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Looking for a Christmas food shopping list template you can print and use to plan and prepare your Christmas food this year? Well look no further, I’ve got just the template for you and it’s free to download.
The template includes a meal plan section and a grocery list for noting all the ingredients and food items you will need for your Christmas meal.
CHRISTMAS FOOD SHOPPING LIST TEMPLATE: FREE TO DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE MEAL PLANNER AND GROCERY LIST
The free printable combines a meal planner and a grocery list you can use instead of your regular weekly grocery list, so you can plan out every stage of your big Christmas meal, be it a Christmas lunch or Christmas dinner, on the meal planner. Then you can note all the ingredients you will need to buy on the grocery list.
Keep scrolling to the bottom of the post to grab your free printable.
If however, you’d like a little insight into how best to plan your Christmas food shopping, then read on.
PLANNING YOUR CHRISTMAS FOOD SHOPPING LIST
I learned a long time ago that the best way to keep stress-levels down in the run up to Christmas is to spend time planning for Christmas Day in advance.
One of the most important things I do every year is to write out my Christmas food shopping list. I tend to do the first draft of my list in October.
This may seem early, but I like to get it done as soon as I’ve drawn up our Christmas budget for the year.
It’s not that I don’t update my Christmas day menu nearer to the time, it’s just that it is easier to have a basic plan in place, rather than scrabbling to come up with a menu when there are 101 other things going on in December.
If you’re not used to spending time planning your grocery shopping, I have a very popular post on how to start planning your food shopping, including tips on how to create a master grocery list and some free grocery list and meal plan printables.
KEEP YOUR CHRISTMAS DINNER MENU SIMPLE
The other thing that I’ve learned over the years of planning and hosting Christmas day, is to keep my Christmas dinner menu simple!
It’s very easy to get carried away planning three different kinds of potato dishes, numerous homemade sauces and side dishes.
But actually, the easiest way to create a total mouth-watering Christmas dinner is to focus on buying the best quality produce and planning a meal where everything on the menu complements everything else.
This way you get to actually have the energy to sit down and enjoy eating Christmas dinner with your family and guests, rather than arriving at the table in a hot mess and feeling too exhausted to actually enjoy it.
CHRISTMAS FOOD SHOPPING LIST
I’ve put together a Christmas food shopping list of all the things that I include in my main Christmas day food shop. The shopping list is based on my Easy Christmas Dinner Menu and should help give you an idea of what you might like to include on your food shopping list for Christmas day.
CHRISTMAS DAY FOOD CHECKLIST
Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Foil
Greaseproof paper
APPETIZER 1Smoked mackerel pâté (buy it or see my recipe to buy ingredients to make your own)
Sourdough bread for toasting and serving on
Carrots
APPETIZER 2Olive tapenade
Goat’s cheese
Crostini or baguette for serving on
MAIN COURSETurkey (or meat of choice)
Pigs in blankets (buy whole or make with chipolatas and bacon)
Stuffing (buy or make)
Potatoes for roasting
Duck fat
Cranberry sauce
SIDE DISHES HONEY ROASTED PARSNIPS AND CARROTSParsnips
Carrots
Honey
Olive oil
Balsamic
CELERIAC MASHCeleriac
BRAISED RED CABBAGE WITH APPLESmall red cabbage
Red onion
Allspice
Nutmeg
Cooking apple
Red wine vinegar
Light brown muscovado
Redcurrant jelly
BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH PANCETTAGRAVY
Turkey stock
Redcurrant jelly
Plain flour
Port
DESSERTChristmas pudding
Brandy butter
CHEESEBOARDSelection of cheeses
Cheese biscuits
Mince pies
DRINKSMulled wine (buy it or make it with red wine, mulling spices, oranges)
Red wine
White wine
Port
Cordial for teetotallers and kids
WORKING OUT WHAT TO PUT ON YOUR CHRISTMAS FOOD SHOPPING LIST
There are a LOT of things that you could put on your food shopping list and it can feel somewhat overwhelming to try and put together a Christmas day food menu and a big list of all the ingredients you need.
So, to help you plan your Christmas food shop, here’s some tips and things to consider when you are deciding what to have to eat and drink on Christmas day.
