To think cooking a roast every weekend is completely unnecessary

[ChristmasAlone]

Stems from a conversation I just had, I'm cooking a roast at the moment and mentioned it was the first one I've cooked this year. I love a roast, but just think cooking one every weekend (I know it's Monday) just feels completely unnecessary and takes away from its beauty if you're having every Sunday.

We roast some chicken and veg every Sunday. It’s not the same as a big faffy traditional roast but actually an easy and flavoursome dinner that everyone enjoys.

We don't here. It's a faff to get all the timings right, and all the washing up. I like things that I can do in the slow cooker, so I can do the prep early.

@Dixiechickonhols very different from 1000+ calories someone else claims a roast to be

I wouldn't want one every week either so I suppose it's up to the individual as others have said, they enjoy them every week.

For me, once a month would be ideal.

Bar the saucepans pretty much everything goes in the dishwasher and the dishwasher only goes on once in a day

YANBU. Couldn't be arsed. Did it for many years when DD lived at home, but don't now. I do it when I feel like it. If DH wants a roast meal, he knows where the kitchen is.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@JediGnot but a roast is traditional simple fare too. The Yorkshire pudding was sometimes served first to fill people up, then they would have the joint of meat and veggies. My DF came from Yorkshire and that is how he ate roasts.

You don't have to have all the trimmings every week.

Why is a roast 1000+ calories @Voomster953?[/quote]
You seem to be taking it quite personally that not everyone can be faffed to make a roast each week/doesn’t much like them.

I’m talking about a full on roast with potatoes roasted in fat, meat, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, proper gravy (not Bisto bollocks, that stuff is filthy) and all the sundries. In a restaurant it can easily be up to 1,500 calories. It’s a heavy, sat fat and salt-rich meal by its nature (of made ‘properly’) and I find it far too much to bother to cook or to manage to eat each week.

ineedaholidaynow You can obviously do a high calorie version fatty meat, cauliflower cheese, lots of oil or goose fat on spuds, stuffing with sausage meat etc. I lost 5 stone in 8 months eating my version of a roast each week. Thought of all that fat doesn’t appeal to me.

I am not British - when do you normally have a Sunday roast? Is it a lunchtime 1ish or dinner time thing?

I need tips!
How do people make it not take hours to cook?

I'm not taking it personally @Voomster953 but someone saying that a roast is 1000+ calories and others claiming that it takes 3 hours to cook etc are not taking into account the variety of ways you can serve a roast dinner. Some people may do a full on Christmas style roast every time they do a roast, others may do a simple meat and 2 veg type roast, where everything is roasted in the oven so takes little prep time and just needs to be shoved in the oven and therefore isn't a faff.

The fancy lasagnes and curries that DH makes are much more faff to make, create loads more washing up and the lasagne in particular would be way more calorific than the standard roast dinner he makes on a Sunday.

@34975jfk

I am not British - when do you normally have a Sunday roast? Is it a lunchtime 1ish or dinner time thing?

Depends Some have it at lunchtime but we have it later on at dinner time

So I make it about 800 calories for

3 slices roast chicken (no fat)
3 small roast potatoes
1 small boiled potatoes
Peas
Carrots
Green Beans
1 medium Yorkshire pudding
Gravy.

When I lived with my parents we always had roast as a Sunday lunch.

In our house DH cooks the roast in the evening, as we would normally be out walking during the day, busy doing other things etc

Also if I had wine at lunchtime I would sleep all afternoon!

Roasts are a disproportionate amount of effort for the rather drab outcome. Potatoes, veg and meat. Meh. Would much rather cook something else.

@1AngelicFruitCake

I need tips! How do people make it not take hours to cook?

Chicken in the oven or beef in the slow cooker Peel potatoes & carrots Potatoes in the pressure cooker Frozen Peas and carrots in one saucepan Green beans in another saucepan When potatoes are cooked stick the cauliflower in the pressure cooker. Yorkshire mix takes 5 mins to make. Stick them in the oven Put some cooked potatoes in either the chip pan or air fryer to make roasts.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@Dixiechickonhols very different from 1000+ calories someone else claims a roast to be[/quote]
Of course it can be low fat. If you don’t eat meat with any fat or a naturally lean meat like turkey. Don’t use much fat to make roasties or use one of those Airfryer things, don’t use the meat juices and fat to make your gravy, don’t have yorkies, definitely don’t have stuffing.... but isn’t that just the most miserable sounding roast ever?

I’d rather have one really proper one once a year with all the good stuff, and a truck load of calories, than a misery roast every single Sunday.

I don’t like meat with fat and although we use beef juice for gravy I wouldn’t thank you for chicken gravy. Food can taste nice without loads of fat.

@PegPeople me too. We eat a roast dinner at fairly frequent intervals as everyone likes it and I don't mind cooking it. But it's just another meal for me. We sometimes have it midweek or on a Saturday. Weekends are quite busy for us so sometimes we need to squeeze in a quick spaghetti and sauce dinner!

To the person who said they don't have three hours to cook a joint, I buy joints big enough to feed four of us including two teens. They take about 1.5-2hrs to cook. There's no need to buy a massive piece of meat that will last for several more meals.

And stuffing is bleurgh!

I do have one regularly as I love them and I use the meat in the following days when I don’t have as much time.
I don’t go all out though I’ll just roast a chicken, do roast potatoes, mixed veg, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding.

@1AngelicFruitCake put meat in the oven, chop up root vegetables including potatoes and roast them in the oven. Cheat using gravy granules, adding some of the meat juices. One very quick easy roast.

Obviously can do other vegetables in steamer/saucepan. Make Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese, stuffing etc but you don't have to.

Roasts are a disproportionate amount of effort for the rather drab outcome

You've not had my husbands amazing roasties! Honestly, you par boil them, heat a little fat while that's happening (we use Trex, fab results), then stick them in the oven , turn once halfway through . Less effort than mash, marginally more effort than plain boiled. I'd say disproportionate outcome for the amount of effort. But then I have also had some pretty bad roasties elsewhere.

(Stick lid on pan and shake to bash the edges slightly, forgot that all important tip. Adds 10 seconds to the process.

So what sort of things do you eat @Voomster953?

A simple roast can be very tasty