Calories in Popular Thanksgiving Dishes
This Year’s Thanksgiving Dinner Could Take 30,000+ Steps to Burn Off
Thanksgiving is a time to gather in gratitude with the people we love the most. Many of us will spend much of that quality time together in the kitchen or dining room—preparing and sharing a seasonal feast. It’s great to treat yourself on special occasions, so don’t get too caught up in the calorie counting, but KURU Footwear decided to calculate how many steps you would need to “walk off” the extra calories consumed on Thanksgiving.
Different people have varying nutrition needs, but 2,000 calories in a day is a general baseline. We analyzed some of the most popular Thanksgiving dishes and found the average American could consume more like 3,408 calories on Turkey day. That’s 170% more than the recommended amount.
So how much walking would you need to do to burn off the extra calories from each dish? Check out the table below for the details!
Calories in Popular Thanksgiving Dishes
Snacks, Appetizers, and Extras
| Food Item | Serving Size | Calories | Fat (Grams) | Steps to Burn |
| Cheese Ball (w/nuts) | 2 Tbsp | 246 | 20g | 5515 |
| Crackers | 10 | 177 | 7g | 3968 |
| Potato Chips | 1 oz. (10 chips) | 150 | 10g | 3363 |
| Apple Cider | 1 cup | 117 | 0g | 2623 |
| Butter | 1 Tbsp. | 102 | 11g | 2287 |
| Olives (green) | 1/2 cup | 77 | 8g | 1726 |
| Ranch Dip | 2 Tbsp | 70 | 6g | 1569 |
| Raw Vegetables | 1 cup | 20 | 0g | 448 |
Sides Dishes and Main Course
| Food Item | Serving Size | Calories | Fat (Grams) | Steps to Burn |
| Stuffing (Bread) | 1 cup | 355 | 17g | 7958 |
| Cranberry/Walnut Salad | 1 cup | 348 | 12g | 7801 |
| Sweet Potato Casserole | 1 cup | 276 | 6g | 6187 |
| Mashed Potato | 1 cup | 238 | 8g | 5335 |
| Cranberry Sauce | 1/2 cup | 209 | 0g | 4685 |
| Roasted Turkey (no skin) | 4 slices (4 oz.) | 190 | 6g | 4259 |
| Giblet Gravy (w/milk and flour) | 1/2 cup | 178 | 13g | 3990 |
| Green Bean Casserole | 1 cup | 143 | 8g | 3205 |
| Dinner Rolls | 1 | 86 | 1g | 1928 |
Dessert
| Food Item | Serving Size | Calories | Fat (Grams) | Steps to Burn |
| Pumpkin Pie | 1/8 of 9″ pie | 323 | 15g | 7241 |
| Whipped Cream | 2 Tbsp | 103 | 11g | 2309 |
Food for Thought
It’s reasonable (and fun!) to indulge yourself for the holiday, and if a long nap and some time in front of the TV is your ideal Thanksgiving: We support that!
If you wanted to walk off your entire Thanksgiving meal, it’d take a staggering 76,397 to do it. The number of steps in a mile varies by person, but using an average 2 miles for every 5,000 steps that would be more than 30 miles of walking!
If you decide to get in some movement after dinner, or maybe later in the holiday weekend, make sure you protect your feet and cushion each step with supportive shoes! KURU Footwear is on a mission to eliminate foot pain, and we want you to be next!
Methodology and Sources
KURU Footwear used Google Trends to determine the most popular Thanksgiving dishes in 2021, and paired that information with serving size and calorie estimates from the Calorie Control Council.
We then used Omni Calculator’s Steps to Calories tool to determine how many steps it would take to “burn” the calories for each dish. We made these calculations using average body measurements as reported by the CDC.
Sources
- Calorie Control Council – Calories & Fat in Popular Holiday Dishes
- CDC – FastStats, Body Measurements
- Omni Calculator – Steps to Calories Calculator
About Us
Foot pain (including plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, and more) can make everything we do more difficult, and sometimes even impossible. That’s why KURU Footwear is on a mission to eliminate foot pain for 15 million people by 2030. Since launching our innovative technology in 2008, we’ve received more than 21,000 5-Star reviews and heard from thousands of customers who tell us their KURU orthopedic shoes helped them get back to doing what they love.
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