TURKEY, GOOSE, CHICKEN, BEEF OR NON-MEAT?
The centrepiece of most Christmas dinner tables is the main course meat or non-meat option.
Turkey is hugely popular as the meat of choice for Christmas day, there’s a brilliant YouGov Christmas food survey that details just how popular turkey is in the UK, with 54% of Britons choosing to have it on their Christmas day menu.
The meat popularity then goes like this:
- 54% – turkey
- 10% – chicken
- 8% – vegetarian alternative
- 7% – beef
- 4% – something else
- 3% – lamb
- 3% – pork
- 2% – goose
- 1% – duck
So, even though turkey is still hugely popular, you don’t have to go with it. Particularly if budget is a consideration.
Ultimately, you can make any meat or vegetarian alternative feel Christmassy by what else you serve it with.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER IF YOU ARE HAVING TURKEY
You will need to work out what size turkey to buy, based on how many people you are planning to have eating their Christmas meal with you.
Clearly you will no better than anyone who is a big eater and who is a small eater amongst your Christmas dinner guests, but here’s a good rule of thumb guide:
HOW MUCH TURKEY PER PERSON
You can assume that adults will on average eat somewhere between 140g and 175g of turkey meat. You can scale down for kids based on their age.
Of course, if you are buying a whole turkey the weight on the turkey includes bones and everything else, so use this rough guide to help plan the size of turkey to buy:
- Small turkey (3-4.5kg) is usually enough for 6-8 adults
- Medium turkey (4-5kg) is usually enough for 8-10 adults
- Medium-large turkey (5-5.5kg) is usually enough for 10-12 adults
- Large turkey (6-6.5kg) is usually enough for 12-15 adults
If you are up against it with your budget for a turkey, you could opt for a smaller turkey and then add cheaper meat, such as pigs in blankets or meat stuffing to the menu.
It’s also important to decide on whether you will go for a fresh or frozen turkey.
Either way, you will need to make sure you have enough room to store the turkey in the fridge or freezer, otherwise you could be in for a very stressful time!
Plus, if you are going for a frozen turkey, please, please remember to check how long it will need to defrost thoroughly before you cook it.
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO PREPARE YOUR CHRISTMAS MEAL?
The other important thing to bear in mind is how much time you actually have to plan and prepare the Christmas meal.
Don’t saddle yourself with hours and hours worth of preparing food if actually you will be time-poor on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
There is no shame in opting for ready-made stuffing, pigs in blankets, pre-prepared vegetables.
FREE PRINTABLE CHRISTMAS FOOD SHOPPING LIST TEMPLATE
To help you plan your Christmas day food I’ve put together a free printable PDF Christmas food shopping list template.
The meal plan section has space for each of the main elements of a Christmas meal:
- Appetizers
- Main course items
- Side dishes
- Dessert
- Cheese board
- Drinks
Plus there is a grocery shopping list so that you can note down each ingredient or food item you need for each recipe or dish.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRINTABLE TEMPLATE
If you’re already a subscriber to Mums Make Lists, please simply click the image or links below to download your copy of the printable Christmas food shopping list template with meal planner and grocery list.
I’ve created an A4 size version and an American letter size version. Both versions are available with both the black and white template and the colour template options.
If you aren’t yet a subscriber to Mums Make Lists, please subscribe to unlock this exclusive content. It literally takes seconds.
Once you’ve subscribed you will have access to all the free printables and exclusive content on Mums Make Lists.
I really hope that sharing my simple Christmas food shopping list and meal plan template helps you to plan your Christmas day food and feel a little less stressed and overwhelmed than you might otherwise.
Don’t forget to take a look at my Easy Christmas Day Menu, it includes links to some great recipes for all the dishes mentioned. You might also like to take a look at my week-by-week Christmas planner, it really will help make it easier for you to plan for Christmas this year.
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Luci is the founder of Mums Make Lists (Est. 2011). Over the last decade or so, she has used her experience as a mum to create useful guides to organising family life. During that time, she has found the most joy in creating lists of ideas and inspiration to make it easier for busy parents to plan and host kids’ parties and find great gifts. Read more.