Christmas Dinner 2023: Best UK supermarket to buy essential ingredients - Tesco, ASDA, M&S, Aldi

After a year of sky-high inflation rates, the cost of a traditional Christmas dinner is forecast to be more expensive than last Christmas, according to Kantar Worldpanel. The consumer research company has been measuring a list of Christmas dinner essentials, including vegetables and meat, and found products are 1.3% higher than 2022's festive season.

While the figure is well below the UK's current rate of inflation, it adds to a costly Christmas dinner that rose 'three times faster than wages' in 2022, according to figures from the Trades Union Congress.

Remarkably, cranberry sauce shot up the most in price this year compared to last Christmas. The cost of the delicious relish has been impacted by post-Brexit trade rules and is a Christmas essential scarcely produced in the UK.

Consumers will therefore want to know how they can make the most of an expensive situation. NationalWorld has compared the prices of six Christmas ingredients to find which UK supermarket is the best to buy Christmas dinner essentials from.

By using data from the price comparison site, Trolley, we've taken a look at which online products from the UK's leading supermarkets are the cheapest at the time of writing (December 5). Prices are subject to change throughout the festive period but many supermarkets have vowed to lock in the price of essentials for the benefit of customers.

Items taken from Trolley are available online and may not be present in stores. It should also be noted all M&S products used in the article are sourced from Ocado, which sets its prices independently and can differ from the cost of items sold in M&S stores.

Best UK supermarket to buy Christmas dinner ingredients 2023

Cranberry Sauce

Aldi is currently the cheapest supermarket for cranberry sauce with its Bramwell Smooth Cranberry Sauce & Bramwell Whole Cranberry Sauce retailing for £0.55, according to Trolley. However, the price comparison site does note both products have been seen on the shelves for £1.09.

On the other end of the scale, M&S' cheapest cranberry sauce is the most expensive at £1 while the product usually retails for £1.20, according to Trolley. Morrisons is currently the cheapest of the 'traditional' supermarkets with its non-branded cranberry sauce retailing online for £0.59.

Potatoes

There is not much of a price difference between UK supermarkets for the two types of potatoes most commonly used for roast potatoes at Christmas - King Edwards and Maris Piper potatoes. According to Trolley, ASDA sells the largest size of Maris Pipers 2.5kg for the cheapest price of £1.70.

Meanwhile for King Edwards, ASDA comes out on top again with its 2.5kg retailing for a slightly more expensive £1.85. M&S is selling the same size bags of Maris Pipers at £2 and King Edwards at £2.25.

Turkey

Aldi is currently the cheapest supermarket to buy a frozen whole turkey and frozen turkey crown. The discount supermarket's Ashfields Large British Turkey Crown, weighing in at 2.4 -2.8kg, will set customers back £18.99 whereas the whole bird weighing 5.4-7.2kg is currently priced at £21.99.

Outside of the traditional supermarkets, Iceland is selling branded whole turkey birds and turkey crowns for £26 and £23 respectively. Sainsbury's comes out as the most expensive traditional supermarket for the main meat, with its turkey crown priced slightly more expensive than Tesco.

It's important to note, supermarkets are expected to go into a turkey price-match war and compete to suppress prices for customers. This will impact the cost of fresh turkeys in store which will hit the shelves closer to Christmas.

Pigs in blankets

With both frozen and fresh products taken into account, Aldi is once again the cheapest option with its 'Lets Party Pigs in Blankets 12 pack' at £1.99. The German discounter is closely followed by ASDA's 'Maple Pigs in Blankets 12 pack', which retails at £2.25.

Sainsbury's and M&S are the most expensive supermarkets to shop for pigs in blankets at the moment, priced at £3 and £3.70 respectively.

Christmas pudding

With Aldi currently not selling Christmas puddings online, Morrisons came out the cheapest and was only matched by Tesco for its larger dessert. On the other hand, M&S's cheapest 800g Christmas Pudding was 75% more expensive than Tesco and Morrisons.

Brussells sprouts

Unlike Cranberry Sauce, Brussells sprouts are abundant in the UK with 43,000 tonnes of the vegetable being produced in 2022 alone, according to latest Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) statistics. This is likely to have contributed to the nation's most-loved (and hated) veg being 4.3% cheaper than last year, Kantar reports.

According to Trolley, M&S' frozen Brussel Sprouts are the cheapest at £0.70, beating out Aldi at £0.79. Among the traditional supermarkets, Tesco's Brussells sprouts are on sale for a more expensive £0.95, whereas ASDA's Sweet & Nutty Trimmed Brussels Sprouts have hit the shelves for £1.