Christmas is approaching very quickly, which means many shoppers will now be stocking up on all the essentials for that important festive feast.
Whether you opt for a classic turkey or something a little different, it's safe to say that the price of a Christmas dinner can really mount up. Not only this, but the making of the Christmas dinner can be a bit of a faff too, especially for someone that isn't great at cooking (like myself!)
After successfully cooking a delicious Asda Just Essentials roast and loving it, I thought it would be worth creating my own Christmas dinner with the budget friendly range of food. As a side note, some ingredients for the Christmas dinner weren't available in the Just Essentials range, so I opted for the second cheapest option to make it as affordable as possible.
READ MORE: 'I made an entire Sunday roast for £6 with Asda Just Essentials ingredients'
The chicken
By far the most impressive ingredient for me was the chicken. Although I'd traditionally opt for a turkey at Christmas, there was no turkey available from the Asda Just Essentials range.
For £3.35, you got absolutely loads of chicken that could've easily fed four people or more. I'm someone that likes to have a lot of chicken, so I thought this was incredible value.
The chicken was also absolutely full of flavour. At first, I was a little conscious it might be dry or tasteless, but it was quite the opposite.
I'd go as far to say this was my favourite ingredient of the whole Christmas dinner, purely because it offered such great value and tasted amazing too. An Asda turkey crown can set shoppers back over £20 depending on which one they choose, so this chicken is a great alternative if you're not a big fan of turkey.
Price: £3.35
Rating: 5/5
The vegetables
I'll be honest, I usually go for the full shebang at Christmas including cauliflower cheese, broccoli, parsnips the lot. This time, I wanted to see if the Asda Just Essentials frozen mixed vegetables offered just as much flavour.
For 72p, the mixed bag of vegetables included carrots, cauliflower, peas and broccoli, and offered a nice bit of colour to my plate. For convenience and price, I'd definitely think the frozen vegetables were worth it if you'd rather not deal with all the prep. Granted, they weren't miraculous in terms of flavour but they still tasted ok and were really quick and easy to cook.
Price: 72p
Rating: 3/5
The pigs in blankets
I was gutted I couldn't find any pigs in blankets in the Asda Essentials range, considering they're definitely one of my favourite parts of a Christmas dinner. I managed to find a pack of 'Scrummy' 12 pigs in blankets from Asda, priced at £2.40.
I thought that was a pretty reasonable price for the amount you got, but it would've been interesting to see a selection from the Essentials range. The Asda pigs in blankets were absolutely delicious, as expected, but a little on the salty side.
I'd definitely recommend cooking these for a little longer than it says if you like them crunchy, because mine didn't quite live up to scratch in terms of consistency. Nevertheless, they were absolutely yum.
Price: £2.40
Rating: 5/5
The stuffing
For 25p, the Asda Just Essentials stuffing mix was an absolute steal. It tasted so buttery and delicious, with just the right amount of herbs. It complemented the chicken really nicely and you got absolutely loads for the price.
To me, all stuffing tastes the same, so I'm definitely making the swap to the Asda Essentials stuffing as it's not only a bargain, but tastes great too.
Price: 25p
Rating: 5/5
The potatoes
Arguably one of the most important ingredients on a Christmas dinner is the potatoes, and although I do think I've got my technique perfected in terms of herbs and crispiness - how did the Just Essentials potato actually taste?
For £1.15, the pack of white potatoes were fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. They tasted pretty good, but picky me could notice a slight difference in comparison to Maris Piper.
Generally, if you cook them how you like with a cheeky bit of goose fat, you can't go wrong, so I definitely think these potatoes are worth the swap if it saves you a few pennies.
Price: £1.15
Rating: 4/5
The Yorkshire puddings
Perhaps the weakest ingredient on the plate were the Yorkshire puddings. Now don't get me wrong, there was nothing terrible about them, but I just absolutely love homemade ones..
I've been having homemade Yorkshire puddings for a few years now and you can definitely tell the difference in terms of quality. However, if you're a bit tight for time or can't be bothered to make the recipe, frozen Yorkies are always a solid option.
For 50p for a pack, it's clear to see that these are a total bargain. But I do think they lack in terms of flavour, and they're generally quite small.
Price: 50p
Rating: 2/5
The sprouts
I couldn't find any Just Essentials sprouts (which I wasn't too bothered about because I'm not a big fan) but I did manage to find some Asda 'Sweet and Nutty' sprouts for 95p. I don't usually eat my sprouts, but for the purpose of the review I took a bite - and it was terrible.
In terms of the quality of sprout I'd say they were fine, but I just absolutely hate the taste. The low score on this one is purely down to my personal preference.
Price: 95p
Rating : 0/5
The gravy
The gravy had a really lovely meaty flavour that complemented the Christmas dinner well, and it was also incredibly thick which was a massive bonus. Let's be honest, there's nothing worse than thin gravy trickling down your fork when you're trying to tuck into a festive feast, so I was really happy with the 32p gravy granules.
Considering I usually go for Bisto which is priced at a whopping £1.50, I'd definitely make the swap to the Asda Essentials gravy. They virtually tasted the same.
Price: 32p
Rating: 5/5
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