Make-ahead Christmas sides
Don’t spend Christmas Day in the kitchen: use these recipes for make-ahead sides and keep festive stress to a minimum.
We’ve got best-ever recipes for classics such as braised red cabbage, butter-roast parsnips and stuffing to help you get ahead. Browse our list of 12 essential make-ahead sides too, to help check-off your Christmas prep list.
Showing 1-16 of 67 recipes
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Cranberries
Ultimate homemade cranberry sauce
Our ultimate homemade cranberry sauce is ready in 20 mins and can be made ahead. It's the perfect balance between tart and sweet.
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Easy
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Make-ahead stuffing
Sausage, sage, prune and onion stuffing
The best stuffing? Sage and onion stuffing or sausage and prune stuffing. This one contains both, making it the ultimate recipe.
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Easy
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Cabbages
Braised red cabbage
This braised red cabbage offers a sweet-and-sour flavour combo with seasonal spice, cutting through the rich flavours of Christmas dinner.
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Easy
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Christmas trimmings, sides and sauces
Butter-roast parsnips with hazelnuts and sage
Dish up your best-ever roast parsnips this Christmas. Crisp sage and a scattering of toasted hazelnuts provide flavour and crunch.
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Easy
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Christmas trimmings, sides and sauces
Air fryer sage-butter roast potatoes
Make perfectly crisp roast potatoes in the air fryer in 30 minutes with this easy recipe. Toss with earthy sage butter for a special side.
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Easy
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Nduja
Air fryer crispy ’nduja sprouts
Sprouts crisp up beautifully in an air fryer – the outer leaves caramelising to golden shards. Toss in ’nduja for a sweet, fiery, salty side.
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Easy
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Leeks
Creamy baked leeks
In this cosy side dish recipe, leeks are cooked slowly in cream and cheese until soft and golden. A delicious accompaniment to any roast.
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Easy
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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 made with cream and ansjovis.
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Easy
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Stuffing
Savoy cabbage and pork stuffing
This pork stuffing is one of Matt Tebbutt's go-to Christmas recipes, as the deeply savoury notes complement the delicate flavour of turkey.
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Easy
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Christmas trimmings, sides and sauces
Christmas cabbage with hazelnuts, olives and raisins
Jazz up your Christmas cabbage. Treat savoy like a salad, combining shredded leaves with nuts, olives, raisins, herbs and pomegranate seeds.
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Easy
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Stuffing
Prune and potato stuffing
Try something different this Christmas, with Debora Robertson's French style prune and potato stuffing. You can stuff the bird with it or serve it on the side.
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Medium
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Pork recipes from around the world
Jerk-spiced pork stuffing
James Cochran's pork stuffing gets a lift from scotch bonnets and the smoky, toasty flavours of jerk seasoning. Try with glazed ham or turkey.
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Easy
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Vegetarian Christmas dinners
Sourdough stuffing balls
These zingy sourdough stuffing balls are a vibrant alternative to the heavy, traditional versions. Great with turkey, chicken or goose.
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Easy
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Make-ahead Christmas
Caramelised onion, pear and chestnut stuffing
Get ready for Christmas with this make-ahead chestnut stuffing recipe from Chantelle Nicholson. Freeze, then defrost when ready to bake.
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Easy
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Roast potatoes
Garlic roast potatoes with bay leaves
Looking for a roast potatoes recipe that won't let you down? Our garlic and bay roast potatoes are crisp and golden with soft fluffy insides.
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Easy
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Christmas buffet
Tahini coleslaw
Coleslaw with yogurt and tahini dressing adds a refreshing crunch to a buffet or lunch spread. This easy slaw only needs 15 mins prep.
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Easy
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