How To Buy Your Entire Thanksgiving Dinner At Sam’s Club

If you’re feeding a crowd regularly, Sam’s Club offers plenty of smart buys for your money. And during the holidays, it’s my favorite place to head when I need to stock my fridge and pantry (yes, even more so than Costco when it comes to certain basic items). 

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So, it should come as no surprise that I’ve spent a few Thanksgivings shopping for all of my dinner staples at Sam’s Club. In my experience, Sam’s is the best place to flesh out your entire meal while saving yourself time and effort. Thanks to a wealth of supersized foods and delicious, quality prepared items, this bulk retailer can deliver in more ways than one.

Grab Rolls and Desserts in the Sam’s Club Bakery

I’ve never been big on baking, so I love how many shortcuts Sam’s Club offers for holiday meals in its in-store bakeries to save you from having to buy baking ingredients. It’s where I grab dinner rolls, pies, cheesecakes, and more — and ensure I never burn a pie crust or dry out a cheesecake again. 

When it comes to dinner rolls, you can opt for freshly-made or prepackaged. Sam’s Club offers its own Member’s Mark Dinner Rolls in a 24-pack for just $3.98 (and yes, they’re great warmed up or eaten right out of the bag). If you prefer a name-brand pick, you can opt for King’s Hawaiian Original Dinner Rolls, which are sold in a 32-pack for $6.68.

On the opposite end of your Thanksgiving dinner, Sam’s Club also has a whole host of festive and traditional pies in its bakery that are absolute wins. If you’re an apple pie kind of family, the Member’s Mark 12-Inch Honeycrisp Apple Lattice Pie is the right pick at just under $11. If you’re a pumpkin family, the Member’s Mark 12-Inch Pumpkin Pie is the better choice… and it’s just $6 so you can buy a few.

Pro tip: While the Member’s Mark 9-Inch Pumpkin Cheesecake (which is priced at $18.84) is technically a frozen item and not part of the bakery’s offering, it’s one of the best Thanksgiving buys at Sam’s Club. It’s so decadent and perfectly pumpkin-y that it’ll make you forget about the usual pie.

Go Premade for Less Prep

While Sam’s Club sells all of the individual items you’d need to whip up all of your side dishes and gravy from scratch — and in bulk — I think there’s a far smarter way to buy your Thanksgiving dinner if you’re shopping at this particular grocery store. Skip all of the cutting, chopping, and cooking time in favor of all of the delicious premade or heat-and-serve items Sam’s has prepped and packaged for you.

I’ve lived on the premade meals and salads from Sam’s Club in years past, and the busy holiday season is the perfect time to leverage them for a less stressful hosting experience. Plus, they can easily feed a crowd.

Sam’s Club has you covered from appetizers to mains with its premade meal selection. To start off Thanksgiving, I’d pick up the Member’s Mark Cranberry Crunch Salad, which features seasonal staples like cranberries and walnuts plus a ready-made dressing, for $5.44 per pound (or about $10.50 total on average). For pre-dinner snacking, the Member’s Mark Charcuterie Entertainment Tray for $29.14 and Fresh Cut Vegetable Tray for $4.44 per pound offer savory options that are also total crowd-pleasers — and you don’t have to do anything but pop off the lid and present them to your guests.

You can even pick up the main dish in a fully cooked form: Sam’s Club offers a Member’s Mark Hickory Smoked Whole Turkey for $2.98 per pound. Yes, it’s more expensive than your typical frozen turkey, but as someone who’s made a few dry birds, it’s a sure bet (and it’s a huge hit in my household for after Thanksgiving, too).

Premade sides and other Thanksgiving staples are great buys at Sam’s, too. I hate making gravy from scratch, so Kinder’s Roasted Turkey Gravy (which comes in a two-pack for $6.78) is a must-have. And if you don’t want to peel potatoes or pull together a green bean casserole, you and your guests will love the Member’s Mark Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes ($7.78 for 2 pounds) and Seasoned Green Beans ($4.26 per pound) complete with Thanksgiving-inspired toppings.

Boxed and Canned Ingredients Cover Stuffing and Casseroles

If you’re forgoing premade dishes in favor of whipping your Thanksgiving up from scratch, Sam’s Club offers plenty of boxed and canned ingredients in bulk that’ll make it easy — and ensure you don’t have to send someone to the grocery store for extras while you’re prepping or cooking.

I always pick up the following Thanksgiving essentials during a Sam’s Club trip in early November to ensure I don’t run out:

• Stuffing mixes like Kinder’s Brown Butter Herbs Homestyle Stuffing Mix ($8.98) or Stovetop Turkey Stuffing Mix ($7.98)
• Canned vegetables like Del Monte Cut Green Beans ($8.42) or Bruce’s Cut Yams (8.68)
• A classic canned cranberry sauce like Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce ($11.98)
• Easy-to-make Idahoan Real Premium Mashed Potatoes ($8.98)
• Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup ($8.98), a green bean casserole tradition

If All Else Fails, There’s a Complete Dinner, Too

Lastly, if you’re just plain not into cooking, Sam’s Club has that covered for you, too. You can throw your shopping list and your budgeting tools out the window, because you can simply buy the Member’s Mark Thanksgiving Meal with a single “add to cart” click on the warehouse retailer’s website. 

For about $160, Sam’s Club will get your entire meal ready from appetizers to dessert, with enough food to feed 16 people at roughly $10 per person. This comprehensive meal includes:

• Boneless carver ham
• Hickory smoked turkey
• Yukon Gold mashed potatoes
• Turkey gravy
• Green beans with dried cranberries and almonds (two dishes)
• Macaroni and cheese (two dishes)
• Sweet corn with garlic butter
• Cranberry crunch salad
• Yeast dinner rolls
• Charcuterie entertainment tray
• Pumpkin pies (two pies)

So, whether you want to whip up every dish from scratch or take a few shortcuts — or even one supersized shortcut — along the way, these are the options I’d absolutely take advantage of when buying my Thanksgiving meal at Sam’s Club. You don’t have to sweat over dinner when there are so many party-sized options.