A scrumptious Christmas dinner is one of the highlights of the day on December 25th, but for those tasked with cooking the festive feast, it can be an enormous amount of stress.
Those in charge of serving up the highly anticipated meal are often found in the kitchen, flustered and elbow-deep in potato shavings, while their guests likely enjoy a relaxing winter walk or mulled wine by the fire.
If you're tasked with shopping for the annual event too, there's every chance that by the time you sit down to eat, the family lunch comes with a side of frayed nerves and exhaustion.
As such, more and more families are opting for all-in-one kits that contain everything you need to cook an impressive feast - and it's all delivered directly to your door.
Designed with even the most clueless cooks in mind, some boxes require no prep at all and simply need to be put in the oven, meaning all the stress is taken away on Christmas day.
Other kits from food companies and restaurants around the UK are less traditional, and more luxurious, while there's vegan and vegetarian options too.
But which are Yuletide saviours and which are festive flops, and can they ever be as good as a homemade meal?
From HelloFresh to Indulge Dining and Abel and Cole's offerings, FEMAIL tried out a collection of kits costing from £2.99 per person to find out...
Abel and Cole's The Wild Venison Christmas Feast Recipe Box
Rating: 5/5
Cost: £140
Serves: 6
Cooking time: 2 hour 50 minutes
WHAT IS IT: This festive feast from Abel and Cole comes complete with all the ingredients and instructions you’ll need to create and bake a Venison En Croûte, made with fillet of wild venison, mushrooms and prosciutto wrapped in buttery short-crust pastry.
There's also homemade gravy, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts with sage and chestnuts, ginger and cardamom carrots, crunchy rosemary roast potatoes and cumin roast parsnips.
CLAIRE SAID: I'll admit, I hadn't tried a venison wellington before - and when I saw that you had to make it up rather than it arrive pre-made, there was a real concern that my amateur cooking skills wouldn't pull this off.
But thankfully, due to the incredibly detailed instructions you receive alongside the box of fresh ingredients, creating this dish was hassle free - and it tasted magnificent.
From the very first bite, my guests raved about the pastry covered meat, the flavours, the texture, the richness, it was all stunning.
But I almost felt like I couldn't take credit for how brilliant the feast had turned out thanks to the level of detail in the step-by-step guide, it's like you have a chef in the kitchen with you.
Once I knew the meal was as delicious as it was, I was rather glad that everything had arrived as fresh as possible, rather than being pre-made, as it made me even more confident in the ingredients that had been delivered to me.
If you don't like strong flavours on your dinners, this perhaps isn't the meal for you. But what I will say, is that the different flavours are picked so carefully that they all complement one another perfectly.
I had never thought to put ginger on my carrots, or cumin on my parsnips, but now that will be a permanent addition to any roast I serve. Honestly, I couldn't fault this dinner - from start to end.
It was delivered in good packaging to keep it fresh, the cooking was made really easy, and the final meal was superb. No complaints, and no improvements needed, that I could find.
Côte's Vegetarian Feast
Rating: 5/5
Cost: £54.95
Serves: 2
Cooking time: Less than an hour
WHAT IS IT: Côte restaurants' indulgent range of Christmas meals was designed by Gordon Ramsay’s former Executive Chef, Steve Allen.
The highly respected chef - who previously ran Michelin-starred restaurants - focused on fresh seasonal ingredients to showcase the classics, with a French twist, at Christmas.
This Christmas, the ever-popular premium delivery Côte at Home service, came up with three luxury Christmas feasts complete with simple instructions, taking the stress out of cooking.
In less than three hours, and with minimal fuss, the meals- freshly prepared by Côte’s expert chefs - are ready to be served.
All three Côte at Home Christmas boxes have been specially designed so that dishes can be heated at the same temperature, avoiding oven hassle and more time to relax with loved ones.
