Christmas Dinner in a Box

[PrincessTinselToes]

In an attempt to make Christmas less stressful we’re going away to a remote cottage for Christmas. We’d still like a proper Christmas dinner, but not one that has me slaving away in the kitchen for hours and missing time relaxing with the kids and watching them open presents and enjoying terrible TV.

To this end I’d like to ask for personal experiences of Christmas “dinner in a box” (or just as easy alternatives). I don’t want to have to peel and prep veg, make my own stuffing, wrap sausages in bacon or make my own gravy so a box full of ingredients and instructions isn’t what I want, as I’m perfectly capable of assembling that all myself, I just don’t want to. I also don’t want to go through the palaver of heating 6 sad, individually packaged ready meals, so something in between I suppose?

Add to that, I’m not entirely sure how well-stocked the cottage is, so something that comes in or with its own foil roasting tins would be ideal (I’m usually against disposable anything, but for my own sanity and space in the car I think this will be necessary).

What experience do people have of these types of boxes? Are there any particularly good ones or ones to avoid? I’d also be open to buying all the components separately as long as the prep I need to do is minimal and ideally all from one place so I can place an order to be delivered or picked up en route.

Thanks in advance!

You can buy peeled and prepped fresh veg from the fridges in supermarkets, at least that way you won’t get a disappointing ready meal. They often comes in the foil trays or you can buy a multipack from the likes of Home Bargains.

As @PumpkinSeasonOctober said, you can get the veg and potatoes in the supermarket fridge and get a frozen turkey with stuffing from the freezer. The turkey only takes 2 hours to cook iirc. Tesco have nice ones

Firstly don’t assume the cottage has anything. Most have roasting tins, saucepans, some have foil, but we’ve stayed at cottages where there’s just basics. I always get a Tesco delivery the day after we arrive so I can see what’s needed and can be added last thing. I don’t think I would trust a turkey being delivered, so if you’ve got the room I would take a frozen one. Gravy you can get in packets, pigs in blankets I buy frozen ones. There’s never any salt and pepper so when I’m out I collect some little sachets to take. I wouldn’t trust a box delivery, unless I already use them, there would never be enough for my family who like loads of roast potatoes.

I buy ready prepared pigs in blankets and stuffing out of box just add water. Turkey crown in thenobern Xmas Eve. Cauliflower cheese ready prepared from supermarket too.

I don't know about a box but M&S will do you prepped roast potatoes, stuffing, sausage in bacon etc? Maybe assemble the meal from there? Get a delivery to the cottage. Pack a few disposable foil trays?

We got everything from Cook last year. The food was excellent but you need to keep it all frozen, except the turkey. So it depends how far you’re travelling and whether there is a freezer there.

We’ve used Cook before for this - had it delivered straight to the cottage. But it didn’t all fit in the tiny provided freezer (schoolgirl error, hadn’t occurred to me to check) so we had to have the Christmas dinner a few days early. It was good though.

What is it about christmas in your own home/kitchen that makes it stressful? You could just buy lots of preprepped stuff to cook at home. A friend in the lakes buys lots of stuff from Booths, I have tried M&S food to order for everything but the turkey. The food was fine but the pick up arrangements in my particular store were crazy. Seperate outside space to pick up the order having showed an emailed code, but then directed into the absolutely rammed store to pay, with no priority queue 🤬 Never bothered again. Just bought stuff in advance and put in freezer!

My mum got the boxed dinner last year. There was fresh prepared vegetables though the rest she put in the oven, it suited my parents they can't be bothered to have visitors or come to us now so she wanted an easy dinner.

So they gave you the food outside, then told you to go inside the madness of a packed store and queue to pay for it? I suspect not everybody paid and they’ll change arrangements for next year!

I was going to suggest Cook too. Their stuff is always really nice.

https://www.cookfood.net/menu/christmas/christmas-day/christmas-lunch-bundles

Could prep everything yourself beforehand and freeze ? You could then just take your frozen par cooked potatoes, ready rolled pigs in blankets, cut up frozen veg and a frozen turkey/turkey breast stuffed with stuffing and wrapped in bacon etc. All your own home cooked food but convenient. I’ve done this when hosting a lot for a sit down meal and it made the day very easy

I had a Cote at Home Christmas dinner order last year and it was very good. The Christmas menu isn't out yet for 2025, but I'll be ordering again when it is (just for 2 of us). Apparently Dame Judy Dench orders their Christmas box each year.

Review of last year's is here: https://vergemagazine.co.uk/cote-at-home-unveil-this-years-must-have-traditional-christmas-meals-delivered-direct-to-your-door/

The turkey box for 2 was £60, and there was enough for Boxing day with added bits, although we dont have huge appetites.

We did this when we had a brand new baby (birn Christmas eve)!

My lovely mil got us all the bits from the supermarket and we just had to cook it. It was pretty good. Ours was from waitrose. You could also try Cook?

Donald Russell usually do a Christmas dinner box. Its frozen and not cheap, but you get everything. They normally do a choice of meats as well as the normal turkey.

Does it have to be a traditional Christmas dinner? I would be tempted to make or get a luxurious lasagna and some ready prepared veg so you can just shove it in the oven and enjoy yourself. I would say that I have stayed in self c catering places where the oven hasn’t worked (cheaper end of the scale though) so you should check it is working as soon as you get there!

Thank you. That’s a good thought, and a way to avoid the Christmas premium. I suppose I just want the fancier honey drizzled carrots and goosefat potatoes, so it’s not just the peeling and chopping. Though to keep costs down I could maybe do those steps the night before.

I just get too caught up in making things “perfect” and ending up not enjoying the day, then being grumpy and then making it miserable for everyone else.

Last year I had a breakdown after Christmas. Not entirely caused by, but definitely precipitated by a stressful Christmas so I’m anxious not to repeat that and also have a bit of a completely different reset this year.

I was looking at Cote, good to hear a positive personal experience.

I wish I could see the prices for this year now, so I can jump straight on ordering when the orders open up. I’m worried they’ll all have gone by the time I’ve made up my mind!

Unfortunately my freezer is too full. I’m also worried that I’d get too caught up in getting it all done and wind myself up. Low stress is the name of the game this year, but next year that would be the way forward.

We used Cook last year. All very tasty, but you need to be organised with fridge and freezer space.

I got the Tesco Finest Xmas dinner for 2 in 2021 because DD was only about 2/3 months old.

It was pretty good, not as good as my home made one, but good quality and so much less stressful.

I wondered if it was something like that. I honestly would worry that trying to cook a big meal in an unknown kitchen would be even more stressful. How big is the oven/how big are the fridge and freezer, will there be enough serving dishes?
For the same reason I always found self catering holidays difficult when the kids were small. Same domestic drudgery in a less well equipped kitchen 🤦🏼‍♀️

Why not go to a local pub/restaurant or change it up completely and decide to do a curry feast or a buffet as much easier to get timings right

I just get too caught up in making things “perfect” and ending up not enjoying the day,

We've all done it. I still wince at the terrible food waste after I over-catered the first time I hosted Christmas 😳

It's taken a few years but we've learnt to keep it simple - ditch many of the "extras" (especially red cabbage 🤮). No need for several meats, just choose one that everyone likes.

🌟 Top tip: roast potatoes done in coconut fat are infinitely superior as goose fat doesn't get hot enough.