Make Christmas Merry: Quick, Easy & Delicious Christmas Holiday Meal Recipes & Tips

There can be no mistaking it. As the sun goes down, small colonies of fairy lights begin to glow and grow. There’s the faint glitter of tinsel in the air, the sweet melodies of holiday jingles are wafting through the aisles of retail stores, and shop catalogues are already cover-to-cover reindeer, elves, and that pleasantly plump gentleman in the funny red suit.

Between keeping the kids occupied on the school holidays, juggling end-of-year work office parties and, if you're lucky, preparing for a bit of a getaway, planning and preparing a festive Christmas dinner or lunch that meets or exceeds everyone’s expectations can send even the most organised and capable person into an emotional tailspin.

The holidays are supposed to be about joy — not juggling ten oven trays, three timers, two kids and an overstimulated dog while trying to keep your freshly coiffed hair in order in preparation for that night’s end-of-year office party.

If you’re looking for the secret to producing the kind of meal that makes everyone’s eyes light up when it lands on the table - minus the chaos - GreenPan is here to help. A pinch of clever planning, a dash of sneaky shortcuts, and a generous helping of ingenious kitchen tools are all you need to turn the “Aaargh!” of holiday cooking into “Aaah”.

For starters, let’s look at some simple strategies that you can employ to make cooking quicker and easier, freeing up your most precious assets: time and energy.

5 Surprisingly Simple Cooking Hacks That Save You Time & Effort

Let’s be real. The best cooks aren’t the ones who run around the kitchen like a reality show contestant with Gordon Ramsey. They’re the ones who’ve done a little prep, organised their cooking and invested in the right tools, rather than wasting their cash on gimmicks that promise the world and deliver little.

Fortunately, with a few easy-to-implement strategies, you can make a significant impact on how smoothly things run in the kitchen:

Hack 1: Plan Ahead

This one sounds absurdly obvious. But, like a ninja, it hides in plain sight and is frequently overlooked until it pounces from behind the potplant and eviscerates your cooking game. Chaos cooking may be a viral social media trend, but chaos in the kitchen only leads to stress, mishaps, waste and delays. Here are some simple things you can do to keep things running like clockwork:

(i) Plan your menu WAY in advance.

Leave your menu plan to the last minute and you’re asking for trouble. Before you’ve finished all the umming and aahing, you’ll realise you don’t have a quarter of the ingredients, the soup doesn’t really go with the entree, and the dessert is going to take you three times as long as the time you have allocated. Planning your menu early gives you plenty of time to consider all the permutations and ensure everything is ready to go when it’s time for the knife to hit the chopping board.

(ii) Pre-Prepare Elements

Some recipe elements, such as sauces, stocks and others, can be cooked well in advance and stored in your freezer. When you utilise the spare time you have weeks before the holidays, you can help your future self hit the ground running on game day. You’ll thank yourself later.

(iii) Smart Ingredient Management

Nothing blows your schedule more than realising halfway through your cook that you forgot the jar of capers you need for the recipe you’ve chosen. By the time you’ve completed your mad dash to the supermarket and back, you probably could have been finished. You can avoid this disaster by reading your recipes carefully a few days in advance and making a comprehensive shopping list of everything you need to bring your vision to life. When it’s time to start prepping, arrange all your ingredients so they’re accessible when you need them. This way, you don’t have to run around searching for that elusive jar of Dijon mustard while the onions burn to a crisp on the stove.

(iv) Get The Family Involved

An extra pair of hands (or two) can lighten your load and turn cooking into a family event. This is particularly valuable when it comes to kids. Getting them involved in culinary tasks is a great way to remove them from in front of their infernal screens and enjoy the tactile, practical process of creating something real and delicious. There are so many benefits to getting your kids working in the kitchen. But best of all, it means extra hands and a great way to bond with your little ones.

(v) Go, Go Gadgets

Modern technology has given us the tools we need to streamline our processes and expand our cooking repertoires. Countertop wonders like air fryers, slow cookers, and more have incredible capabilities that can take your cooking to the next level. Investing in these appliances can make a monumental impact on the speed and ease with which you turn out exquisite creations.

Putting It Into Practice

Now that we’ve explored the theory, it’s time to put it into practice. We’re going to focus particular attention on the last item in the above list. Too many of us get stuck using our kitchen appliances for standard, uninspiring tasks. Here’s a newsflash: air fryers are extraordinary tools that deliver so much more than chips, wedges and heating frozen foods. Slow cookers can do more than make soups and stews. It’s time to discover how we can put these marvellous machines to work for us to create a holiday dinner menu that will wow your family and friends.

Fast & Easy Christmas Dinner Ideas

1. The Main Attraction: Air-Fried Citrus & Herb Turkey

If you’ve ever tried roasting a whole turkey in an oven, you already know all about the stress and potential soul-destroying anguish. Cooking turkey is essentially an endurance event combined with trial by ordeal. Between basting, rotating and fervently praying the breast doesn’t dry out, it’s a monumental undertaking with so much that can go potentially wrong. There are few things worse than going to all that immense effort, only to plonk a rubbery, overcooked offering on the holiday table that feels like you’re chewing through sawdust. So this year, skip the drama and dashed expectations: use the GreenPan Bistro Air Fryer instead!

