How to cook a traditional Christmas dinner: Your complete guide to roasting turkey and all the trimmings
You get one day of the year. One day when that aspirational diet or niggling calorie guilt is thrown out the window and you get to eat whatever you want. One glorious day.
Which means that there's a lot of pressure on getting the Christmas roast dinner right. But fear not, because if there's one thing I’ve learned, it's that this is a meal anyone can manage – just so long as you know what you're doing.
So, get a pen and paper ready (lists are key, you see), pour yourself a glass, and get ready to learn everything you need to know about the Christmas dinner, from where all the turkey cooking juices go, to why your potatoes never get crispy and why your Brussels always look soggy.
Think of this guide as Santa's little helper (or a sous chef), ready to guide you towards a better, tastier, less apocalyptically stressful Christmas dinner...
How to prepare for Christmas day
Make lists and plans. A shopping list, a cooking time plan, and a hob plan.
Ready the stuffing, pigs in blankets, stock for gravy and even the vegetables on Christmas day.
Invest in tin foil roasting trays. They save a lot of washing up.
"I’m a big list maker," says Ruth Lawton-Owen, managing director at luxury party planners, The Admirable Crichton, on Christmas Day preparation. "I make a big timeline of what needs to go in and when – and then you can set a discrete alarm on your phone that will just buzz when you need to pop something else in and you can quietly make a discrete exit and you don’t have to make a big fuss about it."
Read more: Christmas food shopping checklist
Fiona Giles, senior freelance teacher at the prestigious Leiths School of Food and Wine, who gave me a crash course in how to make the perfect Christmas dinner, agrees. She suggests that ahead of the 25th you also draw up a hob plan of which trimmings will be cooked and where. "So you know exactly which pot and pan is going to go where." Put the carrots at the back, as you can afford to take your eyes of them while they boil, whereas you want to keep the gravy at the front so that you can regularly stir it.
Remember to sharpen the knives, pick and buy which vegetables and trimmings you want at the table, and make sure you've got all your basic ingredients – wine, flour, salt and pepper, butter, milk and eggs. And maybe a bit more wine, for the chef.
You can do quite a bit of the food prep the day before, to reduce some of the stress on the 25th. Scour the carrots, cut the potatoes, peel the Brussels sprouts and put them in a plastic container in the fridge ready to pop into the oven or on the hob in the morning. Put a little bit of water in the container you are keeping them in so that they stay moist.
Ready the stock, stuffing and pigs and blankets. To make the stock for your gravy, cook the turkey giblets in water and add some chicken stock and/or vegetable cooking water to taste. Remember to take the liver out of the giblets before you make the stock. The liver will make the gravy taste bitter and weirdly metallic – but works well chopped up with breadcrumbs and chestnuts for the turkey stuffing. Beat in an egg and shave some nutmeg into the stuffing, before rolling into balls or placing in a container for putting in your turkey.
Giles also strongly recommend using disposable foil tins for cooking your turkey and all your trimmings. There really will be no difference in flavour and it saves on the washing up – you want to be cutting as many corners as you can.
And most importantly DON'T FORGET THE TURKEY.
How to choose a turkey
The UK consumed approximately 10 million turkeys last year, although it didn't become a popular centrepiece on our tables till the mid-1950's when the birds became more readily available and therefore cheaper.
"If money isn't an issue I would go for a free-range turkey, and preferably a fresh one from the butchers as opposed to frozen from the supermarket," recommends Giles. When the bird is frozen, the water content and other juices expand and rupture cells, which results in a loss of flavour, texture and a watery bird going in the oven.
The most common breeds of turkey in the UK are standard white, bronze and Norfolk black breeds. The bronzed turkey is native to the UK and the traditional and the original bird. It is naturally slower growing than the white turkey, which were introduced as the concept of turkey at Christmas became popularised. Because of this they have a stronger flavour than the white turkey but are usually more expensive.
You can also get different cuts from your supermarket or butchers. Turkey joints are easy to carve and much smaller than a whole turkey so cook in less time, while a crown is a whole turkey without the legs and wings so better for people who just prefer the white meat. If you're a turkey legs kind of person and enjoy the stuffing within the turkey, the only way to go is buying a whole one.
