Making a gluten-free Christmas dinner and wondering how on earth you’re going to get it all on the table hot? Never fear! I’ve put together a shopping list and checklist that take you from the Christmas Eve prep right through to carving the turkey and pouring the gravy. There’s a time for everything, including when the turkey goes into the oven and when to get the pigs in blankets on.
I’ve based the menu on my Dad’s Excell-ent Turkey from my Gluten-free Christmas cookbook (but you can easily sneakily find it here!), with my crispy roast potatoes, stuffing balls and all the trimmings. My Mum’s red cabbage recipe is in the book, but all the other recipes are linked below in the menu section. Keep the turkey in the fridge overnight and take it out when you’re ready to prep it on Christmas morning.
The example menu is for a 6kg whole turkey, one fan oven with two shelves and lunch around 2pm. The turkey serves around 10-12, so check how much of each side you’ll need when you open the recipes.
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What’s on the menu?
- Dad’s Excell-ent Turkey with pork stuffing and Mum’s Red Cabbage from my Gluten-free Christmas cookbook.
- Crispy roast potatoes.
- Sticky maple and orange carrots and parsnips.
- Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon.
- Gluten-free pigs in blankets and my gluten-free stuffing balls.
- Three-ingredient gluten-free Yorkshire puddings.
- Cranberry sauce and gravy made with gluten-free granules. If you fancy making the gravy yourself, you can make it the day before and warm it through on the hob. My homemade gluten-free gravy recipe.
- Make-ahead pudding. Pick one of my Christmas Eve-friendly desserts or grab a ready-made gluten-free dessert from the supermarket.
Gluten-free Christmas dinner shopping list
These quantities are for 10-12 people having a little of each side. For the amounts on this list, double my roasties recipe and make one and a half batches of the carrots and parsnips, including the glaze. If you want more of any one dish, scale the recipe and check that the extra fits in your oven. Tick off what you’ve already got before you head out.
Meat, eggs and dairy
- 1 whole turkey, around 6kg
- 300g gluten-free pork stuffing for the turkey’s neck, or the ingredients for my gingerbread stuffing from the ITV recipe. The stuffing balls have their own ingredients below.
- 24 chilled gluten-free pigs in blankets
- 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon for the sprouts
- 6 eggs and 300ml milk for the Yorkshires
- 110g butter for the lemon butter and stuffing balls
Fruit, veg and herbs
- 2kg Maris Piper potatoes
- 6 medium carrots and 6 medium parsnips
- 1kg Brussels sprouts
- 2 clementines and 2 lemons for the turkey
- 1 orange for the glaze, or use a splash of orange juice
- Fresh rosemary and thyme
- The ingredients for Mum’s Red Cabbage from my cookbook, or ready-made gluten-free red cabbage
Store cupboard and free from aisle
- Gluten-free gravy granules
- 1 jar of cranberry sauce
- 140g ready-made gluten-free breadcrumbs for the stuffing balls
- 200g cornflour for the Yorkshires, plus 1 tbsp for the stuffing balls. Gluten-free plain flour works for that tablespoon too.
- Dried chives, dried sage and bay leaves
- Maple syrup and wholegrain mustard
- Garlic-infused olive oil for the sprouts and lemon butter
- Olive oil for the roots and vegetable oil for the Yorkshires and roasties. You can use goose fat for the roasties if you like.
- Salt and black pepper
If you fancy making the gravy from scratch, add the ingredients from my homemade gluten-free gravy recipe. For the turkey drippings gravy from the ITV recipe, add 225ml gluten-free chicken stock and an extra 4 tbsp of cornflour or gluten-free plain flour.
For pudding, check how many your chosen dessert serves and add its ingredients to the list. If you’re picking up a ready-made dessert, check the label says gluten-free and that there’s enough for everyone.
Before Christmas
- Check the turkey’s weight and cooking instructions. If yours is frozen, check the pack several days ahead. A bird this size can take up to four days to thaw in a covered tray on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Check it’s fully thawed before you start. The timings below are for my Dad’s Excell-ent Turkey recipe, using a 6kg whole bird with pork stuffing in the neck. If you’re using a different recipe or buying a ready-prepared turkey, use its cooking instructions and work back from a 12.20pm finish so the oven is free for the trimmings. If you’re cooking the turkey unstuffed, there’s a Christmas Eve step for the separate pork stuffing below.
