same meal made with store-brand items costs about $73, reflecting a 2.7% increase from 2023.
“This Thanksgiving it’s really going to be an opportunity to mix and match based on personal preference and taste,” said Robin Wenzel, group head of Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute, in a recent interview.
While store brands still offer overall savings of about $17 for the complete meal, the price gap between name-brand and store-brand products is narrowing. In several categories, name-brand products are actually less expensive than their store-brand counterparts.
What does this mean for shoppers? The shifting price dynamics give consumers more flexibility to choose based on quality preferences rather than being forced into budget-driven decisions.
The typical Thanksgiving menu analyzed in these studies includes turkey, stuffing, salad, cranberries, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie — with price declines across many of these categories contributing to the overall lower cost of this year’s holiday meal.
For families still feeling the pinch of inflation in other areas of their budgets, the cheaper Thanksgiving dinner might be the tastiest news of the season.
