Thanksgiving Dinner Gets Cheaper for Third Straight Year
For the third straight year, the cost to cook Thanksgiving dinner for 10 has dropped, as reported annually by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). In its 40th annual survey released Nov. 19, 2025, AFBF reports that this year’s feast will run an average of $55.18 — roughly $5.52 per person — representing a 5% decrease from the average cost in 2024 ($58.08) and nearly $10 less than the all-time high of $64.05 for the meal, set in 2022.
For the survey, AFBF asks volunteer shoppers in the first week of November to gather up the prices of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream — all in quantities sufficient for 10 servings.
This year, the price of a 16-pound frozen turkey plummeted more than 16% from a year ago, down $1.34 to $21.50. AFBF noted that, although the wholesale price for fresh turkey is up from 2024, “grocery stores are featuring Thanksgiving deals and attempting to draw consumer demand back to turkey, leading to lower retail prices for a holiday bird.” Furthermore, AFBF said that average feature price per pound for whole frozen turkeys declined even more in the second week of November, citing USDA-AMS data.
The Cost of Thanksgiving Meal Items, 2025
- 16-pound turkey: $21.50 or $1.34 per pound (down 16.3%)
- 14-ounces of cubed stuffing mix: $3.71 (down 9%)
- 2 frozen pie crusts: $3.37 (down .8%)
- Half pint of whipping cream: $1.87 (up 3.2%)
- 1 pound of frozen peas: $2.03 (up 17.2%)
- 1 dozen dinner rolls: $3.56 (down 14.6%)
- ingredients to prepare the meal: $3.61 (down 4.7%)
- 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $4.16 (up .1%)
- 1 gallon of whole milk: $3.73 (up 16.3%)
- 3 pounds of sweet potatoes: $4.00 (up 37%)
- 1-pound veggie tray (carrots & celery): $1.36 (up 61.3%)
- 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.28 (down 2.8%)
“Farmers are still working to rebuild turkey flocks that were devastated by avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen,” said Faith Parum, economist for AFBF, in the announcement. “The combination will help ensure turkey will remain an affordable option for families celebrating Thanksgiving.”
Additionally, AFBF reported that half of the survey’s meal ingredients declined. However, the price of a veggie tray shot up more than 61% this year, while sweet potatoes also rose 37%, due to natural disasters and a farmworker shortage.
As has become tradition, the AFBF also surveyed the prices for additional items that may appear on some Thanksgiving tables, such as boneless ham, russet potatoes and frozen green beans. Adding those items increased the overall cost of the Thanksgiving meal by $21.91, up to $77.09.
About the Author
Andy Hanacek
Senior Editor
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.