The vegetarian feast features two individual Butternut Squash Tarte Tatin’s with toasted almonds and Chèvre Buchette goat’s cheese served with all the trimmings, Spiced Braised Red Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts au Gratin, Roast Potatoes, Rainbow Roasted Carrots, Sage & Onion stuffing and a Shallot & Thyme Jus.
MANDY SAID: This fantastic feast arrived with clear and concise instructions, making it very easy to cook and it was on the table in under an hour.
The flavours were delicious: the braised spiced red cabbage was sweet and sticky, the Brussels Sprouts au gratin were beautifully cooked, still slightly al dente in a cream cheese sauce, the rainbow carrots were mouth-watering in a herby, buttery dressing and the roast potatoes were well seasoned with a crispy outer and fluffy inside.
But it wasn't just the trimmings that impressed - the pie was magnificent. Beautifully seasoned butternut squash filling with a stunningly flaky pastry topping. The goats cheese that was added on top added to the flavours, making it totally scrumptious.
Personally, I didn't find the toasted almonds added much, other than some slight texture, so you could always leave these out of the dish if preferred.
Overall, it was definitely worthy of a five out of five rating. My guests and I loved all of it - especially the carrots and sprouts.
Plus, it would've easily fed up to four people if you cut the pies in half. The portions were extremely generous, with enough left over for another meal.
All In A Box's Christmas In A Box
Rating: 5/5
Cost: £218
Serves: 4
Cooking time: Around an hour
WHAT IS IT: All In A Box's Christmas In A Box can be customised by each shopper, with four different meat options (Turkey, Beef, Chicken and Gammon), or a nut roast, which is accompanied by all the trimmings.
Customers can also pick the size of their Christmas box, with the option to serve one to ten people.
Alongside the feast, the box includes a mulled wine kit, Christmas crackers, mince pies and instructions.
Trimmings included are rosemary, garlic & olive oil roast potatoes, jumbo pigs in blankets (vegetarian versions in the nut roast boxes), Yorkshire puddings, honey and thyme carrots and parsnips, stuffing, Brussel sprouts, and gravy.
CLAIRE SAID: Arriving at the specified time, the ingredients for this fantastic feast arrived in a box insulated with wool and ice packs for freshness.
The items were fully prepped, portioned, and ready to cook for Christmas - you couldn't fault how easy this one was to dish up. December 25th would be a breeze if you had this box to hand.
The star of the show was a honey glazed gammon joint ready for roasting. Wow. What a showstopper. Even my partner, who isn't keen on salty foods, devoured this dinner.
So easy were the instructions, such good quality was the ingredients, and so delicious were the flavours, that this box could turn any person into a raved-about chef on Christmas Day.
The honey and thyme carrots were another crowd-pleaser thanks to how delicious they tasted - and each of the ingredients that made up the roast tasted fresh and of a high quality.
I would be happy to serve this dinner again and again for Christmas - I felt like it was a real festive feast and the portion sizes were just what you would want on the big day.
Abel and Cole The Vegan Christmas Feast Recipe Box
Rating: 5/5
Cost: £120
Serves: 4
Cooking time: 1hr 35 minutes
WHAT IS IT: This festive feast from Abel and Cole comes complete with all the ingredients and instructions you’ll need for a vegan-friendly Christmas dinner, starring a ready-made Winter Root Veg & Cranberry Wellington.
There's also homemade gravy, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts with sage and chestnuts, ginger and cardamom carrots, garlic and rosemary roast potatoes and cumin roast parsnips.
KYLE SAID: The organic vegan Christmas meal kit from Abel and Cole impressed right from the start; everything was well packaged, without the need for plastic galore.
Nothing was damaged during delivery and everything was well organised so I knew what was for what dish straight away.
Now, while this box doesn't promise to be the easiest - there is some prep required and you won't be able to just shove everything into the over straight away - the extremely detailed and easy-to-read step-by-step guide made this meal a dream to cook.
There was no worrying about timings, Abel and Cole figure that out for you, and every step, no matter how small, is mentioned for you to follow, taking away any fear over whether you're preparing a dish right or not.
