Walmart Thanksgiving Meal 2026 Prices & Release Date
The Walmart Thanksgiving meal 2026 basket hasn’t been announced yet as of October 2026. Walmart’s 2025 basket cost $39.93 and fed 10 people for under $4 each, with 22 grocery items including a 13.5-pound Butterball turkey.
Walmart announced each of its last three baskets between October 17 and 21, so the 2026 version should land in mid-to-late October.
I’ll update this page with the 2026 price and item list as soon as Walmart announces the basket. Until then, last year’s basket is the best guide to what you’ll get and what it’ll cost.
2025 Walmart Thanksgiving Meal Items
Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving Meal Basket had 15 products in 22 packages, built around a 13.5-pound Butterball turkey at $0.97 a pound.
Let me give you the full list of Walmart’s October 2025 announcement, and most of the sides were Great Value, Walmart’s store brand.
| Item | Size | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Butterball turkey | 13.5 lb | 1 |
| Stove Top turkey stuffing | Twin pack, 6 oz each | 1 |
| Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup | 10.5 oz | 1 can |
| Kinder’s fried onions | 4.5 oz | 1 |
| Great Value green beans | 14.5 oz | 3 cans |
| Great Value corn | 15 oz | 3 cans |
| Great Value artisan macaroni and cheese | 12 oz | 3 boxes |
| Fresh russet potatoes | 5 lb | 1 |
| Great Value baby carrots | 2 lb | 1 |
| Fresh cranberries | 12 oz | 1 |
| Great Value brown gravy mix | 0.87 oz | 2 packs |
| Great Value dinner rolls | 12 count | 1 |
| Great Value pie crusts | Not listed | 1 |
| Great Value 100% pure pumpkin | 15 oz | 1 |
| Great Value evaporated milk | 12 fl oz | 1 |
Read the list and you can see the menu Walmart had in mind; roast turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, carrots, corn, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Three boxes of mac and cheese and six cans of vegetables do a lot of the heavy lifting for 10 people.
Groceries the Walmart Basket Leaves Out
A $39.93 Walmart basket still assumes a stocked pantry, because the dishes it’s built around need a few staples. Before you count on $39.93 as your total, check that you have these at home.
- Butter for the stuffing and mashed potatoes
- Milk for the mashed potatoes
- Eggs, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice for the pie
- Sugar for turning fresh cranberries into sauce
There’s also no second dessert, no whipped cream, and nothing to drink.
Walmart Turkey
The turkey is the bigger question for me. Walmart’s 13.5 pounds for 10 guests works out to 1.35 pounds per person, which covers dinner but won’t leave much for leftover sandwiches.
Walmart Thanksgiving Meal Price by Year
Walmart cut the basket’s price in 2025, and it cut the shopping list too. The 2025 basket cost $39.93 for 10 people, while the 2024 basket cost under $56 for 8 people.
| Detail | 2024 basket | 2025 basket |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Under $56 | $39.93 |
| People served | 8 | 10 |
| Cost per person | Under $7 | Under $4 |
| Packages | 29 | 22 |
| Different products | 21 | 15 |
| Turkey price | $0.88 a pound | $0.97 a pound |
| Announced | Oct. 17, 2024 | Oct. 21, 2025 |
| On sale through | Dec. 24, 2024 | Dec. 26, 2025 |
A Cheapism comparison of the two lists found Walmart dropped the Marie Callender’s pecan pie, fresh sweet potatoes, Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce, Jiffy corn muffin mix, celery, onions, mini marshmallows, and chicken broth from the 2025 basket. Walmart also swapped the from-scratch stuffing ingredients for Stove Top.
The turkey actually cost more per pound in 2025, at $0.97 versus $0.88. My read is that a good part of the savings came from the shorter list rather than lower prices.
I still think 2025 was the better deal per guest, but it was a leaner meal. If your family expects sweet potatoes and a second pie, you’ll be adding to the cart either way.
Walmart’s 2023 version worked differently. It came as two bundles, one for cooking from scratch and one with ready-to-bake items, with turkey under $1 a pound, and Walmart’s announcement didn’t list a basket total.
