15 Aldi Must-Haves For Your Thanksgiving Dinner

As hard as it may be to believe, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means it's time to start putting together a menu and grocery list for the big day. While we all want to put our best foot forward for this festive meal, it can get quite pricey to purchase all the necessities that make up the standard fare we associate with Thanksgiving. Enter Aldi to the rescue.

Aldi is well-known for carrying items that are cheaper than other grocery stores. This means savings for you and your family this holiday season. I looked through Aldi's Fan Favorites, Specials, and Thanksgiving products pages of its website before taking a trip to one of its nearby locations to scour the items available for purchase this holiday season. The list of items I discovered was impressive and took some of the stress out of my menu planning. Find out what to stock up on the next time you visit your local Aldi, to help save you big bucks this holiday season.

No Thanksgiving meal is complete without turkey. It is the focal point of the dinner table and the one item that typically costs the most. Fortunately, Aldi has you covered with a huge selection of Butterball Frozen Whole Turkeys and Boneless Turkey Breasts that vary in price by location. Regardless of if you plan to roast, smoke, fry, or grill your bird, Butterball (and Aldi) have you covered.

For 70 years, Butterball has been the gold-standard for providing high-quality, moderately priced turkeys. The folks at Butterball have even established a Turkey Talk-Line to help answer all of your turkey-related questions and concerns, from what to do if you neglected to thaw the bird to what to do if you accidentally forgot to remove the giblets.

While planning your menu and shopping trip, you'll want to estimate purchasing approximately 1½ pounds of meat per person, which for 10 people means roughly a 15-pound turkey. This will provide enough meat to feed the crowd at dinner and leave plenty of leftovers.

Among the accompaniments that can make or break a Thanksgiving dinner is the cranberry sauce. While many people have taken to making their own homemade cranberry sauce recipe for the holidays, a lot of us swear by the jellied stuff in a can, associating the flavor and texture with the nostalgia of childhood. If you happen to be one of those people, you are in luck. Aldi has not one, but two options to satisfy the tart, yet sweet flavor we all crave and love.

The Sweet Harvest brand offers both a Jellied and Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce for your Thanksgiving needs. While the jellied may be traditional, the whole berry option gives the illusion of something made-from-scratch, without the effort or mess made by simmering down fresh cranberries. To transform store-bought cranberry sauce, consider pairing it with some classic cocktail ingredients, like a splash of bourbon or Grand Marnier. You can also mix it together with add-ins, like dried fruit and nuts or a hint of citrus zest.

Whether you are resuscitating a store-bought stuffing mix, making your own gravy, or serving guests a homemade pumpkin soup recipe to start off the Thanksgiving meal, there is one ingredient that is indispensable in the holiday kitchen: a quality stock or broth. While they are used interchangeably, the two are not identical. Broth is made by combining vegetables, meat, and seasonings in water, and simmering these for a relatively short period of time. Stock, by contrast, is the much richer, more intensely-flavored cousin of broth, produced using roasted animal bones that are slowly simmered in water for hours. This allows for the collagen within the bones to break down, creating an intense taste and a more viscous texture.

Though you can find a number of different kinds of stocks and broths at Aldi in chicken, beef, and vegetable varieties, there is a unique flavor available during the Thanksgiving holiday season: turkey. The Chef's Cupboard Turkey Cooking Stock is the perfect option for all of your Thanksgiving needs.

Another item that is currently being highlighted by Aldi for the Thanksgiving holiday is the Homestyle Turkey Gravy from the Chef's Cupboard brand. This product is a great option for those who don't want to deal with making their own homemade gravy. Gravy is a necessary, and delicious, component of the Thanksgiving meal. Not only does it help to keep the turkey moist, it is the ideal accompaniment for creamy mashed potatoes and atop stuffing or dressing. That said, it can be a bit of a challenge to make from scratch.

This sauce is notorious for coming out too thin, clumpy, or for being so thick it will no longer pour out of your fancy gravy boat. While there are a number of tricks you can employ to make a great gravy, save yourself the hassle and let Aldi do the work for you. For a more homemade taste, try adding finely chopped, sautéed giblets to the heated gravy before serving.

