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We’re trying to keep food waste to a minimum this Christmas. Whether you’re feeling the financial pinch or not, we all have a responsibility to understand how we can cook more efficiently, and that’s what these recipes are all about – clever cooking. They've all been thought about from a perspective of getting the most out of ingredients and wasting as little as possible. Wasting less is not only a sustainability choice, it also means more flavour from the bits of the ingredients you would normally throw away.

For this menu we’re spatchcocking our chicken to make it quicker to roast. Doing this gives us bits of no-waste chicken trimmings which, along with the vegetable peelings, make our gravy base. Our roast potatoes are no-peel, which cuts down on waste, saves you lots of prep time, and gives them a more rustic finish (you may never peel a potato for a roasty again). Our bread sauce is based on scraps of stale bread which you squirrel away in the freezer for a few months in the run-up to the big day. We've done our best to waste as little as possible, without compromising on the quality of the finished dishes here – and have learnt that by using what would normally be thrown away, we’ve actually made the menu even better.

Download the time plan.

Cook Smart Christmas menu plan

No-waste Christmas meal plan recipes

Here’s what you can expect from our low-waste and budget-friendly menu:

  • Minimal food waste
  • Minimal cooking time
  • Have the oven on for no longer than 2 hours
  • Clever use of storecupboard ingredients
  • No expensive or hard-to-find ingredients
  • Get-ahead tips
  • Microwave and air-fryer shortcuts
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