A roast at Christmas is a key part of the festive food menu
Matt Lee Senior Multimedia Journalist
18:00, 28 Nov 2025
(Image: Matt Lee/EssexLive)
A key part of the Christmas menu is the roast dinner. People love a full roast and all the trimmings during the festive season. Slices of roast turkey, crispy roast potatoes, flavoursome gravy and – of course – pigs in blankets too.
This time of year can be incredibly expensive though, and lots of people might spend Christmas Day alone for various different reasons. That’s where ready meals can be so useful. I often turn to them when I need something quick and easy to eat. Within a short time, sometimes even just minutes, a hot plate of food can be ready to devour.
Waitrose has launched its Christmas food range for this year, and it features a wide selection. There are classics like turkey joints, lots of trimmings to pick from, and of course the odd bottle of booze. They have also put back on the shelves a Turkey Christmas Dinner ready meal.
At just £6, it features slices of turkey breast in a chicken and white wine gravy, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, pork stuffing ball, a singular pig in a blanket and some carrots and peas. There was controversially, however, no sign of any sprouts.
Some people might cheer at the absence of sprouts, but others are clearly outraged. One review on Waitrose’s website went as far as saying it’s “a missed trick on Waitrose’s part”.
Others, meanwhile, were more complimentary. One person claimed they regularly buy the chicken roast dinner “which is good, but this is even better”. Another said it was an “excellent ready meal”.
The Turkey Christmas Dinner ready meal from Waitrose costs just £6 and it’s incredibly easy to cook. It takes just 25 minutes when using the oven, or an even quicker seven to eight minutes depending on your type of microwave.
I’ve had my fair share of Christmas dinners already this year – M&S and Iceland both have decent ones to consider – and Waitrose’s had the most flavoursome gravy. It tasted strange at first, but it definitely grew on me and by the end I wish I had more of it.
The rest of the plate was also incredibly tasty, but I was disappointed by the quantity of sausages in bacon. Not just because I had to work out whether the singular is a pig in a blanket or a pig in blanket, but also because they are my favourite part of the Christmas dinner.
Christmas can have a big tug on the purse strings, and not everyone can afford the cost of a roast. Equally, if you live alone, it might not make sense anyway to spend ages over the cooker.
Ready meals can be quite inconsistent in my experience, and this does not come anywhere close to a homemade roast. But ultimately it’s not trying to rival one, it’s aiming to be a cheap and easy alternative – plus it means there is minimal washing up left at the end of the day.
Dining and Cooking