Brits have been told to start prepping their Christmas dinner as soon as possible for one key reason. For many people, a traditional festive feast is the high point of the holidays, with various childhood favourites accompanying a healthy portion of freshly cooked turkey.
However, if you’re on cooking duty this year, you’ll know that a huge amount of planning and work goes into stocking up on all the necessary ingredients and serving a variety of sides simultaneously. New research from Aldi reveals that one in five Brits (21%) have already begun batch-preparing festive dishes for the big day. But Kate Hall (@thefullfreezer), a food-waste expert who has partnered with the supermarket giant, says most families are still leaving their preparations far too late, when they could be saving time, money and stress.
Kate says the biggest mistake people make is trying to cook everything fresh on December 25, but a bit of planning could save spare you from a frantic morning in the kitchen.
She says the most of your Christmas dinner can be prepared throughout November. All you need to do is use your freezer strategically.
“Adding one or two festive dishes to your weekly shop and freezing them in advance transforms the whole day,” the waste-saving guru says.
“It spreads the cost, cuts waste and takes away so much pressure – so you can actually enjoy Christmas instead of spending it stuck in the kitchen.”
According to Kate, the ideal time to start prepping is mid-November and there are various dishes you can get a head start on now.
These include:
Roast potatoesThese can be parboiled, fluffed, cooled and frozen ready to stick in the oven and crisp on the dayVeg such as sprouts, parsnips and carrotsThese should be blanched, cooled and frozen before they spoil before reheating them on Christmas morningHomemade sauces, from cranberry to bread sauceThese can be cooked now and frozen flat in portions so they’re easy to reheatStuffingThis can be shaped into individual portions and frozen now before heating up on the day too
However, not everything can be done in advance. Where preparing the turkey is concerned, families should follow on-pack guidance to ensure safe preparation.
Julie Ashfield, Chief Commercial Officer at Aldi UK, said: “At Aldi, we’re committed to helping shoppers cut down on food waste and get more from their weekly shop. By teaming up with experts like Kate, we want to show just how simple it can be to plan ahead, save money and still serve up a brilliant Christmas dinner.”
The research was carried out in October this year on a sample of 2,000 UK shoppers.
Dining and Cooking