Which Fresno County grocery store has the cheapest Thanksgiving food? We compared 6 shops
Sticking to a budget this holiday season? You can still enjoy a full Thanksgiving dinner without breaking the bank.
People stocking up for Turkey Day should see a small dip in their grocery store spending, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The federation’s annual Thanksgiving survey found an average 10-person gathering costs $58.08 in 2024, or just under $6 per person. That’s a 5% drop from 2023.
This is the second year in a row that prices have declined for grocery shoppers in the United States.
Items that dropped in price included turkey, sweet potatoes and frozen peas, the federation said, while dinner rolls, fresh cranberries, whipping cream and cubed stuffing rose in price.
How much you spend on groceries depends on where you shop in Fresno County.
To help you get get the most bang for your buck, The Bee visited several local grocery stores to find the best deals. Here’s what we found:
What’s on your Thanksgiving’s shopping list?
The Bee visited six different grocery stores across the Fresno area — Grocery Outlet, Save Mart, Target, Trader Joe’s, Vons and Walmart — and compared the prices for 10 Thanksgiving products
The list includes ingredients to make traditional holiday dishes including green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, dinner rolls and, of course, roast turkey.
Here’s what was on our shopping list:
- Butterball turkey (per pound)
- Russet potatoes (per pound)
- Sweet potatoes (per pound)
- Del Monte green bean cans (14.5-ounce can)
- Ocean spray cranberry sauce( 14-ounce can)
- Stove Top turkey stuffing ( 6-ounce box)
- Libby’s pumpkin puree (15-ounce can)
- McCormick turkey gravy mix (1 packet)
Kings Hawaiian rolls (12-pack)
Barilla elbow macaroni pasta (16-ounce box)
All total sales were calculated before sales tax.
Which Fresno County grocery stores have the cheapest prices?
If you’re attempting to save some bucks this holiday season, you may want to consider changing your usual shopping spot.
Out of all of the local supermarkets we surveyed, Grocery Outlet had the cheapest prices.
All 10 items from the list could be purchased for $16.21, provided you only bought a pound each of turkey, potatoes and sweet potatoes as well as some store-brand products.
The next cheapest option was Walmart, where a 10-item grocery list totaled $18.03
At Target, the same grocery items cost $18.71 in total.
The most expensive local supermarket was Vons, where the grocery list came to a total of $33.70, followed by Save Mart at $31.82.
Trader Joe’s, which only carries store brands, fell in the middle of the pack, with 10 items totaling $24.62
How expensive is it to buy a turkey in Fresno?
Turkeys were available to purchase at all six stores as of Thursday, Nov. 21.
On average, turkey cost $2 per pound at local grocery stores, which means a 16-pound bird will set you back about $32.
According to The Bee’s analysis, the Fresno supermarket with the most affordable bird was Target, where a Butterball turkey cost $0.99 a pound.
The next least-expensive turkey per pound was at Walmart. The store was selling a Butterball turkey for $1.04 per pound.
The most expensive turkey was at Trader Joe’s, where a pound of turkey cost $3.49.
What are prices for Thanksgiving side dishes?
If you are planning to serve a delicious sweet potato casserole or mashed potatoes topped with gravy, a couple supermarkets offer the cheapest spuds.
Russet potatoes were the cheapest at Target and Walmart.
A five-pound bag of potatoes cost $2.54 — $0.51 per pound — in Walmart, and a similarly sized bag cost $2.49 in Target, $0.50 per pound.
Sweet potatoes were cheapest at Grocery Outlet, costing 69 cents per pound.
McCormick gravy mix was cheapest at Walmart, where a packet cost $1.22.
The cost of a can of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce only differed by a cent at Walmart and Target.
At Walmart, it cost $1.98, while it was priced at $1.99 at Target.
Trader Joe’s store-brand stuffing was the most expensive at $4.99 a box — double the price a box of Stove Top stuffing mix at Walmart, which cost $2.08.
At Target, Stove Top stuffing cost $1.99, and a stuffing mix from brand Louisiana at Grocery Outlet was the cheapest, at $1.49 a box.
How much will dessert cost you?
If you are craving something sweet to end your meal, you might be planning to make pumpkin pie.
A 15-ounce can of Libby’s pumpkin puree cost $2.39 at Target and $2.44 at Walmart.
Pumpkin puree was pricier at Save Mart, where it cost $4.79 a can, and Vons, where the price jumped to $4.99.
Trader Joe’s own version was $2.49 a can.
A 29-ounce can of Libby’s pumpkin puree was $3.79 at Grocery Outlet.
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 2:03 PM.
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