25 Christmas dinner recipes

Best Christmas dinner recipes

Perfect roast turkey

Discover everything you need to know about cooking the perfect roast turkey – including how to keep it tender and juicy – plus storage and reheating tips, along with the complete recipe. Serve it alongside our easy homemade turkey gravy for a classic Christmas dinner that's sure to impress.

Stuffed turkey breast with maple bacon lattice

This easy stuffed turkey breast looks a lot more complicated than it really is, thanks to the bacon lattice. The lattice also helps keep the meat moist and flavourful. Discover our best turkey recipes, as well as ideas for using up your leftover turkey.

Quince-glazed ham with pineapple relish

This ham can be scaled up or down in size – just use the calculations in the recipe. Rather than the fuss of boiling then baking, we prefer to tent the ham with foil and bake in its own juices before glazing. Why not serve this alongside your Christmas Day turkey?

Maryland stuffed ham

Want an impressive ham recipe for your Boxing Day buffet? Check out this unusual brined ham, with a piquant mix of spiced greens. Not only does this cut through the rich meat beautifully, but it looks great on the plate. The glaze is less traditional (and optional), but will give the ham a nice finish.

Spiced gammon with chilli crisp roasties

Flavour your gammon joint with orange, star anise, honey and chilli for an effortless Christmas centrepiece, paired with fiery roast potatoes.

Smoky maple glazed turkey joint

This recipe uses a dry brine which will give you extra-juicy meat and a lovely sweet and savoury maple glaze.

Two-tray Christmas dinner

Cook all the components of a Christmas lunch on oven trays – the turkey, golden roasties, pigs in blankets and all the trimmings – in just two hours with this effortless recipe.

Turkey au vin

Cook your turkey legs and breast in a heady red wine sauce for a Christmassy take on coq au vin. Once it's in the oven, this effortless dish takes care of itself.

Ham with a spiced ginger rum glaze

Serve warm on Christmas Eve with chunky chips and a bitter leaf winter salad, then eat the leftovers cold on Boxing Day.

Spiced halloumi, swiss chard and squash filo wreath

This is a festive, flavour-packed vegetarian main – the ingredients list might look long but is actually very easy to put together.

Tandoori spiced salmon

This is great served with rice and chutney, and perfect for a Boxing Day spread.

Roast duck with crispy potatoes and mulled-wine cherry sauce

Check out our indulgent roast duck legs with super-crispy potatoes and spiced cherry sauce. You can scale this up or down, with one leg and 200-250g of potatoes per person.

Roast beef with marsala wild mushrooms

This rib of beef is the ultimate showstopper – crisp on the outside and blushing pink on the inside – served with a rich mushroom and marsala sauce for an umami hit.

Roast duck with plums and star anise

With crispy skin and melt-in-the-mouth duck served with rich plums, this recipe with star anise makes a perfect Sunday roast, or try making it for Christmas lunch. Discover our best plum recipes.

Parsnip, sage and apple Wellington

Our best vegan Wellington recipe, stuffed with fried parsnips, mushrooms, lentils, crispy sage and sweet apple. It's the perfect Christmas Day centrepiece.

Duck with lavender honey and spinach, ricotta and pine nut dumplings

Looking for an impressive alternative to your turkey this Christmas? This recipe is a great alternative to you usual Sunday roast. The lavender honey is subtly floral but not overpowering, and is used as a glaze. The dumplings, resembling a light gnocchi, are a lighter alternative to traditional roast potatoes.

Roast partridge and cinnamon pears with warm barley and roots salad

Need an impressive centrepiece for your Christmas feast? Chef Mark Lloyd nestles whole partridges in a warm barley base for an easy game recipe to cook at home.

Roast chicken with kiev butter

Thinking of serving chicken instead of turkey this Christmas? Smother a whole chicken in garlicky, lemony butter and roast for an easy, flavour-packed festive family meal.

Capon cooked in spiced mead wine with roasted carrots, sprouts and croutons

Capon (large chicken) is a really special meat to cook over the festive season. The spiced mead gives Ben Spalding's showstopping recipe a wintry edge. Serve with roasted carrots, sprouts and croutons.

Roast goose with madeira gravy

Our roast goose is delicious with madeira gravy, and makes a great alternative to turkey to serve guests at your Christmas Day feast. It's also easier to make than you might think.

Salmon with crispy spuds and zhoug

Perk up your party buffet with this punchy side of salmon served with crispy potatoes, perfect for entertaining over the festive season.

Herb-stuffed rolled lamb breast

Roll up this great-value cut of lamb with mustard and herbs, then bake until soft and tender so it falls apart into the white wine onion gravy – an easy yet flavour-packed festive centrepiece.

Hog roast with spiced apple stuffing

Looking for a hearty centrepiece to serve friends and family over the festive season? Check out our impressive pork shoulder hog roast with easy spiced apple stuffing. You’ll need butcher’s string to tie this up – if you get your pork from a butcher, ask for some string when you buy it.

Beef recipe for Christmas with chestnuts

This recipe for beef fillet with spiced pears and chestnut pickle is easy to make, but offers something a little bit different during the colder months. Make this as an alternative for Christmas dinner this year.

Discover more beef recipes.

Maple-glazed ham

Allspice, cinnamon and star anise bring festive flavour to this maple-glazed ham – the slow simmering technique keeps the meat succulent and juicy.