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Photo: Andrea Mathis
Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means that it’s officially time to celebrate and cook up some delicious food! There’s nothing more comforting than spending this time with close family and friends, and enjoying a delicious meal—but it shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg. Putting together a full Thanksgiving menu doesn’t have to be expensive or stressful. I’m going to show you how to put together an amazing Thanksgiving meal, with all the fixin’s, for a party of six—for just $50!Before we start making our grocery list, I like to raid the pantry to see what I have on hand. Usually, we keep a supply of seasonings such as salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, sage, poultry seasoning, marjoram, paprika, oil and parsley on hand, so there’s no need to add those to our grocery list. And, for some reason, I usually always have a loaf of stale bread, which can be used for the stuffing!So, What’s on the Menu?I wanted to keep things traditional, so I decided to create this tasty menu.
Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means that it’s officially time to celebrate and cook up some delicious food! There’s nothing more comforting than spending this time with close family and friends, and enjoying a delicious meal—but it shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg. Putting together a full Thanksgiving menu doesn’t have to be expensive or stressful. I’m going to show you how to put together an amazing Thanksgiving meal, with all the fixin’s, for a party of six—for just $50!
Before we start making our grocery list, I like to raid the pantry to see what I have on hand. Usually, we keep a supply of seasonings such as salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, sage, poultry seasoning, marjoram, paprika, oil and parsley on hand, so there’s no need to add those to our grocery list. And, for some reason, I usually always have a loaf of stale bread, which can be used for the stuffing!
So, What’s on the Menu?
I wanted to keep things traditional, so I decided to create this tasty menu.
01of 07Herb-Roasted TurkeyThis easy method produces all the good looks and moist flavor you dream of in an oven-roasted turkey.Get the recipe:Herb-Roasted Turkey02of 07Maple-Roasted Sweet PotatoesThe delicious glaze that forms on these maple-roasted sweet potatoes transforms this ultra-simple dish into something sublime.Get the recipe:Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes03of 07Sautéed Green Beans & OnionsSautéed onions, garlic powder and red pepper add plenty of flavor to canned green beans to make an easy and economical side.Get the recipe:Sautéed Green Beans & Onions04of 07Citrus-Rosemary Cranberry SauceThis easy cranberry sauce recipe calls for simply jazzing up canned cranberry sauce with orange zest and juice and fresh herbs.Get the recipe:Citrus-Rosemary Cranberry Sauce05of 07Simple Herb StuffingThis easy Thanksgiving favorite comes together in a snap.Get the recipe:Simple Herb Stuffing06of 07Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed PotatoesThese mashed potatoes can be served right away or made up to two days in advance, making your Thanksgiving as easy as can be!Get the recipe:Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes07of 07Easy Apple GaletteThis simple apple-cinnamon galette is easy to make thanks to premade pie crust—no need to make your own dough!Get the recipe:Easy Apple Galette
01of 07Herb-Roasted TurkeyThis easy method produces all the good looks and moist flavor you dream of in an oven-roasted turkey.Get the recipe:Herb-Roasted Turkey
01of 07
Herb-Roasted Turkey
This easy method produces all the good looks and moist flavor you dream of in an oven-roasted turkey.
Get the recipe:Herb-Roasted Turkey
02of 07Maple-Roasted Sweet PotatoesThe delicious glaze that forms on these maple-roasted sweet potatoes transforms this ultra-simple dish into something sublime.Get the recipe:Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
02of 07
Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
The delicious glaze that forms on these maple-roasted sweet potatoes transforms this ultra-simple dish into something sublime.
Get the recipe:Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
03of 07Sautéed Green Beans & OnionsSautéed onions, garlic powder and red pepper add plenty of flavor to canned green beans to make an easy and economical side.Get the recipe:Sautéed Green Beans & Onions
03of 07
Sautéed Green Beans & Onions
Sautéed onions, garlic powder and red pepper add plenty of flavor to canned green beans to make an easy and economical side.
Get the recipe:Sautéed Green Beans & Onions
04of 07Citrus-Rosemary Cranberry SauceThis easy cranberry sauce recipe calls for simply jazzing up canned cranberry sauce with orange zest and juice and fresh herbs.Get the recipe:Citrus-Rosemary Cranberry Sauce
04of 07
Citrus-Rosemary Cranberry Sauce
This easy cranberry sauce recipe calls for simply jazzing up canned cranberry sauce with orange zest and juice and fresh herbs.
Get the recipe:Citrus-Rosemary Cranberry Sauce
05of 07Simple Herb StuffingThis easy Thanksgiving favorite comes together in a snap.Get the recipe:Simple Herb Stuffing
05of 07
Simple Herb Stuffing
This easy Thanksgiving favorite comes together in a snap.
Get the recipe:Simple Herb Stuffing
06of 07Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed PotatoesThese mashed potatoes can be served right away or made up to two days in advance, making your Thanksgiving as easy as can be!Get the recipe:Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
06of 07
Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
These mashed potatoes can be served right away or made up to two days in advance, making your Thanksgiving as easy as can be!
Get the recipe:Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
07of 07Easy Apple GaletteThis simple apple-cinnamon galette is easy to make thanks to premade pie crust—no need to make your own dough!Get the recipe:Easy Apple Galette
07of 07
Easy Apple Galette
This simple apple-cinnamon galette is easy to make thanks to premade pie crust—no need to make your own dough!
Get the recipe:Easy Apple Galette
Now that we have the menu in place, it’s time to start working on that grocery list! Turkeys can be a bit pricy and can easily take up half of the budget, so I decided to get a small, young bird which happened to be half the price of a regular-size turkey. And it was the perfect size for my six guests. Check out the rest of the items that I purchased below:
$50 Thanksgiving Shopping List
Total: $49.54
Now that we have our ingredients, it’s time to start cooking. To help keep things stress-free, I like to make a few items ahead of time and store them in the freezer or fridge until Thanksgiving. This helps to eliminate spending extra time in the kitchen, and allows me to spend more time with family and friends.
A few days before Thanksgiving, I like to prepare the mashed potatoes and stuffing. To make the stuffing, I used a loaf of stale bread that I already had on hand. This helped to save me a little money and eliminate unnecessary food waste.
Next up, mashed potatoes. I’ve always purchased instant potatoes because I thought that making homemade mashed potatoes was too hard and expensive, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. My Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potato recipe only calls for about six potatoes, which costs less than $3.
The rest of the recipes can be easily prepared on Thanksgiving Day. I recommend starting with the turkey, so that you can prepare the other recipes while the turkey is cooking.EatingWell’s Herb-Roasted Turkey is very easy to make. I was able to use a couple of the leftover onions, herbs, apples and lemons that I purchased for the other recipes, and it turned out great!
While the turkey was roasting, I went ahead and prepared the Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes. This simple recipe provides so much flavor and the perfect amount of sweetness. The maple syrup is the perfect touch!
TheSautéed Green Beans & Onions is a recipe that we cook for almost every holiday. To help save money, I used canned beans and added some additional flavor with onions and seasonings. Canned vegetables are seriously underrated. They are very cost-effective and a great way to provide your family with some great nutrients, while on a budget.
For dessert, instead of pie I chose an Easy Apple Galette with cinnamon. Galettes may sound fancy, but they are possibly the easiest dessert to make. To save time and money, I used pre-made pie crust sheets and a few of the apples left over from the turkey recipe. My galette tastes just like a warm apple pie, but with a lot less work!
And there you have it! A delicious, Thanksgiving meal for only $49.54! I hope these money-saving tips will help to keep you stress-free during the holiday season!
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