Alternative Christmas dinner ideas: skip the roast and eat out
Somewhere in the UK, around 6am on Christmas morning, someone stands in their kitchen with a turkey the size of a small dog, trying to work out whether it needs four or five hours. There’s a timings sheet stuck to the fridge. The sprouts were peeled last night. And by the time everyone finally sits down to eat, the person who cooked it all is too frazzled to enjoy a single mouthful. If that sounds a bit too familiar, you’re not alone. It’s no surprise that searches for an alternative Christmas dinner start creeping up every December, whether people are after a different dish on the table or a different table altogether. The roast is a great tradition, but it isn’t the law. So, let’s take a look at some of the best Christmas dinner alternatives out there, from swapping the bird for a proper curry feast on the day itself, to moving your big festive meal to a different date and letting someone else do the cooking. Spoiler: we’re quite keen on that last one.Why people are looking for Christmas dinner alternatives
Let’s talk about the traditional Christmas dinner for a second. It’s a lot. A lot of prep, a lot of pans, a lot of timing, and a lot of pressure on one or two people to pull off the biggest meal of the year without a hitch. There are a few reasons people start to fall out of love with it:- Someone always misses out: Whoever’s cooking spends most of the day in the kitchen while everyone else is in the living room opening presents and arguing over the rules of Monopoly. They get all the stress and very little of the fun.
- The whole day revolves around the oven: Everything gets planned around when the turkey goes in and when it has to come out. Fitting a visit to the in-laws, a walk round the block and the King’s Speech around a five-hour cook means the whole family ends up running to the oven’s timetable.
- Not everyone eats the same thing anymore: Between a vegan cousin and a Grandad who won’t touch anything “too fancy”, one roast rarely keeps the whole table happy.
- It adds up: The turkey, a backup joint, all the trimmings, a pudding nobody really wants and a cheeseboard for later. The big Christmas food shop gets expensive quickly, and a good chunk of it ends up as leftovers that are still sitting in the fridge on the 28th.
What can you have for Christmas dinner instead of a roast?
If you fancy doing something different this year but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few alternative Christmas dinner ideas that still feel like a proper celebration.1. Swap the turkey for a curry feast
Christmas is celebrated worldwide, and not everyone sits down to turkey and stuffing. In India, Christmas is a public holiday and the festive table looks very different depending on where you are. In Kerala, families might start the day with soft, lacy appam and a fragrant coconut stew, while in Goa you’ll find rich, spiced pork dishes and layered bebinca for dessert. If you’re curious, have a read of our blog on how Christmas is celebrated in India. An Indian Christmas dinner of slow-cooked curries, rice, breads and chutneys gives you all the warmth and comfort of a roast, with a lot more flavour. It’s also far more forgiving than a turkey. Nobody has ever ruined Christmas because the dahl sat on the hob for an extra 20 minutes.2. Make a biryani the centrepiece
If you still want a big moment at the table, a biryani does the job nicely. It’s layers of fragrant rice and spiced meat or vegetables, cooked together in one big pot. Traditionally, the pot is sealed with a lid (sometimes with a ring of dough around the edge) so everything steams in its own juices, and breaking that seal at the table is about as close as you’ll get to carving the turkey. It’s also far less hassle than a roast. There’s one pot to keep an eye on instead of six, and all it needs on the side is a bowl of cool raita and a stack of poppadoms.3. Make Christmas Eve dinner the main event
Who says the big meal has to happen on the 25th? In Poland, Italy and much of Scandinavia, the main festive feast traditionally takes place on Christmas Eve. In Italy, it’s usually a meat-free spread built around fish and seafood, which is a nice tradition to borrow if you fancy something lighter before the big day. Heading out for a Christmas Eve dinner means you get the celebration, the festive atmosphere and a proper night out with the people you love. Then Christmas Day can be a slow one, with a lie-in, a film and whatever’s left in the fridge.4. Save the feast for Boxing Day or the days in between
