Christmas turkey dinner: how much it costs to make, per portion
The main course of a classic UK pub or restaurant Christmas menu: a bone-in turkey crown roasted and carved, two pigs in blankets, two stuffing balls, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and sprouts, cranberry sauce and gravy. Ten portions costed from prices read on 19 October 2026. Below the costing, the full festive menu (starter, dessert and a nut roast swap) is set against the £36 chain average.
The lowest price is the one that just reaches 68% GP, the UK food GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). It covers the ingredients at a normal margin, not staff, rent or energy, and most cafés, pubs and takeaways charge more for simple dishes. Check what places near you charge. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
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Ingredients and cost, 10 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey breast crown, bone-in, frozen (2.4-2.8 kg) | £24.00 | 2400 g | 2400 g | £24.00 |
| Pigs in blankets (12 pack) | £3.00 | 12 each | 20 each | £5.00 |
| Sage and onion stuffing mix | £3.95 | 340 g | 285 g | £3.31 |
| Potatoes (chipping) | £16.99 | 25000 g | 2220 g | £1.51 |
| Rapeseed oil | £9.49 | 5000 ml | 200 ml | £0.38 |
| Carrots | £7.49 | 10000 g | 975 g | £0.73 |
| Parsnips | £0.74 | 500 g | 940 g | £1.39 |
| Brussels sprouts | £0.89 | 500 g | 890 g | £1.58 |
| Salted butter | £29.99 | 5000 g | 50 g | £0.30 |
| Cranberry sauce | £0.49 | 200 g | 200 g | £0.49 |
| Gravy granules | £25.79 | 5000 g | 100 g | £0.52 |
| Table salt | £9.99 | 12500 g | 20 g | £0.02 |
| Ground black pepper | £22.99 | 1750 g | 5 g | £0.07 |
| Batch total | £39.29 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 10) | £3.93 | |||
Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.
What it really costs: waste and staff time
| Ingredients | £3.93 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.20 |
| Staff time: 80 min hands-on for the batch of 10 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £2.12 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £6.25 |
At the lowest price (£12.28 ex VAT) that is 51% of the price, before rent, energy and everything else. Many UK sites aim to keep food plus staff (prime cost) at or under 60–65% of sales. The staff line counts hands-on prep only, not unattended cooking, and uses the April 2026 National Living Wage; put your own rate, minutes and waste in the calculator's real cost section or the prime cost calculator. Every dish side by side: the UK dish cost index.
Method
- Defrost the crown fully in the fridge. Season and roast at 170 °C until the thickest part of the breast reaches 75°C (or an equivalent time and temperature), then rest covered for at least 30 minutes.
- Par-boil the cut potatoes, drain, rough up and roast in hot rapeseed oil at 200 °C until crisp.
- Make up the stuffing with boiling water, roll into 20 balls of about 35 g and bake with the pigs in blankets.
- Peel and cut the carrots and parsnips. Roast the parsnips; boil or steam the carrots.
- Trim and cross the sprouts and cook to order, finishing with butter.
- Make the gravy with the granules, adding the turkey roasting juices.
- Carve the turkey off the bone and plate with the trimmings, cranberry sauce and gravy.
Costing notes
Roasting loss. The crown is priced raw and bone-in at 2.4 kg for ten portions. The costing allows 20% of the raw weight for bone, wing and skin, then a 25% cooking loss on the meat (2,400 g × 0.80 × 0.75 = 1,440 g), about 144 g of carved turkey a portion. Many chefs plan on a 50 to 55% carved yield from a bone-in crown; at 50% the same crown gives about 120 g a portion, so buy from the heavier end of the 2.4 to 2.8 kg band or allow 8 portions. The line cost is the same either way.
The meat is most of the plate. The turkey is 61% of the plate cost (£24.00 of the batch). With the pigs in blankets added, the meat is 74%.
Retail lines. JJ Foodservice listed no turkey crown, pigs in blankets, stuffing, cranberry sauce or Brussels sprouts on 19 October 2026, so those are Tesco shelf prices, not Clubcard prices (the crown's Clubcard price of £19.20 would take £0.48 off a portion; the pigs in blankets 3 for 2 offer is not applied). Wholesale festive lines usually arrive later in the season and are usually cheaper, so this is a cautious figure.
Prep loss is costed in. Vegetables are costed at the weight bought: potatoes 81% yield (potato yield), carrots 82% (carrot yield), parsnips 85% (parsnip yield), sprouts 90% after trimming. Gravy is costed from granules, not turkey stock. Check that your gravy granules and stuffing mix suit vegetarians before serving them with the nut roast.
The full festive menu
The turkey dinner is the main of a classic UK pub or restaurant three-course Christmas menu. The starter, dessert and a nut roast swap are costed the same way: a batch of 10, every line from a product page read on 19 October 2026, plus 5% waste and hands-on kitchen time. Per cover, ex VAT:
| Ingredients | Waste 5% | Staff time | Real cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter: spiced parsnip soup with bread roll | £0.94 | £0.05 | £0.66 | £1.65 |
| Main: roast turkey crown dinner | £3.93 | £0.20 | £2.12 | £6.25 |
| Dessert: Christmas pudding with brandy sauce | £1.08 | £0.05 | £0.40 | £1.53 |
| 3-course total | £5.95 | £0.30 | £3.18 | £9.43 |
| Veggie swap: 3 courses with a nut roast main | £4.08 | £0.20 | £3.57 | £7.86 |
Staff minutes are estimates of hands-on time only, for a batch of 10: starter 25, main 80, dessert 15; the nut roast dinner 95. Unattended oven, steaming and simmering time is left out. The starter's rolls are costed at the JJ case price (£23.99 for 56, about 43p each); the product page also shows a lower per-roll price of 37p. The nut roast's unsalted mixed nuts are a Tesco retail price via trolley.co.uk (£2.50 for 200 g, re-read on publish day).
