Christmas dishes that are better to prep ahead

The last thing you want on a summer Christmas Day is to be hot, flustered and glued to the oven or stove when your guests arrive.

Food writer and cookbook author Kathy Paterson, who spent 20 years running an Auckland catering company, starts prepping up to two days out and even plots a time-managed plan if there's a crowd.

The payoff is fresh food on the table with minimal stress, fewer dirty dishes, and more time to actually enjoy the presence of your guests, she says.

Food writer and food tour host Helen Jackson agrees.

"I just don't like having all the heat and the oven and the elements all going on the day of, because it feels stressful and busy and we've also worked hard all year and it's nice to be a bit more relaxed, so I do try and be more organised."

Think dips, sauces, dressings and robust salads. Roasted vegetable salads, pickled eggplant, stuffed tomatoes and crostini toppings are all ideal prep-ahead options.

Jackson roasts slow-cooking vegetables like beetroot and onions the day before. On the day, she'll cook new potatoes or kumara, let everything come to room temperature, then toss it all together. Dress and add herbs or crunchy toppings at the last minute. (Crostini can be toasted ahead and stored in an airtight container.)

"The first day of the season that you get new potatoes is often Christmas Day, so that's a given that you're going to cook them on the stove top on the day."

Paterson peels agria potatoes the night before and keeps them submerged in cold water. Dressings — Caesar, blue cheese, mayonnaise — can be made up to a week ahead. Salad leaves can be washed, dried and stored ready to plate, but herb toppings and sauces are best chopped fresh.

For vegetarian sides, she suggests quinoa-stuffed tomatoes prepared the day before and refrigerated. Cheese boards are another opportunity to get ahead: seed crackers can be made a week in advance, and toppings like roasted tomatoes or charred red peppers mixed with labneh or soft cheese keep well. Pickled vegetables — eggplant, cauliflower, beetroot, baby carrots or mushrooms — add colour and zing and can be made ahead too.

"I know you can buy a lot of these things, but they're so much nicer if you can make it yourself."

Ham, turkey — and especially gravy — are all prep-friendly.

Jackson removes the skin from her ham, scores it, adds the glaze and bakes it ahead, reheating on the day. If oven space allows, you can save the actual cooking for Christmas Day.

Paterson makes the glaze several days in advance and applies it the night before to really deepen the flavour when it cooks.

For turkey, brine it 12–14 hours ahead but leave stuffing until the day of cooking, she suggests.

As a self-professed gravy enthusiast, Paterson can make it weeks ahead even. Save stock from chicken or vegetables, make the gravy, then freeze it, she says. (Tip: A spoon of Vegemite deepens colour.) For something different, she suggests an old-fashioned Cumberland sauce — made up to a week ahead with citrus zest, redcurrant jelly, port, mustard powder and ginger.

Pavlova, tiramisu, ice cream and trifle all benefit from advance planning.

Jackson bakes her pavlova base ahead and stores it, adding cream and berries just before serving. Tiramisu — classic or tropical — is always made at least a day ahead so the sponge has time to soften.

No-churn ice cream can be made days in advance and frozen. "It does need to come out of the freezer and a good 15 minutes before you scoop it because it is quite a firm ice cream," Jackson says. (This year she's doing a pistachio, orange and ricotta flavour inspired by a trip to Italy).

Paterson preps strawberries the morning before by hulling and refrigerating them for pav. Her mum’s routine is to bake it on Christmas Eve and leaving it to cool in the switched-off oven overnight. Meringues, meanwhile, keep for months if stored well.

Trifles are another reliable option: poach fruit like peaches and bake sponge ahead, assemble the day before, and add cream just before it hits the table.