The smells filling my kitchen as the roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips cooked were lovely and filled me with Christmas spirit.
Put as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and I couldn't wait to try the delicious-looking feast - and thankfully, it did not disappoint.
The wellington was flavoursome - and not dry in the slightest, plus you have the added bonus that it's pre-made for you, ready to go in the oven, whilst the carrots and parsnips were burst of flavours that complemented each other well.
But the real star of the show for me were the roasties. Thanks to the guide, these had turned out to be lovely and crispy on the outside, but soft and creamy inside - everything I'd want from my Christmas Day dinner.
I'd rush to get this box again next year, without a shadow of a doubt, because it seems to take all the stress of cooking the festive feast away.
HelloFresh’s Christmas Dinner
Rating: 5/5
Cost: From £3.15 per person
Serves: 4
Cooking time: Over an hour
WHAT IS IT: This year, HelloFresh is giving customers the chance to customise their Christmas with a mix-and-match feature to suit the tastes of you and your guests. Choose from a range of different sides, mains, starters and desserts to craft the perfect festive feast for your whole family.
From Crispy Roast Potatoes and Honey Roasted Roots, to Nutty Bacon Brussel Sprouts and Balsamic Braised Apple Red Cabbage, customers can select from a range of sides to accompany one of the indulgent mains of Rosemary Roast Chicken or Festive Roasted Beef, both served with Pigs in Blankets and Festive Gravy.
JESSICA SAID: This box of ingredients arrived well packaged and all labelled and prepped ready to use straight away - there was no need to measure out how much I needed of anything, and there was no waste.
Cooking the dinner was easy enough thanks to the step-by-step instructions, and it wasn't an overly complicated recipe. In fact, it was very much like how I would've cooked the ingredients usually.
It had everything you'd usually want from your Christmas dinner; the meat, the veg, the roasties and even the sprouts. However these ones were made extra tasty thanks to the addition of bacon lardons.
The beef was lovely and tender, not too much bite, nor too chewy. The flavours complemented each other well, and I was so pleased at how traditional and tasty this dinner was when I served it to my guests.
Luckily, they equally enjoyed the simple but superb festive meal and kept complimenting the beef and sprouts especially.
Gousto's One Hour Vegan Nut Roast Christmas Dinner
Rating: 4/5
Cost: £2.99 per serving
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 1 hour
WHAT IS IT: Gousto's all-in-one plant-based Christmas dinner promises to be ready in under an hour. Enjoy an umami-packed mushroom, pistachio, and cranberry loaf, crispy roast potatoes and parsnips, all topped with rich gravy.
ALICE SAID: The vegan nut roast surprised me in many ways. Upon opening the box of ingredients, I must admit my initial reaction was disappointment.
The box had a small stash of loose vegetables, packages and a carton of lentils for making the roast elements itself, which looked slightly sad thrown in the box the way it was.
When it came to cooking, the instructions were clear and informative and essentially followed what the way I would have intuitively made my own version.
I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious the nut roast was. Having been vegetarian for more than 10-years, I've sampled my fair share of disappointing nut roasts - not least the ones I've attempted to rustle up myself.
This however was genuinely tasty and had a pleasant texture. I didn't have a loaf tin however, so wasn't able to put in a loaf tin and just had to stuff it into a tureen. I think this made the texture quite crumbly and less like that meatloaf type texture in a normal nut roast.
Nevertheless, it was highly enjoyable with the addictive gravy and perfectly cooked vegetables - per Gousto's instructions.
My only complaint with this was that some of the ingredients needed to make the delicious gravy, including flour and butter, were missing from the box and it was just lucky I happened to have some of my own.
While I understand this makes shipping slightly harder with fresh ingredients like butter, I think it is necessary when selling a 'full meal kit'.
Côte Festive Turkey Feast
Rating: 4/5
Cost: £124.95
Serves: 6
Cooking time: Less than 3 hours
WHAT IS IT: The Côte Festive Turkey Feast (£124.95) serves up to six people and includes a 2-2.5kg marinated British turkey breast from Larchwood Farm, East Anglia as the traditional centrepiece.
