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Christmas Food Ideas On A Tight Budget

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Christmas Food Ideas On A Tight Budget

This year many of us will be looking for delicious Christmas foods ideas we can serve up on a tight budget.

Times are hard!!!

Yet there are simple smart ways to deliver a scrumptious but cheaper Christmas dinner PLUS yummy meals throughout the holidays.

And I have the very best of them for you here including :

  1. Food to make ahead & freeze
  2. Christmas leftovers recipes
  3. How to freeze your other leftovers
  4. Breakfast bread rolls & buns
  5. Homemade cookies & cakes that won’t cost a small fortune!!

It is chock full of cheap Christmas food ideas so do bookmark or save.

And for more fab frugal tips check out my Budget Christmas Guide.

Freezing Christmas Food You’ve Made In Advance

Cheap Christmas Food To Make Ahead And Freeze

Making our own Christmas food is cheaper but can be super stressful.

The secret is to make ahead & freeze a few items a week including savouries for Christmas dinner :

PLUS stunning Christmas desserts and heartwarming sweet treats :

The fragrance of freshly baked Christmas cookies is so joyful and simple homemade cookies are cheaper AND much more filling.

Check out this big guide to classic Christmas cookies for easy recipes …

Best Traditional Christmas Cookies

So freeze cookie dough in November and pop some in when the oven is on in Advent. It is best frozen in small rolled rounds …

How To Freeze Pastry Pie Crusts For Leftovers

Freezing pastry pie crusts is a huge money saver at Christmas as it lets us transform sad leftovers.

Scraps of turkey, veg, cranberries & gravy hidden under a golden crust of pastry looks and tastes delicious.

Follow these tips on freezing pastry:

Frozen pastry can also be made into:

Freeze Ahead Mince Pies

Mince pies are weird to the rest of the world but we Brits love them.

Again homemade are cheaper & more filling and the freshly baked fragrance actually helps satisfy our hunger so we eat less …

Delicious Christmas Leftovers Recipes

Leftover Turkey Recipes For Cheap Christmas Food

Great Christmas leftovers recipes save big money because we :

  • Chuck out less waste
  • AND buy less in the first place.

With little effort Christmas leftovers can be a real meal in themselves and not a sad afterthought.

Even if you hate meal planning, it’s worth writing a leftovers plan with easy recipes ready to go :

  1. Leftover Turkey Stew
  2. Leftover Turkey Curry
  3. Leftover Turkey Pie
  4. Leftover Turkey Pasties
  5. Leftover Turkey Casseroles
  6. Leftover Turkey Shepherds Pie
  7. Leftover Turkey Stir Fry
  8. Leftover Turkey Soups

Leftover Turkey Stew

This simple turkey leftovers stew will use up everything leftover from your Christmas dinner …

Leftover Turkey Curry

And this curry recipe is a great to spice up lots of leftover Turkey you’re getting a bit sick of …

Leftover Turkey Pies

With a pie crust in the freezer we can whip up a spirit lifting leftover pie with barely 5 minutes work.

This is a handy basic leftover pot pie recipe. It adds some fresh vegetables but you could just use leftovers plus some frozen peas …

Or if you have any mushrooms and leeks as in this leftover pie recipe from Jamie Oliver …

Leftover Turkey Pasties

Alternatively you can pop your turkey leftovers into mini pasties or hand pies using again made ahead and frozen pastry …

Leftover Turkey Casseroles

This creamy leftover turkey casserole using creamed chicken soup and pasta is a quick kid-friendly way to jazz up your leftovers …

You could of course make your own creamy sauce with broth from the turkey carcass as in this spaghetti based leftover turkey tetrazzini casserole …

This leftover turkey casserole is similar but is based around rice rather than pasta …

Or if you have lots of leftover stuffing you can use it up in this creamy casserole …

Leftover Turkey Shepherds Pie

If you have leftover mash as well as turkey you can transform it into shepherds pie …

Leftover Turkey Stir Fry

For a much lighter recipe – and we could all do with that after stuffing ourselves with Christmas desserts – whip up this bright and bold leftover turkey stir fry …

Leftover Turkey Soups

And soothing Christmas soup is wonderful when we feel fragile.

This noodle soup finishes off turkey :

And this version uses up any random leftover roast vegetables :

More Christmas Leftovers Recipes

If you want something a little bit different to stew, soup and pie try these leftovers recipes :

And I have loads more Christmas leftover recipes here including leftover ham recipes, awesome Christmas leftover sandwiches & toasties, turkey risotto and more …

How To Freeze Remaining Christmas Leftovers

However delicious our Christmas leftovers recipes we can only eat so much turkey, cranberry sauce etc!

We can save lots of money just by buying less in the first place.

But with leftovers from leftovers we need to be ready to freeze them fast.

