The 12 food hacks of Christmas

These 15-minute tasks can be fitted in between now and Christmas and will save you stressful hours in the kitchen on the big day.

1. Make a plan and a list

Writing down what you are cooking, and the shopping list for it, will save you time and money over the next month. Carry it with you and whenever you spot an offer, or you’re tempted to impulse buy, check the list – if it’s not on on the list, it's not coming in.

You won’t double-up on ingredients or, says food blogger Ciara Attwell, spend more than you intended.

Ask the family what they really want (and what they're not bothered by) for Christmas food. You might be able to cross some jobs off before you've begun.

If you’re freezing dishes in advance, spend an extra two minutes, placing them in freezer bags and packing them as flat as possible says Kate Hall, AKA The Full Freezer – who’s passionate about prepping Christmas food.

“By making freezer bags – with things like cranberry sauce or bread sauce – as flat as possible, you’ll use less freezer space but more importantly you’ll be able to defrost dishes faster. Cheese sauce and gravy can be treated the same way.

“On the day, submerge the sealed freezer bag in cold water. That will help it defrost in around 10-30 minutes. If it takes longer, you’ll need to change the water to keep it cold. Then it’s just a case of putting the contents of the bag into a pan or microwavable bowl and heating through.”

3. Prep your roast potatoes

“Peel and chop your potatoes and add to cold, salted water and bring to boil, then cook for five minutes (if they’re bigger chunks make it six minutes),” says Hall, before adding: “Drain them and rough them up. At this stage you could toss in some oil and flour or polenta if you want.”

Then just let them cool down on a tray and then pop that into a freezer. When they’re frozen solid stick them into a freezer bag to store.

With no defrosting required, just “transfer them to a tray of hot oil and season, then cook for 45-60 minutes at 200C.”

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4. Set aside store cupboard dishes

If plans change, which seems to be the norm these days, you might need to throw together a little extra something in the season that you hadn't planned for. A dessert or salad can easily be made from store cupboard ingredients in a pinch should there be an extra guest.

A trifle is an excellent no-cook pudding – even chef Angela Hartnett turns to custard powder, long-life trifle sponges and frozen raspberries to make a super quick sherry trifle. If you have an unexpected vegan guest (or a guest with dairy or egg allergies), a vegan trifle is equally easy.

Mary Berry's 4-ingredient artichoke and roasted red pepper salad combines two jars of ready-made vegetables with a little balsamic vinegar and fresh basil. It would also make an excellent party food skewered on cocktail sticks. Frozen cooked prawns can be turned into the ultimate assembly-job starter, prawn cocktail.

5. Customise your drinks trolley

Bring a bit of Christmas cheer to the table with homemade Christmas liqueurs that can be made in minutes. The Hairy Bikers pour vodka over dried fruit and spices for their Christmas pudding vodka. Leave it for three days before straining and bottling. Give as a gift, or serve as an after-dinner treat.

Make a simple sugar syrup by dissolving two parts sugar in one part boiling water. Kept in the fridge, sugar syrup is used in many of your favourite festive cocktails: a rich espresso martini, a punchy lime daiquiri or a warming whisky sour. A vanilla-flavoured syrup will add a heavenly fragrance to a passion fruit martini, but also makes a nice addition to non-alcoholic drinks.

You can always cheat further and use the syrup from tins of fruit or jars of maraschino cherries, as in Helen McGinn's Cherry 75.

6. Make extras during a pre-Christmas roast

If you’re having a roast between now and Christmas, Anna Williams, head pastry chef at Fallow in London, suggests making a double-batch of gravy so you can set aside the extra. “Make a larger batch and then defrost on Christmas Eve. On the day heat up in a pan and add some of the fresh cooking juices to it and it’s all done with no stress.” It won't take you any more time than your regular roast dinner prep.

Likewise with Yorkshire puddings, as per Mary Berry's advice, cooking a bigger batch means you can reheat them in moments directly from frozen.

