How much does a Christmas set menu cost per head?
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A traditional three-course Christmas menu (prawn cocktail, roast turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas pudding with brandy sauce) costs about £7.34 a head in ingredients at UK wholesale and retail prices read on 25 October 2026. To make the 68% food GP that food-led pubs ran in the UKHospitality × Christie & Co Benchmarking Report 2022, you need at least £22.93 a head ex VAT, which is £27.52 with 20% VAT.
Course by course
| Menu | Starter | Main | Dessert | Per head | Price at 68% GP, inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional: Prawn cocktail, turkey dinner, Christmas pudding with brandy sauce | £1.41 | £5.06 | £0.88 | £7.34 | £27.52 |
| Lighter starter, trifle: Smoked salmon starter, turkey dinner, Sherry trifle | £1.87 | £5.06 | £0.81 | £7.74 | £29.04 |
| Nut roast main: Prawn cocktail, Nut roast dinner, Sherry trifle | £1.41 | £1.88 | £0.81 | £4.11 | £15.39 |
Food prices: JJ Foodservice collection prices and Morrisons shelf prices read on 25 October 2026, listed line by line on each dish page. Ingredients only: no waste, staff time or energy. GP benchmark: UKHospitality × Christie & Co Benchmarking Report 2022 (12 months to December 2021): food-led pubs ran 68% food GP and the whole survey 66% wet GP.
What goes on the turkey plate
The main course is the sum of nine costed recipes, one portion of each: Roast turkey crown (£2.68), Roast potatoes (£0.22), Pigs in blankets (£0.77), Brussels sprouts with bacon (£0.36), Sage and onion stuffing (£0.14), Cranberry sauce (£0.15), Honey-roast parsnips (£0.35), Carrot and swede mash (£0.24), Bread sauce (£0.13). The turkey is 53% of the plate's cost, so the portion of meat matters far more than the trimmings. Weigh a few carved portions before you lock the price, and see the turkey yield page for how much of a bird ends up on the plate.
How to price your own set menu
- Cost each course from your own supplier prices. Open any dish above in the free recipe tool and change the prices to yours.
- Add the three courses together for a cost per head.
- Divide by (1 − your target GP) to get the ex-VAT price, then add VAT. On a sit-down meal VAT is 20% (GOV.UK VAT rates; HMRC VAT Notice 709/1).
- Add an allowance for waste, extra roast potatoes and seconds of pigs in blankets. Christmas plates are rarely portioned as tightly as the costing.
Our own costings put waste at 5% of ingredients and count hands-on staff time on each dish page; the UK dish cost index shows what that adds.
More Christmas costing: Christmas party night per-head pricing · GP on Christmas drinks · All costed Christmas dishes · UK GP benchmarks
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