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This year all the stores are competing to try to get you to spend your money on your Thanksgiving meal at their stores.To make things easier before you finish your shopping, I decided to compare Thanksgiving dinner deals so you can find the cheapest options!
Aldi came up with a shopping list that they claim will allow you to host Thanksgiving for $40 that serves 10 by purchasing a pre-set list of items from their store. They say that this meal could feed 10 people and includes what you need to serve a whole turkey, rolls, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.
Here are the items Aldi included on their Thanksgiving list.
Not to be outdone, Walmart made a similar list and even has the option to add all the items directly to your cart online. Their list is slightly different from Aldi’s; it includes corn but doesn’t include chicken broth, poultry seasoning, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, or whipped dairy topping.
Publix didn’t come out with any sort of list, but they do have the option of ordering a Thanksgiving meal for 7-10 people that includes already made turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry orange relish, marshmallow delight, and gravy. This meal costs $69.99.
I wanted to see if Aldi’s calculations were correct and also compare the prices on the items from the Aldi list at both Publix and Walmart.
Comparing Thanksgiving Dinner Deals | Cheapest Options
I went to Aldi, Publix, and Walmart and compared prices on each of the items on the list.
In the end Aldi is the cheapest on their own list. We probably shouldn’t be surprised here as they made the list and put things on significant sales to hit that number. About 75% of the Aldi list was also on sale at Walmart and Publix.
A Few Notes & Thoughts
- Every canned and packaged item at Publix was a national name brand. Many were buy one get one this week, and the sale price of the national brand beat the house brand (if there was one). Every item at the other stores were house brands.
- A chunk of the price difference was the Hawaiian Rolls. Aldi and Walmart both offer a house brand where Publix only offers Kings Hawaiian. There were Grands! biscuits on sale in Publix that were around $1.50 if you wanted to switch that out.
- Another big price difference was on russet potatoes. Publix has 5 lb bags on sale but no sale running on 10 lb bags. The Aldi in my area was sold out of both potatoes and onions… so the price is great but you might not find them.
