How to Prep Christmas Dinner in Advance for a Stress-Free Day
Published on 18th Nov, 2025
Want to know how to prep Christmas dinner like a pro? You shouldn't be slaving away all Christmas Day, so we’ve put together the ultimate Christmas dinner prepping guide to beat the panic. The secret to a successful and stress-free Christmas feast isn't magic; it’s just planning.
This guide is simple, practical, and shows you exactly how to prep Christmas dinner with an easy-to-follow timeline. We cut the chaos by showing you what to tick off on the Christmas dinner prep a day before, what can be done earlier and what to leave until Christmas morning. It’s all about getting ahead: making your gravy and sauce bases, prepping your veg, making the stuffing mix, assembling those pigs in blankets, and even getting your turkey and parboiled potatoes ready to go. You deserve a stress-free Christmas—let’s make it happen.
Plan Your Menu & Timeline
A great Christmas dinner starts with proper planning! Before you even think about peeling a potato, you need to be the boss of your kitchen. This is your strategy for a stress-free day:
List Your Feast: Start with the core components. Make sure you’ve planned for the turkey, gravy, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, veg, bread sauce, and cranberry sauce. Don’t forget anything!
The Master Timeline: We’ve broken this guide into three simple sections. Write them down and stick to them!
2–3 Days Before: Sauces, bases, and long-life items.
Day Before: Heavy-duty prep (turkey, veg, potatoes).
Christmas Day: The final cooking push and serving.
Check Your Space: Before shopping, check your storage! Do you have enough room in the fridge for all that prepped veg and the turkey? Is the freezer ready?
Shopping: Get your shopping list sorted early. You can book your Christmas delivery slot online now.
Labelling: When you prep food, label every container with the dish name and the reheating instructions. Trust us, come Christmas Eve, you won’t remember which tub holds the stuffing mix!
Dessert Done: Get the pudding out of the way first. You can make a Christmas cake or Christmas pudding weeks ahead—they keep brilliantly, and that's one less thing to worry about.
2–3 Days Before: Sauces & Bases You Can Make Ahead
Time to batch cook the easy bits. Getting these done 2–3 days early means you have less pan-juggling on Christmas morning. This is smart Christmas dinner prepping:
Cranberry Sauce
Cook the cranberries, sugar, and water until the berries soften. Ensure it cools down quickly—this is important for storage safety! Store in an airtight tub and pop it in the fridge. Before eating, take it out of the fridge and let it rise to room temperature. Or buy our ready-made The Best Cranberry Sauce.
Bread Sauce Base
Simmer the milk, butter, onion, cloves, peppercorns, garlic and herbs in a pan for 20 mins to gently infuse. Strain the liquid into a container, and leave to cool before covering and refrigerating. This simple base lasts a few days. To finish, on Christmas Day, warm it up, stir in your breadcrumbs, cream, nutmeg and season to taste. Or buy our ready-made The Best Bread Sauce.
Gravy Base/Stock
To guarantee a deep flavour, simmer your ingredients (typically: carcass/bones, onions, carrots, celery, black peppercorns, thyme and a bay leaf) in a large stockpot for at least 3 hours. Once the stock is made, cool and chill it straight away. This base can be stored for up to 3 days, ready to be made into gravy with the turkey tray juices on Christmas Day. Learn how to make the ultimate gravy with your turkey by reading our Christmas Turkey Cooking Guide or try our The Best Turkey Gravy.
Alternatively, try these make-ahead recipes and store in the fridge or freezer to tick one essential job off your list:
The Day Before: Heavy-duty prep
Right then, Christmas Eve is your chance to smash the major jobs. Get these bits sorted, and Christmas Day will be a breeze. This is proper, heavy-duty Christmas dinner sides prep.
Turkey: Advance Prep for Juicy Results
First, remove all packaging and the giblets. Pat the skin absolutely bone dry with paper towels—that's the real secret to crisp skin later. Clean down your surfaces straight away. For an easy carve later, remove the wishbone now with a sharp knife. Season generously with salt/pepper, then rub herb butter under and over the skin. For added moisture, stuff the cavity with things like onions, lemon and herbs. You can also lay streaky bacon on top for extra decadence. Wrap the whole lot in cling film and chill until tomorrow morning. Read our Turkey Cooking Guide for how to roast a turkey from start to finish, or try these recipes:
Try these roast turkey recipes...
Stuffing: Make Ahead, Bake Later
Stuffing is a big time-saver that can be completely prepped the day before. First, sauté your onions and celery, then let them cool right down. Next, mix the cooled veg with your breadcrumbs, herbs, and any sausage meat. Cover and chill the mixture.
You can shape the mixture into a slab or balls on a lined tray, ready to bake separately tomorrow. Separate baking gives you amazing crisp edges—don't stuff the bird, as it stops the turkey from cooking evenly! For inspiration, try these recipes:
Yorkshire Puds: Mix Ahead, Bake Later
For Yorkshire pudding batter, mix your flour, eggs, and milk until completely smooth. Give the batter a proper stir, cover it, and let it rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bake on the day for the best finish; this rest gives you a lovely, high rise on the day.