Against the trade benchmark: £36 inc VAT
The Morning Advertiser reported on 11 December 2025 that the average three-course Christmas menu at UK pub and restaurant chains rose to £36 a head, up 4% on 2024, from Meaningful Vision pricing data for 5,000 sites run by major hospitality groups (Morning Advertiser).
| Benchmark menu price inc VAT | £36.00 |
| Ex VAT (£36 ÷ 1.2) | £30.00 |
| Ingredient cost per cover | £5.95 |
| Food cost | 20% |
| Food GP | 80% |
| Real cost per cover (food, waste and staff) | £9.43 |
| Real cost as a share of the ex-VAT price | 31% |
| Left from £30 ex VAT after real cost | £20.57 |
| Lowest price at 68% food GP | £22.31 inc VAT (£18.59 ex VAT) |
| Lowest price at 68% GP on the real cost (for comparison) | £35.35 inc VAT |
This is not a profit figure. The £20.57 left from each £30 ex-VAT cover still has to pay for front-of-house staff, rent, rates, energy, card fees, crackers and table dressing, linen, and the kitchen hours not counted here (ordering, cleaning down, service at the pass).
The 68% GP line uses the site's UK GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co Benchmarking Report 2022: 68% food GP for community local and food-led pubs, 67% across the survey). It is historical data covering 2021, not a 2026 target. It is worked as ingredient cost ÷ 0.32, then × 1.2 for VAT, and GP is calculated on the ex-VAT price.
What the numbers show
- A classic festive three-course menu costs a UK kitchen £5.95 a cover in ingredients and £9.43 once 5% waste and hands-on kitchen time are added, at prices read on 19 October 2026. Most festive lines are supermarket shelf prices, so the food figure is cautious.
- At the £36 chain average (£30 ex VAT), that leaves £20.57 of every cover for front of house, rent, rates, energy, card fees and dressing the table, before any profit.
- Food is about 20% of the ex-VAT price; food, waste and kitchen labour together are about 31%.
- The main course is about two thirds of the menu's ingredient cost, and the turkey crown alone is 61% of the main plate. With pigs in blankets added, the meat is 74%.
- Hands-on kitchen time is £3.18 a cover, about a third of the real cost, even with unattended oven time left out.
- Priced to a 68% GP on the full real cost, the menu would need to sell at £35.35 inc VAT, almost exactly the £36 chain average.
- The nut roast route is cheaper on ingredients (£4.08 a cover), but more hands-on prep brings its real cost to £7.86, so kitchen time is about 45% of it.
Pricing your own Christmas menu? The set menu pricing guide covers deposits, pre-orders and the extras, and every other dish is side by side in the UK dish cost index.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices (single-unit price, no multi-buy tiers) and Tesco shelf prices, read on 19 October 2026 and re-read on the day this page went up, with no change. JJ Foodservice listed no turkey crown, pigs in blankets, stuffing, cranberry sauce, parsnips or Brussels sprouts that day, so those lines are Tesco retail prices; wholesale is usually lower, so treat this as a cautious figure. Prices are ex VAT as listed; most food is zero-rated. Festive lines move most in November and December: open the recipe and put your own supplier's prices in.
- Turkey breast crown: Tesco Frozen Large Turkey Breast Crown 2.4-2.8kg (retail; Clubcard price £19.20 not used), 2.4-2.8 kg, £24.00 shelf price — Tesco, accessed 2026-10-19
- Pigs in blankets: Tesco 12 Pigs in Blankets 240g (retail; 3 for 2 offer not applied), 12, £3.00 — Tesco, accessed 2026-10-19
- Sage and onion stuffing mix: Paxo Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix 340g (retail), 340 g, £3.95 — Tesco, accessed 2026-10-19
- Potatoes (chipping): Chipping potatoes (POT112), 25 kg, £16.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
- Rapeseed oil: Rapeseed oil (OIL110), 5 litres, £9.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
- Carrots: Carrots (VEG760), 10 kg, £7.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
- Parsnips: Tesco Parsnips 500g (retail), 500 g, £0.74 — Tesco, accessed 2026-10-19
- Brussels sprouts: Tesco Brussels Sprouts 500g (retail), 500 g, £0.89 — Tesco, accessed 2026-10-19
- Salted butter: Salted butter, 20 x 250 g (DAI185), 5 kg, £29.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
- Cranberry sauce: Tesco Cranberry Sauce 200g (retail), 200 g, £0.49 — Tesco, accessed 2026-10-19
- Gravy granules: Dinaclass gravy granules, 2 x 2.5 kg (SAU538), 5 kg, £25.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
- Table salt: Table salt (SPI019), 12.5 kg, £9.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
- Ground black pepper: Ground black pepper (SPI596), 1.75 kg, £22.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-19
More costed dishes: pub and restaurant classics
- Cottage pie — £1.96 a portion
- 8 oz beef burger and fries — £2.82 a portion
- Fish and chips — £4.04 a portion
- Chicken tikka masala with rice — £1.34 a portion