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The Best Christmas
Christmas dinner

Christmas Dinner Menu

Two complete menus, every recipe, and the timings that make them work.

Complete menus
2
Timeline works back from
4pm

Christmas dinner goes wrong for scheduling reasons far more often than cooking ones. Everything below is a recipe we have written up in full, arranged into two menus that have been checked for oven conflicts — so nothing here needs the oven at a temperature something else can't live with.

Pick a menu, then work through the timeline at the bottom. It's written backwards from a 4pm sitting; shift every time by the same amount if you're eating earlier or later.

The Ham Dinner

Serves 10–12

The forgiving option. The ham is largely hands-off, most of it can be prepped a day ahead, and it feeds twelve without a second oven.

The Prime Rib Dinner

Serves 8–10

The showpiece. More expensive and less forgiving — the roast needs the oven and your attention at the end — but nothing else lands the same way.

The Timeline (for a 4pm sitting)

Shift every entry by the same amount if you're eating at a different time. The only fixed relationship that matters is that the roast rests for 30 minutes while the sides finish.

  1. Up to 3 days before Shop for everything except fresh herbs and bread. Make the trifle custard or the toffee if either is on the menu.
  2. Two days before Make dessert. Both the trifle and the yule log improve after a night in the fridge, and this is the single biggest thing you can move off the day.
  3. Christmas Eve Prep vegetables, wrap the dates, assemble anything cold. Take the roast out of the fridge tonight only if you are cooking prime rib tomorrow.
  4. 4 hours before (12:00) Prime rib out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Ham can stay cold for another hour.
  5. 3 hours before (13:00) Roast goes in. Set a timer for the internal temperature check, not for the clock.
  6. 90 minutes before (14:30) Potatoes on. Mulled wine on the lowest heat — it should never boil.
  7. 1 hour before (15:00) Starters out. This is the hour guests arrive and you want your hands free.
  8. 40 minutes before (15:20) Brussels sprouts into the oven alongside the roast.
  9. 30 minutes before (15:30) Roast comes out and rests. This is not optional and the oven is now free.
  10. 10 minutes before (15:50) Mash finished and covered, sprouts out, gravy from the roasting pan.
  11. On the table (16:00) Carve last. Everything else is already out and staying warm.

Want this on paper? The free Christmas meal planner has a column for start times, so you can write your own version of this timeline for whatever you're actually cooking.

Free forever

Christmas recipes, weekly

Make-ahead dishes, timings, and the recipes worth adding to the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I serve for Christmas dinner?
Pick one centerpiece — ham or prime rib — and build around it. Two starters, two sides, one dessert, and one hot drink covers a table of ten without the kitchen becoming unmanageable. Ham is the more forgiving of the two centerpieces.
How far ahead can I prepare Christmas dinner?
Dessert can be made two days ahead and is usually better for it. Vegetables can be prepped on Christmas Eve, and cold starters assembled that morning. What cannot be moved is the roast and the mash — plan the day around those two and everything else fits.
How much food do I need per person for Christmas dinner?
For a bone-in roast, allow about a pound per person; for boneless, half a pound. Two starters per person before the meal, and roughly a cup of each side. People eat less than hosts expect when there are five dishes on the table.
What time should I serve Christmas dinner?
Mid-afternoon — around 3 to 4pm — works better than evening. It leaves the morning free for presents, gives the kitchen a clear run, and means the evening is for leftovers and films rather than washing up.
All Christmas recipes Free printables