If you do buy a frozen bird, defrost it thoroughly in a fridge, allowing 10-12 hours per kg of bird.
How to cook Christmas turkey
Do remember to take the wishbone out before cooking. It makes the breast easier to carve.
Don't stuff the turkey in the main cavity from behind. Stuff it from the neck end to ensure the whole bird cooks properly.
Do remember to secure all the stuffing in the turkey with a skewer.
Put a large glass of wine and some water in the roasting tin. This will make more juice for the gravy.
Give your turkey legs a jiggle, to see if the meat is tender.
Remove the turkey from the fridge an hour before cooking, to bring it to room temperature. Weigh it so you know how long it will take in the oven – or else you'll spend the whole of Boxing day and beyond with a dicky tummy. Use our tool here:
Delve into the back end of the bird and find the wishbone. It will be the first piece of bone visible, forming an arch between the two breasts. Some people cook the turkey with the wishbone intact, but it is easier to carve the breast if you take it out before cooking (it also prevents any choking mishaps). Grab your knife and slide it along the edge of the bone, before tearing it out.
Take the giblets out if you haven't already (they're usually in a plastic bag) and start stuffing the turkey. Only stuff the turkey from the neck end. You don't want to stuff it from the main cavity (the backside of the turkey) as keeping that empty improves the air circulation in and around the bird, allowing it to cook faster and more evenly. If you do stuff from behind then the inside may not get hot enough to kill any bacteria present, which can result in food poisoning.
Go gently when stuffing under the skin – you don't want it to tear. Secure the stuffing with a skewer, lather the bird with slabs of butter (this will stop the meat from drying out), and pour a large glass of white wine and another of water into the bottom of the roasting tin. This will mix with the cooking juices and stop them from evaporating – important, because you want lots of juice for your gravy later.
Allow to rest for between 30 minutes to an hour so it is as tender as can be when carving.
When carving the turkey start on one side of the breast and cut down diagonally until you get to the centre, then repeat on the other side. Most people nowadays will just cut down the middle of the turkey and cut each breast off as a whole but this leaves you with just the carcass of the turkey at the end of the carving (if you spent that long cooking it you kind of want it to look as pretty as can be for as long as can be).
To take the turkey leg off, carve the meat down to the point when you can feel a joint in the middle. Put your thumb in the gap you have just made and pull away the meat, popping the joint out.
Different types of potatoes
King Edward or Maris Piper are both really good roasting potatoes, according to Giles. Both have a creamy coloured skin, but King Edwards also tend to have purple patches. Most importantly, they both have a high dry matter content, which means they roast well while maintaining that crucial 'light as air' fluffiness inside.
King Edward and Maris Piper are described as old potatoes (allowed to grow to their maximum size), unlike new potatoes, which are small and waxy. Traditionally you wouldn't go for roasted new potatoes at Christmas. They are more for summer.
How to roast potatoes
Bring potatoes to the boil when parboiling rather than putting them straight into scalding water.
Roast duck fat in the oven for 20 minutes before adding the potatoes. It needs to be scorching!
At Leiths they use massive, chunky potatoes for their perfect Christmas dinner, chopping each potato into four chunks.
Begin by parboiling the potatoes, to begin to soften them up and add fluffiness on the outside that will ultimately crisp in the oven. Put the potatoes in enough cold, salted water to cover them, and then bring to the boil.
You want to pop the potatoes in enough salted water to just cover them and bring the water to the boil (don't add them to already boiling water – this can shock the potato and cause it to lose shape). To test whether the parboiling is finished, poke the spud with a cutlery knife. Go no deeper than 1 cm into the flesh, as you don't want to over soak the inside with water before roasting. The knife should slide out of the potato effortlessly.
Now put a lid on the pot and shake the potatoes. The outer part should fluff up nicely, but the potato shouldn't lost it's overall structure (if it does disintegrate, I'm afraid you've overcooked it). Now drain the pot and let the potatoes steam-dry for a few minutes. Again, this will help the outer crumbliness.
