Target’s Thanksgiving Meal Is Cheaper Than Last Year—Here’s How

This Thanksgiving, grocery costs are top of mind for most Americans. Several retailers are vying for shoppers’ attention as they not only provide bundled deals on Thanksgiving dinner, but undercut 2023’s prices. Target is the latest chain to promise an economical feast, one whose price tag is $5 lower than last year.

What’s on Target’s shopping list?

Courtesy Target

Target announced that its Thanksgiving meal will cost $20, compared to $25 in 2023 for the same list of items. It’s intended to feed four people, though the press release notes that it can “easily be doubled to serve eight.” The list of items in the bundle are as follows:

• Good & Gather Premium Basted Young Turkey (Frozen) – up to 10 lbs.
• Good & Gather Russet Potatoes – 5 lbs.
• Del Monte Cut Green Beans – 14.5 oz.
• Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup – 10.5 oz.
• Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce – 14 oz.
• Stove Top Turkey Stuffing Mix – 6 oz.
• Heinz Home Style Roasted Turkey Gravy – 12 oz.

Good & Gather is Target’s in-house brand, so offering the most expensive part of a Thanksgiving dinner (the turkey itself) under this discount label means that Target has more influence over its price and can keep costs under control. Target also says that the turkey nets out to $0.79 per pound, which is 20% less than last year. (It doesn’t hurt that poultry prices are also down this year from last Thanksgiving.)

Head to Target’s website and you can add the entire shopping list to your cart with a few clicks. Note that the meal bundle does not include dessert, but Target does have pies and other desserts available for under $5.

How do Target’s Thanksgiving prices compare to other stores?

Target is only the latest chain to market itself as the ultimate destination for budget-conscious shoppers this year. As early as September, Walmart announced a Thanksgiving spread consisting of 28 items, all at a cost of approximately $51, designed to feed eight people. That works out to under $7 per person. Walmart’s per-person cost is higher than Target’s $5, but Walmart’s shopping list includes a prepackaged pecan pie and all the ingredients for homemade pumpkin pie.

Aldi dropped its Thanksgiving menu next, featuring a spread for 10 guests at $47, or $4.70 per person. This includes a Butterball turkey, spices, gravy, rolls, mac and cheese, stuffing and the ingredients for homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. So, again, dessert is included, and mac and cheese is a nice offering on the holiday table, too.

To get the meal with the most value, figure out  how many folks you plan to feed on Thanksgiving and which staples you’d like to serve. If you’re hosting a small gathering and you know someone’s bringing a homemade pecan pie, you can opt for the Target bundle and have a great $20 meal for four. If, on the other hand, you have a larger gathering but it’s still BYO dessert, unselect the dessert items in the Walmart bundle and be left with a cost of just under $40, bringing the per-person rate close to Target’s.

Honestly, Aldi’s bundle sounds the best to me. Mac and cheese and pumpkin pie are accounted for in this shopping list, and that’s a Thanksgiving meal that meets my needs.