The Christmas dish is accompanied by seasonal sides including, Pigs in Blankets with a spiced honey glaze, Spiced Braised Red Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts au Gratin, Roast Potatoes, Rainbow Roasted Carrots, Sage & Onion stuffing and a Shallot & Thyme Jus.
JESSICA SAID: A compact-looking recyclable box arrived at the scheduled time - with everything you'd need to make December 25th sing safely wrapped up inside with appropriate packaging to help keep it safe and cold
Our showpiece was the marinated British turkey breast from Larchwood Farm, East Anglia, alongside pigs in blankets with a spiced honey glaze. Sausages wrapped in bacon have never, ever tasted so good.
Yet with every bite this dish kept getting better and better, the rainbow roasted carrots were real crowd pleasers, while the stuffing screamed homemade perfection.
The roast potatoes were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, while the cabbage and sprouts completed this sophisticated feast perfectly. I would've preferred some standard gravy, but that would be my only, one slight improvement.
However, I will admit that because this wasn't necessarily a traditional Christmas dinner for our household - thanks to the French twist the firm gave dishes - it wasn't raved about by all. Some found the flavours too overpowering.
Overall, I thought the box was a brilliant way to take the stress out of Christmas day, and try some new flavours.
Riverford Christmas Organic Veg Box
Rating: 4/5
Cost: £18.75
Serves: 2
Cooking time: Around two hours
WHAT IS IT: The Christmas organic veg boxes from Riverford are freshly picked and packed with everything you need for festive feasts - from potatoes, carrots to sprouts and cabbage.
They either work as a vegetarian option or as a box to add to your selection of meat for the big day.
CLAIRE SAID: The amount of vegetables I received in this box was no joke - every kind of veg you could think of seemed to be delivered straight to my door.
Some were so fresh that there was still dirt on the potatoes and carrots, but I didn't mind as that just showed me how fresh they likely were.
With the amount and variety of vegetables, just this box on its own turned out to be a great vegetarian roast.
But while it was great to have such a wide selection of veg sent right to me - without the hassle of shopping or finding the best options myself - it did mean that there was a lot of prepping to be done.
In the end, I felt like I'd spent all day peeling potatoes, carrots and parsnips and sorting the cabbage and the sprouts. That's before I had to stay in my kitchen to cook the different items.
All in all, it wasn't the most relaxing day and felt more like how you would be left cooking for the majority of Christmas Day. So, what I would say, is that it definitely makes the shopping stress free, it doesn't necessarily make the day itself stress free.
Pipers Farm's Christmas Turkey & Trimmings Box
Rating: 3/5
Cost: £42.60
Serves: 4
Cooking time: Just over an hour
WHAT IS IT: In Pipers Farm's Christmas Turkey & Trimmings Box there's an award winning Free Range rolled Turkey breast and leg stuffed with handmade Sage & Onion Sausagemeat Stuffing. There's also Pigs in Blankets and Pure Turkey Stock to make gravy.
The whole meal is cooked in the oven in just one hour giving you more time to enjoy the festivities with your loved ones. You even get cooking instructions delivered in the box, so your Christmas feast is guaranteed to be hassle free.
JESSICA SAID: Upon discovering this box arrived with all the meaty ingredients frozen, ready to defrost for your Christmas Day, I was a little nervous.
How could I trust the ingredients would turn out well, and appear fresh, if it had already been frozen? But there was no need for my worries, because the meat tasted fresh despite being defrosted ahead of cooking.
I would say, it needed a little longer than the recommended hour of cooking to get the turkey to my liking, but when finally out the oven it looked delicious.
The pigs in blankets were flavoursome and you could tell they were made from top quality ingredients, but personally, I found the stuffing to be too rich a flavour, and a little soggy, in the turkey, and I wasn't keen on the idea of a turkey leg.
