Farm Bureau: Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner Costs Less This Year

While we count our blessings and thank God for His goodness this Thanksgiving, we can also be grateful that a traditional Thanksgiving dinner costs less this year.

Of course, “traditional” means different things to different families – and varies in different regions of the country (more on that in a bit), but the American Farm Bureau Federation reported a 5% decrease in price for a “classic” Thanksgiving meal from 2024 to 2025.

That’s good news for families.

“Cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for your friends and family will cost less than last year, marking the third straight year of price declines,” the Farm Bureau stated.

“The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 40th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey provides a snapshot of the average cost of Thanksgiving staples that make up a classic holiday feast for 10, which is $55.18 or about $5.52 per person.”

So what’s in a “classic holiday feast for 10?” The Farm Bureau lists a 16-pound turkey, cubed stuffing mix (always Mrs. Cubbison’s when I was growing up), frozen peas, dinner rolls, cranberries, a vegetable tray and sweet potatoes.

For dessert, the group lists whipped cream and ingredients for two pumpkin pies – but you can save $1.54 by buying one of those giant Costco pies for $5.99.

The two items with the biggest price increases were a 1-pound tray of carrots and celery and 3 pounds of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes were up because of hurricane damage in North Carolina in 2024.

The turkey and dinner rolls had the biggest decreases from last year.

The Farm Bureau uses volunteer shoppers who check prices in the first week of November, and it notes that there are big regional differences in the cost of the meal.

“The cost for the classic meal was the most affordable in the South at $50.01, followed by the Midwest at $54.38, the Northeast at $60.82, and the West at $61.75.”

Now, you may have looked at the Farm Bureau’s grocery list and immediately thought: What about the Durkee Onion Green Bean Casserole?

This Thanksgiving Day staple, as we all know, was invented by Dorcas Reilly in 1955 in the Campbell Soup Company test kitchen and inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002.

We hope Dorcas received a huge bonus for her creation.

Aside from the Durkee Onion Green Bean Casserole, what about the mashed potatoes? Or, what if we’ve switched to ham?

Not to worry. A few years back, the Farm Bureau expanded the menu to include Russet potatoes, frozen green beans and boneless ham. The group said, “Adding these foods to the classic Thanksgiving menu increases the overall cost by $21.91, to $77.09.”

As we mentioned earlier, every family adds their own twist to the “traditional” Thanksgiving meal, and different regions of the country, with different ethnic and cultural influences, add to the menu.

For example, when my family moved to Baltimore almost thirty years ago, our priest announced that the church’s food pantry needed more items for Thanksgiving, adding, “But we have enough cans of sauerkraut.”

I laughed – but nobody else did. Maryland is a Southern state, but it also has a large German population. So sauerkraut is a Thanksgiving staple for many families – along with classic Southern dishes like hominy and succotash. Crab cakes and oysters often make it onto the menu there, too.

Many years ago I celebrated Thanksgiving with a Greek friend in Chicago, and we had spanakopita, pastitsio and baklava along with our turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.

A work colleague, of Italian extraction, sternly explained to me, “Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without pasta.” Her family has lasagna, a big bowl of pasta, and Italian wedding soup as side dishes every year.

So what are your family’s special favorites at your Thanksgiving feast?

Do you have Midwestern wild rice casserole or corn pudding? New England’s oyster cornbread stuffing? Southern deep-fried turkey or collard greens and black-eyed peas? Southwest tamales? Utah’s green Jell-O salad?

What’s the food where you say, “It’s not Thanksgiving without … ?”

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