Roast the duck fat in a large tin for 20 minutes before the potatoes are going to join them in the oven. (You can buy this in nearly all supermarkets now.) Not getting the fat hot enough is one of the main reasons behind soggy roasts.
When you pop the potatoes in the fat, spread them out evenly and don't overcrowd them. You want them to sizzle viciously, as if the fat is a snake trying to bite off your fingers. Put the tray in the oven and check on the potatoes two or three times during cooking, turning them each time.
A little Leiths tip is to roast the potatoes two hours in advance, then return them to the top shelf 30 minutes before serving, just so you can cope with the standard Christmas juggling act.
Best vegetables for Christmas dinner
Pick your colours wisely. The vibrant orange and green of carrots and Brussels sprouts spar well with the roasted brown of the turkey and potatoes. However, cauliflower cheese looks cloying.
Think about how many hobs you have. It would be unfeasible to cook more than three different trimmings in a normal sized kitchen.
As with everything about Christmas, the key is to plan ahead. Go back to that hob plan you made. How many hobs do you have? The answer will probably be four, so resist the temptation to make seven specialised sauces. Keep within your means.
In terms of what veggies to include, carrots are an undisputed standard. Leiths boil baby Chantenay carrots in their perfect Christmas dinner, which can look very elegant, especially when you've got monstrously chunky roasties on your plate at the same time.
The sweetness of the carrot depends on the fibrous channel that runs the length of its core. The smaller the carrot, the sweeter it will taste – which is maybe why honey-glazed baby carrots are so moreish.
Cook till al dente for a nice crunch and then glaze with melted butter, honey, lemon juice and a generous peppering of chopped parsley.
Some people would pick a cauliflower cheese with their roast but it's a weird texture to have paired with your gravy and can be quite gloopy. Plus, the combination of cheese sauce and cauliflower requires hob space.
Sweet potatoes are popular with turkey thanksgiving meals in the US, but aren't a part of the traditional British Christmas lunch. Also, if you've got sweet carrots then you'll want to be careful not to overload on that flavour.
Broccolli requires another pan, but brings an interesting texture to the plate. However, the crunch of a tender-stem is quite similar to that of a (properly cooked) sprout, so Giles recommends you go for only one of the two.
Parsnips are a great option as they can be cooked with your roasted potatoes. "The taste is strong so I would just do a third of the quantity of parsnips to potatoes," advises Giles. "so people just get one on their plate to spice it up.
"Another one a lot of people have is a braised red cabbage because you can make that in advance and re-heat it. That’s a helpful one so you’re not doing everything at the last minute."
Christmas dinners can make for quite earthy looking affairs (it's all that brown meat) so Giles recommends you think about the colours of the vegetables, to liven up the plate. A cauliflower is too close in colour to a potato for it to be a strong option, while the carrot's vibrant orange makes it a Christmas heavyweight.
How to make gravy
Don't keep the liver when making the giblet stock. It will make the gravy bitter.
Do remember to cook the roux by heating the flour until straw coloured with the fat from your turkey juices.
For darker coloured gravy, stir the roux for longer.
Some families will buy in the gravy – but aside from the meat, if there's anything in the Christmas dinner that you want to put effort into, it's the gravy. Pouring a bad gravy all over lovingly-cooked food can be ruinous. What's more, gravy is really not too difficult to get right.
The key is to make a roux. Once the turkey is cooked and resting, pour all the juices from the roasting tin into a new pot. You want to skim the fat off from these juices, so add some cold water and watch the fat congeal and rise to the top (the same effect happens if you put it in the fridge). In a new pot, stir this fat with some flour until the mixture turns straw coloured and you get a strong biscuit-y smell. Et voila, you have your roux - the basis of every creamy, delicious and not-in-the-slightest lumpy turkey gravy.
Now combine your roux with the rest of the roasting juices and the stock you made on Christmas Eve and simmer gently. It should be a roasted brown colour, but if you want the gravy a little darker just keep stirring your roux for longer although the colour of the gravy is really going to depend on the colour of your stock at the start.
