Remove the stress and headache of cooking Christmas Dinner by following my easy Christmas Day meal and time planner. Whether it’s your first time cooking a turkey or you’re an experienced chef, this Christmas meal planner is packed with valuable advice and tips that will help you make the Perfect Christmas Dinner!
9 days until Christmas Day…how the heck did that happen? I find myself saying this every single year! If you’re feeling anxious about cooking Christmas dinner, my step by step menu and time plan will take all the stress away.
Why should you trust my guidance?
23 years of cooking Christmas dinner for a minimum of 4 people….I’ve made ALL the mistakes and learned from them…it took a good few years of trial of error!
I have to be completely honest with you. I am not and never will be the kind of person who prepares everything weeks in advance and freezes it. I’m a fly-by-the-seat of my pants kind of gal and there is no point in pretending otherwise. BUT I am all for making a few dishes in advance to make life a little bit easier on the big Day.
a stress free Christmas dinner
You want Christmas dinner to be a roaring success, but you don’t want to spend the whole day in the kitchen, slaving over a hot stove, juggling steaming pots and pans when everyone else is having fun or sitting back sipping a glass of Baileys!
There is a lot going on, but with a little forward planning, things will go smoothly. Christmas Dinner is essentially no different to cooking a large Sunday roast. You’ve got this.
easy Christmas dinner menu
This Christmas dinner time plan will help you create a full roast turkey dinner with all the classic trimmings. It features recipes that I’ve been making every Christmas for my family for two decades. The recipes are easy, fuss free and have never failed me.
Here’s the menu……
- Classic roast turkey with orange and herb butter OR easy brined turkey crown
- Slow Cooker Coca Cola Ham (optional. I cook a ham for my son every year as he doesn’t like turkey.)
- If you’re having ham, then you’ll need cauliflower cheese!
- Crispy roast potatoes
- Roasted parsnips and carrots with honey mustard glaze
- Spiced braised red cabbage
- sausage, sage and cranberry stuffing balls
- maple glazed pigs in blankets
- Brussels Sprouts with bacon and chestnuts
- cranberry orange sauce
- Jamie Oliver Christmas gravy (if you want to make homemade gravy, this is the best recipe I’ve tried)
- M&S bread sauce (I will be sharing a homemade recipe later this week, but if I’ve run out of time or forget to make it the M&S brand is my favourite)
And for Dessert…..
Don’t like Christmas pudding? Here are a few different options……
- Pavlova Christmas Wreath
- no bake Baileys cheesecake or no bake after Eight cheesecake
- no churn Baileys ice cream (which is lovely with Christmas pudding!)
You might have noticed there are no starter options. That’s because we have prawn cocktail every single year without fail and I don’t have a recipe on this site yet. If you’re looking for starter ideas (apart from prawn cocktail!), here are a few suggestions….
- Baked Camembert with apricot jam and chilli
- Vegetable Scotch Broth
- Scottish tattie soup
- Curried parsnip soup
- Broccoli and stilton soup
All of the soups can be made a couple of days in advance and stored in the fridge, all ready for reheating on Christmas Day.
Download my free printable Christmas meal planner below! ⬇️
Christmas meal time planner
I draw up a time plan for the festive meal that starts around the 18th December through to Christmas morning. I make a big mug of coffee, grab a notebook and pen and write the plan. It normally goes a little something like this:
A week before Christmas Day:
- If you still haven’t made the Christmas pudding, do it now. I know many recipes tell you you must make it months in advance and while that’s all very well and good if you’re an organised person, I promise it won’t be terrible if you make it the weekend before Christmas. Or you could cheat and buy one from the supermarket!
- Make the cranberry orange sauce and freeze it. You could store in the fridge, but it will taste fresher if you freeze on the day of make it.
- Make Christmas spiced red cabbage and freeze
- If you are making your own gravy, make it now and freeze. I don’t have my own gravy recipe because I can’t see past Jamie Oliver’s get ahead gravy. It’s amazing and well worth the effort. If you don’t want to make gravy from scratch, then no judgment here! I was brought up on Bisto and I would never turn my nose up at it.
- If you’re making my Easy Baileys ice cream recipe, you can make it now and freeze. All you need to do on Christmas Day is remove it from the freezer about 30 minutes before serving to let it soften a little – how easy is that?
- If you didn’t manage to secure a food shop delivery, then you’ll need to brave the supermarket. This daunting task is much easier by making a list and sticking to it, which I know is easier said than done at this time of year! Write a list of everything you will need for the meal – and don’t forget essentials such as cooking oil, washing up liquid, tin foil and batteries. There is nothing worse than realising at 9pm on Christmas Eve you forgot to buy something you can’t do without.