Whether you call it dressing or stuffing, this combination of bread, vegetables, aromatics, herbs, butter, and stock or broth is always a crowd pleaser during the Thanksgiving meal. Though roasting a turkey with the stuffing inside of it is no longer considered a safe practice, no Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without this dish. If you are searching for a classic stuffing recipe that won't require endless cutting and toasting of bread to dry it out enough to absorb the stock or broth, a store-bought boxed mix is the solution you have been hunting for.

Aldi has several options from the Chef's Cupboard brand to satisfy your needs, including Turkey, Herb, Cornbread, and Hawaiian varieties. These are designed to be ready in a mere five minutes. To jazz up these boxed stuffing mixes, there are a number of hacks you can employ, including using something other than water to rehydrate them or augmenting them with fresh herbs.

Thanksgiving wouldn't be what it is without a classic green bean casserole adorning the dinner table. This dish has been re-imagined in many ways, but the original version that was invented by Dorcas Reilly at the Campbell's Test Kitchen in 1955 still reigns supreme. One key ingredient that gives this recipe its crunchy, slightly salty topping that helps to juxtapose that creamy base is French fried onions. Sure you could make these from scratch, but it takes a lot of time and effort, and somehow, these homemade variations never quite have the right taste or texture compared with store-bought ones.

This Thanksgiving, load up on the French Fried Onions from the Simply Nature brand at Aldi. These onions are organic, vegan, and made from non-GMO ingredients for a wholesomeness you can feel good about. The quality of these is sure to make this year's green bean casserole the one that goes down in the history books as "the best."

Another key component of a classic green bean casserole recipe is canned condensed cream of mushroom soup. Though Campbell's may have originated the recipe, a great alternative is the Chef's Cupboard Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup available at Aldi. This staple provides the rich, creamy base that surrounds the green beans, bathing them in a luxurious, saucy blend that is mouthwatering and helps to offset the crunchy French fried onion topping.

While nutrition, like sodium content, may not be the focal point of the Thanksgiving dinner, a real consideration when making a green bean casserole recipe is how to mitigate some of the salinity of the soup base. This is easily done using a sensational secret sweet ingredient, namely brown sugar. Just 3 teaspoons of sugar per can will transform this recipe, layering it with complexity and helping to amplify the umami-rich mushroom flavor of the soup.

Lastly, no green bean casserole would exist without the verdant vegetables at the heart of the recipe. Certainly fresh beans would be the expert choice for making the best version of this casserole. That said, while they may taste better than canned, fresh beans just aren't classic, and they require a bit of effort to prepare before they can be incorporated into the recipe. If you don't want to snap and blanch fresh beans, the next best thing is to use canned French style green beans, like the ones from the Happy Harvest brand available at Aldi.

The difference between green beans and French style ones, or haricots verts, are manifold, and their unique characteristics make them far more desirable for use in this recipe. Though they are both members of the same species, French style green beans are more svelte and tender. Because they are harvested much earlier than other varieties of green beans, they have a milder, sweeter, less earthy flavor. They also cook faster, though this is a moot point, since canned beans are already cooked.

If you love a classic Southern sweet potato casserole that tastes as good as grandma used to make it, but don't feel like taking the time to peel, cut, and cook these delicate tubers and assemble the dish from scratch, Aldi has a deal for you. Around this time each year, the retailer rolls out a shipment of Season's Choice Sweet Potato Casserole with Praline Topping, much to regular patrons' glee. The fan favorite is loaded with sweet and savory flavors, and dons a crunchy pecan and oat topping that is a sophisticated step up from fluffy yet saccharine marshmallows.

The casserole, which serves five and can be reheated in the oven or microwave, is a great option to round out the side dishes on your Thanksgiving table. But, you'll want to act fast. These tend to sell out quickly, and once they are gone, you won't find them again until next year.

Among the most coveted side dishes served at Thanksgiving is a bubbling hot pan of baked macaroni and cheese. While you can make your own macaroni and cheese from scratch, the store-bought, boxed version is infinitely easier and has a certain something that just cannot be replicated. The Italian Five Cheese Macaroni & Cheese from the Specially Selected brand sold at Aldi, is a convenient, affordable, and unique version of this dish that can be whipped up in an instant.

What makes this variety so desirable is the five cheese sauce, which comes in a convenient, easy-squeeze packet. Containing Monterey Jack, asiago, mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan, this macaroni and cheese is a step up from the rest, having a degree of sophistication and festive flair. Try popping the cooked dish in a casserole and topping it with crumbled bacon and crushed cereal or crackers for a crust that is delightfully crunchy when baked.

