FROM the turkey to Christmas pudding, a festive feast can often end up costing a small fortune.
But if money is a bit tight this year, then no fear…because a savvy cook has shared a super easy you can make Christmas dinner for six for less than £20 – and it’s all thanks to bargain buys from Aldi.
In a clip posted to TikTok (@mealsbymitch), he begins by sharing his receipt from the supermarket store which totals £19.44.
Amongst the bargain buys includes a £4.49 whole roast chicken, 50p parsnips, 75p cabbage, 49p stuffing and £1.99 pigs in blankets.
“It’s officially that time of year again where I show you that it’s possible to make a fully loaded Christmas dinner for under 20 quid that’ll comfortably feed five to six people,” the foodie explains.
He goes on to say that he’ll be using chicken but urges his social media followers to buy whatever they can afford.
“We’re going to start by grabbing a baking tray and dashing in one onion and one carrot, two sticks of celery, a little bit of thyme and rosemary,” he says.
Next, he drizzles over some oil and salt and pepper, which he notes is going to be a base for the gravy.
“It’s all about getting as much flavour into this tray as possible,” he explains.
“I’ve got a large chicken….chuck it on top into a bowl of mixed together butter, rosemary, thyme, couple of cloves of garlic.
“Now, salt and pepper all over.”
The foodie then says to work your fingers underneath the skin, and suggests pushing in the butter and working it down my massaging its breasts and spreading the rest all over.
He recommends placing a lemon and stick of rosemary inside, before popping it into the oven for an hour and 45 minutes on 180.
“Peel and chop up the spuds,” he continues.
“Divide them into two portions, half for the roasties and half for the mash.
“Put them in cold salted water and bring half them up to a boil.”
Once they’re tender, he says to dry them off and let them completely dry.
“I’ve heated up some veg oil onto a baking tray for 15 minutes,” he explains.
“Get the cold spuds on there, coat them in the oil and whack them in the oven for half an hour.”
While that’s cooking away, Mitch says you’ve got plenty of time on your hands to prep your veggies.
“Put your parsnips and carrots into a bowl – season, salt, black pepper,
pour over a generous amount of honey and set aside.”
Next, he explains that when the chicken is ready, remove the wings, chuck them into the tray and wrap the chicken up to rest.
“Get the tray and add a couple of slices of cooked bacon, heaped
tablespoon of flour and mix through,” he continues.
“Pour in a litre chicken stock and let this bubble on a low heat for the remaining time it takes everything to cook.”
It’s then time for the carrots and parsnips to go into the oven.
“Now into a bowl I’ve mixed together some rosemary,
thyme and garlic,” he says.
“Give the roasties a flip over, mix it all with the herbs and garlic and back into the oven for another half an hour.
“At this point, you want to get the pigs in blankets and stuffing balls into the oven too.”
Mitch points out he’s also got the second lot of spuds on to boil for the mash.
“Flip over the carrots and parsnips and back into the oven,” he instructs.
“And for the bacon and Brussels, get some bacon nice and crispy.
“Take it out, put it to one side, sprouts in there, then it gets nice and charred in all that bacon fat and return the bacon.
“I got the yorkies in the oven, cabbage on to boil, mash should be nice and soft -season up with salt and black pepper, get some butter in there as well and give it all a good mashing.”
Mitch explains that by now, the gravy should’ve thickened up nicely so all that’s left to do is pour it all through a sieve, pressing it all down so it’s nice and silky.”
It wasn’t long before the post went viral, with many quick to praise the cook’s bargain Christmas feast.
“That’s how it’s done. No need to go insane with the cost. don’t forget to get in the supermarket after Xmas for cheap turkeys and ham!” wrote one.
A second praised: “And if you wait til the week before Xmas all the veg is like 19p each.”
A third commented: “All looks amazing but that gravy looks amazing.”
Meanwhile, a fourth joked: “What time do you want me to come round?”
It comes after The Sun previously told how a woman bought a 3-course Christmas dinner for £15 from a supermarket you wouldn’t normally think of…which fed SIX plus leftovers.
Another foodie tried and tested 134 mince pies from Morrisons to Asda and M&S and shared what fared best.
Meanwhile, we tested high-street Christmas sandwiches and found the best is pricey but a clear winner.