I'm unsure if this would float everyone's boat. However, I'd say, if you love your meats, and want a meatier Christmas than ever, then this is the box for you - because you can't argue with the quality of the ingredients.
Indulge Dining's Stuffed Turkey Breast Menu kit
Rating: 3/5
Cost: £120
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 2 hours
WHAT IS IT: Indulge Dining was set up by Andy Bowler during the coronavirus pandemic, when many restaurants around the country were forced to close.
He spent his career working in some of London's top Michelin Star restaurants and started his career working for Michael Roux Jnr training in modern French cuisine.
Andy then got himself a job at Fera at Claridges before moving on to work as Sous Chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus.
Indulge Dining has many other kits to purchase for cooks who may have limited time to plan things while still wanting to impress guests, offering fine dining and a Sunday roast menus.
Indulge is also offering a New Year's Eve seven-course tasting menu, with options for both meat-eaters and vegetarians, featuring dishes such as herb gnocchi and pork belly.
GINA SAID: I have to admit, I was very excited to try out this menu created by a Michelin star chef who has worked under some of the most famous people in the industry.
A large box arrived at my door filled with many different components to each dish, It felt rather overwhelming at first but it helped that the ingredients for each dish were in separate, labelled boxes.
I've always loved cooking and baking since I was young and I usually make meals from scratch, so it was nice to not have to weigh everything out as preparation usually takes longer than expected.
I first started with the canapes, which were chestnut, cranberry and butternut squash tartlets. These were easy enough to make and were quite self-explanatory.
As the tartlets are pre-made, all you have to do is assemble it together and grate some chestnut on top, which takes all of five minutes. The canapes were a nice way to start the meal as they were not too heavy. I liked the sweetness of the cranberry sauce mixed with the savoury butternut squash paste, as the duo levelled each other out in one bite.
The starter is a smoked salmon, fennel, apple and tarragon, which looked very appetising in the pictures published on the website. However, mine came sealed with dark grey parts along the edges of the meat, and some along the bottom of the slices.
I've not seen this on smoked salmon before and there was no information about it on the method sheet. But after researching whether or not this was normal, I received conflicted advice. Some sources said it was the fatty part of the fish whereas others said it was a sign it had gone bad and recommended not to eat it.
I decided to go with the latter and thought it'd be best not to consume it, which was disappointing. It would've been helpful if there had been advice on this on the instruction sheet.
I then moved on to the star of the show - the stuffed turkey breast with roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, red cabbage, Yorkshire pudding, honey roasted carrots, pigs in blankets, Brussel sprouts with chestnuts and gravy.
I first had to roast the potatoes in fat, garlic and rosemary, before later the pigs in blankets. This process took a total of 80 minutes and I multitasked the other elements in this time.
It said that I had to first sear the turkey - which was wrapped in bacon - in a pan to crisp up the pork, before wrapping the breast in tin foil and baking it for 25 minutes.
It then wanted me to leave the turkey breast to rest for a further 30 minutes inside the tin foil.
However, I was a little dubious about cooking the meat for this long, so I decided to cook it for around 20 minutes longer, while still leaving it to rest for 30 minutes inside the foil.
Meat that is wrapped inside bacon commonly still appears pink around the edges, even if it is safe to eat, which would've been helpful to have stated in the instructions, as a complete beginner may not have known this.
The gravy, cabbage and various other vegetables were easy and could be done right at the end of cooking. It all came together and formed a very delicious-looking meal on the plate, with the crispest, most indulgent roasties I have ever had.
Roast potatoes, in my opinion, can make or break a Christmas dinner and these were the best ones I've ever cooked.
The turkey was succulent and tender and leaving in the foil really made a difference, keeping it nice and juicy on the plate. The bacon helped bring that crisp and saltiness that people would get from the skin of a full turkey, so all flavour sensations were there.
The stuffing inside was nice, but I would've liked to see a touch of rosemary and thyme, personally.
The pigs in blankets were crisp and mouth-watering. But the smell that flooded my house when I had finished cooking this meal was so scrumptious, it was better than any festive candle money can buy.