7. Set aside sausages

Wrapping the pigs in blankets isn't a huge job, given it's a two-ingredient dish, but it's one less thing to do on the day, says Hall. “You could make them up and then put them on a tray in a freezer. Once they’re frozen, put them in a freezer bag. On the day you can just cook from frozen.”

From frozen, they’ll take around 25-35 minutes to cook and you should turn them halfway through cooking.

Similarly, sausage meat stuffing balls can be made and frozen up to three months ahead and cooked from frozen with the pigs in blankets. If you’re just going for packet stuffing mix, you could do similar, says Hall. “Make up the mix [it normally involves mixing with boiling water and butter], then once chilled, freeze.”

8. Make a red cabbage pack

Unless you’re using a pressure-cooker red cabbage can take a while to prep and make. So, says Hall, why not prep the ingredients in advance, so when you come to cook it (either on the hob or in the slow cooker) its just a case of pouring everything in.

“Thoroughly clean the red cabbage,” says Hall, who says it can, “have a fair amount of grime on it - especially if you’re buying from a farm or allotment. Then chop it up, blanch it quickly and put it in a freezer bag along with the other ingredients – you won’t need to blanch the apples first.”

9. Check your turkey label and defrost times

This year, due to avian flu, some fresh turkeys will have been previously frozen, as such you won’t be able to re-freeze if you’re buying early. The label will tell you if it has been frozen prior, and a supermarket should state if it has been previously frozen. This could end up being a costly and time-consuming mistake to make if you are shopping early.

If you’re buying frozen, check how long it will take to defrost and set an alarm on your phone to remind you when to take it out of the freezer – it can be longer than you’d think.

“If you don’t have much room in your freezer, buy two or three turkey breast joints instead of a large bird as they will be easier to store,” says Justine Pattison. “Smaller turkey portions can also fit on one shelf in the oven, leaving the other shelves for roast potatoes, stuffing and trimmings.”

10. Write a schedule and outsource

How many Christmases have you stood in the kitchen, red-faced and behind schedule, when someone asks you if they can do anything to help? "No, no!" you say with a weak smile. Well, we're here to stage an intervention.

As you write your list of cooking jobs for the day, with rough timings, highlight jobs you don't mind handing over to someone else. Get them to do it earlier than you need, rather than when you're running late and everyone's had too many glasses of fizz. Our favourite jobs to hand over are:

• Trimming Brussels sprouts
• Chopping carrots and parsnips
• Assembling canapes
• Making stuffing
• Wrapping pigs in blankets
• Washing up (of course!)
• Putting things away and clearing space
• Pouring drinks for everyone

11. Luxury ingredient hacks

Make mincemeat ice cream for a novel dessert, says pastry chef Anna Williams. “Blitz some mincemeat in a blender then swirl it into softened ice cream and refreeze.

“You can do the same by adding a little brandy to clotted cream ice cream or orange zest and even a little spice. Don’t be afraid to mix it up - a lot of good ice creams in a restaurant come from a good base – with new or fashionable flavours added, so get creative and make your own homemade flavoured ice creams.”

No-churn ice cream like Nigella's coffee, cheesecake or brandy and salted caramel version in the video below, can be whipped up in minutes and set aside in the freezer with no ice cream machine needed.

Make a luxury ice cream hack into a showstopper pudding with Lorraine Pascale’s winter Swiss roll bowl cake. Slice some ready-made Swiss rolls and line the inside of a bowl. Brush with your favourite tipple, pack with softened ice cream and refreeze until you’re ready to eat.

12. Instant homemade mince pies

“If you want to have freshly baked mince pies on the day,” says Williams, “grab ready-made pastry and mincemeat. You can always add a little extra zest, spice or fruit to make it your own.

“Line a muffin tray with the pastry and fill with the mincemeat. Top with lids, and they can be frozen uncooked. As soon as the turkey and all the sides are out of the oven on Christmas Day get the mince pies in and bake straight from frozen and they’ll be ready for your dessert.

“They are so easy and so good,” says Williams.

Originally published November 2022.