The trimmings Basket Report tracks are noticeably cheaper than they were a year ago.
Potatoes, butter, flour, sugar, eggs, milk and bread in the quantities below add up to $16.97 — −17.0% versus a year ago. The turkey itself is sourced separately (see below).
What the dinner costs
The most-cited figure is the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey, which priced a classic Thanksgiving dinner for 10 at roughly $55 in 2025 — its third straight yearly decline, though still above pre-pandemic levels. The turkey is by far the biggest line item, which is why the headline number rises and falls mostly with the bird.
Why we track the trimmings, not the turkey
Basket Report only publishes prices that trace to an unaltered BLS series, and the BLS retail turkey series was discontinued — its last real monthly value is February 2020, so we will not invent a current price for it. What we can price live are the baking and side staples around the bird: 3 lb of potatoes, a pound of butter, 2 lb of flour, a pound of sugar, a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. Together those are noticeably cheaper than they were a year ago, totalling $16.97 as of May 2026. The priciest of them this year is a gallon of milk at $4.22.
Where to find a turkey price
For the bird itself, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service publishes weekly wholesale and advertised-retail turkey prices in its National Turkey Report — a different, weekly dataset from the monthly BLS shelf prices used elsewhere on this site. Every trimmings figure here is a real BLS average shelf price, updated monthly.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Thanksgiving dinner cost in 2026?
The American Farm Bureau Federation's most recent survey put a classic dinner for 10 near $55 (2025). The baking and side staples Basket Report tracks total $16.97 as of May 2026, −17.0% versus a year ago.
Does Basket Report track turkey prices?
No. The BLS retail turkey series was discontinued after February 2020, and we never invent a price for a series with no current data. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service publishes weekly turkey prices instead.
What is the most expensive part of Thanksgiving dinner?
The turkey, by a wide margin in industry surveys. Among the side and baking staples we price, a gallon of milk is the largest line at $4.22 (May 2026).
Price your own basket
Use the calculator to total the staples on your list at current prices.