Cooking Christmas Eve

[starlight431]

Does anyone cook their dinner on Christmas Eve so it's ready to heat up on the day? If so what tips and tricks do you have. My children are with their dad Christmas Eve so would want to make the most of the time we have Christmas Day xx

I cook absolutely everything the night before then plate it up and microwave it the next day. It never seems to lose anything, flavour or texture wise, from being microwaved, even the roast potatoes. I don't cook one thing on the day. Even the peas are pre cooked.

I don't have any tips except to say it's so nice not to be going crazy juggling a million timings and not enough oven space. I've always done it like this as did my mum all her adult life and i still dream about her Christmas dinners.

I know people who do this. It works well and makes Christmas Day less of a scramble. They only cook potatoes on the actual day as they're nicer fresh.

I couldn't imagine anything worse to be honest, sorry OP. My mum always did it and to her it tastes exactly the same but honestly, I feel like it takes so much away in both texture and flavour. We invite her to spend Christmas Day every year at ours now instead of alternating after a couple of very disappointing years at hers.

We have the actual dinner on Christmas Eve then have leftovers on Christmas Day so we don't have to do anything on the day. I would box it all up separately in Tupperware and not put the lids on things until it's properly cooled to minimise sogginess from condensation. Definitely don't do gravy or pour it on anything, make that fresh on the day. You can reheat the potatoes in the oven in about 20-25 mins to keep them crunchy (or do them from scratch; if you cut them down into 1/2 to 1/4 of the size of a normal roast potato, they cook much quicker) and everything else can go in the microwave.

We cook the meat the night before but the roast potatoes, stuffing etc on the day. To reheat, the meat is put in tinfoil with gravy and gently warmed in the oven so it doesn’t dry out.

Going against the grain, I can't think of anything worse than a pre plated and microwaved Christmas meal. If it were me and I wanted to prep in advance, I'd make something which is genuinely delicious prepped in advance and reheated like a Indian food spread with black dal and broccoli salad, or a lasagne with focaccia, or something like that. Or if you want the elements of a traditional meal on the day, maybe look at Cook or M&S who have a range of straight to oven things, and (I think) on disposable trays, so you just put the food in the oven at the right time and there's no clear up.

I pre-prepare majority of it. I will par boil and season the roasties ready to throw in the oven, peel and parboil the carrots and parsnips, prepare the turkey ready to go in the oven. The aim is to not spend time peeling or chopping or anything and then just have to throw everything in the oven at the right times.

The only things I do pre make are the dessert (this year it’s Marcus Wareings custard tart which I’ll make on Christmas Eve, Jamie Oliver’s get ahead gravy, the Yorkshire puddings and the carrot and swede mash. These things I feel wont lose anything by being pre made.)

Prep, yes. Cook on the day, there is no way the microwaved version tastes better.

The only things that can be cooked in advance IMO is red cabbage, gravy and cranberry sauce. Potatoes can be parboiled.

I was pleasantly surprised at a microwaved Christmas dinner I had due to venue not having a kitchen on the premises. Everyone brought a dish they’d made at home and reheated and it wasn’t bad at all. Not the same, but better than I expected. I had very low expectations.

The nut roast heated way better than the turkey though. So if I were having it again I’d simply skip the poultry.

I think what was key was that the gravy was done fresh and the green veg was also done fresh. Anything other than that would be rank imo.

When having left over roasties last year we put them in the air fryer and they tasted better than the ones cooked on christmas day. So those, winter root pie and dessert (pavlova) will be cooked in advance. Veg prepped but everything else cooked on the day.

I celebrate Christmas Eve too I fasting all day until evening then had big meal with family and friends. I don't know how this gonna be done this year do to my surgery and other issues but I do celebrate Christmas Eve too is back from my family country.

I'd rather eat something else than a reheated roast dinner. Prep, yes, parboil veg yes but not fully cooked.

I just prep everything ready to go in the oven, it’s like multiple ready meals that all go in the oven when the meat comes out to rest first an hour and a half

i do the yorkshires first and just re heat for 5 minutes at the end

If you struggle for space while cooking the lunch I recommend one of these - absolute revelation and makes life so much easier. I use mine every Sunday - it's actually got 3 layers so you can do 3-4 types of veg at once

I remember Gordon Ramsay saying to cook the meat the day before then when you pour the gravy over on the plate that will heat it up(!). I can't imagine it would actually heat it up sufficiently & I'd worry about food poisoning. But we're getting a whole cooked duck delivered to us on Christmas eve so I think we'll cool it & reheat it slowly in the oven the next day. If I haven't scoffed it of course!

I'm wondering where on earth I would put 18 plates of food overnight........😆

I totally understand why you are thinking about doing this in your circumstances, OP, but it is absolute nonsense to suggest that you can just microwave a roast the next day, and that it won’t taste worse. Frankly, anyone who thinks so either can’t cook such that their initial meal is already awful or has no taste buds!

There are, however, things you can prepare on Christmas Eve (or even the day before) so the amount of time you have to spend cooking on Christmas Day is much less. If you outline your menu, then it will be easier for people to advise you on what can be done in advance though.