Average cost of ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. 2024

In 2023, the average price of a 16-pound turkey during Thanksgiving in the United States (U.S.) amounted to 27.35 U.S. dollars. All other ingredients were within the price range of 0.84 and 4.16 U.S. dollars. A dozen dinner rolls cost the American consumer on average 4.16 U.S. dollars. While a one pound vegetable tray with carrots and celery comes to 0.84 U.S. dollars.

Historic prices for Thanksgiving dinner ingredients in the U.S.

The meaning of Thanksgiving for around two-thirds of Americans is to spend time with the family or to be thankful. Moreover, for almost half of Americans, Thanksgiving means having a good meal. Costs for Thanksgiving dinners have mostly increased in 2023, after showing a significant price spike the year prior for all elements of a Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, 2022 experienced the largest year-over-year percentage price increases for Thanksgiving dinner items in the U.S. since 2008. In comparison to the previous year, the prices for potatoes dropped, while other key ingredients still got more expensive in 2023 compared to 2022.

To accommodate for higher grocery prices, more than four-fifths of Americans who hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in 2022, stated in a survey that they would look for deals and discounts. Approximately 75 percent of Thanksgiving hosts stated that they would seek out stores that offer the lowest food prices or buy store-brand products. 

Shopping during Thanksgiving weekend

In 2024, a total of 183.4 million people in the U.S. were forecast to shop during Thanksgiving weekend. This is approximately 27.1 million people more than during the year 2020 when significantly fewer people went shopping due to the impact of the pandemic. This is also an increase of 1.4 million compared to shopping figures of 2023. The Thanksgiving weekend typically refers to Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. According to a recent survey on the topic, approximately 32 percent of U.S. consumers were planning to spend between 100 and 199 U.S. dollars for Thanksgiving in 2024. The main shopping location for U.S. consumers during Thanksgiving is the grocery store, where close to three-quarters of consumers do their shopping. Mass retailers are on the list of locations to shop at for almost half of U.S. shoppers during the Thanksgiving weekend.