Stick with tradition or give them a twist with this uh-mazing Crispy Chorizo, Goat's Cheese and Thyme recipe:
Pigs in Blankets: Assemble and Chill/Freeze
Pigs in blankets are another easy win for Christmas Eve. Tightly wrap your chipolatas with streaky bacon, placing the seam-side down on a lined tray. You can chill these for up to 24 hours or even freeze them raw (just remember to defrost them safely in the fridge before cooking!). Simply roast them on Christmas Day until golden and cooked through. If you're feeling indulgent, add an optional honey or mustard glaze in the last few minutes of roasting. Looking for different ideas? Check out these recipes:
Potatoes & Veg: Prep Ahead for Speed
This is where you make huge time savings for tomorrow's cook. First, peel and cut your potatoes. Parboil them until the edges are soft, then drain, steam dry, and give them a good shake to rough up the edges (this is crucial for crispness!). Cool them quickly, then refrigerate them on a tray. Tomorrow, you'll start them in piping hot fat for maximum crispness—try our Wonky Roast Potatoes recipe!
For the other veg, simply peel, trim, and chop your carrots, parsnips, and sprouts. Store these in airtight containers in the fridge. Finally, make sure you have your flavoured fats or oils (like goose fat or herb oil) ready for cooking.
Get rave reviews from guests with our Christmas Dinner Side Recipes:
Christmas Eve: Final Prep Checklist
Make sure your cranberry and bread sauce base is made and chilling in the fridge.
Get your gravy base made and chilled.
Prep the turkey and wrap it, ready for the fridge.
Assemble those pigs in blankets, cover them, and chill.
Parboil your potatoes and chill them, spread out on trays.
Chill your shaped stuffing mix.
Prep any other veg sides.
Before you put your feet up, confirm your oven timings and shelf plan for the big day.
On The Day: Reheating & Serving Order
Right, now for the main event. Assuming you've done all the prep (gravy base, parboiled spuds, etc.), this table shows you exactly what needs doing and when, counting backwards from the moment you want to sit down and eat.
Note: This assumes a 4kg turkey, requiring roughly 3 hours 20 minutes cooking time + 30 minutes rest. All timings below are adjusted accordingly.
Time Before Serving (Approx.) | Step | Key Info/Temperature Check |
|---|---|---|
5 Hours 10 Mins | Turkey Out of Fridge & Preheat Oven | Bring the turkey to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. |
4 Hours 10 Mins | Turkey Goes In | Place the turkey on the veg trivet in the hot oven. Tent loosely with foil. |
2 Hours 45 Mins | Set Table | Set the table and start warming serving platters. |
1 Hour 15 Mins | Remove Turkey Foil & Start Veg Prep | Remove the foil tent from the turkey for the last 20–30 mins of browning. Finish trimming any remaining veg. |
0 Hour 50 Mins | Turkey Out & Resting | Check the temperature! It needs to be 75°C in the thickest part. Cover loosely with foil. Do not skip the minimum 30-minute rest! |
0 Hour 45 Mins | Start Roast Potatoes & Pigs in Blankets | While the turkey rests, increase oven temp slightly if needed. Start spuds in hot fat/oil (pre-parboiled spuds take 45 mins) and put pigs in blankets into the oven to cook. |
0 Hour 30 Mins | Gravy Base & Stuffing Goes In | Put your chilled stuffing balls/slab in the oven. Start reheating the gravy base gently on the hob. |
0 Hour 20 Mins | Steam/Roast Veg & Finish Sauces | Steam or roast your prepped carrots, parsnips, and sprouts. Finish the Bread Sauce (reheat base, stir in crumbs/butter). |
0 Hour 15 Mins | Finish Gravy | Finish the gravy: skim turkey fat, deglaze the roasting tray, add juices to the gravy base, simmer, season, and strain. |
0 Hour 10 Mins | Bake Yorkshire Puddings | Pour batter into hot fat/oil in the tins. Bake last for maximum rise. |
0 Hour 05 Mins | Turkey | Carve the rested meat and arrange on a warm platter (drizzle with gravy juices for extra moisture). |
0 Hour 00 Mins | Start Pudding & Serve! | Get everything plated and put the Christmas Pudding in the oven to warm gently while you enjoy your magnificent dinner! |
Recap Stress-Free Christmas Dinner Steps with Our Chef
If you’ve decided you'd rather spend the day drinking fizz, Morrisons has brilliant ready-made options to take the pressure off. Look at our ready-to-roast sides, pre-prepared starters, and stunning meat, fish, or poultry centrepieces. Finish the whole lot off with our Good Housekeeping-approved The Best Christmas Slate Cheese Board and luxurious The Best 18 Month Matured Luxury Christmas Pudding.
Faff-free Festive Feasting
Wrap-Up & More Recipes
See? That wasn't so scary! By prepping ahead, you've saved yourself hours of stress and made Christmas Day about feasting, not fighting with the oven. Remember, the key is planning and safe storage. Now that you've mastered how to prepare Christmas dinner, why not explore more recipes on the Morrisons site to complete your perfect festive menu?
