Dollar Tree Thanksgiving Dinner
Deliciousness On A Budget
If you are on a budget this holiday season, this is a great way to make a delicious Dollar Tree Thanksgiving Dinner for around twenty-five dollars. This meal has all the holiday staples like turkey and gravy, stuffing, buttery mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and candied yams.
It cooks up quickly and is very tasty. The recipes do include some basic pantry items like onion and garlic powders, pepper, and salt. There is a full, printable recipe card at the end of this post that has the shopping list and step by step instructions.
You can also hit the print button on that card to get a one page version of the recipe without ads, and you can screenshot or print it from there or just leave it open on your phone or tablet while you cook.
Gas Station Gourmet
As you may or may not know, I used to work in communities with food insecurities. I taught cooking on a budget and holiday meals were one of my favorite things to make using accessible ingredients that the community had.
I started a program called Gas Station Gourmet in one community when I worked for a wonderful nonprofit called Common Threads.
At the time the community only had a single gas station that was walkable and sold food. I started to make recipes that were somewhat healthy and very easy to make without using a stove or oven that I taught to the community.
It was a challenge at first, but I soon learned how to make quite a few things with what was available and on a budget.
Introducing Dollar Tree
After a while a Dollar Tree came to the community I worked in and the accessibility to other ingredients multiplied. I was then able to create more recipes with the addition of some fresh and frozen foods that the Dollar Tree sold.
This year I have been seeing lots of creators on various social media apps create these budget meals and I love to see it.
I decided to give this a try myself as it has been a few years since I taught these classes and wanted to know what kind of budget people are dealing with. I am happy to say that I was able to create my traditional Thanksgiving dinner for around twenty five dollars and it was quite delicious.
Green Bean Casserole
One dish I was able to make using only items from Dollar Tree was this Green Bean Casserole. Now I have a much fancier Green Bean Casserole on my site that is more expensive to make, but I have to say this Dollar Tree version was just as good in a slightly different way.
The recipe is below on the recipe card, but if you wanted to make a few upgrades using ingredients you have around the house or you can get at Dollar tree, I would add any or all of the following:
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 extra can of cream of mushroom soup
- Sautéed onions
- French fried onions
- 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk to the soup
- Real butter to the top
Mashed Potato Heaven
The instant mashed potatoes I used from the Dollar Tree were actually quite impressive. I also have a Creamy Mashed Potato recipe on my site but the packaged kind would do just fine.
If you have a little more room in your food budget, some butter and cream could help make these even better. Truth be told they were very delicious as written on the recipe card below and I will make this version again.
Help The Stuffing
Truth be told the only dish I did not LOVE in this Dollar Tree Thanksgiving Dinner was the stuffing. It was FINE and would do great for this meal in a pinch.
IF you have some room in your budget I would add some cooked crumbled sausage to this stuffing and fresh sautéed onions and celery if possible. I am a big lover of the stuffing though, so of course this has to be perfect for me.
I DO have a little bit pricier Stuffing Recipe that you may want to splurge on if you love stuffing as much as I do.
All Around Delicious
All in all, this meal was fantastic. I am sorry I did not remember to buy bread or rolls for this delicious dinner.
Dollar Tree had that as well. I especially loved the canned turkey and gravy.
I will be buying both of those again. The turkey was real turkey and the gravy was delicious.
If you served this meal to someone, they would never know it was from the Dollar Tree. I absolutely love this and would like to donate some of these meals to people in need.
I am also so happy to see other creators using their platforms to promote this type of affordable cooking!
Dollar Tree Thanksgiving Dinner
If you are on a budget this holiday season, this is a great way to make a delicious Dollar Tree Thanksgiving Dinner for around twenty-five dollars. This meal has all the holiday staples like turkey and gravy, stuffing, buttery mashed potatoes, green bean cassserole and candied yams. This cooks up quickly and is very tasty. The recipes do include some basic pantry items like onion and garlic powders, pepper and salt.
Ingredients
- Dollar Tree Shopping List:
- 2 packets of Idahoan Buttery Homestyle Mashed Potatoes
- 2 packets of Pioneer Roasted Turkey Gravy
- 2 cans of Bruces Yams in syrup
- 1 can of Libby's Chunk Pineapple
- 1 can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 2 boxes of McTrader Stuffing Mix for turkey
- 2 cans of DelMonte Harvest Cut Green Beans
- 4 to 6 Cans of Harvest Creek Chunk White Turkey In Water
- 2 cans of Swanson Chicken Broth
- 1 box of Dominoes Brown Sugar
- 1 small bottle of olive oil
- Pantry Items That Can Also Be Found At Dollar Tree:
- Dried Parsley
- Garlic Salt
- Onion Powder
- Black Pepper
- Salt
- Poultry Seasoning
Instructions
Green Bean Casserole:
- Drain the two cans of green beans and add to a bowl.
- In a separate bowl combine the can of cream of chicken soup with 1/3 cup of chicken broth and half the box of stuffing mix. (the stuffing I bought had the seasonings and herbs mixed in with the bread cubes, if yours is not like this, combine the seasoning packet with the bread cubes) Mix well to coat the stuffing mix.
- Add the soup and stuffing mix to the green beans along with a teaspoon of onion powder and garlic salt, some black pepper and two teaspoons of dried parsley, toss well to coat.
- Add the green beans to a pie pan or small baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining stuffing with the seasoning on the top and drizzle the olive oil over the top.
- Bake at 375 degrees, uncovered, for 35 minutes.
Candied Yams:
- Drain the cans of yams and add to a bowl. Cut the yams up into more bite sized pieces.
- Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of pineapple juice from the canned pineapples.
- Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to coat.
- Add this to a small baking dish and season with the onion powder, garlic salt and black pepper.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.
Mashed Potatoes:
- Make the potatoes according to the package directions but substitute the chicken broth for the water.
- Add a drizzle of olive oil, approximately 2 teaspoons, to the finished potatoes.
Stuffing:
- Prepare the stuffing according to the package directions but substitute chicken broth for the water and the olive oil for the butter.
- Add a teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic salt, black pepper to taste, dried parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning.
- If you like a crisp top stuffing you can add this to a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
Turkey and Gravy:
- Drain the cans of turkey but reserve the turkey juice.
- To a deep sided skillet add a tablespoon of olive oil and the canned turkey. Season with onion powder, poultry seasoning, garlic salt, black pepper and parsley. Eyeball this with using just a sprinkle, taste and add more if desired.
- Sauté this for a few minutes.
- Make the gravy according to the package directions for water amounts, but measure out the turkey juice as a sub for the water. Whisk the gravy mix with the turkey water. You may have to add some chicken broth or water to supplement the liquid if the turkey water isn't the amount you need per the packet directions.
- Once you whisk the gravy with the liquids add it to the turkey skillet, bring to a simmer, whisking as you go until the gravy is the thickness you desire. I had to thin mine out with a little more broth.
- Serve over white bread, rolls or on top of the mashed potatoes.
- Serve the pineapple with the meal or grab a can of cranberry sauce or jello if available.