FOOD : Feed 4 people a 3 course Christmas Dinner for £11.13!

Yes you read the heading correctly. You CAN feed 4 people a 3 course dinner for only £11.13. It is do-able and the food is superb!

Last year when I cooked this 3 course Christmas Dinner for 4 people it cost less than £10 (£9.76 to be exact). This year with the cost of absolutely EVERYTHING having increased in price, I have managed to cook the same meal for £12.74! As of the 21st December when all the supermarkets reduced their vegetables to 0.19p it costs £11.13!!!

That’s a 25% increase but in the grand scheme of things, a three course Christmas Dinner for 4 people for £12.74 (now £11.12) is pretty good going and you’ll defo get that Christmas full belly sleepy slump at the end!

£11.13 or £2.78 per person for 3 courses!!! PDF DOWNLOAD HERE

£11.13! FEED 4 PEOPLE A 3 COURSE CHRISTMAS DINNER

It’s a tough call between Banquet or Budget, but for me, budget wins. The food is fresh, its fairly easy to prepare and I think taste wise, just tops it. Here is the menu for the Budget Banquet:

Starters - Carrot and Coriander Soup

Mains - Roast Turkey with all the trimmings

brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets and gravy

Dessert - Pineapple Fool

The ingredients for this 3 course budget banquet were purchased from across 3 supermarkets last year, but this year only 2. I have included the price from this year and last year, just for comparison. A thing to note is that the supermarkets all engaged in a vegetable price war last year, knocking prices of vegetables to 19p per bag. They might do that again but at date of publishing this, 29th November 2022, there are no signs of this happening. If it does, I will update the costs again - hopefully making this meal so much cheaper. This has happened as of 21st December 2022, so pricing has been adjusted!

ALDI

• Potatoes - £0.69 per bag (2021 price £0.19) as of 21st December 2022 the price has dropped to 0.19p

• Parsnips - £0.49 per bag (2021 price £0.19) as of 21st December 2022 the price has dropped to 0.19p

• Carrots - £0.24 per bag (2021 price £0.19) as of 21st December 2022 the price has dropped to 0.19p

• Brussel Sprouts - £0.95 per bag (2021 price £0.19) as of 21st December 2022 the price has dropped to 0.19p

• Coriander - £0.52 (2021 price £0.47)

• Custard Creams - £0.42 (2021 price £0.31)

• Pineapple - £0.89 (2021 price £0.75)

• Vegetable Cubes - £0.52 (2021 price £0.35)

• Honey - £0.75 (2021 price £0.69)

• Double Cream - £1.15 (2021 price £0.85)

• Gravy Granules - £0.95 (2021 price £0.79)

• Pigs in Blankets - £1.99 (2021 price was cheapest from Morrisons at £2.00)

• Stuffing Mix - £0.43 (2021 price was cheapest from Farmfoods at £0.29)

ICELAND

• Bernard Matthews Turkey Breast - £2.75 (2021 price was cheapest from Farmfoods at £2.50)

IN TOTAL THIS SHOP COMES TO £11.13

You could of course swop out the turkey for a large whole chicken from Aldi at £4.79 (2021 price £3.45) increasing the total price to £13.17 (2021 price £10.71)

Let’s get this meal on the go. I’ve added in some simple cooking instructions for the starters and the desserts which does require some cooking and assembly.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

You’ll need half the carrots, half the fresh coriander, 2 vegetable stock cubes and an onion from your store cupboard and a wee bit of ginger if you do have (if not, don’t worry). Chop these all up and saute until the carrots are caramelised. Add 2 pints of water, and simmer until cooked, Add in the remainder of the coriander then blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Serve with a swirl of cream.

The Mains is fairly straight forward. Peel and slice all you vegetables. Parsnips can be roasted in honey and brussels sauteed in a pan with some butter until the edges start to caramelise. Your potatoes should be par boiled before placing them into a hot roasting tin that you have heated in the oven with some oil, prior to you placing them into the oven. The turkey joint should be defrosted completely, placed in a roasting pan and in the oven for 45 minutes. The pigs in blankets will take 20 minutes to roast in the oven.

Pineapple Fool

Firstly peel the pineapple, cut it into slices then cubes; add this to a pan with some honey and pan roast until it starts to caramelise. Meanwhile, crush the custard cream biscuits (I used a heavy rolling pin) and whisk up the double cream until stiff peaks appear. Once every component is ready, its time to start building your fool. Biscuit, pineapple, cream. Biscuit, pineapple cream; building until you have used all the ingredients. Do remember though to cool the pineapple down before assembly.

The Soup and the Dessert can be made the night before and stored in the fridge. It took me an hour and half to prep and cook the mains, taking my time. I did have the Christmas tunes on and I may have had a wee sherry or two….

As far as Christmas Dinners go, this menu gives you huge portions and 3 courses that will easily feed 4 people. There is no need to feel anxious about Christmas, with some shopping around and a little time spent in the kitchen, you can whip up a delicious 3 course dinner in a few hours.

Here’s hoping your Christmas Dinner is all that you want it to be.

Merry Christmas from TartanSpoon x