12 essential side dish recipes for your Christmas dinner

The roast potatoes

Rosemary roast potatoes
First things, first: let’s start with the roasties. Is there a more important side dish in the Christmas dinner cannon? Golden crispy potatoes are the backbone of every roast; for Christmas make them special with our foolproof rosemary roast potatoes recipe. It’s a keeper.

The essential festive sides

Fondant brussels sprouts
Love them or hate them, it wouldn’t be Christmas without sprouts. If you’re not a fan, perhaps you just haven’t met the right recipe yet. May we humbly suggest our fondant sprouts? The cooking process means they’re fudgy on the inside, crisp on the outside – and are then tumbled with bacon and chestnuts to serve.

Marmalade pigs in blankets
After the roasties, pigs in blankets are a strong contender for everyone’s favourite part of Christmas dinner. Make your own with our easy marmalade pigs in blankets recipe. Paddington’s favourite preserve gives the sausages and bacon a delightful sweet and citrussy glaze.

Sausage, sage, prune and onion stuffing
We’ve married two iconic stuffings, sage and onion plus sausage and prune, into one delicious recipe. We’ve also made these servings larger than usual so you get all those rich flavours without the stuffing drying out.

The vegetables

Vichy carrots
Carrots bring a shot of colour and subtle sweetness to the Christmas plate. Vichy carrots are a classic French dish where the root veg are simmered in butter and water, which coaxes out their sweetness and leaves the carrots with a glossy sheen.

Butter-roast parsnips
Parsnips are an underrated Christmas side. Cooked properly they’re every bit as deserving of a spot at the table alongside the pigs in blankets and roast potatoes. Our butter-roast parsnips are par-boiled and roasted in their skins for a more even finish and fudgy texture. Crispy sage and hazelnut bring the crunch.

Red cabbage
Red cabbage plays an important role in a Christmas dinner. It cuts through all those rich, deeply savoury flavours with its sweet-sour tang. This classic braised cabbage is easy to make ahead of time and stash in the freezer.

The wildcards

Brussels sprout cheese
Give sprouts the cauli-cheese treatment in this fun recipe from chef Marie Mitchell. Tender sprouts, a nutmeg-scented sauce and golden sourdough croutons: could this be your new favourite Christmas side?

Yorkshire puddings
Do Yorkshires belong on a Christmas dinner plate? It’s up to you… We’ve got a yorkie recipe that can be made in the air fryer, as well as classic oven yorkies.

Christmas peas
Flecked with the pink of grapefruit and peppercorns, this bowl of peas provides a much needed flash of green at the Christmas dinner table. Certainly not traditional, but zingily flavoursome and super-quick to prepare.

Cauliflower cheese
It’s a classic Sunday roast side dish (and legit meal in its own right), so why not try it with Christmas dinner too. Our cauliflower cheese gratin has leeks for added flavour and texture – or choose from our complete collection of cauliflower cheese recipes.

Christmas cabbage with hazelnuts, olives and raisins
Jazz up your Christmas cabbage by treating it like a salad, combining shredded savoy leaves with a smattering of nuts, olives, raisins, herbs and pomegranate seeds. The contrasting textures and fresh pops of flavour work wonders with the rest of a classic festive spread.

The sauces

If you need the sauces to go with your sides too, browse our best-ever cranberry sauce (which can be kept in the fridge for up to a month), turkey gravy (making the stock in advance helps guarantee that rich flavour) and sourdough bread sauce.

Ready to think about pudding? Check out our best-ever Christmas pudding or opt for something different with one of our showstopping festive desserts.