Christmas Day cooking just got a whole lot easier! This is a foolproof timetable of exactly what to do and when, designed to remove any stress in the kitchen.
Use this as a principle running plan – we’ve gone with Christmas dinner at 2pm, but you can easily push it earlier or later. Just work backwards from the time you’d like to tuck in. We've even created the Masterplan shopping list, designed for you to tweak and tailor to suit you.
Feel free to download this Christmas Masterplan and print it out to have it to hand whilst you cook.
GET-AHEAD – CHRISTMAS EVE JOBS
Do all the prep for your stuffing the day before, reserving 250g of the mixture to stuff your turkey. Cover the raw recipe with tin foil and pop in the fridge, ready for tomorrow.
Get your bird ready by following all the PREPPING steps in the recipe, then cover with tin foil and refrigerate overnight. Check out more of our turkey centrepiece ideas.
Prep and line these up in a tray, then cover with tin foil and pop in the fridge, ready to cook tomorrow.
Follow the recipe until you have parboiled and fluffed-up spuds covered in your chosen fat, then cover with tin foil and leave somewhere cool overnight. If you fancy spicing things up this Christmas, toss your potatoes in 1 tablespoon of curry powder before storing overnight.
This is a quick job that’s easy to get done in advance. Reheat it tomorrow if you want a warm sauce, or enjoy it cold.
THE CHRISTMAS DAY TIMELINE
To serve lunch at 2pm...
7.20am
Jamie’s Christmas turkey: Bring your turkey out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature, before beginning the recipe for COOKING your bird.
9am
Begin Christmas turkey recipe, by preheating the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
9.20am
Put your turkey in the oven
11.15am
Remove the foil covering from your turkey
12pm
Take the turkey out of the oven and test whether it’s cooked, according to the recipe tips. Leave to rest for up to 2 hours, according to recipe instructions.
Christmas gravy: Complete Jamie’s Christmas turkey instructions, by turning the vegetable trivet into your Christmas gravy, according to the turkey recipe.
12.15pm
Best roast potatoes: Continue this recipe where you left off yesterday and put the potatoes in the oven. You can finish off your potatoes in the air fryer, if you like:
- Preheat the air fryer to 180ºC for 2 minutes.
- Toss the potatoes with the unpeeled garlic cloves, then evenly space them in the drawer and cook for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
- Now for the game-changer. Pull out the drawer and gently half-squash each potato with a fish slice or masher so they kind of push into each other. Pick the sage leaves, toss with a little oil, sprinkle over the potatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until golden.
12.35pm
Christmas gravy: At this point, you should finish the gravy recipe and have it ready to reheat when you serve
12.45pm
Cranberry sauce: If you’ve not made this in advance, it’s a good job to get done now while you’ve got some free time
1pm
Best roast potatoes: Take your spuds out of the oven and complete the recipe instructions, before returning them to the oven
1.10pm
Meat stuffing: Get this in the oven
Glazed carrots: Crack on with this recipe
To make glazed carrots in the air fryer...
- Wash the carrots and halve or quarter lengthways, depending on their size.
- Toss with the butter and dripping, then place in the air-fryer drawer. Crush and add the unpeeled garlic cloves. Cook for 10 minutes at 180ºC. Sprinkle in the thyme sprigs, squeeze in the clementine juice and add the honey, bay and a splash of water, then give the drawer a shake and cook for a final 10 minutes, or until tender.
1.20pm
Pigs in blankets: Get these in the oven
Brussels sprouts: Begin your Brussels sprouts recipe
1.40pm
Christmas gravy: Heat up your gravy. Warm up your serving jug separately by filling with boiling water
Cranberry sauce: Now’s the time to reheat your sauce if you’d like it hot
1.50pm
CHECK EVERYTHING! If your carrots, sprouts, stuffing and pigs in blankets are ready – great. If not, you’ve got a few minutes to finish things off. Start taking what you need to the table, ready to serve Jamie’s Christmas turkey. Carve your bird according to instructions.
2pm
Happy Christmas – tuck in!
After more festive inspo? This masterplan uses lots of Jamie’s ultimate festive recipes, taken from Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook. Buy your copy today – it’s packed with super-useful tips and clever recipe ideas for a truly memorable Christmas!
