The supermarkets will be slashing the price of its festive veg, to coax you into their stores! As the hours tick down to Christmas, the supermarkets are doing everything they can to get you into their stores to spend your festive food cash with them rather than a rival. A big tactic the supermarkets use is the annual veg war, and this Christmas most supermarkets will be reducing the price of your favourite Christmas dinner veggies down to loss-leading super cheap bargains!
Most supermarkets will be offering potatoes, carrots, parsnips, swede, and cabbage for 15p each (Morrisons was 19p last year). Each supermarket chain offers slightly different variations of vegetables available, including potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, swede, and cabbage.
Image courtesy of Lesley Negus/Pixabay
For example, available in store and online from 19th December, Asda shoppers will be able to purchase 1kg carrots (currently 69p), 500g sprouts (currently 85p), 360g broccoli (currently 79p) and 500g parsnips (currently 75p) for 15p each, until the 24th December.
Most of the cheap vegetable offers are available for supermarket loyalty card holders in-store, so you’ll need a loyalty card to ensure you don’t miss out on the bargain prices!
Check the pack sizes, as not all deals are the same. Pack sizes can vary, so it’s worth comparing the weights. For instance, you might find one supermarket offering 15p carrots in an 800g bag, while a rival offers 15p for a kilo bag. At these prices, it’s unlikely to make a significant financial difference, but it’s still worth considering.
When are the cheap Christmas vegetable deals live?
Sainsbury’s kicks off the deals, by offering their 15p vegetable options from Wednesday 18th December, with its rivals going live with their offers from Thursday 19th December.
Why are the supermarkets offering veggies at below-cost prices? It’s simply a way to get you into their stores. They hope that if you are going to be coming in to buy your cheap veg from them, you’ll also then buy the rest of your Christmas needs as well, such as your turkey, pudding and booze, and that’s much more profitable to them, so its better to lose a few pence on your vegetable purchase, but make a decent margin on the rest of your Christmas goodies!
One point to note, on these cheap veg deals, is that when you see these veggies as yellow sticker bargains, as supermarkets look to clear out the veg before they get stuck with it after Christmas, the retailers reduce the price of that clearance item from the normal price, not the loyalty card/promotion price, and so if those carrots are normally 50p per pack, and they knock 50% off, meaning you pay 25p, that’s actually more expensive than paying the loyalty card price of between 15p and 19p, so might end up paying more for a yellow sticker pack, than a fresher pack, so check those prices!
If you haven’t already bought your Christmas food, it’s probably too late to get a food delivery now, as most supermarkets have closed their Christmas delivery options, so you’ll have to go into an actual store. If so, don’t forget to use a gift card cashback app such as JamDoughnut to earn some cashback to keep your prices lower; I got over £6 back on my food shop using JamDoughnut last year, so it’s very worthwhile!
You can download the JamDoughnut app HERE if you don’t already have it, and if you use our referral code of PPUK, you’ll get a £3 bonus to get you started!
Buy now, eat later!
The vegetables will last a while, so why not stock up with some extra cheap vegetables for some cheap meals for the next few weeks?
You can extend the life of vegetables by freezing them. Par-cook vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, and most other vegetables and then freeze them for another day. They’ll last several months that way and can be a useful meal for those cash-starved weeks in January!
How to freeze vegetables for using another day
Most vegetables require blanching before freezing to preserve their colour, texture, and nutrients:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (Boil the water in the kettle and transfer that to the pan, as it’s quicker and cheaper to do this)
- Place vegetables in boiling water for 1-3 minutes, depending on the vegetable; soft vegetables need less, as you don’t want them to cook fully and go mushy!
- Immediately transfer blanched vegetables to an ice bath or into cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Drain the vegetables and pat them dry.
Freezing Methods
Dry Pack Method
- Place blanched and dried vegetables into meal-sized freezer bags or containers.
- Remove as much air as possible from the bags to prevent freezer burn.
- Leave 1/2-inch headspace in rigid containers for expansion.
Tray Pack Method
- Arrange blanched vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze for 1-2 hours until solid.
- Transfer frozen vegetables to freezer bags or containers.
Frozen vegetables will last at least 6 months in the freezer. Theoretically, they’ll never expire as long as they stay frozen, however, over time, they may be affected by ‘freezer burn’, which will affect the flavour or texture of the vegetable.
About the author: Al Baker is a money-saving and side hustle expert, and lead content creator for the www.thepennypincher.co.uk blog and social media channels.
Main image courtesy of Cyrus Crossan /Unsplash