- Check the gluten-free bits while you shop. Read the labels on the pigs in blankets, bacon, both stuffings, gravy granules and ready-made sides. This timetable gives the pigs in blankets 20 minutes at 200°C fan. Check the time and temperature on your own pack and allow for any oven change.
- Do a quick run-through with your roasting tins. Check the turkey tin fits and you can get two trays in once the bird comes out. Check that the full quantities of potatoes and veg each fit on one tray in a single layer. Allow an extra slot if you need another tray.
If you’re cooking for a coeliac guest and making some dishes with gluten too, give the gluten-free food clean trays, utensils and serving dishes of its own. I go through the shopping, prep and serving in more detail in my guide to cooking Christmas dinner for someone with coeliac disease.
Christmas Eve checklist
- Make pudding on Christmas Eve. Choose one of the recipes below. If you’re making the trifle, start early so the jelly has time to set before you add the custard and cream. Cool any baked pudding promptly, then cover and refrigerate it. If you’re using a frozen supermarket dessert, check the pack for when to start defrosting it.
- Bake the stuffing balls and Yorkshires. Cool them and get them into covered containers in the fridge within two hours. If you’ve already frozen the Yorkshires, you can defrost them in the fridge overnight so they’ll fit the chilled timings tomorrow.
- Make the red cabbage. Cool and chill it for tomorrow. If you bought ready-made red cabbage, keep it as directed on the pack.
- Make gravy ahead if you’re using my blog recipe. Cool it and pop it in the fridge. If you’re using granules or making gravy from the turkey drippings, that’s a Christmas Day job.
- Prep the veg and bacon. Peel and chop the carrots and parsnips, trim the sprouts and mix the maple and orange glaze. Chop the bacon and keep it covered in the fridge, separate from the veg. You can peel and cut the potatoes into chunks too. Keep them submerged in cold water in the fridge overnight.
- Get the turkey bits ready. Mix the lemon butter, cover and refrigerate it. If you’re making the gingerbread pork stuffing for the neck, set aside 300g and chill it in a sealed container on the bottom shelf. Any extra can be cooked separately using the stuffing-log recipe. If you’re cooking the turkey unstuffed, cook the pork stuffing separately today following its recipe or pack instructions. Cool it promptly and refrigerate it in a covered container within two hours. Get out your roasting tin, foil, cocktail stick and thermometer.
- Get the serving dishes out. A board for carving, something for the roasties, bowls for the sides and a jug for the gravy. If someone offers to help tomorrow, they can put the cranberry sauce out and take the dishes to the table.
Four gluten-free desserts to make on Christmas Eve
- No-bake Baileys cheesecake. Let it set in the fridge overnight, then decorate it with the truffles and grated chocolate before serving.
- Five-ingredient strawberry trifle. Allow about 2-3 hours for the jelly to set before you add the custard and cream. Chill it overnight and add the strawberries on top just before serving.
- Sticky toffee pudding. Make the sponge and sauce the night before and chill them separately. Reheat the portions and warm the sauce when you’re ready for pudding.
- Bread and butter pudding, three ways. Bake it fully on Christmas Eve, then reheat individual portions in the microwave or oven until piping hot.
Don’t forget there’s plenty more festive gluten-free desserts to choose from here.
Christmas Day timings for a 2pm dinner
Get the whole turkey in the oven
- 7.25am. Preheat to 200°C fan. Take out the lemon butter to soften and line the roasting tin with foil. Remove the giblets. For Dad’s method, loosely spoon the chilled pork stuffing into the neck just before roasting and secure the skin with a cocktail stick. Put the rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, clementine halves and whole lemon in the main cavity. Put the turkey breast-side up in the tin, rub on the lemon butter and tent it with foil. Wash your hands and clean the worktop and utensils after handling the raw turkey or stuffing.
- 7.50am. Put the turkey in. Give it 40 minutes at 200°C fan.
- 8.30am. Turn the oven down to 150°C fan. Leave the turkey covered for the slower roasting stage. This example allows 3 hours 15 minutes for that part.
- 11.45am. Take the foil off and turn the oven up to 180°C fan. Give the turkey another 30-40 minutes to brown, basting every 10-15 minutes.
- Around noon. Parboil the potatoes. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks if you’re doing them today. Drain any potatoes you soaked overnight. Add the chunks to boiling salted water and give them about 10 minutes once the water comes back to the boil. Drain, shake them in the pan to rough up the edges and let them steam dry.
