Thanksgiving shoppers met with mixed prices at the grocery store in 2025

Last-minute Thanksgiving shopping

Thanksgiving shoppers experienced a last-minute rush the morning before the holiday.

LOS ANGELES - Shoppers are reporting mixed prices when they check out ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. 

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the cost to serve Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people is now $55.18 for 2025 — down from $58.08 in 2024 and $61.17 in 2023. That’s a three-year downward trend driven largely by cheaper turkey and traditional staples.

Some of the biggest price drops include:

• 16-pound turkey: $21.50 — down 16.3%
• Stuffing mix (14 oz): $3.71 — down 9%
• Dozen dinner rolls: $3.56 — down 14.6%
• 2 frozen pie crusts: $3.37 — down 0.8% 

But Another Group Says Prices Are Rising

The advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative paints a different picture. Their analysis found sharp price spikes in packaged and canned goods — especially those wrapped in aluminum, which has seen significant supply chain cost increases.

Items showing year-over-year jumps include:

• Cranberry sauce: up over 22%
• Canned creamed corn: up 21%
• Heavy-duty Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil: up 40%

These are popular Thanksgiving add-ons — and often the ones shoppers grab last minute.

Californians paying more

Californians will pay more than most Americans for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The American Farm Bureau Federation's survey shows a dinner for ten in California running about 72 dollars, well above the national average of around 55 dollars. 

The organization says Californians are paying more because food production and operating costs are higher in the golden state, and that gets passed along to shoppers.

RELATED:

• Thanksgiving dinner 2025: How much will this year’s meal cost Californians?
• Planning Thanksgiving in California? Expect higher meal costs than most of the country
• Butterball Turkey Talk-Line ready to help holiday cooks
•  Thanksgiving dinner 2025: How much you can save using store-brand items

The Takeaway

While the core Thanksgiving meal is cheaper for many families — especially turkey, stuffing and rolls — the price of side staples and convenience items continues to creep up. What you pay this year may depend on how traditional or how packaged your holiday spread is.