How to Host an Easy Christmas Dinner

If responsibility for the big family Christmas meal falls on your shoulders this year, don't miss our ideas for keeping the crowd happy. Our festive recipes are designed to serve a group of eight or more. Where there are several dishes listed, these are alternative ideas rather than suggestions for an entire course.

Christmas morning

If you want to serve up something savoury, get prepared for a marathon egg-cracking session. Pick your dishes wisely – starting the day poaching dozens of eggs isn't the way to go. Batches of muffins, pastries, breakfast buns or individual omelettes are ideal alternatives. Stack them high and let everyone dig in. Our stunning flower-shaped cherry and marzipan pastry can be made the night before, then reheated in the morning.

Sour cherry & marzipan chrysanthemum pastry
Fruitburst muffins
Banana & cinnamon whirls
Cake of kings
Mini smoked haddock omelettes

Christmas dinner

Starters

Sharing dishes work well when feeding large numbers. Try making a large dip, pâté or terrine, or serve up a selection of nibbles and let everyone help themselves – it saves plating up lots of individual dishes before the chaos of the main course ensues. Large sharing platters with gooey melted cheeses, such as camembert and raclette, are always a popular choice.

Sharers:

Luxury hummus
Baked camembert dough ball platter
Beetroot hummus party platter
Baked artichoke dip
Raclette
Baked camembert pie for sharing
Spicy potted crab
Duck & pork terrine with cranberries & pistachios

Nibbles:

Smoked mackerel & horseradish cups
Oysters with apple & horseradish
Chicken skewers with satay dip
Thai chicken skewers

Main course

Turkey is the ultimate roast for feeding a crowd. A 5kg turkey should comfortably serve eight people.

Turkey for eight, plus leftovers:

Perfect pancetta & roast shallot-stuffed turkey
Scandinavian roast turkey with prune & juniper stuffing & caramelised apples
Roast turkey with pecan, sausage & chestnut stuffing

Turkey for 10:

Salt & pepper turkey
Prosciutto-wrapped turkey roll
Mustard butter-basted roast turkey with bacon

Find more turkey recipes...

If you're catering for a large group of vegetarian diners, try our distinctive rice cake:

Creamy risotto layer cake

Side dishes

Accompany your main dish with an impressive spread of crowd-pleasing sides, several of which can be made ahead. We've got plenty of inspiration for all the trimmings, from red cabbage, sprouts and potatoes to stuffing and pigs in blankets.

Sizzled sprouts with pistachios & pomegranate
Red cabbage with port, prunes & orange
Apricot & hazelnut stuffing
Herb-infused roast potatoes
Triple pigs in blankets
Lightly spiced Christmas stuffing
Rustic chestnut stuffing
Sticky spiced red cabbage
Golden spiced roast potatoes
Winter root mash with buttery crumbs

Sauces

Take the stress out of sauce prep by making these flavourful blends ahead, then chilling or freezing until the big day. Try our traditional recipes for gravy, bread sauce and cranberry sauce – you can add extra ingredients for a special twist.

Cranberry sauce with port & star anise
Creamy bread & onion sauce
Easy red wine gravy
Sloe gin cranberry sauce
Sourdough bread sauce
Vegetarian gravy

Desserts

Most of our festive cakes and puddings serve between eight and 10 people. Whether you're going for a traditional fruity Christmas cake or a lighter alternative, such as a roulade, we've got plenty of sweet treats to choose from.

White forest meringue roulade
Rocky road cheesecake pudding
Fig & honey Christmas cake
Festive frozen chocolate parfait
Chocolate & walnut Pavlova with madeira & tangerines
Glam trifle slice
Iced chestnut ripple cheesecake
Trifle cheesecake
Chocolate mint loaf cake
Bûche de Noël
Light & fruity Christmas pudding

Later on...

A 4kg ham should serve around 12 people. Team with a crunchy Christmas slaw or salad, then follow up with classic mince pies for dessert number two.

Baked ham with brown sugar & mustard glaze
Spiced Christmas gammon with membrillo glaze
Apricot & ginger ham
Festive red salad
Crumbled top mince pies

Drinks

Avoid having to make individual drinks by serving up large jugs of cocktails and bowls of punch. Alternatively, get the slow cooker out and let the beautiful aromas of mulled wine or hot chocolate fill the house.

Cranberry sea breeze punch
Slow cooker mulled wine
Slow cooker hot chocolate
Rumberry punch
Ginger, apple & vanilla punch
Winter Pimm's punch

Want a plan that takes all the stress out of Christmas dinner? Try our easiest ever, next level or budget menu plans, complete with timeplan, pre-loaded shopping list (to print out or use for online shopping) and all the recipes you'll need for the big day.

Visit our Christmas section for recipes, tips and guides. Plus, check out our other Christmas menus...

Vegetarian Christmas menu
Vegan Christmas menu
Gluten-free Christmas menu
Quick Christmas menu
2 hour Christmas dinner menu
Christmas menu for a crowd
Christmas menu for two

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Source: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/complete-christmas-menu-crowd

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