There’s tips here on freezing turkey :

And specific tips on freezing …

By the end of January we’ll be happy again to eat them up in our Christmas leftovers recipes.

Christmas Breakfast Bread, Rolls And Buns

Christmas Breakfast Bread Rolls And Buns

The waft of fragrant Christmas breakfast bread, rolls and buns is a super cheap way to make Christmas morning memories special.

(A short walk right after breakfast gets that sugar spike under control!!!)

And luckily lots of the best Christmas breakfast bread roll & bun recipes can be made ahead and frozen.

So check out these recipes :

Christmas Morning Rolls

Fresh rolls on Christmas morning are a gift in themselves but cost barely a thing and can be made ahead :

And these breakfast rolls can be baked from the freezer :

Cinnamon Christmas Buns

This Christmas bun recipe has great freezing tips so the buns warm quickly on Christmas day …

Easy Chocolate Brioche

These delicious chocolate brioche buns can be frozen for 3 months, defrosted overnight and baked for a few minutes Christmas morning …

Overnight Eggnog Brioche

These overnight eggnog brioche buns can be made several days ahead and kept in the fridge for popping in the oven Christmas day :

Easy Overnight Bagels

These easy Christmas bagels can be made 24 hours in advance so they just need poaching and baking for 20 minutes Christmas morning …

Bagels are another good ahead bake ahead and freeze Christmas breakfast bread that can be frozen in handy halves for 3 months and defrosted in the toaster.

Norwegian Cardamom Rolls

These deliciously fragrant Norwegian cardamom rolls are perfect for Christmas breakfast …

Norwegian Cardamom Christmas Breakfast Rolls

Christmas Focaccia

Freshly baked focaccia makes lovely savoury Christmas breakfast bread.

This Christmas focaccia would look super special on your Christmas table at breakfast time but costs very little to make from scratch and can be made and frozen …

This Christmas focaccia recipe costs a bit more – for brie and cranberries – but will still fill everyone up at Christmas breakfast fairly frugally …

If you love Italian recipes you can also make Christmas panettone cheaply.

Cranberry Christmas Buns

These cranberry Christmas buns can be made ahead so they just need heating slightly and glazing Christmas morning …

Make Ahead And Freeze Christmas Buns

Scandinavian Lussekatter Saffron Buns

Saffron rich Lussekatter are a freeze ahead alternative to cinnamon …

Danish Raisin Buns

These simple Danish raisin buns are a classic sweet breakfast roll that fresh from the oven will delight the whole family but barely cost a thing:

Christmas Breakfast Bread Rolls - Danish Raisin Buns

Mini Christmas Stollen

Mini Christmas stollen are another delicious Christmas breakfast bread you can make ahead and freeze to warm up on Christmas day …

Homemade Christmas Cakes, Pudding & Cookies

Homemade Christmas cakes, puddings and cookies can be much cheaper than bought ones.

We just need to keep them simple and free from fancy ingredients and panic inducing instructions!!

Simple Christmas Cakes

These Christmas cake recipes really are easy & will fill up a hungry hoard.

Make In Advance Cake

This easy one can be made early …

Last Minute Christmas Cake

And this cake can be made super fast in barely 30 minutes …

Ginger Cake

A classic ginger is a fab cheap, easy alternative to fruit or chocolate cake.

And can look beautiful with simple sprinkled or glace icing …

Christmas Desserts

Show stopping Christmas desserts sound scary. No fear. These are easy and will look stand out stunning with simple Christmas table decorations.

An Inflation Beating Christmas Pudding Recipe

This yummy Christmas pud recipe goes back to the great recession of the 1930s!! It’s cheap and easy …

Danish Christmas Pudding

Risalamande is a gorgeously traditional Danish Christmas pudding …

Poached Mulled Wine Pears

These pears look stunning and can be poached sugar free …

Frozen Yoghurt Bark

A plate of frozen yoghurt bark looks effortlessly elegant with quick natural Christmas table decor and slips down when everyone is stuffed!!

For more inspiration check out these 50 stunning Christmas desserts. They are not all super cheap to make but they are much cheaper than bought versions and many of them can be made ahead and frozen …

Christmas Dessert Ideas That Look Stunning

Homemade Christmas Cookies

Homemade Christmas cookies are cheapest if we just make 1 or 2 types.

These classics are always popular :

Freeze your cookie dough in small rounds so you can have a fresh batch whenever oven goes on.

And there you go, loads of recipes for simply delicious homemade Christmas food you can make ahead cheaply and freeze PLUS yummy ideas for leftovers and tips on freezing anything at all that is left!!

I do hope they help you enjoy a wonderful family Christmas.

For more cheap lovely Christmas ideas explore these posts :

And follow my Christmas board on Pinterest :

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