The prison officers' mess is usually staffed by a private firm of caterers and serves three hot meals a day.
The prison's duty governor, who asked not to be named, said: "The kitchen area will be closed but staff will have access to the mess facility for one meal. We have a duty of care to provide three hot meals a day.
"They cannot have tea because there will be nobody about to cook them it."
News of the Christmas meal at Walton prompted criticism from groups representing victims of crime.
Joan Jonker, the founder of Liverpool-based Victims of Violence, said: "I object to my taxpayers' money being used for this kind of indulgence when a lot of elderly people, who are victims of crime, do not get enough money to live on."
Mark Leech, a former inmate at Walton Prison and the author of the Prisons Handbook, said: "I think the prison officers have got a genuine grievance.
"You would think they would pull out all the stops and give them all a Christmas dinner - it's only once a year after all. Having said that the inmates' dinner is no extravaganza - it costs only about £2.50 a head."
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