The last week before Christmas Day I try and use up food in the fridge to free up valuable space before you do the big food shop. If you only own one Fridge freezer, it can be fun and games trying to fit everything in! Use garages or sheds for non perishable items such as cans of soft drinks or beer.
22nd December:
If your whole turkey or turkey crown is frozen, you need to figure out when you need to begin defrosting it. A very large turkey can take up to 3 days to defrost in the fridge, so this is one of the first things you must check.
Depending on the size, Turkey crowns generally take 1-2 days to defrost. If you’re brining the turkey crown, you’ll need to start this on Christmas Eve, so you’ll need to make sure it’s fully defrosted by then. You’ll find more useful information on defrosting turkeys on the Food Standards Scotland Website.
Now would also be a good time to make sure you have a container large enough to brine the turkey crown! Please don’t leave it until 5pm on Christmas Eve only to find you have to use one of your child’s toy boxes (which I had to throw out later!) Am I talking from experience? I’m afraid so!
23rd December:
- Make the pavlova wreath base and the raspberry coulis, but don’t decorate with cream and fruit. When the pavlova is completely cold, store it in a large container ready for Christmas Day.
- Make Baileys cheesecake or After eight cheesecake, or any other cheesecake options on my website.
24th December (Christmas Eve morning):
This is a much longer list of stuff to prep, but I promise it will make your life so much easier on Christmas morning – you’ll be glad you got the following tasks ticked off your list!
- Take red cabbage, cranberry sauce and gravy out of the freezer to defrost.
- prepare the sausagemeat stuffing balls (but don’t cook them) and place in an airtight container in the fridge
- prepare the pigs in blankets and place them (uncooked) in an airtight container in the fridge all ready for Christmas Day
- If you’re making the brined turkey crown recipe, prepare it now.
- Cook the slow cooker Ham in Coca-Cola, if making. I serve it cold along with the turkey on Christmas Day.
- If you wanted to, you could make the cauliflower cheese on Christmas Eve and reheat on Christmas Day. I personally don’t do this as I prefer it fresh, but if you would prefer to get it done early then go for it.
Christmas Eve afternoon or evening:
- Peel and cut the parsnips and carrots into equal sized batons and place in a food bag. Seal and refrigerate. Make up the honey mustard glaze and transfer to a Tupperware tub. Place in the fridge all ready to cook tomorrow.
- Trim the base of the Brussels sprouts and if they are very large, cut in half so they are all roughly the same size. Transfer to a food bag or Tupperware container and refrigerate.
- If you cooking a whole turkey, remove it from all packaging and take out the giblets, if there are any. Place it in a roasting tin or large plate and pop it back in the fridge, making sure it is not touching any other items. Leaving the turkey uncovered will dry out the skin, making it extra crispy.
- make the orange herb butter for the turkey and refrigerate.
- Decorate the cheesecake (if making) with whipped cream topping and chocolates. Place in the fridge away from any strong smelling foods, such as blue cheese.
Christmas day meal time plan
The following times are based on cooking a 5kg whole turkey which typically takes around 3 hours to cook. I’ve also based the times on serving Christmas dinner at 3pm.
If you are making the brined turkey crown, you obviously won’t need to cook it for as long as a whole turkey. I remove the crown from the brine around 10am, pat it dry and leave it at room temperature before cooking. Please refer to this post for turkey crown cooking times and adjust the plan accordingly.
25th December (morning:)
9:30am – Remove the turkey and herb butter from the fridge to allow them to come to room temperature. This will ensure the turkey cooks evenly and faster.
10am – preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Season and rub the butter all over the turkey.
10:15 – Prepare potatoes (peel and cut), place in a large saucepan of cold water (don’t add salt) and cover.
10:30 – Place the turkey in the oven. Don’t forget to baste the turkey every 40 minutes or so, but keep the oven door closed as you do so the heat doesn’t escape. Remove the turkey from the oven, place on a chopping board, baste then get it back in the oven.
11am – If making the Pavlova Wreath, whip the cream for the filling. Decorate the pavlova with cream and fresh fruit. Place in the fridge. If you have no room in the fridge for the pavlova, then you could leave decorating it until the afternoon – but it’s much easier to do when you don’t have loads of other things to attend to!
1.15pm – Drain the potatoes and refresh with more cold water. Par boil, drain, allow to steam dry then fluff them up for those lovely crispy edges. If you’re making cauliflower cheese and haven’t made it in advance, cut cauliflower into florets and place in a pan of cold water.
