Here’s Why Your Christmas Dinner Could Be Cheaper This Year

A hearty roast is a staple in the majority of households on Christmas day, but how much will the average supermarket-bought dinner set you back? Retail platform Assosia has looked into how the price of festive ingredients has changed since 2023 – and it’s good news: overall, the average family Christmas will be slightly cheaper this year.

How Much Will Christmas Dinner Cost In 2024?

The research compared prices of traditional Christmas dinner foods such as turkey, Brussels sprouts and pigs in blankets across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl. Taking all of this into account, Assosia calculated the average cost of a Christmas dinner for £2024 as £31.66, down from last year’s figure of £32.18.

Which Christmas Dinner Ingredients Are Cheaper?

According to Assosia, turkey has fallen in price by six percent this year – a result of the market stabilising after a couple of turbulent years. The average frozen turkey now comes in at £19.08 for a 4.55kg bird. 

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Brussels sprouts have also dropped by 12 percent in price since 2023, with a 500g bag costing an average of £0.86. Extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves and sudden cold snaps have affected farming conditions over the past couple of years, but it seems the sprout industry is back on track. John Inglis, senior commercial manager at one of the UK’s largest sprout producers, ESG Drysdale, told the BBC the industry is ‘back to normality’ after ‘a couple of tricky seasons’. The price of onions, sage and onion stuffing, and pigs in blankets has also gone down since 2023.

Which Christmas Dinner Ingredients Are More Expensive?

Root vegetables, on the other hand, have shot up in price in 2024. Maris Piper potatoes have seen the biggest increase at 26 percent, with a typical 2kg now costing £1.99 compared to £1.58 in 2023. As with so many foods, this is predominantly a result of poor weather conditions, including the very wet spring of 2024. It’s a similar story for carrots, which are up 13.4 percent. 

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Mince pies – specifically ones topped with icing – were also found to be more expensive, up by 4.8 percent to £1.82 for a pack of six. 

Which Supermarkets Are The Most Expensive?

Separate research from NetVoucherCodes looked into how the price of a Christmas roast differs across supermarkets. Based on the cost of food for around six to eight people, Aldi was the lowest at £32.04, while at M&S you’re likely to shell out £81.25.