The Christmas dinner is the pinnacle of Christmas Day. Crispy roast potatoes, tender turkey and the most important of all – the humble Yorkshire pudding. If you’re lucky enough to be sat on the sofa counting down the minutes till you can gorge yourself, you probably haven’t put much thought into how long it takes or how much it costs to prepare the meal.
Often served with a massive helping of pressure and stress, cooking a Christmas dinner is a task suited only for the brave. Fortunately, to help ease the hassle, celebrity chefs have been giving a helping hand to home cooks. To help make Christmas Day cooking that little bit easier, celebrity chefs have created recipes for all the quintessential parts of the festive banquet, giving us more structure (and hopefully relaxation) for the big day.
Curious to compare the time and cost of celebrity Christmas meals, Uswitch have analysed recipes from 15 top chefs to reveal whose recipes were the priciest and the most time-consuming.
The most time-consuming Christmas recipes
Top of the charts and taking home the title of most time-consuming is Nigella Lawson. Her festive feast takes 41.5 hours to complete – with her ‘spiced and super juicy turkey’ requiring a two day soak before roasting! Her Christmas pudding also contributes to the extensive cooking time, taking eight hours to be steamed.
The chef known for his imagination, Heston Blumenthal, follows behind in second place, taking 35.5 hours to cook the meal. His turkey recipe alone takes 13.5 hours – best to avoid this one if you’re short for time! Awarded third place is River Cottage’s very own Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall with his meal taking 34.9 hours to complete.
The most expensive Christmas recipes
Using food cost calculators from the major online supermarkets, Uswitch has unravelled the costs of celebrity Christmas meals. Based on a meal for six people, Yotam Ottolenghi has won first place with his meal, adding to a total of £195.50 (£32.59 per person). Not too surprising, due to his love of unique ingredients to give classic food an extra twist. If you fancy recreating something from Ottolenghi’s Christmas meal without breaking the bank, his cheapest recipe, ‘crispy roasted potatoes with lemon, garlic and sage’, costs just £1.53 per person.
Making another appearance is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, with the second most expensive meal – £178.40 (£29.73 per person). Having one of the more costly and time-consuming meals, Hugh’s Christmas feast is one to avoid if you’re after a cheaper, low maintenance dinner. In third place, at a total of £168.60 (£28.10 per person), is A-lister Chrissy Teigen. Nearly tying for third place, follows Heston Blumenthal, whose meal comes to £168.10 (£28.01 per person).
The quickest and cheapest Christmas recipes
Chrissy Teigen is at the bottom of the list for the quickest Christmas meal, devoting only 13.9 hours to her (albeit quite expensive) dinner. American chef, Rachael Ray, follows with 15.6 hours and Phil Vickery with 17.8.
Rachael Ray sits comfortably at the bottom of the list for cost, too. The price of her Christmas meal is just £93.10 (£15.52 per person); probably a lot less than some of our own Christmas dinners! British favourite Delia Smith joins the bottom of the leaderboard at a total of £99.80 for the entire meal (£16.64 per person). Together with bake-off legend Mary Berry, proving that you don’t have to break the bank at Christmas, a total of £108.10 for her feast (£18.02).
Read the original Uswitch findings and full list of data here. Uswitch findings are based on a meal consisting of iconic Christmas items, including:
- Turkey
- Potatoes
- Stuffing
- Yorkshire pudding
- Cauliflower cheese
- Carrots
- Sprouts
- Gravy
- Christmas pudding
- Mince pies
- Custard
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