"The important thing is it tastes nice and flavoursome," says Giles. "A turkey gravy is not as dark as a roast beef gravy, which you'd expect to be darker because of the colour of the meat."
Brussels sprouts
Leave your sprouts to rest in a pot of cold water after boiling. This helps them to retain structure and colour.
Roasting them makes them crispy on the outside. With a softer inside.
Don't cut a cross into the bottom of the sprout. It allows too much water in, making them soggy.
If you're still unsure about sprouts, combine them with other flavours. Pancetta and chestnuts are the classic.
"Some people just boil sprouts but they can become a bit waterlogged," warns Giles on tackling the bane of most family Christmas tables. Overcooking sprouts makes them smell like rotten eggs due to the high levels of sulforaphane they contain –ut well-cooked sprouts, especially when sautéd, can bring out a deliciously sweet and nutty flavour that, until recently, food connoisseurs thought was a well-kept secret.
Never cut a cross into the bottom of your sprouts. It allows too much water to seep into the vegetable, making them waterlogged and soggy.
"Traditionally people would boil them for ages so they lost their vibrant green colour," says Giles. "I prefer them the Leiths way, which is to just blanch them, so they’re cooked and have a little bit of crunch to them and then saute them to retain that crunch," says Giles. To blanch the sprouts, scald them in boiling water for two minutes before plunging them into ice cold water and then leaving them to drain. This way, they retain their shape and colour, and you stop the cooking process until you're ready to start with the next step.
And that next step is simply to saute them for a few minutes. At this point, you can add some different flavours to the mix. For example, some pancetta and chestnuts in the pan work well, the salty bacon offsetting the sweet sprouts. Says Giles: "A lot of people say they don't like Brussels sprouts, but I think doing them with pancetta and chestnuts gives them some alternative flavours for people who don't like them on their own."
How to have a vegan Christmas
As with turkeys, Christmas isn't the best of times for vegans. But with the number of vegans increasing, so too are the options on the dinner plate for those who forgo meat products.
Chantelle Nicholson, the New Zealand born former lawyer-turned-chef at Tredwells, is a meat-eater who's passionate about vegan and vegetarian food. Nicholson admits that despite advances in veggie cuisine, vegans still miss out at Christmas as many recipes “miss that satisfaction you get from savouriness, creaminess and depth of flavour.”
She recommends caramelising your vegetables as you would meat, to increase the depth of flavour. Follow her vegan Christmas dinner recipes here including blinis with truffled mushroom mousse, porcini and thyme roasted celeriac and to finish an indulgent chocolate and clementine pudding.
How to fold napkins
The cone
Fold the napkin in half and then quarters.
Position the napkin so that the open end is facing away from you. Fold the top layer all the way forward and press it down flat.
Turn the napkin over and fold the left hand side of the napkin over two thirds of the way. Do the same on the right hand side.
Tuck the corners of the napkin into the left hand side flap.
The tulip
Fold the napkin in half diagonally.
Fold both layers of the top of the triangle down to the bottom edge.
Take the right edge of the triangle and fold up at an angle. Repeat on the left side.
Turn the napkin over and take the lower flaps and fold them up at an angle.
The heart
Fold the napkin in half and then half again.
Fold the right hand side up vertically then repeat with the left side.
Shape the heart by tucking the center flaps under and tucking the corner flaps underneath.
The lazy option
Why not skip the whole folding faff and invest in some napkin rings? "They are making a big comeback," says Ruth Lawton-Owen, managing director, The Admirable Crichton. "They were considered to be terribly old-fashioned a few years ago, but statement napkin rings are becoming popular again and they work well for Christmas and you can attach little place cards onto them."
"One of my personal favourites is tying a ribbon round a napkin and attaching a little silver charm to the napkin. It's a little something for guests that they can take away. You can either buy festive ones - little snowmen or Santas, or you can personalise them to the things your guests are interested in. They don’t have to be expensive, you can buy them in department stores."
This article was originally published in 2017.
Celebrate Christmas with Leiths with their festive gift guide: https://www.leiths.com/Christmas
