Where to buy Christmas veg for less

Christmas vegtastic

You can tell it’s getting close to Christmas – the supermarkets have slashed the price of Christmas vegetables!

I blogged last year about where to buy cheap Christmas veg and tipped readers of my Woman&Home December column to look out for the price wars this year too.

Right now, you can get festive veg including parsnips, carrots and sprouts for as little as 19p a bag.

In recent days, the supermarkets dropped the pcice of select festive veg down to:

• 50p at Morrisons, but 3 for £1 if you’re shopping in store, which works out at 33p each
• 49p at the Co-op
• 30p at Sainsbury’s
• 29p at Tesco
• 20p at ASDA
• 19p at Aldi and Lidl

Comparing Christmas veg offers

I’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to, comparing prices of 11 different veg across 8 supermarkets. Aldi tops the table, which the cheapest shopping list at £5.34, right up to Waitrose at £9.24, even based on Waitrose essential options.

I’ve bunged the shopping lists for each supermarket at the end of this post, but here’s how the costs add up:

Now, I had assumed that Waitrose would be more expensive, but I hadn’t expected it to be 42% more expensive than Aldi, the cheapest option for this shopping list.

Note: for Lidl, you can cut the total cost to £5.78 if you’re willing to switch to a smaller 1.5kg bag of mini roast potatoes for 19p. I included £1.09 for 2.5kg of white potatoes in the table, so it was comparing a similar product across all supermarkets.

Aldi’s Super Six tops the table! Photo credit: Naomi at Skint Dad

Tips on cutting the cost of Christmas veg

I’ve added shopping lists at each supermarket for 11 different veg at the end of this post, but here are my top tips on making the most of veg bargains:

• Plan how much you need for Christmas dinner, so you’re not dashing out for extra top up shops.
• Compare prices for the veg you actually want. Supermarkets might lure you in with cheaper offers on a few veg, but then charge more elsewhere. If you want a variety of veg, the Morrisons “3 for £1” offer on a broader range of veg starts looking more attractive.
• Stock up on veg for meals after Christmas, if you can face the cooking. Think soups, stews, stir fries and side dishes.
• Beware of bargains. The supermarkets offer a few
• Store veg so you don’t end up throwing bargains in the bin. For example:
  • Remove plastic packaging asap to stop stuff going mouldy
  • Line salad drawers in the fridge with a piece of kitchen towel, to absorb moisture and keep veg fresher for longer.
  • I keep onions and potatoes in cloth bags with thick lining, to avoid sprouting, a previous version of these bags from Lakeland
• Weigh up the savings – no point spending more in petrol than you save on veg, if it’s a long trip to a different supermarket!

Christmas veg offers at the Co-op

Shopping lists in full

All prices correct as of 21 December 2018, taken from supermarket websites, with extra price info via mysupermarket.co.uk for Lidl and via Naomi at Skint Dad for Aldi (many thanks!). 

