Where can you buy the cheapest Christmas dinner?

With the pressure of shopping, the expense of presents and the expectations of the season, Christmas is a stressful time of year for many.

If you’re worried about the cost of Christmas, we've checked the prices of Christmas dinner at the big four supermarkets – Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's – as well as Aldi and Iceland/the Food Warehouse to see how much you're looking at for the main meal.

Our criteria

We picked these stores because they're usually affordable and often have good deals.

Plus, you can easily check the latest prices online – as Lidl's website doesn’t show prices, we've not included them.

We've also:

• based our list around a family of four
• chosen the cheapest ingredients
• given you more bang for your buck – that's why you'll see plain potatoes on our list, so you don't have to choose between mash or roasties

Everyone has their own Christmas plate preferences, but we've kept things as traditional as we can.

That said, we've not held back so there are plenty of trimmings to enjoy with your turkey, like:

• stuffing
• pigs in blankets
• roast spuds and mash
• Yorkshire puddings
• three veg sides, including carrots, sprouts and honey-roasted parsnips
• gravy, cranberry sauce and bread sauce
• four traditional puds – keeping everyone happy

We've also left out some items if it's included elsewhere, e.g. stuffing if your roast includes it or honey if you're able to buy honey-roasted parsnips.

All prices are accurate as of publication. We didn't include any special offers, as these can change before Christmas.

Aldi (total cost £36.63 – £9.16 per person)

Aldi is the only supermarket on our list where we could find fresh bread sauce, so we’ve left milk off this list.

• basted turkey breast joint (fresh or frozen, 800g, serves 5) – £5.49
• 12 frozen pigs in blankets – £1.99
• gravy granules, various flavours (300g tub) – £1.09
• 15 Yorkshire puddings – 46p
• 2.5kg wonky potatoes – £1.49
• goose fat (200g jar) – £1.99
• fresh bread sauce (300g), £2.19
• sage and onion stuffing mix (170g) – 45p
• whole or smooth cranberry sauce (200g jar) – 55p
• 500g fresh sprouts – 85p
• 500g fresh carrots – 38p
• 500g wonky parsnips – 55p
• clear honey (340g jar) – 75p
• mince pies (box of six) – £1.25
• Christmas pudding (400g) – £1.99
• iced Christmas cake (907g) – £5.99
• Christmas caterpillar cake – £6.49
• single cream (300ml) – 99p
• brandy sauce (500g) – £1.69

Asda (total cost £41.15 – £10.29 per person)

• fresh small basted turkey (serves 4–6) – £10.95
• 12 maple pigs in blankets – £2.50
• gravy granules, various flavours (200g tub) – £1
• 12 Yorkshire puddings – 91p
• 2kg white potatoes – £1.35
• duck fat (220g jar) – £2.65
• bread sauce sachet (40g) – 90p
• semi-skimmed longlife milk – 69p
• sage and onion stuffing mix (85g) – 30p
• cranberry sauce (200g jar) – 55p
• 500g fresh sprouts – £1
• 500g fresh carrots – 40p
• 500g fresh parsnips – 75p
• runny honey (454g jar) – £1.75
• mince pies (box of six) – £1.25
• Christmas pudding (400g) – £2.25
• iced fruit cake (907g) – £7
• chocolate yule log (260g) – £1.75
• fresh single cream (300ml) – £1.20
• brandy flavour sauce (465g) – £2

Iceland/the Food Warehouse (total cost £35.95 – £8.99 per person)

The only item we couldn’t find here was bread sauce and we’ve chosen to leave out the stuffing as it comes with the turkey.

It also worked out better to buy a bag of honey-roasted parsnips than make them from scratch.

• stuffed turkey breast joint (500g) – £4.50
• 12 pigs in blankets – £3
• gravy granules, various flavours (300g tub) – £1.25
• 12 Yorkshire puddings – £1
• white potatoes (1.6kg) – £2
• goose fat (200g jar) – £3
• cranberry sauce (200g jar) – £1.75
• frozen button sprouts 1.2kg – £2
• 500g fresh carrots – 75p
• frozen honey-roast parsnips (750g) – £2.75
• mince pies (box of six) – £1.45
• Christmas pudding (400g) – £3
• iced fruit cake (400g) – £3.25
• triple chocolate yule log (272g, serves 8) – £3
• alternative to single cream (270ml) – £1.25
• brandy flavour sauce (465g) – £2

Morrisons (total cost £36.27 – £9.07 per person)

• frozen turkey breast joint (500g, serves four) – £4.50
• 12 frozen pigs in blankets – £2.75
• gravy granules, various flavours (200g tub) – 99p
• 12 Yorkshire puddings – £1.25
• 2kg white potatoes – £1.55
• duck fat (250g) – £2.50
• bread sauce sachet (40g) – 90p
• semi-skimmed milk (1 pint, fresh) – 85p
• sage and onion stuffing (85g) – 55p
• cranberry sauce (200g jar) – 55p
• 500g fresh sprouts – 89p
• 500g fresh carrots – 50p
• 500g wonky parsnips – 55p
• clear honey (227g) – 79p
• mince pies (box of six) – £1.45
• Christmas pudding (400g) – £2.50
• iced Christmas cake (800g) – £7
• chocolate yule log (serves 8) – £3
• single cream (300ml) – £1.20
• brandy flavour sauce (465g) – £2

Sainsbury's (total cost £42.86 – £10.72 per person)

• frozen basted turkey breast joint (800g, serves 3–6) – £12
• 12 pigs in blankets – £3
• gravy granules (170g) – 40p
• 15 Yorkshire puddings – 44p
• 2kg white potatoes – £1.35
• duck or goose fat (320g) – £4.30
• bread sauce mix (40g) – 60p
• semi-skimmed longlife milk (1L) – 69p
• sage and onion stuffing mix (170g) – 45p
• cranberry sauce (250ml) – 69p
• 500g loose sprouts – 75p
• 500g loose carrots – 35p
• 500g loose parsnips – 75p
• clear honey (340g jar) – 75p
• mince pies (box of six) – £1.70
• Christmas pudding (800g) – £5.50
• iced fruit cake (400g) – £3.50
• chocolate yule log (240g) – £3
• single cream (300ml) – 99p
• brandy alternative to cream (250ml) – £1.65

Tesco (total cost £37.21 – £9.30 per person)

• butter basted frozen turkey breast (serves four) – £8
• 12 pigs in blankets – £2.50
• gravy granules, various flavours (200g tub) – 73p
• 15 Yorkshire puddings – 46p
• 2kg white potatoes – £1.35
• goose fat (220g jar) – £2
• bread sauce sachet (40g) – 95p
• semi-skimmed longlife milk – 69p
• sage and onion stuffing mix (170g) – 45p
• cranberry sauce (200g jar) – 55p
• 500g fresh sprouts – 89p
• 500g loose carrots – 35p
• 500g wonky parsnips – 55p
• clear honey (340g jar) – 75p
• mince pies (box of six) – £1.25
• Christmas pudding (400g) – £3.25
• iced fruit cake (907g) – £6.75
• chocolate yule log (260g) – £2.75
• single cream (300ml) – 99p
• brandy flavour sauce (465g) – £2