Freeze Ahead Christmas!

[AlpacaRabbit]

I would like to get ahead as much as possible this year to minimise preparation on the day.

We are planning a roast for Christmas but without the turkey as we are vegetarian.

I would be very grateful for ideas, tips and recipes for things I can make ahead and stash in the freezer. Not just for the main meal but generally for the festive season.

Braised red cabbage and bread sauce are 2 veggie dishes I usually make ahead and freeze, I just did the cabbage the other day actually as I had half of one left over!

I always freeze up batches of Jamie Oliver's Vegan Gravy and having soup in the freezer is always good for starters and lunches.

Peel, parboil and freeze the spuds, turn roast from frozen when you need them.

please could you share the bread sauce recipe? Does it freeze/ thaw ok? Doesn't affect the taste or texture?

my mother in law loves it and we're hosting this year but I don't usually have bread sauce so this would be a good idea for me

Hopefully this works @Bey, have take a couple of photos of the bread sauce recipe. I defrost it overnight in the fridge, then warm slowly in a saucepan and add a little milk to loosen it on the day

And sorry, to answer your question yes it freezes and thaws fine, as long as you double check the consistency once warm as mentioned. I LOVE bread sauce so would be proper grumpy if it was ruined

@hannahbanana2007 fabulous! Thank you I am going to make this soon then it's done hopefully she'll appreciate the effort as I think she normally has the packet one

Braised red cabbage ( I use Delias recipe) & mincemeat both freeze well.

Xmas cake and pud can both make ahead and just store on a shelf well wrapped. Cranberry chutney and brandy butter can go in clean jam jars in the fridge (I also do an awesome baileys butter and a cointreau one)
Stuffing (three quarters cooked), par cooked chipolatas and bacon rolls can also be frozen
the sponge for buche de noel freezes well, but I usually do that the week before as it is quite fragile
if you make your own pastry for mince pies, that freezes well
if you do a turkey dinner soon ish, then you can make stock from the bones to use for making a gravy, that then you can freeze for xmas day

for non xmas day food, I usually make a couple of really large stews, like beef in red wine and chicken tarragon, about 60 frikadellers and the red pepper sauce (frozen separately) then a lasagna and several lots of cheese sauce frozen into portions so that I can make a cauli cheese or macaroni and cheese really easily. I use disposable metal dishes so that I dont runout of my normal dishes for the meantime.

I do stuffing. I make it in a big pan (mine is bread, lots of butter, pancetta, buckets of onions, mixed herbs and lemon juice) and then freeze in a big bag, ready to be put in a baking tray. So the onions are cooked and bacon is crispy before freezing. Saves time.

You could prewrap your pigs in blankets and put on a disposable tinfoil try, ready to go in the oven.

I buy M&S bags of cauliflower cheese so they just go straight into a baking tray.

You could make and freeze a dauphinoise.

Or a brussel sprout gratin.