This year, the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal will cost about $90, according to consulting firm PwC. And with food prices continuing to rise due to inflation, saving money on a great Thanksgiving feast may be more difficult than ever.
Thankfully, mom and budget food blogger Julia Pacheco has created a $50 Thanksgiving grocery budget using Walmart groceries to feed her family of four not only for Thanksgiving but also for five more meals throughout Thanksgiving week.
“Thanksgiving can be so expensive and overwhelming,” Pacheco says in the video’s intro, adding that although a $50 budget is “tight,” she isn’t “sacrificing flavor or taste.”
$50 Thanksgiving week menu and grocery list
“I know holiday grocery prices can be stressful, so I hope this gives you a few ideas for stretching your Thanksgiving budget a little further,” Pacheco added in the video’s caption.
Pacheco was able to create a delicious menu.
Thanksgiving feast menu
Oven-roasted turkey
Deviled eggs
Honey-glazed carrots
Stuffing
Homemade mashed potatoes
Turkey gravy
Whole berry cranberry sauce
Pumpkin crumble dump cake
Pacheco also offered viewers an additional five meals to make with leftovers from the original Thanksgiving meal:
Leftover meals menu
Turkey pot pie
Turkey pinto bean burritos
Turkey noodle soup
Turkey salad sandwiches
Turkey cranberry stuffing sandwich
She also shared her complete Walmart grocery shopping list, including prices:
Thanksgiving grocery shopping list
Flour tortillas, $1.98
Egg noodles, $1.78
Loaf of bread, $1.52
Turkey stuffing, 98 cents
Can of family-size cream of chicken soup, $1.72
Celery, $2.04
Spice cake mix, $1.94
Canned pumpkin, $1
Can of evaporated milk, $1
Can of cranberry sauce, $1.72
2-pack pie crusts, $1.96
Turkey (84 cents per pound, almost 18-pound turkey with gravy packet), $14.77
Bag of russet potatoes, $1.74
Bag of frozen mixed veggies, 98 cents
Dozen eggs, $1.67
Bag of microwavable Spanish-style rice, $1.37
Vanilla ice cream, $3.12
Can of pinto beans, 92 cents
Bag of whole carrots, $2.26
Pacheco was under budget, with her items totaling $44.46. Her video includes additional ingredients she already had on hand for the following dishes:
Turkey coating
5 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons celery salt
2-3 teaspoons sage
2 teaspoons thyme
Pumpkin crumble dump cake
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin purée
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
1 box spice cake mix (or yellow cake mix)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (sliced thin)
Honey-glazed carrots
2 tablespoons oil
1-2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Dash of pumpkin pie spice
Deviled eggs
Yellow mustard
Mayonnaise
Stuffing
2 ribs celery
2 tablespoons butter
Minced onion seasoning
Homemade mashed potatoes
Half-stick butter
Milk
Pepper, salt, garlic, sage, and thyme
Turkey pinto bean burritos
2 cups turkey
Can of pinto beans
Bag of microwavable Spanish-style rice
Water
Taco seasoning to taste
Tortillas
Turkey noodle soup
6 leftover carrots, sliced
4 ribs leftover celery, sliced
8 1/2 cups chicken broth (from bouillon powder)
2 cups turkey
A few spoonfuls of leftover gravy
Half a can remaining cream of chicken soup
Half a bag egg noodles
Cooking the Thanksgiving feast
Pacheco starts with the turkey, coating it in the butter mixture for a “flavorful, scrumptious turkey,” before baking it at 325° Fahrenheit. She plans to bake it 15-20 minutes per pound.
From there, she moves on to preparing dessert and sides.
Pumpkin crumble dump cake
First is the pumpkin crumble dump cake. She mixes all the ingredients together, minus the spice cake mix, and pours in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan. Then she tops the mixture with the spice cake mix that is then topped with the butter slices to create the crumble on top. She bakes it at 350° Fahrenheit for 50 minutes.
Deviled eggs and honey-glazed carrots
Next, she prepares the deviled eggs. She boils all 12 eggs while she starts prepping the carrots (about half the bag) by slicing and placing them in a parchment-lined baking dish with 2 tablespoons of oil, 1-2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. She bakes it at 350-400° Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes. Once the eggs have cooled, she removes the yolks, adds yellow mustard and mayonnaise to taste, and dashes of salt and pepper. She combines the ingredients and adds the mixture into the hard-boiled egg whites.
Stuffing
Pacheco slices 2 ribs of celery and puts them in a pan on the stovetop to brown with butter before adding in the stuffing mix.
“It adds the extra flavor I think it needs,” she says.
Homemade mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce
Pacheco’s recipe calls for 8 russet potatoes. She peels and chops them and adds the potatoes to a pot of boiling water. Once cooked, she drains them and puts them back in the pot, where she adds milk, butter, and spices before mashing. Next, she prepares the gravy packet from the turkey and removes the whole berry cranberry sauce from the can.
Leftover Thanksgiving meals
The next day, Pacheco shares how she made each of the leftover meals.
Turkey pot pie
2 cups turkey
Leftover carrots
Leftover stuffing
Leftover cranberry sauce (small amount)
3/4 cup frozen mixed vegetables
Half a can cream of chicken soup
Dash of salt, pepper, minced onion spice, sage, and thyme
She mixes together the ingredients for the turkey pot pie. Then she lines a greased pie dish with one of the pre-made pie crusts before adding in the turkey pot pie mixture. Pacheco then covers the pie with the second pre-made crust, poking holes in the top. She bakes at 375° Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes.
Turkey pinto bean burritos
2 cups turkey
Can of pinto beans
Bag of microwavable Spanish-style rice
Water
Taco seasoning to taste
Tortillas
Pacheco adds all the ingredients (minus the tortillas) to a pan on her stovetop. She then fills the tortillas with the burrito filling, which amounted to 8 burritos that she recommends freezing. She crisps them up a bit by placing them in a skillet with oil, which gives them “a million times better flavor.”
Turkey noodle soup
6 leftover carrots, sliced
4 ribs leftover celery, sliced
8 1/2 cups chicken broth (from bouillon powder)
2 cups turkey
A few spoonfuls of leftover gravy
Half a can remaining cream of chicken soup
Half a bag egg noodles
In a soup pot, she combines the carrots and celery to brown with oil. From there, she adds in the chicken broth, turkey, leftover gravy, and remaining cream of chicken soup. She lets the mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes before adding in half a bag of egg noodles and letting it simmer another 10 minutes.
Turkey salad sandwiches
2 cups turkey
4 ribs celery, sliced
Cranberry sauce
Pepper, salt, yellow mustard, and mayonnaise to taste
Bread (for sandwich)
Next up is making the turkey salad for the sandwiches. Pacheco simply adds all her ingredients to a large mixing bowl. “It’s bursting with flavor,” she says before adding the mixture to slices of bread.
Turkey cranberry stuffing sandwich
8 slices bread (for 4 sandwiches)
Leftover gravy
Leftover mashed potatoes
Remaining cranberry sauce
Turkey
Finally, she prepares these open-faced sandwiches using the remaining ingredients. On each slice of bread, she spreads a bit of gravy before adding a smear of mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and turkey. She tops each one with another slice of bread and recommends toasting them.
