Families across the UK will sit down to a traditional Easter lunch on Sunday, but the cost of food has pushed the price of the average meal up significantly. A recent survey from NerdWallet UK found 42% of UK adults are set to spend an average of £147 over the Easter break.

The findings also showed the average cost of a traditional Easter Sunday lunch for a family of four now stands at £57.42, a figure which will likely rise over £60 by the end of this year as food inflation touches 5%. For those hosting eight guests this Easter, the cost of this single meal would be £114.84.

NerdWallet UK analysed prices from four major supermarkets to determine the cost of an average Easter Sunday lunch, before analysing BBC Food recipes to calculate portions.

Amy Knight, personal finance expert at NerdWallet UK, said families were pushing through a cost-of-living crisis.

She added: “Families facing higher household bills may struggle to celebrate this Easter if they’re worried about paying for essentials. Following hikes in council tax, energy, water and broadband bills, and global trade chaos adding further worry and confusion, spending £114 on a roast dinner might seem out of the question for many consumers.

“Higher energy bills, combined with the hike in employers’ NICs for businesses, could exacerbate food inflation this year, with many businesses unable to absorb the increase in staff costs. If producers and manufacturers suffer the secondary effects of Trump’s tariffs, shoppers could soon feel this at the supermarket checkout.

“In troubling economic times, it is important to focus on controlling what you can control. Adopting an ‘every little helps’ mentality can help to bring Easter costs down without sacrificing family traditions, such as the much-loved roast dinner.”

Knight has put together tips across eight classic Easter Sunday foods to help save up to £36 if eating with eight guests.

First up is the centrepiece of the meal, lamb, prices of which can vary from £28 to £40 for a leg of between 2kg and 2.5kg.

Knight recommends checking if two smaller joints work out cheaper than one large one, for example where Aldi’s half leg costs £13.79, or £1.20 per kilo, Ocado’s whole leg costs £36, an extra £8 spend compared to buying two of Aldi’s products.

Shop-bought herbs can be expensive, but fresh rosemary may be worth spending on at this special time of year. Knight advises home cooks to ask friends or family if anyone is growing rosemary in the garden, a windowbox or on their balcony and could offer a few sprigs.

When it comes to cooking, shoppers will have noticed olive oil increasingly starkly in price recently, with inflation hitting 200% in the last five years.

A money-saving tip from Knight is to choose a blended product, which contains a mix of oliv oil and other vegetable oils. For example, a litre of Olivio olive oil blend is £3.88 from Asda, a third of the cost of a litre of Filippo Berio olive oil from Morrisons at £11.50.

Saving time on cooking is another much-appreciated hack, especially at a hectic time like Easter, but there are savings to be made for those willing to do a little more work themselves.

Knight has noticed 800g of pre-prepared roast potatoes will cost between £1.50 and £3, rising up to £6 for a table of eight people, whereas you can pick up 2.5kg of “wonky” potatoes in Aldi for just £2.49, a simple saving of £3.51.

Similarly, low-cost vegetables such as carrots and greens can be made into more adventurous-tasting sides with some additions, such as melted butter and black pepper.

Knight’s advice to customers is to look for “imperfect” varieties which are often cheaper, such as Tesco’s imperfect carrots costing just 5 pence per 100g, 20% of the price of Ocado’s Cantenay carrots.

Finishing off the meal, pre-made gravy is a handy shortcut for the stressed chef but can mean an extra financial outlay, so instant granules might be preferable.

Where a 350g tub of lamb gravy costs up to £3.25, instant granules can be around half the price, with Morrisons’s Lamb and Mint Gravy Granules coming in at just £1.89.

For dessert, Knight notes that there can be dramatic variations in price, so it can pay to check online before heading to the shops to see where the best bargains are to be found.

Sourcing everything from one supermarket can be simple, but it might not be the most cost effective. For example, Aldi’s sea salt chocolate caramel pavlova stack serves eight people and costs £3.99. compared with Marks and Spencer’s berry and white chocolate pavlova will set you back £13.

Savings on the Easter meal are the cherry on the cake, and these tips may be particularly helpful to those looking to make some extra savings at a tough time.