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Make-ahead Christmas

Make-ahead Christmas recipes

Get ready for the festivities with our make-ahead Christmas recipes – and see our menu ideas at the bottom of the page too. We’ve got everything you need for an organised holiday season, including make-ahead starters, side dishes, mains and desserts.

Make your own Christmas cake, pudding or mincemeat with our tried-and-tested recipes. While they’re maturing nicely in the larder, clear some room in the freezer for our freeze-ahead roast potatoes, red cabbage, gravy and stuffing.

Save some room in the fridge for desserts you can whip out for those ‘here’s one I made earlier’ moments. Whether you’re planning a big family feast or an intimate celebration, we’ve got all the make-ahead recipes you need this Christmas.

Showing 1-16 of 82 recipes

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Preserves recipes

Wine jelly

Debora Robertson’s wine jelly is a versatile condiment to have on hand at Christmas and can be made and stored...

Dairy-free Gluten-free Vegan Make-ahead

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Christmas recipes from around the world

Christmas Jansson’s temptation

Brontë Aurell shares her recipe for Jansson’s temptation (Jansson’s frestelse), a classic Swedish potato dish traditionally made with cream and...

Freezable Make-ahead

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Almond recipes

Almond cheesecake meringue nests

Scoops of pillowy amaretto-spiked mascarpone top golden sugar meringue nests to make these individual festive desserts. The meringues can be...

Vegetarian Make-ahead

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Christmas baking recipes

Tres leches eggnog cake

Inspired by both the Mexican milk-soaked cake and the flavours of the classic Christmas cocktail, this tres leches eggnog cake...

Vegetarian

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Christmas chocolate recipes

Passion fruit snowball truffles

Just four ingredients are needed to create these pretty snowball truffles, boasting the tang of passion fruit and the rich...

Freezable Gluten-free Vegetarian

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Stir-up Sunday recipes

Best of the best Christmas pudding

“Love it or hate it, Christmas pudding is THE pudding of the festive season,” says Pollyanna Coupland. “Inspired by my...

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Ice cream recipes

Spiced fruit and mascarpone ice cream sandwiches

These festive ice cream sandwiches are inspired by our popular Christmassy spiced fruit and mascarpone semifreddo recipe. The sponge is...

Freezable Vegetarian Make-ahead

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Christmas cake recipes

Mulled fig and apple Christmas cake

This lighter take on Christmas cake is packed with fruit, adding dried figs and apples to the classic raisins, sultanas...

Make-ahead

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Vegetarian pie recipes

Ottolenghi’s butternut crunch pie

Team Yotam have done it again – this ruffled filo pie cleverly treads the line between sweet and savoury, with...

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Crab recipes

Crab pots with parmesan crisps

Effortless but packed with flavour, this easy crab starter with fancy parmesan crisps can be made entirely in advance in...

Gluten-free Make-ahead

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Christmas baking recipes

Orange gugelhupf with cranberries

A majestic, yeasted gugelhupf studded with dried fruit is a festive must-bake in many Central European countries. Irina Georgescu shares...

Vegetarian

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Mussel recipes

Grilled mussels with garlic and parsley

“This way of preparing mussels is sometimes called moules farcies au beurre d’escargot (mussels with snail butter), as this combination...

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Trifle recipes

Traditional English trifle

Raspberry jelly, thick vanilla custard, sherry-soaked sponge fingers and pillowy mounds of whipped cream: it’s the ultimate traditional trifle recipe....