This Grocery Chain's $36 Thanksgiving Feast Gives Aldi A Run For Its Money

For many American households, Thanksgiving is one of the biggest meals of the year, both in importance and sheer size. Feeding a crowd of people can get pretty costly, which is why discount grocery chains offer the ingredients for a basic meal at such a low price. Aldi is selling ingredients for a 10-person meal for $40 total, but another store is doing the same for less.

Beginning November 5, Lidl's U.S. stores will sell all the ingredients for a 10-person Thanksgiving meal for less than $36, according to a press release sent to Daily Meal. Lidl's upcoming deal includes everything you need to make a whole turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. All this comes in at just under $3.60 per person, which may just make this the most affordable holiday feast on the market.

By contrast, Aldi's $40 deal covers all the same make-it-yourself essentials, plus cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole. Each dish has its fans, and taste is subjective, but for what it's worth, these are two commonly disliked Thanksgiving sides. Price, however, isn't subjective: Aldi's meal deal is over $0.40 more per head than Lidl's.

No, Lidl is not related to Aldi, though they are similar even beyond their Thanksgiving meals. Both are discount grocery chains that originated in Germany, and they have similar business models and targeted customers. Aldi, however, is both older and larger than Lidl, which only came to the U.S. in 2017. Aldi has been here since 1976.

Still, the relative newcomer is making a splash that customers will no doubt notice. Lidl's in-store bakery puts it a step above Aldi, which typically lacks this feature. Even if Aldi's breads are good, it's hard to beat something baked fresh in-store. Aldi eventually tested in-store bakeries at some U.S. locations, and although it decided not to expand this feature, your local Aldi may still be lucky enough to have one.

Despite the dividing lines between these competing discount supermarket chains, they share a commonality in their Thanksgiving meal kits: Both call for prepackaged Hawaiian sweet rolls. These are a common choice for many Thanksgiving spreads, and in Lidl's case, this may help the chain keep the deal's cost low by not involving its own bakery employees.