If at all possible, now would be a good time to prepare the table for dinner. Getting it out of the way nice and early saves a lot of stress/pepple running in and out of the kitchen for cutlery, napkins, bottle openers when you’re cooking up a storm!
13:40 – Remove the turkey from the oven and using a meat thermometer, check it is fully cooked. There should be no traces of pink meat or blood. If you see any, get the turkey back in the oven and check every 10 minutes until fully cooked.
1:45– Once the turkey has fully cooked, turn up the oven to 220C/200Fan. Remove the carrots and parsnips, sausagemeat stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, red cabbage and gravy out of the fridge. Place a roasting tin with oil in the oven for the roast potatoes.
1:50 – Carefully add the potatoes to the hot oil, spooning the oil over them until they are covered. Place in the oven, turning them over halfway through cooking. Bring the cauliflower florets to a boil and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until just beginning to soften. While the cauliflower is cooking, make the cheese sauce. Place the cooked florets and sauce in a baking dish and set aside to heat through later.
⭐️If you’ve already cooked the cauliflower cheese, you just need to reheat it when you make the Brussels sprouts ⭐️
2pm – If you’re having Christmas pudding, reheat in a steamer or large saucepan filled halfway with simmering water for about one hour. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave later on – it’s not my favourite method of reheating it, but if you’re struggling with hob space you might have no choice.
2:15pm – Place the carrots and parsnips in a roasting tin and pour over the glaze. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven. They’ll take about 30-40 minutes to cook through.
If you have a very hot oven like mine, it might be a good idea to turn it down to 200C. It does mean the potatoes might take a little bit longer to cook, (hense why I suggest putting them in the oven a tad early) but there will be less chance of burning the parsnips.
2:30pm – Place the pigs in blankets and sausagemeat balls in the oven, turning them halfway through cooking.
2:35 – Heat the red cabbage in a medium saucepan over a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally. Place the gravy in a medium saucepan and heat for about 20 minutes or until piping hot.
2:40pm – Make the Brussells sprouts with bacon and chestnuts. Place the cauliflower cheese in the oven and heat until bubbling.
Warm the bread sauce in a small pan over a low heat so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Place the cranberry sauce in a dish.
2:45pm – When everything is nice and hot, transfer to serving dishes. Carve the turkey.
2.50pm – Enlist a helper to pour drinks, including a very large one for yourself. You’ve earned it!
3pm – Time to eat and enjoy! Merry Christmas!
equipment for making Christmas dinner easier
- Meat thermometer to make sure your turkey is perfectly cooked
- Large roll of tin foil – to tent the turkey if the skin is turning too brown before it has cooked through, cover food to keep it warm if necessary and wrap up leftovers
- If you want to cut down on dish-washing and aren’t worried about spending a few extra pounds, disposable tin trays are very handy. I often use them for cooking the stuffing balls and pigs in blankets.
- Large sharp knife or electric carving knife for carving the turkey
- A sturdy pair of kitchen tongs for turning the potatoes, stuffing balls, parsnips, carrots and pigs in blankets.
tips to make life easier
- If you have an air fryer, make good use of it. The sausagemeat stuffing balls and pigs in blankets can be air fried, freeing up valuable oven space. I also have a great easy recipe for Air fryer roast potatoes which cook in half the time of oven roasted potatoes.
- The turkey needs to rest for an absolute minimum of 30 minutes before you carve it to allow the juices to re-distribute back into the bird, but you can get away with an hour. This gives you time and oven space to cook all the side dishes.
- This planner is based on sitting down to eat Christmas dinner at 3pm, but if you are eating at a different time, adjust the timings to suit you.
- If a dish is ready early, remove from the oven and keep it warm by covering with a piece of tin foil.
- Above all else, please remember to enjoy yourself! It’s just Dinner. And if something goes wrong, you won’t care after a few glasses of wine!
got turkey leftovers?
Here are a few recipes to use up that leftover roast turkey and other bits and pieces –
- turkey, stuffing and cranberry filo tarts
- leftover turkey curry
- leftover turkey soup
- leftover turkey and ham pie
If you’re cooking for a smaller amount of people this year, you might be interested in my recipe for rolled turkey breast with sausage, apricot and cranberry stuffing.
I hope you find this Christmas meal plan helpful! Please let me know how you get on with it by leaving a comment below. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas! 🎄xx
Wow this is a great help been making Christmas Dinner for 30 plus years too and always get in a panic/flap trying to do it all on the day.. so this year I’m going to print out your planner and follow the steps see If I can have a more relaxed Christmas day and enjoy the dinner that I’ve prepared