- From 12.15pm. Check the turkey and its stuffing. Use a clean thermometer in the thickest part of the breast and thigh, away from bone. If you stuffed the neck, check the centre of the stuffing too. Each needs to reach 70°C for two minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds. If any part needs longer, keep roasting and check again. Transfer the cooked turkey to a board, cover it well with foil and rest it for 1-2 hours. Save the juices from the tin if you’re using them for gravy.
Around 12.20pm is the aim for the turkey coming out. If it takes longer, move both shelves’ timings and lunch back. Use each tray’s cooking time and how it looks to decide when to make the next swap.
Cook the trimmings while the turkey rests
Use the top shelf for roasties, then stuffing balls and Yorkshires. On the lower shelf, start with the carrots and parsnips, then swap in the sprouts and bacon, then the pigs in blankets.
- Around 12.20pm. Turn the oven up to 200°C fan once the turkey is out. Heat the tin with the oil or goose fat for the roasties and a second tin with a little oil for the carrots and parsnips.
- Around 12.30pm. Put the roasties and roots in. Once the oven and tins are hot, spread the potatoes in a single layer on the top tray and the carrots and parsnips on the tray below.
- Around 12.50-12.55pm. Glaze the carrots and parsnips. Give them 20-25 minutes before adding the glaze, then roast for another 10 minutes. While they finish, parboil the sprouts for 4-5 minutes. Cool briefly in cold water, drain and toss them on their tray with the bacon and garlic-infused oil.
- Around 1pm. Swap the roots for the sprouts and bacon. Cover the carrots and parsnips in a serving dish. Roast the sprouts and bacon on the lower shelf for 25-30 minutes at 200°C fan, turning halfway.
- Around 1.10pm. Turn the roasties. After their first 40 minutes, turn them and give them another 10-15 minutes until crisp and golden.
- Around 1.20-1.25pm. Swap the roasties for the stuffing balls. Move the roasties to a warm dish. Reheat the cooked stuffing balls on the top shelf until piping hot in the middle. Allow around 20 minutes and check how they’re doing. If you cooked the pork stuffing separately yesterday, reheat it until piping hot alongside the balls if both fit on the tray, following any reheating instructions on the pack. If it needs its own tray, give it the next slot on the top shelf, then warm the Yorkshires and move serving back accordingly.
- Around 1.25-1.35pm. Swap the sprouts for the pigs in blankets. Once the sprouts are golden and the bacon is cooked, move them to a warm dish and cover them. Cook the pigs in blankets on the lower shelf as directed on their pack. If they need a different oven setting, let the sprouts and roasties finish first, then allow time for the oven to reach the new temperature.
- While the pigs in blankets cook, get the gravy and veg going. If you’re making gravy with the turkey drippings, start it now. In the last 10-15 minutes before serving, heat the red cabbage and the carrots and parsnips on the hob. Check the sprouts too and warm them through if they’ve cooled. Reheat any gravy you made yesterday until piping hot.
- Once the stuffing balls are hot, use the top shelf for the finish. If the roasties need crisping up again, give them a few minutes back in the oven. Warm the Yorkshires last, for about five minutes from chilled or about 10 minutes from frozen, until hot and crisp.
- As the last trays finish, carve the turkey. Set aside the meat you’re saving for Boxing Day. If you’re using gravy granules, make them up with boiling water in your jug according to the pack.
- Around 2pm. Bring everything to the table. Once the pigs in blankets are cooked through and the Yorkshires are ready, bring the turkey, both stuffings and all the sides to the table. Bring the gravy jug over and check the cranberry sauce has made it out of the fridge!
Serve pudding after lunch
- Around 3pm, when everyone’s ready for pudding. Take the cheesecake or trifle out of the fridge and add the topping, or serve your ready-made gluten-free dessert. For a warm pudding, reheat the portions you need until piping hot, warming the toffee sauce separately if you’re using it. Follow the pack instructions for a shop-bought dessert that needs heating.
Once dinner’s served
If you know some of the turkey is destined for Boxing Day, set it aside as you carve. Divide it into shallow containers to cool quickly and refrigerate it within two hours of the turkey coming out of the oven. For a 12.20pm finish, that’s by 2.20pm, before pudding. I’m always happy to have enough left for my gluten-free leftover turkey curry.
And if you sit down at 2.10pm with crispy roasties, hot gravy and a plate full of stuffing and pigs in blankets, I’d call that a very good Christmas dinner!
Becky x