When it comes to Christmas dinner you can be as basic or extravagant as you like. But with so many families struggling to make ends meet amid the cost of living crisis, it's likely a lot of people will be wanting to limit their spending this year.
Supermarkets are only too aware of this and there's somewhat of a price war going on for the most affordable frozen offering.
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With Tesco selling a £25 dinner and Asda's coming in at £20, lesser-known Heron Foods has come up trumps with a £15 version.
It's hardly surprising it would be the cheapest, considering the chain is owned by budget brand B&M and our price check there earlier this year showed us just what deals can be picked up store.
So what do you get with the Christmas deal? In short, a hell of a lot, especially when it works out at £3.75 a person.
As well as a turkey joint with stuffing, you get roasted carrots and parsnips, Brussel sprouts with bacon, cauliflower cheese, Chantenay carrots, roast potatoes and pigs in blankets.
And while not everyone agrees that Yorkshire puddings belong on a Christmas dinner, thankfully the Yorkshire-based firm does, so a bag of Aunt Bessie's best is thrown in too.
It's all from the freezer, and there's always going to be a bit of a difference between fresh and frozen, but let's be honest, not everyone has the budget for a prize-winning free range bird and all the trimmings on their table.
As far as frozen food quality goes, it's all decent stuff and the added ingredients in the packs - the garlic and parsley butter with the Chantenay carrots and the crisp chopped bacon with the sprouts for instance - meant that nothing extra needed adding to any of it. It didn't need seasoning at all and we simply added some gravy of our own.
Even the turkey joint comes with pork, sage and onion stuffing already inside it and is already topped with streaky bacon so that was good to go too. And if you don't fancy that you can choose from a standard turkey breast joint or honey-glazed gammon joint as part of the deal instead.
There was more than enough for two adults and two children and we could easily have got another meal from it. Although a fifth meal could be without a Yorkshire pudding and would mean everyone getting two pigs in blankets instead of three and that's not something that would go down too well in our house.
There was more veg leftover than anything else, probably because despite more than a decade of whinging, we still have to encourage the kids to eat their carrots and there's not a chance in hell either of them would touch a sprout. I only recently started eating them at the grand age of 44 so I can't complain.
Overall we were pretty impressed. My only gripe was the different timings and temperatures of products made it a bit of a faff to prepare.
But I think 'a bit of a faff' is a small price to pay when you're getting a festive meal for the whole family for £15. Full details of what is included in the deal are listed below:
- The Best Buy Turkey Joint with Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing 900g - £7
- The Best Buy Roasted Root Vegetables 500g - £2
- Cauliflower Cheese 325g - £1.79
- Aunt Bessie’s Duck Fat Roast Potatoes 700g - £2
- Aunt Bessie’s 4 Spectacular Yorkshires 220g - £1.89
- 12 Pigs in Blankets 240g - £2.50
- The Best Buy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon 500g - £1.69
- The Best Buy Chantenay Carrots with Butter 500g - £1.69
Without the deal the products would come to £20.56 if bought separately, giving you a saving of £5.56.
Tony Dobbs, managing director of Heron Foods said: “We’re delighted to be bringing this fantastic value festive dinner deal for our customers in the lead up to Christmas Day.
"So many families across the country are feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis and we’re hoping this deal will help those families enjoy one of the most iconic British Christmas traditions without worrying about the cost."
The festive deal is available in stores while stocks last, but the frozen food retailer is expecting it to sell out fast, especially with shoppers able to buy it all weeks in advance of the big day.
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