Christmas Lunch: Food and Drink Ideas

Updated: October 2025

Christmas Lunch can be really stressful, especially if you are the one hosting. You have to do the shopping, the cooking, tasting and buying the wines and champagne, buying the decorations, place settings, name cards and plan the games and entertainment too.  The good news is that there are lots of ways to reduce stress by some careful planning, shopping and some cheats. 

Today, you can buy almost all the components of your Christmas lunch ready prepared and require minimal cooking or just plating. Some of these come in oven-ready packaging, on beautiful presentation platters that you just have to unpack and serve. 

Here are some food and drink ideas for the perfect Christmas lunch, delicious and without the stress. 

Christmas canapes and starters

Christmas Main Courses 

Vegan Christmas Main Courses

Nowadays, it is quite easy to add vegan and vegetarian dishes to your Christmas table. Every supermarket has a wide array of meat free options for starters, mains, sides and desserts.

Aldi has several vegan main courses that look impressive and taste really good. Your guests don’t have to settle for that hippy nut roast. Abel and Cole makes a really delicious nut roast that event the carnivores will fight over.

Easy Christmas Side Dishes

One of the best ways to make Christmas dinner an unforgettable meal, adding a selection of delicious side dishes is vital. We need the regulars like roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, roast parsnips but not just regular ones. Elevated side dishes like goose fat roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, bacon and sprouts or sprouts gratin, roast honey parsnips and premium stuffing in the christmas themed shapes.

Of course, we don’t have to do all these side dishes from scratch. All the supermarkets now offer a massive selection of Christmas side dishes that you can cook or reheat at home with minimal effort and stress.

Christmas Cakes and Desserts

Christmas Cheese Selection

A selection of cheese is essential every Christmas. I know most people think that it is way too much food and there is no way anyone will want cheese as well. But this has always been proven wrong. It is quite hard to resist a beautifully dressed cheese platter with a variety of special cheeses.

I highly recommend getting a selection from Paxton and Whitfield who have a selection of spcial cheeses that ripen just in time for Christmas. They have a variety of cheese selections and hampers that include their own brand crackers and chutneys. And it is all very, very good.

Supermarkets offer selected Christmas cheeses in packs that will suit every taste and budget. They usually have crackers, cheese biscuits, oat biscuits, cheese straws and a variety of chutneys to serve with your cheese board.

Here are Tesco’s Christmas cheese offerings this year. Most of them are available in store from mid November.

Festive Wines for Christmas

Christmas time is the best time to buy great wines from supermarkets. They often work with wine makers to make special collection in limited numbers for Christmas and usually at much better prices than the equivalent branded wines.

If you buy from their Christmas collection, you won’t be disappointed. They will usually have a choice of old world and new world wines in a range of prices to suit all budgets. Most will have their own brand Champagne, prosecco and other sparkling wines to celebrate with friends and family.

Make sure you get a couple of bottles of dessert wine too. My personal favourite. Not many people drink this regularly so it is a treat for Christmas. Try a Pedro Jiminez from Tesco.

Best supermarket sparkling wines

• Aldi Champagne Brut £16.49
• Aldi Spumante Prosecco DOC £4.99
• Aldi Prosecco Rosé £6.49
• Tesco Finest Rioja
• Tesco Finest Semillon Seddert Wine

Zero alcohol drinks for Christmas

This year, the choice of zero or low alcohol drinks has increased, and you can find low alcohol versions of sparkling wines, beer and cocktails quite easily. Here are some new ones that I have tasted recently.

Le Moderato low alcohol French Sparkling – this is a French wine maker who prides themselves on making these low alcohol wines in exactly the same way as regular wine. They have a range of white, red, rose and sparkling wines.

Nozeco, a zero alcohol Prosecco. Nozeco is a brand of sparkling, alcohol-free drinks made from de-alcoholised wine. It is available in various flavours, including original, rosé, Buck’s Fizz, and Peach Bellini. The brand is known for its sparkling texture and is often marketed as an affordable, vegan-friendly alternative to traditional sparkling wine, suitable for serving on its own or in mocktails. 

Wild Idol is a German non alcoholic sparkling wine, also found at the Ivy Brasserie. Wild Idol is a vibrant and naturally alcohol-free sparkling alternative to wine, hand-crafted from a superior blend of grapes by expert winemakers. Vegan, gluten-free and rich with delicate bubbles, it is the perfect alternative to alcohol for those who want to drink less.

Botivo mixer is made with botanicals and herbs and is delicious with soda, ice and a slice or orange. This is a big-sipping drink hand-blended in small batches at Lannock Farm, Hertfordshire. The Botivo blend of five raw ingredients takes over 1 year from start to finish. A powerful combination of five raw ingredients infuse on a backdrop of aged British apple cider vinegar, balanced with organic wildflower honey.

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