Where can I buy cheapest Thanksgiving groceries in Sacramento? 7 stores compared

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

With the holiday season’s biggest feast coming up fast, Sacramento-area residents are searching for the most affordable places to stock up on turkey, stuffing and other essentials.

The cost of Thanksgiving dinner has decreased slightly across the nation since 2024, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Holiday staples including turkeys, stuffing and dinner rolls have dropped in price, while sweet potatoes and milk cost more.

In the West, residents can expect to pay approximately $61.75 for Thanksgiving dinner — the most in the nation, the farm bureau federation said.

After helping shoppers find the best deals at Sacramento-area grocery stores in April, The Sacramento Bee is back to help you get the most bang for your buck.

We visited seven popular supermarkets in the Sacramento area and priced 11 key ingredients to determine which chains offer the best options.

Here’s what we discovered:

Which Sacramento-area grocery stores have the best prices?

For its latest price check, The Bee focused on major grocery store chains in the Sacramento area, visiting a total of seven locations on Wednesday, Nov. 12.

Here’s where we went:

• Food 4 Less, 4551 Mack Road in Sacramento
• Raley’s/Bel-Air, 6231 Fruitridge Road in Sacramento
• Safeway, 3680 Crocker Drive in Sacramento
• Save Mart, 5600 Folsom Blvd. in Sacramento
• Target, 2505 Riverside Blvd. in Sacramento
• Trader Joe’s, 5000 Folsom Blvd. in Sacramento
• Walmart, 6051 Florin Road in Sacramento

Where can I find best Thanksgiving food deals in Sacramento?

The Bee searched each store for 11 Thanksgiving essentials, focusing on the options with the lowest available prices:

• Butterball turkey per pound
• Russet potatoes per pound
• Sweet potatoes per pound
• Del Monte whole green beans, 14.5-ounce can
• Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, 14-ounce can
• Stove Top turkey stuffing, 6-ounce box
• Libby’s pumpkin purée, 15-ounce can
• Unsalted butter per pound
• King Hawaiian rolls, 12-roll package
• Barilla elbow macaroni pasta, 16-ounce box
• Cheddar cheese per pound

In some cases, only generic store brands were available.

All prices were calculated before sales tax, and did not include temporary sale prices or members-only deals.

Which Sacramento grocery store sells the cheapest turkeys?

Of the seven Sacramento grocery stores surveyed, Walmart and Target had the cheapest Butterball turkeys per pound.

Raley’s/Bel Air had the priciest turkeys, costing $2.79 per pound.

Trader Joe’s offers three kinds of whole turkeys for sale: organic for $3.99 per pound, kosher for $3.49 per pound and regular turkey for $2.49 a pound.

Here’s how turkey prices broke down per pound across seven stores:

• Food 4 Less: $1.88 per pound
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $2.79
• Safeway: $1.99
• Save Mart: $1.99
• Target: 99 cents
• Trader Joe’s: $2.49
• Walmart: 97 cents

Which grocery stores have best potato, yam prices?

When it comes to potatoes, not all grocery stores are created equally, The Bee found.

Although Safeway, Save Mart and other supermarkets priced russet and sweet potatoes by the pound, Target and Trader Joe’s sold the starchy root vegetables individually.

The average russet potato weighs between six to eight ounces, while the average sweet potato weighs about a third of a pound, according to Garden Eros and Evolving Table.

Based on those averages, russet potatoes at Target cost about $2.11 per pound while sweet potatoes cost about $2.99 per pound.

Trader Joe’s sells a 5-pound bag of russet potatoes for $3.49 — nearly 70 cents a pound — and a 2-pound bag of sweet potatoes for $2.79. That’s about $1.39 a pound.

Safeway and Save Mart sold the priciest russet potatoes at $1.99 per pound, while Save Mart had the most expensive sweet potatoes per pound at $2.49.

Food 4 Less had the cheapest russet potatoes at 59 cents a pound.

Meanwhile, Walmart took the title as the grocery store with the lowest prices for sweet potatoes selling them for 97 cents a pound.

This was the price breakdown of russet potatoes at Sacramento supermarkets:

• Food 4 Less: 59 cents per pound
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $1.69 per pound
• Safeway: $1.99 per pound
• Save Mart: $1.99 per pound
• Target: 79 cents each
• Trader Joe’s: 99 cents each, 70 cents per pound
• Walmart: 88 cents per pound

Here’s how much sweet potatoes cost:

• Food 4 Less: 99 cents per pound
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $1.99 per pound
• Safeway: $1.99 per pound
• Save Mart: $2.49 per pound
• Target: 99 cents each
• Trader Joe’s: 99 cents each, $1.39 per pound
• Walmart: 97 cents per pound

Where can I find cheapest green beans?

Making a green bean casserole? You can pick up a 14.5-ounce can of Del Monte whole green beans at Food 4 Less for as low as 98 cents.

In contrast, Safeway had the most expensive green beans at $3.99 for a 14.5-ounce can.

