Christmas lunch: the essentials

Make sure you're fully prepared for the Christmas meal with our collection of recipes covering all the staples including perfect roast potatoes, delicious stuffing and, of course, the turkey itself.

The turkey

Delicious when cooked right, we all know that turkey has a tendency to go a little dry. Here's how to get it right every time for a perfect Christmas dinner centrepiece.

How to cook a Christmas turkey

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The stuffing

Whether you're having turkey this year or you're going for something a little different, this selection of stuffings has all tastes covered.

Turkey stuffing recipe

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The roast potatoes

Arguably the most important part of the Christmas dinner, this recipe reveals the secret to crispy golden roast potatoes.

Roast potatoes recipe

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The bread sauce

A British staple, bread sauce is made from simple indredients for a deliciously thick and warming accompaniment to the turkey.

B read sauce recipe

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The gravy

An essential accompaniment to turkey, this giblet gravy can be made the day before serving and kept in the fridge.

Turkey gravy recipe

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The cranberry sauce

Adding sweet contrast to the savoury meat, cranberry sauce can be shop bought but there's nothing quite like making it from scratch.

Cranberry sauce recipe

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The sprouts

Forget plain boiling, a few extra ingredients such as bacon, pistachios and shallots are required here to bring out the real flavour of sprouts.

How to cook sprouts

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The Christmas pudding

Love it or loathe it, Christmas pudding is an integral part of the meal, not least for providing a good excuse to get stuck into the brandy butter.

Christmas Pudding recipe

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It's probably the biggest meal you'll cook all year, and it's all too easy to get completely stressed out.