tips for cooking christmas lunch

That feeling you get after a successful Christmas dinner – and ‘successful’ is open to interpretation here – is hard to beat. But the chaos leading up to it? Not so much.

We asked John, our Head of Cook School, for some tips on how to approach cooking the Christmas feast like a chef. In other words, how to be organised, confident, and totally in control. (Okay, maybe not ‘totally’ – but as close to it as possible.) While his tips are geared towards Christmas lunch, they come in handy for any dinner party.

The Art of Organisation

A dinner that runs smoothly may seem effortless, but all that is a result of meticulous planning on the part of the host. These tips focus on optimising your space and schedule.

  • Pre-Set the Table: This is a golden rule! Setting the table the night before saves the last-minute scramble for cutlery, glasses, and linens. It's a simple task that makes a huge difference on the day.

  • Create a Schedule: Planning your oven and hob schedule might seem obsessive, but it is your secret weapon. With so many dishes requiring different temperatures and cooking times, a minute-by-minute plan prevents bottlenecks, ensures everything is hot at the same time, and drastically reduces stress.

  • Clear Kitchen Surfaces: Nothing breeds frustration faster than a cluttered workspace. Tidy away unnecessary equipment, condiments (will you really need ketchup with turkey?), and decorations the night before. A clear kitchen surface will give you a clear mind on the day.

  • The Dishwasher Strategy: Make sure your dishwasher is empty before dinner begins. This allows dirty dishes, pots, and utensils to go straight in as soon as you're done with them, letting you focus on relaxing, not washing up.

  • Clean As You Go: Be conscientious about washing utensils, pots, and pans as you use them. This prevents a daunting, mountain-sized pile of washing up from accumulating by the time you sit down to eat, saving space and sanity.

Smart Food Prep & Cooking Hacks

Save time, save space, and elevate your meal with these simple, effective strategies.

  • Keep It Simple: Don't try to master twelve different sides. Instead, focus on a few dishes done exceptionally well. Combining dishes saves both oven space and hassle. For example, I always roast my pigs in blankets alongside Brussels sprouts, or parsnips with my roast potatoes. This not only saves room, but allows the ingredients to subtly flavour one another.

  • Don't Be Afraid to Buy Ready-Made: Making components like jus or stuffing from scratch can be a time sink. Don't feel guilty about taking shortcuts! Ask your butcher for chicken stock to deglaze your turkey roasting tin for an easy, flavourful jus, or combine high-quality pre-made stuffing with sausage meat for a simple win.

  • Do As Much The Day (or Days) Before: Use Christmas Eve to conquer all the laborious prep jobs. Wash and chop your vegetables, weigh out any dry recipe ingredients, and premake your Yorkshire pudding batter. This means that on Christmas morning, you can focus purely on cooking and assembling, not prepping. If anything can be made and frozen in advance, that’s excellent.

  • Sharpen Your Knives: The sharper your knives, the easier food prep will be. (Shop our range of knife sharpeners.)

Perfecting the Centrepiece

The centrepiece deserves focused attention. These tips ensure succulent meat and a flexible cooking schedule.

  • The Crucial Rest Period: Resting your protein after it’s been cooked is non-negotiable for succulent, juicy meat. It also serves a critical scheduling purpose: it frees up your oven for those last-minute, high-heat dishes (like Yorkshire puddings or crispy roast potatoes). Rest your meat under tinfoil and a warm, damp tea towel for at least half the time it was cooked. If needed, reheat it for about five minutes at 200°C just before serving, or even better, warm it up with piping hot gravy.

  • Stuff Your Bird for Even Cooking: Stuffing the cavity of a turkey or chicken helps to fill the empty space, meaning heat is more evenly distributed through the meat. An unstuffed cavity fills with hot air and can overcook the turkey from the inside out, resulting in a dry breast.

  • Consider Low-and-Slow Braising Cuts: If a whole turkey feels daunting, consider economical cuts like pork belly or lamb shoulder. Cooked slowly at a low temperature, these cuts yield a consistently juicy, fall-apart centrepiece that requires less last-minute attention than a large bird.

Products That Make Dinner Effortless

A few strategic tools can turn holiday chaos into calm:

  • Meater Pro Meat Thermometer: Ensures you nail a perfectly cooked turkey or meat centrepiece effortlessly, taking the guesswork out of core temperatures. Shop here.

  • Novak Chainmail: Helps keep moisture in when cooking a turkey for a consistently juicy result. It's a great tin foil alternative. Shop here.

  • Borough Kitchen Wooden Carving Board: Features a groove along the border to catch juices, reducing mess and allowing you to easily reuse the flavourful drippings for your gravy. Our new Spiked End Grain Carving Board provides extra support for keeping meat stable while carving. Shop here.

  • Stone the Chef's Notebook: Waterproof and durable – perfect for creating your Christmas Day cooking schedule near the heat and steam of the kitchen. Shop here. 

  • Kai Select 100 T-Peeler: A high-quality peeler makes laborious jobs, like large-scale vegetable prep, fast and easy. Shop here.

  • Mauviel M’Cook Roasting Pans: Highly versatile; they can be used in the oven and on all hobs including induction. It’s ideal when you need to juggle space between the oven and hob. Shop here.
Embrace the preparation, follow your plan, and enjoy a truly stress-free and delicious Christmas Day. Remember that as long as you put in the effort – and provide plenty of wine – your guests will love the feast you’ve so lovingly prepared. 

Recommended Products