Trader Joe’s did not have any canned green beans for sale during our visit. The store sold a 1-pound and 8-ounce bag of frozen French green beans tossed in butter and garlic

Here’s what local grocery stores charged for canned green beans:

• Food 4 Less: 98 cents per can
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $3.49
• Safeway: $3.99
• Save Mart: $3.29
• Target: $1.29
• Walmart: $2.44

Which supermarket has best cranberry sauce costs?

A can of 14-ounce Ocean Spray cranberry sauce cost $2.58 at Walmart, making it the cheapest option in the Sacramento area.

Save Mart sold cranberry sauce for a whopping $4.99 per can.

Food 4 Less did not have canned cranberry sauce available for sale during our visit.

Here’s how prices for canned cranberry sauce broke down at Sacramento grocery stores:

• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $3 per 14-ounce can
• Safeway: $4.49
• Save Mart: $4.99
• Target: $2.79
• Trader Joe’s: $3.29
• Walmart: $2.58

Which stores have the lowest prices for stuffing?

Walmart had the most budget-friendly price for Stove Top turkey stuffing, charging $1.38 for a 6-ounce box.

Trader Joe’s charged $4.99 for a 12.4-ounce box of store brand cornbread stuffing.

Here’s how much stuffing cost at Sacramento grocery stores:

• Food 4 Less: $1.88 per box
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $3.50
• Safeway: $3.99
• Save Mart: $3.99
• Target: $1.89
• Trader Joe’s: $4.99
• Walmart: $1.38

This grocery store has cheapest canned pumpkin puree

The Bee found the cheapest canned pumpkin puree at Raley’s in Sacramento, where a 15-ounce can of Libby’s pumpkin puree cost $1.99.

In contrast, Safeway sold pumpkin puree for $4.99 a 15-ounce can.

Here’s how prices for canned pumpkin puree broke down at Sacramento grocery stores:

• Food 4 Less: $2.18 per 15-ounce can
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $1.99
• Safeway: $4.99
• Save Mart: $2.99
• Target: $2.19
• Trader Joe’s: $2.49
• Walmart: $2.17

Which supermarket sells the most budget-friendly butter?

A pound of unsalted butter cost $3.67 at Walmart, the cheapest option on our shopping list.

Safeway and Save Mart tied for the priciest unsalted butter at $5.99 per pound.

Here’s how the price of butter broke down at Sacramento grocery stores:

• Food 4 Less: $3.98 per pound
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $5.98
• Safeway: $5.99
• Save Mart: $5.99
• Target: $3.89
• Trader Joe’s: $3.99
• Walmart: $3.67

Which grocery stores have most affordable Hawaiian rolls?

Walmart had the cheapest 12-pack of Kings Hawaiian rolls at $2.50.

Safeway and Save Mart tied for the most expensive Hawaiian rolls, charging $5.99 for 12 rolls.

Here’s how much Hawaiian rolls cost at Sacramento grocery stores:

• Food 4 Less: $3.48 per 12-pack
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $4.99
• Safeway: $5.99
• Save Mart: $5.99
• Target: $3.99
• Trader Joe’s: $3.49
• Walmart: $2.50

Where can I find cheapest macaroni and cheese?

Walmart charged the least for a 16-ounce box of Barilla elbow macaroni: 82 cents.

Food 4 Less sold the most budget-friendly cheddar cheese, charging $3.38 per pound.

Safeway and Save Mart had the priciest elbow macaroni at $2.79 a pound, while Safeway had the most expensive cheddar cheese, charging $6.99 for a pound.

Here’s how much a box of elbow macaroni cost at local stores:

• Food 4 Less: $1.75 for a 16-ounce box
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $2.49
• Safeway: $2.79
• Save Mart: $2.79
• Target: $1.89
• Trader Joe’s: 99 cents
• Walmart: 82 cents

Here’s what local chain supermarkets charged for cheddar cheese:

• Food 4 Less: $3.38 per pound
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $6.98
• Safeway: $6.99
• Save Mart: $4.99
• Target: $4.49
• Trader Joe’s: $4.99
• Walmart: $3.97

Which supermarkets has the best deals for holiday shoppers?

Looking for the most budget-friendly supermarket in Sacramento?

Walmart was the most affordable grocery store to stock up on essentials, charging $22.35 for 11 key ingredients.

At $21.09 for 10 items, Food 4 Less was a close contender for the local supermarket with the best Thanksgiving food deals. However, the store didn’t carry canned cranberry sauce.

In contrast, Safeway was the most spendy option for Sacramento shoppers, charging $45.19 for 11 Thanksgiving staples. That’s more than $20 more than most budget-friendly supermarket.

• Food 4 Less: $21.09, excluding cranberry sauce
• Raley’s/Bel-Air: $38.89
• Safeway: $45.19
• Save Mart: $41.49
• Target: $25.10
• Trader Joe’s: $29.11, excluding canned green beans
• Walmart: $22.35

This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado

The Sacramento Bee

279-203-2039

Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado is a service journalism reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked at the Star Democrat in Annapolis, Maryland. Veronica graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in journalism.