Food costs can mount up at Christmas, particularly if you’re feeding a bigger group.
With the emphasis often on luxury ingredients (and marked-up prices to prove it), it feels like you need to go broke to serve up a top-notch meal. But that’s not the case at all.
Using some savvy shopping tips and planning ahead can see you saving big on Christmas dinner, without sacrificing the usual trimmings you’d expect.
In fact, you can make a three-course feast for just £2.50 a head, slashing the average cost per person by over half.
Fiona Hawkes, 34 from Somerset, set herself the challenge of feeding her family of four for a tenner, creating an impressive Christmas day meal on a budget.
She shared her recipe and tips with us so you can do the same. Here’s how.
menu at £2.49 a head
Winter vegetable soup
Turkey breast fillet with stuffing and wrapped in bacon served with pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts, roasted parsnips, stuffing balls and gravy.
Mince Pie and Custard
Fiona's Christmas dinner shopping list
- Turkey Breast Mini Fillets 400g £3.50 (Sainsbury’s)
- Streaky Bacon 275g £1.25 (Tesco)
- 8 Sausages 80p (Tesco)
- Potatoes 2.5kg 91p (Tesco)
- Parsnips 500g 42p (Tesco)
- Sprouts 500g 95p (Tesco)
- Carrots 200g 30p (Asda)
- Gravy Grannuels 200g 30p (Tesco)
- Stuffing Mix 170g 32p (Asda)
- 6 Mince Pies 99p (Morrisons)
- Instant Custard 70g 19p (Asda)
While Fiona did shop around for all of her ingredients, her prices are based on buying each item in full and not per 100 grams.
You’ll also need a couple of storecupboard ingredients; cooking oil, salt and pepper, and a stock cube.
Food waste can be a huge issue at Christmas, with many families buying far more food than they need and much of it being thrown away.
Ending up with lots of food waste is literally throwing money in the bin.
Fiona told money-saving platform NHS Discount Offers: ‘I used all of the peel from the carrots, sprouts, parsnips and two of the potatoes to create an easy and delicious vegetable soup, the only extras were a stock cube and some seasoning from my cupboard.
‘I think having a starter with Christmas dinner helps add a sense of occasion and makes sure everyone will be full up if you’re serving less on the main course.’
If you don’t want to serve the soup with Christmas dinner it could be set aside for later in the day or even later in the festive season.
Even while trying to rein in the spending, you can still have Christmas classics like turkey.
‘Buying mini breast fillets is the best way to still have my annual turkey fix without spending a fortune on a turkey crown or buying a whole bird,’ says Fiona.
She adds: ‘As the turkey fillets are filled with sausagemeat stuffing and wrapped in bacon, it still feels as though I’m getting those traditional Christmas flavours, just like with a whole turkey but with much less stress.
‘If you prefer your turkey plain, you can simply roast the mini breast fillets as they are.’
Going for mini fillets reduces waste if your guests prefer breast meat to leg or thigh, and using smaller portions also alleviates any worries about whether the bird will be defrosted in time for the big day.
Fiona’s bacon-wrapped turkey breasts take just half an hour to cook which means your oven will be on for less time, saving fuel.
Plus, if you don’t fancy turkey you can always switch to a whole chicken for the same price, and add a jar of cranberry sauce for an extra 59p.
As for the veggies, Fiona bought a 2.5kg bag of potatoes and roasted them off, planning to save any leftovers for snacks or Boxing Day.
She managed to find cut-price veg for side dishes by shopping around. Many supermarkets slash the price of vegetables in the two weeks before Christmas, with recent years seeing carrots, sprouts, parsnips and potatoes down to as little as 20p per pack.
Then, for the pigs in blankets and stuffing, the mum-of-four made her own, saying it ‘was a great way to save some cash’ as she ‘was able to split one pack of value sausages between the two side dishes.’
Fiona adds: ‘I used streaky bacon leftover from the turkey to wrap around four of the sausages and then used the rest of the sausages to make stuffing balls’
Dessert after Christmas dinner doesn’t have to be extravagant, as most people will be pretty full from their roast.
Mince pies are a simple and cheap way to round things off and serving them warm with some instant custard feels more festive.
Fiona managed to get a pack for her Christmas Day dessert from Morrison’s for just 99p, and most supermarkets will have similar deals at this time of year.
If you’d rather switch to a Christmas pudding, the additional cost is £1.01 bringing the cost per head up to £2.74.
Top tips to food shop smarter this Christmas
Busy mum Fiona has some extra hacks to save on your food bill this festive season:
‘Avoid buying foods that won’t get eaten – while nuts in their shells and Christmas cake might be traditional, it’s not worth it no one ends up eating them.’
‘Shop around to get the best deals and start early so you don’t end up panic buying on Christmas Eve. Remember Christmas is all about spending time with loved ones, not about how much money you spend.’
Post a Comment