As the winter months are approaching and the nights are getting darker, there's no better way than to end your week with a Sunday roast dinner.
However, with Christmas approaching comes more financial strains, from higher energy bills to buying gifts for the family. So it's important to save as much as you can where possible.
That's why we've crunched the numbers to work out which British supermarket does the cheapest roast dinner so you don't have to sacrifice the best meal of the week!
Our Consumer Finance Experts investigated the costs of all key ingredients of a roast dinner at nine leading supermarkets, concluding the cost per person.
We ranked the supermarkets in terms of cost for both a chicken and a beef roast dinner, with one being the cheapest and nine ranking the most costly.
If you’re partial to a chicken dinner but don’t want to break the bank, our research has revealed that Aldi is the place to be. At only £2.07 a head, you can cook for a family of four with change to spare from a tenner!
| Supermarket | Cost of Chicken Roast Dinner (£) | Cost per person (£) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldi | £8.26 | £2.07 | 1. |
| Lidl | £8.37 | £2.09 | 2. |
| Tesco | £10.55 | £2.64 | 3. |
| Sainsburys | £11.19 | £2.80 | 4. |
| Asda | £12.03 | £3.01 | 5. |
| Morrisons | £14.62 | £3.65 | 6. |
| Waitrose | £15.43 | £3.86 | 7. |
| M&S | £15.73 | £3.93 | 8. |
| Co-op | £18.05 | £4.51 | 9. |
However, if you prefer a beef roast dinner, Lidl is top of the charts at only £2.33 per head, closely followed by Aldi at £2.73 per head.
| Supermarket | Cost of Beef Roast Dinner (£) | Cost per person (£) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lidl | £9.33 | £2.33 | 1. |
| Aldi | £10.92 | £2.73 | 2. |
| Asda | £15.78 | £3.95 | 3. |
| Tesco | £19.55 | £4.89 | 4. |
| Sainsburys | £19.69 | £4.92 | 5. |
| Morrisons | £21.69 | £5.42 | 6. |
| Co-op | £23.35 | £5.84 | 7. |
| M&S | £23.48 | £5.87 | 8. |
| Waitrose | £26.59 | £6.65 | 9. |
Waitrose, M&S and the Co-op consistently chart in the top three most expensive supermarkets to get your ingredients from, for both chicken and beef roast dinners, so if you’re looking to save money it’s best to give these a miss.
Methodology:
Total calculation based on ingredients required to feed a party of 4 people.
Food costs from Aldi, Asda, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose sourced from each company website. Prices reflective of time period when information gathered, the week commencing Monday 4th October.
Lidl information sourced from in-store as this information is not available on their website, gathered at Lidl Salford (68 Fitzwarren Street, Salford, M6 5JE) on Tuesday 5th October 2021.
Price of vegetables have been calculated based on a price per kilogram basis to ensure uniformity.