This creative and delectable version uses citrus and herbs for a bright, zesty twist. Additionally, it accounts for the air fryer’s smaller size and drastically reduces the margin for error by using turkey breast fillets, rather than risking it all on a whole bird. Trust us, it’s lighter, faster, low risk and just as impressive.

Ingredients (serves 6–8)

• 2 kg of boneless turkey breast, skin on
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of cracked black pepper
• Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
• 2 tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tbsp of chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp honey

Method

1. Pat the turkey fillets dry.
2. Mix together the oil, salt, pepper, zests, herbs and honey in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Rub the mixture thoroughly over the entire surface of the fillets.
4. Preheat your air fryer to 180 °C.
5. Place the turkey skin-side down and cook for 20 minutes.
6. Flip and cook another 25 minutes, or until golden and the internal temperature hits 72 °C.
7. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

That’s it! No basting, no timing nightmares, just golden, juicy turkey in under an hour. Serve it with a squeeze of fresh citrus or drizzle the juices over the top. It’s the kind of shortcut that tastes like you worked all day.

You Made It in WHAT?: Slow-Cooker Christmas Pudding

Everyone loves a rich, sticky Christmas pudding, with its gorgeous fruity flavours, dense cake and sumptuous hit of brandy. However, nobody loves standing over a pot of boiling water for six hours. You see the problem here, right? Enter the GreenPan Slow Cooker. It quietly takes care of everything while you wrap presents or sneak one more pre-celebratory mince pie. With a slow cooker Christmas pudding, you get all the texture and flavour with a fraction of the fuss and effort. Once you try, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of this sooner!

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 250 g of mixed dried fruit
• 100 ml of brandy or apple juice
• 150 g of brown sugar
• 100 g of butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 150 g of self-raising flour
• 1 tsp of mixed spice
• Zest of 1 orange
• 50 g of chopped almonds (optional)

Method

1. Soak the dried fruit in brandy overnight.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale, then add the eggs one at a time.
3. Fold in the flour, spice, zest and fruit.
4. Grease your GreenPan slow-cooker bowl and spoon in the mixture.
5. Cook on low for about 6 hours.
6. Cool slightly and drizzle with warm orange syrup or a touch of brandy.

Serve with custard, cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you’re looking for the easiest, most delicious homemade ice cream, check out our recently launched Frost Ice Cream & Frozen Drink Maker. Whatever you top it with, this recipe will be by far the easiest “made from scratch” pudding you’ll ever serve.

A Bit On The Side: Sweet Potato & Cranberry Gratin

Now for something fresh and a little unexpected. This dish looks fancy but is secretly foolproof. Sweet potato layered with cream, parmesan, and a scattering of dried cranberries for tang and a burst of juicy antioxidants, all baked in your oven to keep it golden and perfect from edge to centre. For best results, bake this unique taste sensation in our new Reserve non-toxic ceramic non-stick baking dish. Free from PFAS and other harmful chemicals, it’s the healthiest way to bake with no mess and easy clean-up.

Ingredients (serves 6)

1. 1 kg of sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2. 1 cup of thickened cream
3. ½ cup of grated parmesan
4. 1 tsp of garlic powder
5. ¼ tsp of nutmeg
6. ½ cup of dried cranberries
7. Salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat your oven to 190 °C.
2. Layer the sweet potatoes in a Reserve Bakeware dish.
3. Mix the cream, parmesan, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper together separately in a medium-sized bowl. Pour the mixture over the potatoes.
4. Scatter the cranberries liberally on top.
5. Bake for 40 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender and the mixture is bubbling.
6. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

It’s colourful, festive and makes your whole kitchen smell incredible; a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Bonus Side: Maple Roasted Carrots with Macadamias

If you need one more easy side, this one’s pure magic. It takes all of five minutes to prep and looks like it belongs on a restaurant table.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1. 800 g of baby carrots, peeled
2. 2 tbsp of olive oil
3. 2 tbsp of maple syrup
4. 1 tbsp of butter
5. ¼ cup of chopped macadamias
6. Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Toss carrots in oil, maple syrup, butter, salt and pepper.
3. Spread over a Reserve Bakeware tray and roast for 25 minutes.
4. Sprinkle on the macadamias, and roast another 5 minutes.

The result? Golden, glossy carrots with a nutty crunch. People will think you’ve pulled off something complicated. Let them believe that and bask in the glow. We won’t tell you how quick and easy it was if you don’t!

The Real Secret to the Perfect Holiday Meal

When the dust of holiday meal preparation settles, it isn’t about perfection. It’s about the little victories: the turkey that came out golden, the pudding that smelled like Christmas morning at your grandma’s house, the side dishes that made people reach for seconds.

Modern cookware lets you focus on what really matters: the people at your table. So use your GreenPan tools, cook with love, and remember that a relaxed host makes every dish taste better.

Here’s to less stress, fewer dishes and more laughter this year.