Where To Buy Thanksgiving Dinner For Under $50

If you've ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner, you know that it can be expensive. Megan Leonhardt, Senior Money Writer, set out to determine if she could feed eight people for under $50.

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That's a lot of food for not a lot of money, especially for New York City, where food prices are higher than the national average. Megan opted for a straightforward menu consisting of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and crescent rolls, as well as apple pie for dessert (sorry, not a fan of pumpkin). Oh, and coffee.

The final shopping list for Thanksgiving dinner came to 22 items. For the purposes of her test she assumed she would already have pantry staples like flour, sugar, oil, salt and pepper. Megan took that list to five popular grocery chains: Acme, Aldi, Trader Joe's, Walmart and Whole Foods.

Here's how much Megan was able to get for $50 at each store.

5. Whole Foods

Grocery total: $49

Number of items purchased: 8/22

When your turkey is more than half of your budget ($29.88 for a 12-lb., fresh, free-range, young bird), it's difficult to buy a lot of side dishes. Without going over $50, Megan was only able to also purchase ingredients for stuffing and mashed potatoes.

By spending on high-quality ingredients, she could end up serving a couple of filling, carb-heavy sides, a turkey and ... that's it.

4. Trader Joe's

Grocery total: $48.48

Number of items purchased: 11/22

Trader Joe's offered a slightly cheaper price on its all-natural, fresh young turkey in brine ($1.99 per lb.). Megan spent about $25 for a turkey here. That gave me a little extra to spend on sides, so she was able to purchase the ingredients for stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a small green bean casserole.

A somewhat fuller meal, but hardly a feast.

3. Acme

Grocery total: $49.93

Number of items purchased: 17/22

At this conventional grocery store, Megan was able to buy the entire Thanksgiving meal, but no dessert or coffee. Maybe you don't even need it after all that food? At least her guests could enjoy stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and rolls.

There were still some trade-offs, though. Megan had to reduce the size of her green bean casserole, and she got a standard frozen turkey ($1.99 per lb.) instead of the higher-quality varieties offered at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

1. Aldi (TIE)

Grocery total: $48.66

Number of items purchased: 22/22

Aldi and Walmart tied for first prize in this challenge. Megan was able to get the entire meal she planned for eight people for under $50 at both places. The biggest win at Aldi was the turkey: A basic bird was on sale for just $0.59 per lb. That's a fantastic price!

Walmart came in a few dollars cheaper, but Megan was able to get more food and higher-quality ingredients at Aldi. The more food part wasn't exactly on purpose, either: Because of Aldi's limited produce section, she had to buy a whole bag of oranges, though she only needed one, and Aldi also had double the size of poultry seasoning she needed to season the stuffing. Still, I stayed under budget.

My $50 even allowed me to buy organic milk and low-fat cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole.

1. Walmart (TIE)

Grocery total: $45.18

Number of items purchased: 22/22

Walmart was ultimately the cheapest option, even though its turkey, a frozen Jennie-O variety at $0.69 per lb., was slightly more expensive than Aldi's. And like at Aldi, Megan was able to purchase all the components for her Thanksgiving feast: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, apple pie and coffee.

See Megan's itemized budget breakdown here

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Here's the Thanksgiving dinner you can get for $50 at Acme, Aldi, Trader Joe's, Walmart and Whole Foods | CNBC Make It.