Holiday cooking on a budget

By Lethbridge Herald on December 10, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

With the holidays around the corner and food prices continuing to rise, many find themselves looking for traditional, yet wallet-friendly meals and the Lethbridge Polytechnic is sharing some tips straight out of their kitchen.

Chef Mark Dieser, manager of food Services and school of Culinary Arts, shared Tuesday that people don’t need premium ingredients, they just need to plan and be creative. 

“You can do a lot of things with simple ingredients. You don’t have to buy beef tenderloin, you can try and do a lot of things with a top sirloin steak,” said Dieser. 

He added that vegetable that are in season, local produce and potatoes go a long way to fill up the plates as well. 

Another tip Dieser offered is to plan your meal before heading to the grocery story to avoid impulse purchases. 

“Make yourself a menu, make yourself a plan. Don’t just walk into the grocery store and think I’ll grab this and that, have everything ready before you go,” said Dieser. 

He added that it’s also important to consider weekly sales and off-brand products to help stretch food dollars, especially for baking staples and vegetables.

“Turkey is often the centrepiece of many holiday dinners, but it doesn’t have to be,” said Dieser. “Smaller cuts, such as turkey breasts or thighs, often cost less and cook faster.”

Another way to cut food cost and food waste is by saving leftovers, and Dieser shared the best and safest way to do just that. 

“Try to cool down your leftover dinner as fast as you can, keep it cover and save a lot of your trimmings and bones to make stock and in the next couple days you will have some great soup or stews coming your way,” said Dieser. 

He also recommended to add some different seasoning to leftovers, experiment a little so it is not the exact same thing you ate before, and it can feel like a brand-new meal. 

Chef Amara Goodsell, instructor for second and third level diploma students said in her opinion the best way to save money during the holidays is to have everyone bring something, potluck style. 

“Plan it out and make sure everyone knows what they are bringing and that will reduce the cost for everyone involved,” said Goodsell. “I think Christmas is more about who’s around the table than what’s on the table.” 

Goodsell suggested to also look up recipes to know how much of each ingredient is needed before buying them to avoid waste, but she cautioned to pay attention to reviews. 

“Read the reviews, what did they tweak, what did they add, because nothing is perfect and you can always put your own spin on it,” said Goodsell.