Three days, already made
One main for each day, all vegetarian, with a vegan roast for Christmas Day. Each is cooked or built ahead and frozen, so on the day there’s an oven to switch on and a table to lay.
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Christmas Eve
A tart in the oven while you wrap the last presents.
Plus mushroom, chestnut and sage sausage rolls and mince pies for anyone who drops round.
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Christmas Day
The main and the gravy are made. You do the potatoes.
- Squash, goats cheese and cranberry Wellington
- Cranberry and cheddar nut roast
- Chestnut, mushroom and sage roast
With onion and red wine gravy, braised red cabbage with apple and sage and onion stuffing balls.
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Boxing Day
Crisp cakes from the oven, with a spoonful of something sticky.
With red onion marmalade.
Move it to the fridge the night before
That’s the only job on each of the three evenings. The next day it goes in the oven, or on the hob for the gravy.
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, for Christmas Eve
Before bed: move tomorrow’s shallot tarte tatin to the fridge
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, for Christmas Day
Before bed: move tomorrow’s Wellington and gravy to the fridge
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, for Boxing Day
Before bed: move tomorrow’s bubble and squeak cakes, marmalade and gravy to the fridge
These come from the Food Standards Agency.
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Defrost in the fridge overnight. If you can’t, use the microwave’s defrost setting directly before cooking.
the safest way to defrost food is in the fridge overnight
use a microwave on the defrost setting directly before cooking
Food Standards Agency -
Once it’s fully defrosted, eat it within 24 hours.
use food within 24 hours after it’s been fully defrosted
Food Standards Agency
Last checked against the Food Standards Agency page linked here.
Every rule, with all its sources: freezing, defrosting and reheating safely.
Cook it all on one day
Pick one main for each day, then add the gravy and the marmalade. That’s five recipes, so start in the morning, or split them over two shorter cook days. The sides, the mince pies and the sausage rolls can go on a second cook day, as early as November.
- Start with the onions. The red onion marmalade and the onion and red wine gravy both begin with a long, slow pan of onions, so put them on side by side.
- Then the oven. The squash for the Wellington roasts, or the nut roast bakes, while the onions cook down.
- Build the tarte tatin. Shallots in caramel, pastry on top, into the freezer unbaked.
- Finish with the bubble and squeak. The potatoes need to cool before you shape them, which is the time to wash up and label.
Everything goes in a foil tray, a freezer bag or a container you already have. Freezer packing has more on fitting it all in.
The rest of the roast freezes too
The red cabbage and the stuffing balls are below. These everyday sides from Nomstash freeze as well, so the whole plate can come out of the freezer.
- Roast potatoes Frozen part-roasted, then roasted from the fridge until crisp.
- Mash Frozen in portions, ready to reheat.
- Honey roast carrots Frozen part-roasted, then roasted until golden.
- Roast parsnips Frozen part-roasted, then roasted until golden.
- Cauliflower cheese Frozen unbaked in portions, baked until bubbling.
- Cheesy leeks Built in foil trays and frozen unbaked, then baked on the day.
The recipes
Each makes 8 portions. Some cheeses are made with animal rennet, so if it matters to anyone at the table, check the cheese says vegetarian.
Christmas Eve
- Shallot and balsamic tarte tatin Whole shallots in a sticky balsamic caramel under puff pastry, turned out at the table. Vegetarian 1 tart feeds 4 Get the recipe
- Squash, cheddar and thyme galettes Honey-roast squash and red onion on mustard and cheddar, in a folded shortcrust case. One each. Vegetarian 1 galette each Get the recipe
- Mushroom, chestnut and sage sausage rolls A savoury filling of mushrooms, chestnuts and sage in puff pastry. 24 rolls, frozen unbaked and baked when people arrive. Vegetarian 24 rolls, 3 each Get the recipe
- Mince pies Shortcrust cases, a spoonful of mincemeat and a pastry star on top. Frozen in the tin, baked when you want them warm. Vegetarian 24 pies, 3 each Get the recipe
Christmas Day
- Squash, goats cheese and cranberry Wellington Roast squash, dark sticky onions, lentils, goats cheese and cranberries rolled in puff pastry. Two Wellingtons, each for 4. Vegetarian Contains nuts 1 Wellington feeds 4 Get the recipe
- Cranberry and cheddar nut roast Cashews, walnuts, kidney beans and cheddar with cranberries, under a crunchy honey and pecan top. Two loaves, each for 4. Vegetarian Contains nuts 1 loaf feeds 4 Get the recipe
- Chestnut, mushroom and sage roast Chestnuts, mushrooms and lentils with sage and onion, baked on a layer of cranberry and turned out. Two loaves, each for 4. Vegan Contains nuts 1 loaf feeds 4 Get the recipe
- Onion and red wine gravy Slow-cooked onions, red wine and a spoonful of cranberry. Made on your cook day, so there’s no gravy to make on the day. Vegan 1 container for each meal Get the recipe
- Braised red cabbage with apple Red cabbage cooked slowly with bramley apple, red wine vinegar and a little cinnamon, until soft, sweet and sharp. Vegan 1 container for each meal Get the recipe
- Sage and onion stuffing balls Buttery onions, fresh sage and thyme rolled into breadcrumb balls, frozen unbaked and baked until crisp. Vegetarian 3 each Get the recipe
Boxing Day
- Bubble and squeak cakes Crushed potato, buttery leeks and cabbage with mustard and cheddar, shaped into cakes and baked until crisp. Vegetarian 2 cakes each Get the recipe
- Red onion marmalade Red onions cooked down slowly with sugar and two vinegars until dark and jammy. Vegan 2 tablespoons each Get the recipe
Nomstash plans the rest
- One shop for all of it Open the Christmas collection in the app, pick your dishes and get one shopping list for the cook day, foil trays and freezer bags included, with an estimated cost.
- A label on every container The dish, the day it was made and who it feeds, so nobody defrosts the wrong one.
- The reminder the night before Plan each meal on its day and Nomstash tells you what to move to the fridge before bed.
Freezing it safely
Every recipe’s method ends with how to freeze it and how to cook it from the fridge. The Food Standards Agency’s advice for the cook day:
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Cool cooked food at room temperature and put it in the fridge within one to two hours.
cool cooked food at room temperature and place in the fridge within one to two hours
Food Standards Agency -
Label everything that goes in the freezer.
label food you freeze so you don’t end up with Unidentified Frozen Objects (UFOs)
Food Standards Agency -
Food that’s been cooked and frozen is reheated once, not again after that.
you can freeze food again once cooked, but you’ll only be able to reheat it once after that
Food Standards Agency
Last checked against the Food Standards Agency page linked here.
Every rule, with all its sources: freezing, defrosting and reheating safely.
Every rule for cooling, freezing and reheating is on the freezing and defrosting guide.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency How to chill, freeze and defrost food safely gov.uk
Last checked . Each quotation on this page was read against the page it links to.