Christmas Dinner can make for an expensive meal, especially if you add in all the trimmings like extra vegetables, stuffing and sauces. Cash-strapped households have already seen food price inflation rise by a whopping 12.4% over the past year and with the cost of your Christmas dinner likely to be more than 20% higher than last year some families are now sharing the cost by asking everyone to chip in.
There are lots of ways to keep the costs down and you can stock up on Christmas dinner staples – like large 2kg bags of carrots, potatoes, parsnips and sprouts – from just 15p if you know where to shop.
Which is the cheapest supermarket overall for Christmas food
Aldi has consistently been the cheapest supermarket throughout 2022, according to research from consumer group Which? It has pipped Lidl to the post for the last six consecutive months. During the first five months of 2022 – Lidl beat Aldi into second place. Figures for December are due to be released on 17 January.
Each month Which? compares prices on a range of 48 popular grocery items across all the major supermarkets. This includes everything from bread to milk, baked beans, tea bags and toothpaste at Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
In its most recent price check – for November 2022 – Aldi was the winner again – with a price tag of £77.21 for its basket of groceries. Lidl came in second place with its basket coming to £78.57, followed by Tesco at £87.60, Asda at £87.66, Sainsbury’s at £89.95, Morrisons at £93.49 and Ocado at £96.09. Waitrose was the most expensive at £104.11 – £26.90 more than Aldi's basket.
If you want to buy one or two specific, branded, items – a bottle of Baileys or the cheapest place to buy a tub of Lurpak for example – it's probably best to shop around. The easy way to do this is using the supermarket comparison site Trolley.
Which supermarket is cheapest for Christmas veg?
We checked out prices for Christmas staples including potatoes, parsnips, carrots and sprouts at the major supermarkets to find the cheapest.
Based on our research we found you can stock up on the lot for under £1. But do bear in mind that depending on when and what time of day you go the cheapest options and budget packs may be the first to sell out.
| Vegetable | Cheapest supermarket | Pack size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | Aldi | 2kg | 15p |
| Carrots | Sainsbury’s | 1kg | 19p |
| Sprouts | Aldi and Sainsbury’s | 1kg | 19p |
| Parsnips | Aldi and Tesco | 500g | 19p |
Source - Trolley.co.uk
If you want to cut costs even more, with fresh food inflation soaring at a whopping 14.3% it may be worth swapping fresh food for frozen.
Which supermarket is cheapest for Christmas basics?
We’ve checked out the cheapest version (for the same size pack) of basics including bread, milk, teabags, cheese and pasta at supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose.
| Basics | Cheapest supermarket | Pack size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| White sliced bread | Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Asda | 800g | 39p |
| Semi-skimmed milk | Iceland | 1 pint | 85p |
| Teabags | Asda | 40 bags | 31p |
| Dried pasta (shapes/penne) | Asda, Aldi and Tesco | 500g | 41p |
| Cheddar cheese | Sainsbury’s (Mary Ann’s Dairy Grated) | 500g | £2.50 |
| Baked beans | Asda | 410g | 25p |
Source - Trolley.co.uk
How to cut your Christmas food bill even more
Using a loyalty card can cut your Christmas food shop even more. If you don’t already have one for the store you’re shopping in – either get a free one online or download the store’s app. With the best supermarket loyalty cards, you can earn points, and get free items or discounts of up to around 20%.
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