Perhaps everyone's favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is dessert. While there are a number of pies that fit the bill during the holiday season, including apple and pecan, none are as autumnal and festive as a classic pumpkin pie recipe. Certainly a pumpkin pie that has been baked from scratch has its appeal, but pumpkin pie filling was invented for a reason. It is convenient, easy, and comes pre-sweetened and seasoned, needing just a few added ingredients to be transformed into a delicious pie.

If you are on the prowl for a quality Pumpkin Pie Mix, Aldi has you covered with its Baker's Corner brand version of this product. Each 30-ounce can is ready to use, needing just eggs and evaporated milk to fill a 9-inch pie crust. And, just because you are using canned pie filling, doesn't mean you can't put your own personal spin on the recipe to upgrade your pumpkin pie, like adding some crumbled feta or Nutella to the mix.

The perfect pumpkin pie requires a flaky, buttery pie crust. Aldi's Bake House Creations Pie Crust is just what the pie doctor ordered to help create the pie of your holiday fever dreams. Each refrigerated package contains two individually-wrapped, ready-to-use pie crusts, ideal for one double crust or two single crust pies. While they may not be quite as good as homemade, they are definitely worth stocking up on this holiday season. They are incredibly simple to unroll, fill, and bake so you can focus your attention on some of the other, more complicated dishes while still serving guests a semi-homemade pie.

To give store-bought pie crust that homemade feel, there are a number of techniques you can use. First, try crushing cookies or crackers into crumbs and layering them atop the bottom of the crust before adding the filling. This provides a layer of texture and keeps the crust from getting soggy. You can also enhance the crust by crimping the edges with a decorative design. While this won't change the flavor or texture, it will show that attention to detail that will make your dinner guests feel cared for.

Though food is the focus of the Thanksgiving meal, we shouldn't forget to pay attention to the beverages we serve for the big meal. One perfect accompaniment to the fall flavors is apple cider, and there are plenty of store-bought options to make things easier. It is a non-alcoholic drink that can be served as-is or doctored up and heated for a mulled cider that will warm the hearts and souls of your dinner guests. Aldi carries a wonderful option in the refrigerated produce section for those wanting something special, the Nature's Nectar Apple Cider. This cider comes in a 1-gallon container and is available for a limited time only, while supplies last.

If you are looking for a fizzy option, the Nature's Nectar brand also produces a Sparkling Apple Cider that is reminiscent of Martinelli's. The fizzy cider is a great option for inclusion in a festive holiday punch recipe or to make an autumnal wine spritzer, using one of the many quality, yet affordable, libations that can be found at Aldi.

Hard seltzer is all the rage right now, and Aldi has a unique offering that is perfect for the Thanksgiving festivities. The Hard Seltzer Celebration Pack is a seasonal offering featuring four festive flavors: Citrus Cheers, Cranberry Party, Peach Bubbly, and Rosé Style. Each package has three of each flavor. These hard seltzers contain 5% ABV and 100 calories apiece.

While these are the perfect accompaniment to appetizers and charcuterie, they are also an easy way to make a boozier cocktail. Hard seltzer is a natural swap for many mixers, including soda water, tonic, and juice. It can also be substituted for Champagne in drinks where you don't want to open a whole bottle of bubbly for just one cocktail. Just keep in mind that the alcohol content of the beverage will be higher and you may need to go easy on the simple syrup, as these seltzers already contain some element of sweetness.

If you enjoy beer, you might want to check out the State of Brewing Holiday Ale from Aldi this holiday season. This item, which is available for a limited time-only, is a premium malt beverage rife with notes of cinnamon, ginger, and orange peel. It is the perfect accompaniment to sweet and savory dishes alike, having a modest 5.60% ABV. Each package contains six cans of ale, which are best enjoyed well-chilled.

While beer can be a great ingredient to cook with, this may not be the one to use in your turkey brine, homemade cranberry sauce, or apple pie filling. Not only is ale the one type of beer that isn't great for cooking, owing to its bitter under notes, this particular one is designed for sipping alongside your favorite recipes. Try garnishing it with fresh ginger and orange zest for something fancy and flavorful.