Walmart Thanksgiving Meal Release Date
Walmart has announced its Thanksgiving basket in the third week of October three years running.
The 2023 meal came on October 18, the 2024 basket on October 17, and the 2025 basket on October 21, with 2025 prices starting October 20.
For 2026, I expect the announcement between October 15 and 21. Once it’s out, the basket has stayed on sale into Christmas week every year, through December 26 in 2023 and 2025 and December 24 in 2024, so it can double as a cheap Christmas dinner.
Buy the Walmart Thanksgiving Meal
Walmart sells its Thanksgiving Meal Basket as a one-click bundle online and in stores. In 2025, the bundle page was Walmart.com/ThanksgivingMeal, and one click added the whole basket to your cart for store pickup, standard delivery, or Express Delivery.
The $39.93 covered groceries only. Walmart’s fine print allowed for $0 to $19.95 in pickup, shipping, or delivery fees on top, and the price didn’t apply in Alaska, Hawaii, Wisconsin, or Puerto Rico. Item availability also varied by store.
Walmart+ members
Walmart+ members skip most of those fees, since Walmart+ includes free delivery on orders over $35. Everyone else can check Walmart pickup and delivery costs before choosing how to get the basket home.
Walmart’s 2025 checkout also offered a donation to The Salvation Army, and first-time pickup or delivery customers got free Express Delivery on orders of $35 or more with the code THANKFUL. That code was a 2025 promo, so look for whatever Walmart offers new customers this year.
Walmart vs Aldi vs Target Thanksgiving Meals
Walmart and Aldi were essentially tied for the cheapest Thanksgiving basket in 2025, at about $4 a person each. Both beat the national average by more than $1.50 a person.
| Store | 2025 basket price | Serves | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart | $39.93 | 10 | $3.99 |
| Aldi | $40 | 10 | $4.00 |
| Target | $20 | 4 | $5.00 |
| Amazon | $25 | 5 | $5.00 |
| National average | $55.18 | 10 | $5.52 |
The Aldi, Target, and Amazon prices come from TODAY’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal roundup. The national average is the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2025 survey of a classic dinner for 10.
The baskets aren’t identical, so per-person cost only tells part of the story. The Farm Bureau’s menu includes sweet potatoes, peas, a veggie tray, and whipped cream, none of which came in Walmart’s 2025 basket.
My pick for 8 to 10 people is Walmart or Aldi, whichever store is closer. Target’s basket only makes sense for a table of four. For everyday shopping after the holiday, it’s worth knowing if Aldi is cheaper than Walmart and how Walmart vs Target prices stack up.
Other Walmart Holiday Meal Baskets
Walmart added three more one-click meal baskets in 2025, though it didn’t list their prices in its announcement.
- Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Meal, with gluten-free mains, sides, and desserts
- Balanced Thanksgiving Swaps, with high-protein swaps like Goodles mac and cheese and cauliflower mashed potatoes
- Prime Rib Meal Basket, with Choice Angus beef, salad, potatoes, and wine
Walmart has also done a Christmas version. On December 5, 2024, it launched a holiday ham basket that served up to 12 people for under $5 a person, with 28 items, on sale through December 31.
Every one of these baskets is groceries you cook yourself. If you’d rather skip the oven for part of the meal, the deli is the better fit, and Walmart deli catering prices cover the trays, fried chicken, and hot sides. Order holiday trays a few days ahead.
When to Buy Your Walmart Thanksgiving Basket
The turkey in Walmart’s basket sets your real deadline. USDA’s turkey thawing guidance calls for about 24 hours in the fridge for every 4 to 5 pounds, so a frozen 13.5-pound turkey needs 3 to 4 days.
Thanksgiving 2026 is Thursday, November 26, so a frozen turkey should move into the fridge by Sunday, November 22. Don’t start much earlier, though. USDA says a thawed turkey keeps only 1 to 2 days in the fridge before cooking.
Walmart stores are also expected to be closed on Thanksgiving Day, as they have been every year since 2020, so anything you forgot has to be bought by Wednesday.
My plan for 2026 is a pickup order on Saturday, November 21, with the turkey in the fridge the next morning. Walmart’s holiday store hours cover the rest of the season.
