A man has made a ‘can’t be arsed’ Christmas dinner for £6, spending just 15 minutes making the meal – and claims it tastes “just as good” as a traditional feast.
Elliot Jeory’s bargain festive dinner has gone viral on TikTok, garnering 1.6m views, after he detailed how to make the typically costly meal far cheaper.
The dad-of-two went to Aldi to challenge himself to see what he could get for his super low budget – and to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen, having previously taken three hours to cook his festive meal.
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There, the 39-year-old purchased a tin of peeled potatoes in water for 39p, a tin of garden peas for 28p and a tin of sliced carrots in water for 49p.
He then bought a bag of frozen turkey drummers for £2.25 and a pack of sausages for £1.35.
Elliot also purchased gravy granules for £1.09 and a bag of Yorkshire puddings for 46p.
As well as being incredibly low-budget, it took him just 15 minutes to make, with him relying heavily on his air fryer.
“I could spend around the same on a traditional Christmas dinner with the vegetables that are on offer at the moment – but the focus on this meal was the ‘can’t be bothered’ aspect of it,” Elliot, from Preston, Lancashire, told What’s The Jam.
“It only took 15 minutes, whilst with a usual Christmas dinner it takes hours.
“This meal actually tastes good, and I’m not a big fan of turkey anyway, so if someone served me this, I’d be happy.
“It’s just as good as a traditional roast.
“And since turkey is expensive, I looked for a cheap version, which is when I found the turkey drummers.
“Turkey is Turkey to me.
“The meal itself wasn’t bad at all – it was cheap, tasty and filling.”
In the clip, Elliot can be seen purchasing the items before putting the turkey drumsticks and sausages in the air fryer.
He then pops the potatoes, carrots and peas in a pot to boil them.
Elliot also adds gravy to a jug with boiling water.
Finally, after taking the food out of the air fryer and potatoes, Elliot cooks the Yorkshire puddings in the air fryer for five minutes.
He plates up the dinner across two plates and adds the gravy on top, with the dish totalling £6.31.
The post garnered thousands of likes online, with followers lauding Elliot for his budget savvy.
Erin said: “This is a great option if you don’t have the money to stretch this year. I hope your post reaches the right people mate.”
Swadie advised: “Save yourself the water and electric use water from the veg for gravy.”
Joe said: “My girlfriend would legit be happy with that.”
Bobby added: “That actually looks decent.”
But not everyone was impressed.
Carl wrote: “That is so sad.”
Jazz said: “At least air fry, roast, fondant the potatoes so it’s slightly less sad haha.”
Gary added: “I would rather have cheese on toast.”
Daniel said: “Fresh vegetables would’ve been better value!”
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