Aldi: £5.34

Aldi Super Six parsnips, 500g 19p

Aldi Super Six brussel sprouts, 500g 19p

Aldi Super Six carrots, 1kg 19p

Aldi Super Six white potatoes, 2.5kg 28p

Aldi Super Six red or white cabbage, each 28p

Aldi Super Six swede, each 28p

Aldi British onions, 1kg 72p

Aldi broccoli, 57p

Aldi leeks, 500g 99p

Aldi savoy cabbage, each 67p

Aldi cauliflower, each 98p

Morrisons: £7.05 online but £6.05 in store with 3 for £1 offers

Morrisons parsnips, 500g 50p*

Morrisons brussel sprouts, 500g 50p*

Morrisons carrots, 1kg 50p*

Morrisons white potatoes, 2.5kg 50p*

Morrisons red cabbage, each 50p*

Morrisons swede, each 50p*

Morrisons brown onions, 1kg 50p*

Morrisons broccoli, 350g, 65p

Morrisons leeks, 500g £1.50

Morrisons savoy cabbage, each 80p

Morrisons medium cauliflower, each 60p

*3 for £1 offer when purchased in store

Tesco: £6.11

Redmere Farms parsnips, 500g 29p

Redmere Farms unpeeled brussel sprouts, 500g 29p

Redmere Farms carrots, 1kg 29p

Redmere Farms white potatoes, 2.5kg 29p

Tesco red cabbage, each 79p

Tesco small swede, each 50p

Redmere Farms brown onions, 1kg 60p

Tesco broccoli, 350g, 58p

Tesco leeks, 500g £1.50

Tesco savoy cabbage, each 69p

Tesco cauliflower, each 29p

ASDA: £6.38

ASDA Grower’s Selection parsnips, 500g 20p

ASDA Grower’s Selection brussel sprouts, 500g 20p

ASDA Grower’s Selection carrots, 1kg 20p

ASDA Farm Stores white potatoes, 2.5kg £1.25

ASDA Grower’s Selection red cabbage, 600g 39p

ASDA Grower’s Selection British swede, each 50p

ASDA Farm Stores brown onions, 1kg 75p

ASDA Grower’s Selection broccoli, 360g, 20p

ASDA Grower’s Selection trimmed leeks, 500g £1.00

ASDA Grower’s Selection savoy cabbage, each 69p

ASDA Grower’s Selection cauliflower, each £1

Lidl: £6.68 (or £5.78 with a smaller bag of mini roast potatoes)

Lidl Pick of the Week Oaklands British parsnips, 500g 19p

Lidl Pick of the Week Oaklands British brussel sprouts, 500g 19p

Lidl Pick of the Week Oaklands British carrots, 1kg 19p

Lidl Oaklands white potatoes, 2.5kg £1.09 (also smaller bag of Lidl Pick of the Week Oaklands British mini roasts, 1.5kg 19p)

Lidl red cabbage, 600g 42p

Lidl swede, each 49p

Lidl Oaklands onions, 1kg 72p

Lidl Oaklands broccoli, 500g, 74p

Lidl leeks, 500g 99p

Lidl Oaklands savoy cabbage, each 67p

Lidl Oaklands cauliflower, each 99p

East of England Co-op: £7.39

Co-op parsnips, 500g 49p

Co-op brussel sprouts, 450g 49p

Co-op carrots, 1kg 49p

Co-op white potatoes, 1.5kg 49p

Co-op red cabbage, each 89p

Co-op swede, 500g 59p

Co-op onions, 750g 39p

Co-op broccoli, 335g, 49p

Co-op leeks, 400g £1.09

Co-op savoy cabbage, each 89p

Co-op cauliflower, each £1.09

Smaller bags of brussel sprouts, potatoes, broccoli, leeks and onions

Sainsbury’s: £7.88

Sainsbury’s parsnips, 500g 30p

Sainsbury’s brussel sprouts, 500g 30p

Sainsbury’s carrots, 1kg 30p

Sainsbury’s greengrocer potatoes, 2.5kg £1.15

Sainsbury’s red cabbage, 600g 48p

Sainsbury’s swede, each 60p

Sainsbury’s onions, 1kg 85p

Sainsbury’s broccoli, 335g, 60p

Sainsbury’s leeks, 500g £1.50

Sainsbury’s savoy cabbage, each 80p

Sainsbury’s cauliflower, each £1

Waitrose: £9.24

Waitrose essential parsnips, 500g 70p

Waitrose essential brussel sprouts, 500g 70p

Waitrose essential carrots, 1kg 70p

Waitrose essentials potatoes, 2kg £1

Waitrose red cabbage, 600g 48p

Waitrose essential swede, each 90p

Waitrose essential onions, 1kg 80p

Waitrose essential broccoli, 350g, 61p

Waitrose leeks, 500g £1.50

Waitrose essential savoy cabbage, each 85p

Waitrose essential cauliflower, each £1

Smaller 2kg rather than 2.5kg bag potatoes

Now over to you – will you be stocking up on Christmas veg bargains? Or looking forward to someone else doing the catering? Do share in the comments, I’d love to hear!

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