Budget chef dad reveals simple swaps to make Christmas dinner for just £1 a head
A BUDGET chef has revealed how to slash your Christmas dinner cost to just £1 a head – by making some simple swaps. Dad-of-one Miguel Barclay, 35, from London, believes no meal should cost more than a quid – even during the festive season. “People tend to go over the top at Christmas,” the man […]
A BUDGET chef has revealed how to slash your Christmas dinner cost to just £1 a head – by making some simple swaps.
Dad-of-one Miguel Barclay, 35, from London, believes no meal should cost more than a quid – even during the festive season.
“People tend to go over the top at Christmas,” the man behind One Pound Chef told Fabulous. “There’s always so much food left over.”
The cheapest supermarket bought Christmas dinner now costs £3.30 per head, according to last year’s Good Housekeeping research, and it could cost as much as £5.50 depending on where you shop.
For Miguel, who’s dad to son Charlie, two, there’s one item which definitely has to go.
He said: “I’m a chicken fan. Instead of buying an expensive turkey, you can pick a chicken up for a fiver, whereas turkey can be about £40, £50.
“Obviously it feeds more people but you can buy two chickens for a tenner.
“And don’t go too crazy on the sides, because there’s always so much food left over.
“Just do two veg, one potatoes and a bit of stuffing. People do tend to go over the top at Christmas.
“You don’t really need two types of carrot and a swede and all of that, the costs really do whack up.”
Miguel's 96p Christmas dinner
Serves one
- 1 chicken leg, de-boned (50p – four for £1.99 at Aldi)
- ½ red onion, finely diced (2p – 11 for 85p at Asda)
- 1 tsp cranberry sauce (5p – 200g for 75p at Asda)
- Small handful of breadcrumbs (2p – grated stale bread)
- 1 large potato, peeled and roughly chopped (12p – 2.5kg for £1.85 at Lidl)
- 3 tbsp dry stuffing mix (6p – 170g for 34p at Lidl)
- Approx 20ml water (free)
- 1 rasher of smoked streaky bacon, cut into three (10p – 14 rashers for £1.39 at Lidl)
- 3 brussels sprouts, separated into leaves (6p – 500g for 90p at Asda)
- 1 tsp gravy granules (3p – 170g for 60p at Asda)
- Olive oil (store cupboard)
- Salt and pepper (store cupboard)
Total cost: 96p
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