TV chefs’ attempts to outdo each other lead to increasingly lavish programmes.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s 2004 River Cottage special saw him create a medieval 10-bird roast, while Heston Blumenthal’s 2007 Perfect Christmas included frankincense tea, geese fed on pine needle essence and reindeer milk ice cream.
This lavishness, however, is not necessarily reflected in our homes. A 2025 YouGov poll suggests the median expected spend on Christmas food and drink this year is £150 – a decrease from a decade ago, when a similar poll suggested an average spend of £174 (£242 adjusted for inflation).
The 2025 poll also suggests a third of Britons are at “least fairly worried” about the impact of Christmas on their personal finances.
TV chef and The Batch Lady Saves Christmas author Suzanne Mulholland advocates doing as much of the cooking in advance in order to spread the cost and save on waste.
“You can start in November,” she says. “Grab a cup of coffee on a rainy day and think who you’ve got coming, how long they are staying, and if they have any dietary requirements.
“Then pick up a few things every week, prep them and get them in your freezer. Planning really does cut down on food waste, you spread the cost and you’re not in panic mode fighting for that last chipolata in the supermarket.”
She sees herself as moving away from the aspirational type of TV chef. “To me, the recipes don’t really matter, it’s about helping people save money, save time and save head space.”
When it comes to Christmas, she says it is time we reconsider which food traditions work for us and which we are doing for the sake of it.
“I think we are guilty of shopping the way our parents used to shop for Christmas, mass panic buying a few days before.
“But now we’ve got better technology. Things last longer, and shops are open on Boxing Day.”
Looking for your festive food fix? A 24 hour Festive Food Channel is streaming now on BBC iPlayer