Ultimate Christmas Dinner Recipe on a Student Budget
Updated
Budget Christmas dinner: This budget busting Xmas roast chicken recipe costs less than a tenner and can serve up to six people.
It makes for a student friendly Christmas meal that’s easy and simple to cook and won’t cost a fortune.
The ingredients all here cost us less than £10 from Asda (at the time of writing) and will still give you a full plate of lovely grub.
It may not be the full trimmings, but it’s more than enough to fill you up while keeping your bank balance in check.
And if you’ve got a bit more in your budget then you can easily add more (see recipe below) to leave you with that ultimate post-Christmas dinner food coma.
See the full recipe and ingredients to our budget Christmas dinner below…
Ingredients
To make 1 serving
- 1 large whole chicken
- 5 Potatoes
- 5 Carrots
- 5 Parsnips
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Chipolata sausages2-3 per person
- BaconOne slice for every two sausages
- Stuffing mix
- Stock cube
- Tin of peas
How to make a simple budget Christmas dinner:
- Start by preparing the veg by peeling the carrots, parsnips and potatoes. Cut each into 2-3 large chunks. You could also use (or add) sweet potatoes.
- For best results, pre-boil the potato chunks in a saucepan over the hob. Cook for 10 or so minutes until soft then drain.
- Next, rub one knob of the softened butter between the skin and chicken meat. Rub the other over the top of the chicken skin.
- Place the chicken in the centre of a large baking dish and surround it by the root veg (keep peas aside for now).
- Now turn on the oven to 220C/200C fan
- Drizzle everything with oil and mix the veg to make sure they’re evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Roast for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove and turn the veg around before adding the peas to the tray. You can also add other veg here such as brussel sprouts, if you’re mad like that.
- Turn the heat down to 200 degrees/200 fan and roast until chicken is thoroughly cooked and the veggies are soft, about 50 minutes
- Meanwhile, you can create the pigs and blankets and stuffing balls.
- Start by making up the packet stuffing by mixing with boiling water per instructions and put aside.
- While that cools, cut the slices of bacon into two length ways and wrap them around the sausages and place on a baking tray.
- Form the now-cooled stuffing mix into balls and add to the same baking tray.
- Bake the sausages and stuffing balls for 15-20 minutes. You can do this together with the chicken if you have the room.
- Once everything is cooked, plate up.
- For the gravy, add 1 pint of boiling water to the stock cube. Add in a couple of teaspoons of flour (more or less, to thicken) together with the juices from the bottom of the baking tray, and whisk everything together.
- Your student budget Christmas dinner is ready to serve!