United Kingdom (Commonwealth Union)_ Everything you need to cook a mouthwatering Christmas meal, from the bird to sides to dessert
A lot goes into cooking a turkey for Christmas.
Preparing for Christmas is a mammoth task when you’re taking on the role of hosting and suddenly, those years of chaotic Christmas lunches-turned-dinners, burnt potatoes and soggy beans make more sense than ever.
It requires the whole family banding together to ease in the process, in a cramped kitchen to pitch in with meal preparations, from delicately wrapping pigs in cosy blankets, to creating hordes of stuffing so that there’s enough left over for sandwiches on Boxing Day.
The star of the show? The Christmas turkey, of course. Whether you are a fan of the oversized bird or not, tradition is tradition, and several families would consider it utter blasphemy not to have a perfectly glazed, roasted gobbler sitting in prized position on a bed of delicious tatties, greens, herbs and spices
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Christmas-celebrating families up and down the UK all have different means of sourcing their very own precious turkeys. Some may even have theirs sitting pretty in garage freezers from the year before, so as to avoid the supermarket frenzy throughout the month of December and the possibility of being left with no big bird at all.
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Many first-time hosts are however, unaware of the fact that you can actually pre-order your turkey online up to two months before the big day. Hurrah! What is more, if you find yourself unbearably intimidated by the concept of cooking such a large bird, with such a capacity for tasting overly dry and brittle, you can also order delicious, pre-made turkeys from several retailers that only need to be popped into the oven. Double hurrah!
There actually are an assortment of different pre-made turkeys to choose from – from turkey wellingtons and stuffed turkey crowns to three-bird roasts. We have rounded up a selection of the best Christmas turkeys to shop for 2023, giblets included, as well as some beautifully pre-catered options. Keep scrolling down for a merry, merry Christmas.
What’s the difference between white and bronze-feathered turkeys?
White turkeys are the most common turkeys that are traditionally cooked over Christmas and Thanksgiving. They have bigger breasts and cater to lovers of both dark and light meat. Bronze turkeys are reared slowly, often producing gamier and richer meat beloved by many.
How big of a turkey should I purchase?
That depends on how many people you are planning on feeding, how wedded you are to having leftovers for Boxing Day, and what your budget is. A generalised breakdown of turkey weight and how much it feeds is as follows :
- A small turkey (3.4-5kg) will feed 6 – 8
- A medium turkey (4-5.5kg) will feed 8 – 10
- A large turkey (6-6.5kg) will feed 12 – 15
When it comes to budgeting, bear in mind that white turkeys are generally cheaper than bronze turkeys.
