Festive but extremely quick and easy Christmas lunch ideas

[LazyCrazyAndStupid]

Have at the last minute invited some friends for Christmas day for lunch. I'm a lousy cook and also have two very young children so very little time to prepare anything. I'd still like to dish up something tasty and special. Any ideas? I'm a vegetarian so have got no idea how to cook meat but wouldn't mind offering meat dishes for our friends.

I'm also happy (in fact very, very happy) to use ready made food or any short cuts if anyone can recommend anything but nothing insanely expensive, please.

At 200C.

Lovely easy lasagne from rose Elliot all my meaty chums like ..
fry meushrooms with spring onions.or leeks.
stir unfrozen frozen spinach into cottage cheese, sprinkle of nut Meg.
layer with lasagne ending with cottage cheese mix and grated cheese. Bung in 180 for 30 min ?check packet!
serve with your tray of roasted veg and packet of salad leaves.

starter, buy fresh tom soup as above! ( or fry garlic, add toms, tin of toms tiny bit of basil and stock. Warm through and woosh,9or don’t!

pud, I like crème fraiche and double cream bunged over fruit sprinkled with sugar or honey can warm under grill till sugar melts if you like.

prosecco with a strawberry in. Yum!

Get the whole bally lot from here

www.cookfood.net/

Oh wow. Maybe it is the oven and I'm actually a brilliant cook 😎(ignoring the fact I also don't fare much better cooking on the stove.).

Yes it's jus roll pastry that I've tried, I think.

Invest in an oven thermometer!

Pate + toast triangles + salad garnish.
Your roast veg + roast potatoes + your veg main or individual chicken breasts wrapped in streaky bacon (180 fan for 25-30 mins) + redcurrant or cranberry sauce or bread sauce
Dessert (bought).

This would have been perfect but they don't have any delivery slots left and are a bit too far to pick up for me. Also very expensive for this many people but definitely something to keep in mind. Is the food better than super market frozen ready made food?

OP is one of your guests a bit more clued up? Could you ask for a bit of help with the meat. It sounds as if you may ruin it (kindly). Buy everything and just get one guest to help you with the main bit.

I wouldn't bother with soup, too much faff.

I'd buy an oven-ready Turkey breast joint. Cheaper than a whole Turkey and will have clear instructions on the packaging.

Also an oven-ready glazed ham joint

The idea of a veg tray as above; I'd do baby potatoes, parsnips, carrots in generous coating of olive oil, salt and pepper will take about an hour (likely similar to the turkey)

Buy a couple of sachets of ready made gravy

Sprouts (just boil or steam them)

Frozen peas

Tinned sweetcorn

I never bother with a starter, just crisps and nibbles.

Buy a Christmas pudding and alternative pudding (most supermarkets now put the alternative puddings next to the Christmas puddings). Buying this type means they just need microwaving. Big carton of cream to go with them

Also agree that your oven can't be working properly! Do you have anything else like an air fryer?

Thank you so much everyone for all the ideas!! I really appreciate that.

No just a microwave apart from an induction hob stove.

Yes, cook, is much better though expensive. Ditto Charlie Bighams - you could pick up meals from this range* and freeze before entertaining (foolproof).
*often reduced in Waitrose

This sounds great. Could you recommend any gravy? The ones I've bought from super markets have always been horrible.

Gravy - jars in M & S.

No, not really but yes, I agree. I can totally see myself ruining it especially since it seems that our oven doesn't work properly..

Could you get something that can be fried in the hob? Salmon or chicken? Or even some kind of stovetop dish like a stew or paella? I wouldn't rely on the oven for cooking at the mo.

Cheat and buy a load of meat curries and veggie curries from the chilled section in the supermarket. Serve up with rice and naan bread. Perfect!

Ok thanks. Maybe they'll do ready made gammon as well. I might ask the others if they like gammon. Is it popular? Do kids (teenagers) like it?

Or you could do a buffet with cold cuts, pickles, cheese, cocktail sausages, smoked salmon etc. Lots of choice and no cooking!

Op, I really hope as a non cook you're not thinking of making puff pastry. We had to do it (once) at school but my Home Economics (it was the 70s) teacher, who was Cordon Bleu trained said she never, ever bothered.

I suggest going with nice soup to start (bought fine) then try to locate decent veggie roasts with pre prepared veg. It is better than trying to cook meat when you're not confident. Christmas cake and cheeses afterwards with perhaps icecream and fancy toppings for the kids? Coffee and chocolates, sorted and IMO festive. It is meant to be a fun day (however it often turns out) so make it as easy as possible.

It sounds like your oven is broken. Don't try meat (especially poultry) in these circumstances!
If you go for a buffet you can serve some stuff cold, some stuff microwaved, some stuff that has been cooked at a low temperature in the oven (cheese or something you can't spoil).
Do you have an air fryer? They are brilliant for the frozen party food stuff.
I think in your shoes I'd buy a load of cheese and good bread, plus artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes etc.
Add meats (bought cooked) if you are feeling charitable.
Ssalad and sauces, plus (if you have an air fryer) hot falafel, arancini, pakora, bhajis and any other veggie 'bits' you can muster with all the sauces and pita, crusty bread, naan or generic flatbreads that go with everything.
For littlies, cherry tomatoes, mini (veggie) hotdogs and they can pick at everything else.
Any rice or couscous salad you can be bothered to make esp if you stir your garlicky roast veg through.

Dessert: all the ice cream, sauces, mini meringues or marshmallows you can muster, and mince pies for traditionalists.

Lots of soft drinks and booze and some premade charades cards and you are all set!

Aldi have some great bits. I'm no good at cooking plus I don't have the space !! Got a turkey crown, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets etc. the bread sauce and the cranberry sauce in tubs that you just reheat, turkey gravy. Just the veg then. I also got chocolate Yule log from Morrisons for pudding.

In this situation i would do a buffet.

Warm cheese based quiches
A ready cooked ham and ask a meat eater to carve it if you really want to serve meat
Some nice salads
Pickles
Crusty bread
Some pre packed roast potatoes
Any warm party food bits you like the look of
Dips/crudités
Nice cheeseboard, chutneys and crackers - place some grapes on the board too

Trifle/Christmas pud/whatever

Less hassle than trying to serve up lots of hot elements at once when you're not feeling confident. I wouldn't want someone who had invited me to their home to feel stressed on my behalf at all, least of all on Christmas Day!

Enjoy your day with your friends

Sorry, you updated while I was slowly typing!
Do buffet. Borrow an air fryer for the day.