Christmas Dinner Timeline: What to Do and When

A Christmas dinner timeline works backwards from the moment you serve. Decide the serving time, take off the turkey's cooking and resting time to find when it goes in the oven, then slot the sides around it. The work that makes the day calm happens earlier: thawing a frozen turkey takes days, and the pudding, the stock and the peeled vegetables can all be done before the 25th.

Here is the plan for the week before, an hour by hour timeline for the day, and the food safety numbers that matter, from the UK Food Standards Agency.

The numbers to plan around

The FSA's full guidance for an oven preheated to 180 °C (160 °C fan, gas 4), when the packaging gives no instructions:

Goose is roasted at 200 °C (180 °C fan, gas 6) for 35 minutes per kg, and duck at 200 °C for 45 minutes per kg. The FSA also says: thaw in the fridge on the bottom shelf, never at room temperature, do not wash the raw bird, and cook the stuffing in its own tin rather than inside. All of this is from the FSA's Christmas food hygiene guidance; always check the instructions on your turkey's packaging first.

The week before

The Classic Christmas pudding in the Matlaro catalogue serves 16 and takes about 570 minutes, almost ten hours, start to finish. That is exactly the kind of dish to do weeks ahead, not on the day.

The day itself, backwards from serving

An example for a 5 kg turkey and dinner at 14:00. At 40 minutes per kg, the turkey needs 3 hours 20 minutes in the oven. We leave 30 minutes for it to rest under foil while the oven is used for the sides.

To check the turkey, the FSA says to cut into the thickest part, between the leg and the breast: none of the meat should be pink and the juices should run clear. With a probe, it should reach one of these: 70 °C for 2 minutes, 75 °C for 30 seconds or 80 °C for 6 seconds, among the FSA's combinations.

Cooking for 8

Eight is where most home Christmas dinners get hard: one oven, more pans than burners. Two things help.

• Pick sides that already serve 8. In the Matlaro catalogue, Boulangère Potatoes serve 8 and take about 70 minutes; Yorkshire Puddings make 8 in about 45.
• Let the bigger recipes scale. For a side written for 4, double the servings and check the pan: twice the potatoes need twice the tray area, not a deeper tray. We explain why in how to scale a recipe.

Boxing Day: the leftovers

The FSA's chill and freeze guidance says to eat leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them, and that cooked turkey can be frozen; it stays safe a long time, but quality drops after 3 to 6 months. A classic home for the leftover potatoes and sprouts is bubble and squeak, which is in the Matlaro catalogue and takes about 10 minutes.

If you would rather cook ahead and freeze more of the meal, meal prep for beginners has fridge and freezer times from the FSA and the BfR.

Christmas dinner in Matlaro

On the day, Matlaro's cook mode takes each recipe one step at a time, in large type, with the screen kept awake so you are not unlocking your phone with greasy hands. When a step names a time, cook mode offers a timer for it. Change the servings on any recipe and every amount follows. Why a phone that stays on matters so much on a day like this is in keeping your screen on while cooking.

Your own family recipes for the day, from a card, a website or a message, can be saved into the same cookbook. If you are baking for Christmas too, start with the Christmas cookie baking plan.