The vegetables were pleasant and were just the right consistency - not too tender and not too hard. However, if you are buying this meal solely to save time on the roast, I found that there was little difference between making this meal and cooking it from scratch.
Also included in the price is a homemade mince pie gin and orange ginger beer cocktail.
As a cocktail lover, this company nailed the sensation of putting the taste of Christmas in a glass. The homemade spirit is like nothing I've ever tasted before, rich with flavour from spices like cloves and cinnamon.
Mixed with the orange ginger beer, it was a match made in heaven and you'd easily pay top dollar for that drink in a London bar. It's also a nice alternative to eating filling mince pies. It gives a similar effect, while making you a little more merry.
The dessert is a chocolate and cinnamon cream with poached pears, caramelised pear gel, sprinkled with pecans and flowers.
The mousse was very rich but extremely scrumptious and moreish. I like that you can put as much on the plate as you desire and it was easy to put together too.
The poached pears provided a nice tart flavour in contrast to the sweet pudding and balanced it out perfectly. The caramelised pear gel allowed more professional pipers to show off their skills a bit more and it was delicious.
To finish off the meal, the kit came with salted caramel truffles which were mouth-watering and so flavoursome.
I am rating this kit three out of five stars. It definitely would've gotten an extra star if they had been some more clarity about the smoked salmon.
It also would've been better if there had been a QR code showing people how to cook the meals step by step, especially with the upmarket price tag. But I appreciate that Indulge is a small business.
One Fine Dine's Vegetarian Christmas Menu
Rating: 3.5/5
Cost: £110
Serves: 2
Cooking time:30 mins
WHAT IS IT: Starter: Honey glazed parsnip soup, macédoine of caramelised Parsnip with crispy sage. Main: Pumpkin ravioli served with coriander Beurre Blanc crispy, coriander oil pumpkin seeds & pine nuts Dessert: Milk chocolate and almond Yule log, dark chocolate crèmeux and white chocolate whipped ganache and a Festive Cheeseboard (extra cost).
BRIDIE SAID: This is a delicious meal, it would make a great New Year’s Eve dinner. A lovely bite for a special occasion - but if you’re looking for festive cheer, this ain’t it.
While I appreciate that finding a vegetarian alternative for Christmas dinner is tricky - I don’t think this is quite it.
The pumpkin ravioli was very enjoyable and full of flavour, but it wasn’t a million miles away from something you could pick up in a supermarket, for a much lower price.
There was also a real lack of trimmings, if you’re looking for a festive meal you want in filled to the brim with veggies and side dishes!
The honey glazed parsnip soup was a lovely yuletide starer, and the crispy sage really gave it a fine-dining edge.
In general buying from here is probably great, but it is very far from a traditional Christmas dinner.
That said, it was absolutely gorgeous when it arrived on my doorstep, wrapped up in ribbon like a giant Christmas present.
Inside it was very well packaged. One Fine Dine started as On Air Dining, an service for top tier food in private aviation, and you can certainly see that here.
Each item has a QR code to scan and then links to a YouTube page filled with instructions on how to prepare the food, but it's rarely much beyond 'heat it up'.
There's also options for adding booze and a cheeseboard (this for me was the highlight!). The £27.95 festive cheeseboard came with grapes, crackers and a mix of British cheeses that were delightfully creamy and strong. It also looked homemade enough to pass it off as your own.
The dessert was a chocolate yule log, and that did bring back some festive feeling. There were also piping bags to put your own Michilin-esque touches on.
Would I recommend One Fine Dine? Certainly. But there is an or rather, the turkey that wasn’t.
Pumpkin ravioli is one of my all time favourite dishes, but as the centerpiece of a Christmas meal it didn't evoke any of the festive nostalgia we’d been hoping for.
The lack of stuffing, roasties and gravy to drench the plate in yuletide glory stopped this from being a real festive favourite.
It felt more like a chic dinner party in mid-November than a proper December 25th blowout.
