Sunday dinner/lunch- is it a thing?

[AlertCat]

Whether you do a roast or something else, is the main Sunday meal something a bit special in your home, or a pretty ordinary rotation?

IABU= ordinary meal that you might have any day of the week
IANBU= a slightly special meal or something you don’t have in the week

Unusual for me on a Sunday but I cook one about three times a month on a weekday. I like to get out and about on Sundays whereas I have more time to cook during the week.

Likewise. The only 2 nights we can all eat at the same time are Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday's tend to be a roast of some variety, when the weather improves a BBQ type meal. Sometimes pizza from the pizza oven.

I will sometimes do a semi roast mid week... spatchcocked chicken with chips and salad type.

My most favourite time of the week is the sunday lunch. We go all out with starters,full on roast with 4/5 sides,roast potatoes ,mash,home made gravy,homemade yorkshire puddings,sauces to match the meat we chose,then dessert.Copious wines drunk and shared with family and guests. Its a lot of work I guess but its so special sharing that precious few hours together chatting away. We usually sit down to eat about 2.30 and people tend to drift off about 5,30 /6.00 to get prepared for the week ahead.Its a lovely day and we look forward to it every week.

I haven’t done one in over a year. DC are too fussy and won’t eat it so I’d just be making it for myself and I can’t be bothered.

You could start off very simple.

A chicken that you roast in the bag, for example. All the timings and temperatures are on the bag.

I often cook the meat in the morning and do the potatoes, yorkies, stuffing and veg at dinner time.

I usually buy nice frozen Yorkshires, take about 5 minutes in the oven, do them right at the end.

Stuffing, I use a packet, add water and a big nob of butter, mix well. Takes about 35 mins to cook.

You can buy frozen roast potatoes for ease, but roasting your own in goose fat are nicer, they take about an hour to roast nicely.

Gravy - I use granules, but I add less water and use some of the juices saved from the chicken.

Growing up we always had Sunday roast at around 1 and my grandparents would come round after they’d been to church. It was such a nice time to spend together. Then it would be picky tea in the evening.

Would have loved to keep the tradition, but we’re not always home in the day on Sunday. So in the evening we tend to have something for tea that we wouldn’t take time to make during the week - sometimes it’s a roast, or maybe stew, pie, lasagne. In the summer do the meat on the bbq. Also we only ever have a roast on a Sunday, never another day!

We usually go mountain biking or hill walking as a family at the weekend. Or occasionally sailing. No one wants to hang around at home cooking.

Every other Sunday - or there and there about - we have DH's parents and his grown up kids/partners round for Sunday Dinner in the evening. We'll usually do a roast or a BBQ - it's a chance to catch up, to see them and spend a bit of time with them. It can be a lot of work - the cleaning up more than the cooking. DH usually cooks it. But it's about 8 people usually, sometimes 10.

We do the meal in the evening as then we've got the day free till at least 4-ish to do other things.

I have to say we'd had a tiring weekend and I was very glad we weren't hosting yesterday - we had a defrosted curry for tea and it was lovely.

We use to have a roast every week when i was growing up but i don't bother now. It was a horrible experience having a roast when growing up. My granddad would shout at anyone who had a different opinion. I was too scared to open my mouth in case i said the wrong thing.

Well it is possible to do both.

Our typical Sunday involves going out in to the countryside somewhere with the hiking boots on. Sunday lunch is usually a sandwich sat on a bench, or a tree stump or the side of a hill.

But in the evening when we get home we usually do a proper dinner. Not always a roast, but often.

I can't remember the last time we cooked Sunday roast at lunch time. That would be a waste of the day

Sunday Roast is a big thing in my house. Always was. Always will be.
Chance for all family to sit down together and eat a (huge) roast and pudding. Chill. Ends the week off. Heralds Monday coming.
Plenty of left overs for lunches next week too. Easy peasy meal to do. Love it.

Sunday dinner is a big Roast with all the trimmings including a pudding with custard. Every now and then I will so a Moroccan Lamb roast Tagine. But thats once every 5 or 6 weeks.
We only eat red meat once a week and I loved meat roasted.

