Christmas dinner could cost you just £2.53 a head

Your Christmas dinner this year could cost as little as £2.53 per head if you plan your shopping carefully.

Good Housekeeping has browsed the aisles for the best bargains, based on 11 Christmas dinner essentials from stuffing to brandy butter.

It has concluded that a bit of shopping around means it's possible to feed eight people for £20.26 - nearly 5% cheaper than last year's £21.31.

If you want to do your whole Christmas shop in one store, Iceland's the cheapest place to go for the second year running, with a basket costing just £24.81 - £3.03 lower than last year.

And, this year, high-street supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons jumped ahead of Lidl, which was last year's runner up. Tesco's basket totalled £25.77 - down from £32.98 in 2014 - and Morrisons was £26.17, compared with £29.12 last year.

Lidl's basket rose in price, up from £28.13 to £30.31. But its turkey was the cheapest found, at just £8.99.

"Thanks to low inflation and supermarket price wars, consumers who are particularly budget conscious will find plenty of festive food bargains this Christmas," says Good Housekeeping consumer director Caroline Bloor.

"This is the second year running that Iceland has come top in the Good Housekeeping survey, but if you are willing to shop around there are some amazing deals to be found at the main supermarkets and discount stores. Once again, Lidl took poll position with its Lidl Braemoor turkey at £8.99, £1 cheaper than last year."

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The major supermarkets have been selling their Christmas ranges for some weeks now, and are competing heavily on price - as they have been all year.

This is particularly noticeable when it comes to drinks prices, with mysupermarket.co.uk finding recently that the price of a third of all beer and wine has been cut in preparation, with Ocado offering the biggest discounts.

When it comes to taste, though, Good Housekeeping reckons Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco win out. Morrisons scores highly for its smoked salmon, stilton and cranberry sauce, and Tesco for turkey, stuffing and brandy butter.

Sainsbury's topped the list for Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, and Aldi for champagne and mulled wine.

The Good Housekeeping £2.53 per head Christmas dinner ingredients across all supermarkets are:
Turkey: Lidl Braemoor - £8.99 (2.8-4kg)
Potatoes: Morrisons Maris Piper - £1.00 (2.5kg)
Sage & Onion stuffing: Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's – 30p (2 x 85g)
Brussels sprouts: The Co-Operative - 98p (2 x 450g)
Carrots: Morrisons – 45p (1kg)
Parsnips: The Co-Operative – 98p (2 x 500g)
Cranberry sauce: Aldi – 65p (200g)
Christmas pudding: Asda - £1.96 (2 x 454g)
Brandy butter: Aldi - £1.25 (200g)
Mince pies: Sainsbury's Basic Mince Puffs x 8 – 70p
Christmas cake: Iceland, Large Iced Fruit Bar - £3 (800g)

How the top 10 baskets compare:
Iceland £24.81
Tesco £25.77
Morrisons £26.17
Lidl £30.31
The Co-op £30.45
Aldi £31.96
Asda £32.80
Sainsbury's £34.14
M&S £45.57
Waitrose £47.84