Target and Walmart Offer Deals That Let You Make Christmas Dinner for $5 to $10 a Person
Savvy shoppers know it’s frequently cheaper (and healthier) to prepare meals at home than to eat out. For instance, GOBankingRates recently revealed that, depending on where you shop, a steak dinner can cost less than a McDonald’s Happy Meal.
See: 10 Things Frugal People Never Buy During the Holidays
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Seasonal sales make it even easier to save on your holiday meals. Target and Walmart, for instance, have bundles that allow you to create a whole Christmas dinner in your kitchen for between $5 and $10 per person.
Let’s take a look at what these big-box stores are offering for the holidays.
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Walmart: Holiday Meal Baskets
On its website, Walmart advertises “This year’s meal at last year’s price.” The store offers a “convenient holiday meal,” relying on Great Value and Sam’s Choice products along with some brand names like Stove Top and Campbell’s, to deliver a full Christmas dinner for under $5 per serving.
The meal includes both turkey and ham, two choices for dessert, and plenty of already-prepared sides like Bob Evans Macaroni & Cheese and Mashed Potatoes — all for just $112. This meal will feed 24 people for $4.68 each, but the price will rise to $8.33 if you’re feeding a family of 8 and adjust the purchase quantities accordingly.
The meal includes:
Honeysuckle white whole turkey (serves 7-11).
Sam’s Choice spiral-cut boneless brown sugar glazed ham.
Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce.
Sweet potatoes.
Fresh baby-cut carrots.
Great Value pecan halves (for candied carrots).
Jet-Puffed mini marshmallows (for sweet potato casserole).
Bob Evans real cheddar family size macaroni and cheese.
Bob Evans mashed potatoes.
Stove Top turkey stuffing mix.
Del Monte cut green beans.
Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup (for green bean casserole).
French’s original crispy fried onions (for green bean casserole).
Heinz homestyle turkey gravy.
Great Value brown and serve dinner rolls.
Marie Callender’s Southern pecan pie.
Marie Callender’s pumpkin pie.
Great Value frozen whipped topping.
You can reduce costs even further on these family favorites by substituting store-brand products in for the brand-name items, including Great Value green beans, cream of mushroom soup, instant mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, turkey stuffing, and cranberry sauce.
Skip the sweet potatoes and carrots in favor of canned corn — and leave out the pecan pie — and your total drops to just $43.70. If you’re feeding a family of 8, that brings the meal to just $5.46 per person, based on our calculations.
If you have Walmart+ you can get free delivery. Whether you opt for delivery or shop online and have your order shipped to your local store, you can also use the Rakuten cash-back app.
Target: Holiday Meal Under $25
Target is also offering a steeply discounted holiday meal. You’ll get less food with the Target offer, but if you traditionally serve ham for Christmas dinner, you can feed 4 people for just $25, or $6.25 per person.
There’s a lot less prep involved in Target’s simple Christmas dinner, too. The meal includes:
Hickory smoked spiral-cut bone-in ham.
Good & Gather russet potatoes (for baked, roasted or mashed potatoes).
Good & Gather frozen gold and white corn.
Del Monte cut green beans.
Cream of mushroom soup (for green bean casserole).
Favorite Day demi french bread.
Favorite Day peppermint sandwich cookies.
Don’t forget to use your Target Circle app to earn cash back on your purchase, in stores or online.
Tips To Save on Holiday Cooking
When you’re preparing your Christmas dinner, remember that you don’t have to have leftovers through New Year’s. You can reduce the cost per person by purchasing larger quantities, but you can save money upfront if you buy only what you need.
Compare prices and rely on store brands, which offer the same quality as national brands at discounted prices.
Convenience foods like pre-packaged side dishes save time in the kitchen. They might also cost less if you don’t already have the right kitchen staples on-hand to prepare a recipe from scratch. For instance, it may be cheaper to pick up a pre-made pie than to buy all the ingredients for pie crust and filling.
Prices may go up and your favorite holiday foods may be harder to find as the holiday approaches. Grab non-perishable items or freezer foods now so you’re not scrambling among Christmas crowds to grab the last jar of gravy on the shelf.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Target and Walmart Offer Deals That Let You Make Christmas Dinner for $5 to $10 a Person