Nah

Have memories as a child of being forced to eat this huge meal even on beautiful sunny days. Parents were frazzled by the time we ate. Not sure what the point was really.

I very rarely do a roast anyway -much prefer one pot dishes as so much easier to prepare and serve.

I can’t stand Sunday dinners or a carvery. This week we had beautiful burgers, thoroughly enjoyed them.

Sunday is the only day for us to chill and relax together, I refuse to slave over a meal that I hate, my hubby isn’t keen either.

Not specifically Sunday and def not specifically a Sunday roast, but we do nearly always plan nicer meals on one of / each of Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday, depending on what we have going on. Weekday meals are nice enough but always pretty quick or v low effort, we’re all working and busy and don’t have much time. But weekend meals - we all really enjoy nice food and cooking, so it’ll be something that is more interesting or takes longer to do.

So might be roast lamb, roast chicken, or paella, or tagine, or some sort of nice casserole / stew / hotpot, curry (the nice weekend one when you make sides and grind up the spice pastes and simmer for ages, not the quicker versions mid week). Or Vietnamese, or making home made pizza, or gnocchi tray bake, or lasagne, or pork with cider and dauphinois potatoes, etc etc.

Nice family meals that we take time over - yes absolutely, fitted in around other commitments and may be any of the weekend days, lunch or evening. And might be roast but might well be another main meal.

We always have a roast on a Sunday. Most of the family are vegetarian so I’ll do something like a butternut squash wellington or a savoury crumble, and then a chicken breast for DD, who’s not veggie and also very limited in her food choices. I never thought I’d be the type of person who did a set meal on a set day of the week, but have found that with the different dietary requirements and preferences of the family, having some set meals makes meal-planning and mealtimes generally less stressful. So in addition to the Sunday roast, I now also do Monday pasta and Thursday Jacket Potatoes. Then try and be a bit more creative on the other days of the week.

We don't have kids (and our parents and siblings all live over 200 miles away) so a big family Sunday lunch isn't a thing for us. We do sometimes cook a roast for the two of us on a Sunday if we happen to fancy it. DP does the roast potatoes and parsnips or cauliflower cheese, and I do the meat, other veg and gravy. We don't do it often - maybe every six weeks or so - and we usually have it in the evening rather than lunchtime. Other weeks we might go out for Sunday lunch at pub or restaurant, or we'll go to our local Indian for a curry in the evening, or we'll just cook something simple. We don't have any real routine.

only very occasionally although we had one yesterday and it was lovely.
i like to have one occasionally to keep it special

I usually do a nice home cooked meal, usually a roast but sometimes a curry or something like cottage pie. I didn't last night as I just couldn't be bothered with the washing up.

Sometimes we do but not every week. Maybe once a month.

I've never been a fan of roast dinners, despite loving all of the separate ingredients. We don't even make them at Christmas! Sundays are usually more laid back days, and it tends to be something light that we make. Saturdays are our "fancy meal" nights and DH and I usually experiment a bit with a new recipe we've found. If we're busy Saturday evening we'll swap it to Sunday, but that's the routine for the most part.

I think the traditional Sunday roast has declined massively in popularity.

I’ve noticed that the majority of people who like traditional meat roast potatoes and two veg/ all the trimmings / stew are male. In a majority female household, the preference is often for pasta / Asian food / sushi / salad / charcuterie olives bread etc type thing. Maybe just my perception?

And of course, less women are happy to have the faff of prep of the traditional meal and clearing up afterwards on a day of rest.

Yes - though BBQ in summer.

I grew up with Sunday lunch ie a roast being a big thing- only day we all sat down togther without fail. We do it with the kids - I'm not sure we'll do it as frequently when it's just the last one here - suspect we'll mix what we do up a bit more - go out to local pub or do more variety of things.

Used to love doing a sunday dinner, but now kids are older 15,20,25 I never know who is going to be in. The younger is fussy and wouldn't eat all the veg and trimmings so its kinds of not a think anymore. Yesterday we cooked all the random stuff left in the freezer and let whoever was in help themselves.