Christmas has an uncanny ability to arrive before you know it. One moment you're casually contemplating festive menus, the next, it's Monday 22 December 2025, and the supermarket turkey supply has vanished. If you find yourself without a Christmas dinner plan, you are certainly not alone, and a traditional turkey is likely off the table.
The Roast Chicken Rescue Plan
Enter the humble roast chicken. Journalist Hannah Twiggs has crafted a calm, no-fuss Christmas dinner menu built around this readily available centrepiece. Designed for last-minute planners, it promises all the beloved trimmings with minimal preparation, washing up, and stress. The key advantage? Chicken is far easier to source at short notice and is a more forgiving protein to cook, eliminating the anxiety over precise timings and temperatures that often accompanies a large turkey.
This comprehensive plan is engineered for real life: it requires just one oven, a limited number of pots and pans, and follows a clear, step-by-step timeline. If adhered to closely, the entire feast can be on the table in approximately two hours. The menu doesn't skimp on tradition, featuring crisp roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, proper gravy, bread sauce, stuffing, and festive vegetable sides. Crucially, it eliminates unnecessary faff, advance prep, and culinary multitasking, freeing up more time to actually enjoy the day.
Your One-Trolley Shopping List
For those dashing to the shops, here is the complete shopping list to feed 4-6 people. The philosophy is simple: buy what you can, skip what you can't, and embrace shop-bought shortcuts without guilt. Ready-made bread sauce, pre-wrapped pigs in blankets, or frozen roast potatoes are all perfectly acceptable stand-ins if time or stock is against you.
Meat & Dairy: One large whole chicken (2-2.2kg), 12 quality sausages, 16 rashers of streaky bacon, butter, whole milk, and mature cheddar.
Produce: A lemon, garlic bulb, onions, carrot, celery stick, Maris Piper potatoes, parsnips, a large cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary.
Store Cupboard & Extras: Sage and onion stuffing mix (like Paxo), cooked chestnuts, cranberry sauce, chicken stock, plain flour, cooking fats, honey, Dijon mustard, bay leaf, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
The Two-Hour Countdown to Christmas Dinner
The method is a meticulously timed operation. It begins with preparing and roasting the chicken at 200C (180C fan) for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. While the bird cooks, the potatoes are parboiled, shaken to fluff their edges, and then roasted in hot fat. Subsequent steps are staggered: wrapping sausages in bacon for pigs in blankets, prepping honey-roasted parsnips, and making a simple bread sauce that infuses while you work.
Around the one-hour mark, attention turns to assembling the cauliflower cheese and preparing the stuffing according to packet instructions. Once the chicken is cooked and set aside to rest, the glorious gravy is made in the same roasting tin, utilizing the caramelised juices and vegetables. A final oven push sees the pigs in blankets, stuffing, and cauliflower cheese baked together until golden and bubbling.
The Brussels sprouts are given a festive upgrade by being pan-fried with crispy bacon and chestnuts. Finally, the chicken is carved, everything is brought to the table, and the shop-bought cranberry sauce is opened with pride. The result is a complete, comforting, and impressively achieved Christmas dinner that proves a last-minute plan can be a triumphant one.
