Could you cook Christmas dinner for £1($1.24)?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Figures compiled for BBC News suggest the average cost of a typical dinner for six has risen by 14% since 2015. Spending £64.25 on one meal will be out of the reach of many but, whether you can afford it or not, what's the best way to get a good deal ahead of the big day? BBC News spoke to food bloggers and chefs to find their Christmas dinners aimed at bringing the price down as low as possible. Do you think you could do it?

I reckon I probably could if I put my mind to it...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37985164
 
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No - and neither can the person who published the recipe. You don't get the ingredients for £1 you must use things you already have or buy a larger quantity and use a part of it. Further is £10.75 [ish] really all that much for a once in a year meal ? Remember the £64.25 feeds six people [and probably some leftovers for the dog]. Check out the cost of burger and fries + coffee or even just two pints of pub beer and suddenly £10 for a full meal doesn't seem all that excessive.
 
sidevalve said:
No - and neither can the person who published the recipe. You don't get the ingredients for £1 you must use things you already have or buy a larger quantity and use a part of it. Further is £10.75 [ish] really all that much for a once in a year meal ? Remember the £64.25 feeds six people [and probably some leftovers for the dog]. Check out the cost of burger and fries + coffee or even just two pints of pub beer and suddenly £10 for a full meal doesn't seem all that excessive.
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Well, its true you can't just buy ingredients for one person using this recipe - but if you were to buy all ingredients outright and then divide it by 4 (to feed 4) it comes in a bit over. But still a lot cheaper than £10 a head.

To clarify, the recipe in question is from Miguel Barclay who publishes his one pound meals on Instagram where he has attracted more than 130,000 followers.
Meal breakdown:
  • Chicken leg 50p (£2 for a pack of four)
  • Stuffing mix: 10ml cranberry sauce 3.2p (80p for 250ml), stale bread, and half an onion 5p (six onions for 55p)
  • Pigs in blankets: 30g dried stuffing mix 6p (170g dried stuffing mix 35p) and one rasher of streaky bacon 7.5p (14 rashers of streaky bacon £1.05)
  • Potatoes 200g for 9.4p (47p/kilo)
  • Gravy granules 1 tsp for 5p
  • Sprouts 30g 6p (500g/£1)
  • Total: 92.1p
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morning glory said:
Well, its true you can't just buy ingredients for one person using this recipe - but if you were to buy all ingredients outright and then divide it by 4 (to feed 4) it comes in a bit over. But still a lot cheaper than £10 a head.

To clarify, the recipe in question is from Miguel Barclay who publishes his one pound meals on Instagram where he has attracted more than 130,000 followers.
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Fair point of course - it is cheaper and three cheers for his ingenuity but the title is "Christmas dinner for £1" and really it isn't , after all if you have a chicken leg "leftover" then the price is slashed by half - at what point do you stop "using up". Like many TV chefs who have a habit of saying "Oh you must have this in your store cupboard of course" - er very often no. I agree £10 is a chunk but for a special meal, for the whole family [and I am assuming that is for the full meal of course] compared to two pints of pub beer [£6.50 ish :eek: or even a bottle of pub wine :o_o: which many do "seem" to manage for example]. All I'm saying is that for a once yearly thing when put into context it doesn't seem all that bad.
 
And the cost of actually cooking them were taken into account for that figure. If not, it's meaningless.

I've actually cooked Christmas Dinner for three, two plus one, where the only items bought were the salt, pepper & milk(one person drank with every dinner).
 
Let me run the math. Quick answer, no.
12 pound turkey 77 cents a pound.
10 pounds of potatoes $2.97
4 pounds of sweet potatoes $1
Bread $1.97 per loaf
Flour $1.50
Cornmeal $1.33
Eggs 97 cents a dozen
Celery $1
Onion 33 cents
Sage $1
Milk $2.49 a gallon
Cranberry sauce $1.39 a can
I can't even make the stuffing for $1.24
 
Now my adopted daughter did feed about 15 people one year for $50 but the ham was free or it would have been more. That is still over $3 a head.
 
Read the article. You still have to buy or make bread for stale bread.
Now I don't know about the UK but in the US you can't just buy 1 tsp of gravy granules or other things he gave small prices for.
Yes, you will have extra of some things but you have to outlay the money at some point and time or other.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Read the article. You still have to buy or make bread for stale bread.
Now I don't know about the UK but in the US you can't just buy 1 tsp of gravy granules or other things he gave small prices for.
Yes, you will have extra of some things but you have to outlay the money at some point and time or other.
Click to expand...

I think the point of the instagram one pound meals is to show that it IS possible to cook meals for £1 a head 'over time'. There will be certain things you buy and use a bit at a time. Other things you buy just for the recipe. So its kind of 'costed out'.

In the UK you can buy gravy granules for 20p for 200g ($.25). I'm not saying they are much good - but you can get them that cheap!

Screen Shot 2016-12-15 at 22.30.50.png
 
morning glory said:
I think the point of the instagram one pound meals is to show that it IS possible to cook meals for £1 a head 'over time'. There will be certain things you buy and use a bit at a time. Other things you buy just for the recipe. So its kind of 'costed out'.

In the UK you can buy gravy granules for 20p for 200g ($.25). I'm not saying they are much good - but you can get them that cheap!

View attachment 4513
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Oh yea. We have stuff like that here super cheap but not really edible.
 
As to how much I would have to spend at the store: are we talking about the end of October or right now?
The end of October, the cupboards were nearly bare. Now we are restocked. And since I took advantage of sales, yes I could cook cheap.
 
Cinisajoy said:
As to how much I would have to spend at the store: are we talking about the end of October or right now?
The end of October, the cupboards were nearly bare. Now we are restocked. And since I took advantage of sales, yes I could cook cheap.
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Gosh, I don't know. I was only reporting a news item. I'm not an advocate for this...:laugh: I'm impartial. Just like the BBC!

I think the idea may be that there are certain things you are likely to have and use over time (like flour or bread). It might be better to think about a weekly budget - but hey, its not so catchy as a £1 ($1) meal! This guy got famous with his instagrams and will no doubt have a recipe book out soon.
 
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