That strange week between Christmas and New Year, when nobody has a clue what day it is, is a great time to get everyone together. Diaries are usually quieter, the relatives who couldn’t make it on the day are often around, and after a few days of eating in, everyone is itching to get out of the house. Boxing Day dinner out, anyone?5. Have a second Christmas with your friends
Christmas Day tends to belong to family, which is why so many friendship groups now do a Friendsmas of their own. Pick a date in December, pull a few crackers and do the whole festive dinner together. You get the catch-up, the paper hats and the Christmas feeling, then still get to go home for the main event on the 25th.Why eating out is the best Christmas dinner alternative
Christmas Day itself is usually a day at home, and plenty of restaurants (Mowgli included) close their doors so their teams can have the day off too. But there’s nothing stopping you from holding your big festive meal on a different day and letting someone else do the cooking. Here’s why a Christmas dinner out, before or after the big day, is worth considering this year.Everybody gets to enjoy it (including the cook)
This is the big one. When you eat out, nobody is on kitchen duty. The person who would normally be basting, boiling and checking the oven every ten minutes gets to sit down with a drink in hand, just like everyone else.Both sides of the family can come
Hosting Christmas usually means borrowing chairs, making up spare beds and working out whose turn it is this year. A restaurant is neutral ground. Nobody has to tidy the house or play host, and it’s much easier to get grandparents, cousins and in-laws round the same table.There’s no washing up
No roasting tins to soak overnight, no fridge to clear out and no game of Tetris trying to fit the leftovers into Tupperware. You just put your coat on and head home.It feels like more of an occasion
There’s something about getting dressed up, heading out on a cold December evening and walking into a warm, busy restaurant that makes the day feel special. The atmosphere does half the work for you, and it’s the kind of thing people remember long after the presents have been put away. It’s the same reason we think shared experiences beat physical gifts.How to plan a Christmas dinner out without the stress
If you’re going to eat out this Christmas, a little bit of planning goes a long way. Here are a few things to keep in mind:- Book early: December is the busiest month of the year for restaurants, and the best dates and times get snapped up weeks (sometimes months) in advance. If you want to book Christmas dinner for a bigger group, get it sorted as soon as you can.
- Check festive opening hours: Lots of restaurants close on Christmas Day and change their hours around Boxing Day and New Year, so double-check before you promise the family a table on a specific date.
- Look for a set or sharing menu for bigger groups: It keeps things simple, lets the kitchen send everything out together, and saves a long debate over who had what when the bill arrives.
- Mention dietary needs when you book: Let the restaurant know about allergies and dietary requirements in advance so they can plan properly.
- Pick somewhere that suits everyone: Somewhere central and easy to get to on public transport (so nobody gets stuck being the designated driver), and relaxed enough that Nan and the toddlers both feel at home.
Swapping the Christmas classics for Indian street food
If the curry feast idea has caught your eye but you still want a few nods to tradition, here’s a bit of fun. These are the Mowgli dishes we reckon make perfect stand-ins for the classic Christmas dinner line-up:- Instead of the beef or lamb joint, try House Lamb Curry: Slow-cooked lamb with anise, plums and chickpeas, made from a family recipe. Plums and warm spices at Christmas just make sense.
- Instead of cauliflower cheese, try Mowgli Black Dahl: Black lentils with garlic, butter and cream. Rich, creamy and every bit as comforting as the side dish everyone secretly goes back for.
- Instead of the nut roast, try Diwali Cauliflower: Turmeric-roasted cauliflower with sev, pomegranate and tamarind chutney. It’s colourful, it can be made vegan, and it’s a lot more exciting than the usual veggie option.
- Instead of the Christmas Eve fish supper, try Goan Fish Curry: Market fish in a tangy tamarind and Kashmiri chilli sauce. A great shout if you’re borrowing the Italian tradition of fish on Christmas Eve.
- Instead of bubble and squeak, try Picnic Potato Curry: Potatoes cooked with pickling spices and fenugreek. It’s vegan, it’s gluten-free and it’s good cold too, which makes it perfect Boxing Day food.
- Instead of Christmas pudding, try Gulab Jamun: Warm, syrup-soaked milk doughballs served with ice cream. Sweet, comforting, and nobody has to set fire to anything.