But one local chef is set on making sure no household misses out on a proper Christmas dinner — and he’s proving it doesn’t have to cost the earth.
John Strickland is a chef at Stacked Gourmet Sandwich Bar, a budget-friendly restaurant with premises in west and south Belfast.
“Everything comes in fresh each day. We get it prepped and then we are ready for service,” John explained.
Stacked’s passion is to provide fresh food — something the public can also enjoy on a budget, says John.
“If you are cooking for yourself, you can get stuff that’s maybe a day or two old. As long as it’s stored right, it’s just as fresh as the stuff you are getting that day,” he said.
John’s top advice to families searching for cheap Christmas dinners is to shop in big supermarkets: “Use those big companies to your advantage, the likes of Tesco and Asda, a week before Christmas. Their veg and the potatoes, they’re all down [in price]. I think last year they were 19p. So use that to your advantage.”
John understands that meat can make a Christmas dinner much more expensive.
“If turkey turns out to be too expensive, go for a large chicken. If a big ham is too dear, go a bit cheaper. Take advantage of Tesco and Asda; see what they have on offer. You could even go for gammon steaks if you are on a tight budget.”
The chef encourages shoppers not to get distracted by brand names.
“Set a budget and stick to it. Don’t be going for the big fancy brands, because that doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste better,” he said.
Casey Conway with Stacked Gourmet Sandwich Bar’s offering of Christmas dinner (Luke Jervis/Belfast Telegraph)
John believes families can save money by making homemade stuffing this year.
“Use your bread. Break down your bread with your tiny bit of butter in it. It doesn’t have to be expensive butter — you can do it with margarine, and season it,” he said.
“And you don’t have to have sausage meat in your stuffing. Now, the tradition is that most people like that at Christmas — I do myself — but you can definitely make it cheaply and have something that tastes very good.”
Other things are cheaper to buy than make at home: “For gravy it works out cheaper just to buy the cheap granules.
“But if you are making a chicken or ham, you can use the juice from that in your gravy. Or if you have any wee bits of meat, just throw them in the gravy and it will taste so much better.”
John added that a Christmas dinner can still feel luxurious even on a budget.
“Carrot and parsnips — just roast them in the oven with a bit of oil,” he suggested.
Christmas dinner from Stacked Gourmet Sandwich Bar (Luke Jervis/Belfast Telegraph)
“If honey is too expensive, hit it with a bit of sugar. Most people have sugar in their house and it will give you that real caramelised taste.
“[Roast potatoes], I put them straight into the oven, with a touch of oil.
“People would use goose fat, or duck fat, things like that, but it could be too expensive. But you can use a touch of oil. If you don’t have oil use a bit of butter.”
You can also make flavourful mash potatoes without breaking the budget.
“As long as your potatoes are drained, they are good. You can use a bit of butter if you want to get that nice buttery flavour from it. But if it is too expensive, just stick with milk,” John said.
The chef also shared how to make Brussels sprouts taste good.
“I put some bacon around ours; that’s because we had smoked bacon rashers. But if you are making a gammon, you can cut a bit of it off and throw it in with the sprouts and it will have the same effect,” he said.
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Chef John Strickland with Stacked Gourmet Sandwich Bar’s offering of Christmas dinner (Luke Jervis/Belfast Telegraph)
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John is aware that many families may be worried about their energy bills over the holiday season, and advises “maximising your oven space, instead of having four or five pots boiling away, doing this and doing that”.
“You can roast your veg, do your potatoes in the oven. Stay away from trying to use all different appliances at once.”
Another way of saving money this Christmas is to stretch your leftovers.
“For the likes of your turkey and stuff, you could do a turkey curry the next day. What my family used to do on Boxing Day was cold meat, mash and a spread of pickles and things. That’s just what we did.
“But, depending on what your family like, you could make a curry, bubble and squeak…
“There’s so much you can do to make sure it’s not being put in the bin and you’re getting another day out of it.”
Dining and Cooking