Preparations for Christmas are well underway, which means Brits will soon be off to the supermarket to stock up on their Christmas dinner essentials.
But as the country tackles an ongoing cost of living crisis, many families will be seeking the most affordable option this winter.
According to Martin Lewis ’ MoneySavingExpert, Aldi has come out on top as the cheapest supermarket to buy your Christmas dinner this year.
The MoneySavingExpert team compared the cost of individual Christmas dinner essentials at the UK’s leading supermarkets to find the most affordable, based on a meal for four.
They price checked a range of items, including a turkey, carrots, cranberry sauce, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, Yorkshire puddings, sprouts, mince pies and Christmas pudding.
Aldi turned out to be the cheapest place for Brits to purchase their Christmas dinner essentials, with a dinner for four totalling £23.33 for all items.
Next on the list was Asda with a total of £23.35, although MoneySavingExpert says that you’re still likely to get more for your cash at Aldi.
For example, Aldi’s offers a larger bag of roast potatoes, weighing 1kg and costing 95p, compared with Asda’s 800g bag costing 88p.
Waitrose was found to be the most expensive supermarket to do your Christmas shop overall, costing £46.20 per basket.
Here's a full breakdown of the cost of a Christmas dinner for around four people at each supermarket, according to MoneySavingExpert's findings:
- Aldi - £23.33
- Asda - £23.35
- Tesco - £23.62
- Lidl - £24.62
- Morrisons - £24.91
- Iceland - £26.60
- Sainsbury's - £28.37
- Marks and Spencer - £38
- Waitrose - £46.20
The MoneySavingExpert team compared the price of various Christmas dinner items as of December 8, 2022.
Where possible they also compared each item like-for-like, including weight and product amount - and went for the next best option if the exact size wasn't available.
The items compared were:
Turkey (frozen, 1.5kg)
Roast potatoes (frozen, 800g)
Stuffing (170g)
Gravy (200g)
Cranberry sauce (200g)
Brussel sprouts (500g)
Carrots (500g)
Yorkshire puddings (12)
Pigs in blankets (12)
Christmas pudding (400g)
Mince pies (6)
MSE says they chose items that they think make up a typical Christmas dinner, comparing the overall cost if you were to buy those items individually.
However, some supermarkets may be offering Christmas dinner deals with set items - and that may work out cheaper.
Asda recently launched a frozen Christmas dinner, complete with a turkey, pigs in blankets and a variety of veg - which claims to feed a family of 5 for a total of £21.48.
Tesco introduced their bargain Christmas meal, complete with a 1.5kg turkey crown, roast potatoes and all the trimmings - for £25, working out at around £4.80 per person.