Christmas Dinner Preparation

With Christmas dinner prep trying to get your timings right for everything on the day can be stressful. By cooking most of the trimmings in advance and simply reheating on the day, you save yourself precious time which can be spent with your loved ones on Christmas Day.

Your carrots and greens can be blanched a day or so in advance and refrigerated in a plastic wrapped tray, or use a Bosch ErgoMixx container and vacuum seal for ultimate freshness. On the day, reheat in the microwave or submerge briefly in boiling water on the hob. Spiced red cabbage can be made ahead and frozen for up to a month before use. Simply defrost the night before and reheat on the day.

Potatoes and parsnips can be peeled the night before and stored in water overnight. Or if you really want to get ahead, parboil and roast until pale golden, store in the fridge overnight and reheat in the oven the following day for 30 minutes until crunchy and golden.

The jury is still out on whether Yorkshire puddings should be served with Christmas dinner. If they’re a firm favourite amongst your family, these can also be cooked in advance and stored in plastic containers or a zip lock bag then reheated in the oven for just 3-5 minutes before serving. Use your ErgoMixx with the whisk attachment for the lightest, fluffiest Yorkshire.

Bosch XXL fridge freezers give you all the space you need to store your pre-prepared food for Christmas dinners, New Year parties and beyond. An extra 10cm of width means you can fit in whole baking trays, perfect for prepping those roasties, desserts and more.

If possible, lay the table the night before - you can even get the children involved with this part. Read our Christmas Dinner Party Ready blog for ideas on how to decorate your Christmas table.

Ensuring you get the quantities right is crucial, you want everyone to be well fed but not to overdo it and have lots of wastage. Below is a rough guide on how much to cook for each person, but you know your family and friends best so if you’ve got big eaters or want some leftovers for a classic Christmas sandwich, up the quantities. Equally, if you are cooking for children, they will require a smaller portion.

The tradition of having roast turkey at Christmas can be traced back to Henry VIII, but how much to cook? 2-2.5kg serves 4-6 people, 3kg serves 6-7 people and 3.5kg serves 7-8 people. If you’re cooking for 2-4 guests you might consider a turkey crown rather than a whole turkey, plus it will cook much quicker!

For carrots, and other vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts and peas, allow 80-100g of each per person. We recommend having 3 different vegetables, or if you want to serve more, lessen the quantities of each.

No Christmas dinner would be complete without crispy roast potatoes, allow 250g per person.

The rest of the trimmings are just as important for the big feast. Make 2 pigs in blankets, 1-2 stuffing balls and at least 50ml of gravy for each person.