The Christmas dinner feeds a family for just $15 per person

A Hamilton mother-of-three Kathrine Lynch is making Christmas dinner for her family of eight adults for just $120 - or $15 per person. She says the secret is planning ahead and cooking what you can before hand so you can actually enjoy Christmas day.

"This will be our first year that we do salads because it was just getting to the point where me and my Mum would spend all day trying to cook this hot meal, but I know a lot of families, especially in New Zealand with Christmas being in the summer time, a lot of families are doing salads and then meat to go with it," she said.

Pairing basic salads with other food can make things a lot simpler to put together and still provide plenty of colour on your plate.

"People spend far too long trying to get these huge big meals and big portion sizes and every single option you can think of but it's actually a lot nicer if you can make it simpler and write yourself up a menu of what you're going to cook, with things you can make in advance.

Check out her blog Busy Happy Kids for more of her tips and see the full menu below.

THE MENU

Bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and balsamic vinegar served on crispy bread

Glazed ham

New potatoes with mint and butter

Raw beetroot and carrot salad

Seasonal greens (courgettes, beans, asparagus) with citrus butter

Penne pasta pesto salad

Trifle with strawberries and icecream for dessert.

SHOPPING LIST

Spiced apricot mango sauce

Balsamic vinegarette

Basil pesto

Sliced almonds

Whole grain mustard

Pumpkin kernels

Penne pasta, 1kg

Fruit salad, two tins

Asparagus, one bunch

Green beans, 270 grams

Beetroot, 570 grams

Carrots, 960 grams

Courgettes, 400 grams

Fresh lemon balm

Fresh mint

Lemons, 100 grams

Cherry tomatoes, one punnet

Red onions, 200 grams

Oranges, 620 grams

Strawberries, two punnets

Tomatoes, 630 grams

New potatoes, 1.5kg

Vanilla ice cream, 2 litres

Vanilla custard, 600 grams

Cream, 300ml

Half a leg of ham

Baguette

Trifle sponge