12 of the best Christmas dinner boxes 2023: UK-wide ways to get your Christmas dinner delivered

It’s not hard to see the appeal of a Christmas dinner delivery box. Even without contemplating your Christmas catering, there's enough to keep us busy when festivities roll around - from wrapping gifts and hosting guests to rustling up some decorations in time for the big day. On top of all of this, facing the queues at the supermarket or trying to wrangle one of the hallowed home delivery slots isn’t exactly going to make anyone feel jolly, so the trick - we think - is to get someone else to do the hard work for you.

After careful consideration, we’ve decided that this year we’ll be be handing over all responsibility for our most important meal to the creators of some of the UK’s best Christmas dinner boxes. It’s a no brainer. The clever people at companies like Hello Fresh and Gousto have gone to great lengths to carefully craft the perfect ready-made Christmas dinners for us all, and who are we to deny their merits? If you fancy treating yourself to less time in line and more time in front of the telly, then join us in having your Christmas dinner delivered. Your typical Christmas dinner delivery kit holds the key to a magical meal that you haven’t had to think about once. In most cases you’ll receive all the ingredients and recipe cards for starters, mains and desserts, and if you want to take all the credit and ‘forget’ to mention how everything came to be, then this is a safe space – nobody needs to know a thing.

While each of the Christmas recipe boxes below offer something unique, they all have a few things in common. Most have size options (so you can pick the perfect one for your party), from each there are veggie recipe choices for mixed groups, and all give you the chance to try something new. We’re not sure about you, but aside from avoiding the shopping this is our biggest perceived perk. There’s no more doing the same thing every year anymore, because professional recipe developers and chefs have carefully put together interesting twists on classics.

Once each of the options are live and available to order, we’ll be trying all the Christmas meal deliveries below to give you our honest feedback. For now, in summary you’ll find notes on menus, pricing and more as we hunt for the best Christmas delivery boxes 2023 has to offer. So, all that’s left is for us to raise a glass to you and the festivities and wish 2023 a jolly departure from all of our lives. Cheers!

Donald Russell Butcher Turkey Crown Box with Trimmings

Why: With a choice of Great Taste-winning free range meat and generous helpings of trimmings, Donald Russell deals in premium ingredients. It offers a huge selection of Christmas dinner boxes suitable for groups of all sizes, but we like its classic turkey feast with all the trimmings. Able to feed up to six people, it includes a British free-range bronze turkey crown, along with pork, sage and onion stuffing, pigs in blankets, red cabbage in port, Brussels sprouts in with pancetta and black pepper, honey roast parsnips, beef dripping roast potatoes, gravy and a luxury Christmas pudding. What more could you want?
How much: From £60 (serves 2)
Buy it: Donald Russell

Abel & Cole Christmas Box

Why: Loyal fans of Abel & Cole will already know that its Christmas dinner delivery comes with some serious kudos. With recipes refined down to the nth degree, this is a festive feast box that is expertly pulled together and easy to put into practice. You’ll receive everything you need in the perfect quantities to make a roast turkey feast (veggie and vegan options are available too). Sides include roast potatoes and parsnips, sprouts in clementine brown butter, apple and bay braised red cabbage, carrot and swede mash, and Yorkshire puddings. Not to mention gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce, of course. Available from 20th December.
How much: £205 (serves 6-8)
Buy it: Abel & Cole 

Made in Oldstead Festive Menu

What: As well as supplying two outstanding restaurants (The Black Swan and Roots York), Banks’ farm also supplies most of the produce for his delivery boxes. The Made in Oldstead Christmas range includes a dizzying array of boxes, such as one with a decadent duck crown with all the trimmings, and a Christmas Day Beef Wellington box. There are even vegetarian Christmas Day boxes.
How much: From £150 (serves 2)
Where to buy: Made in Oldstead

Cook Christmas Dinner for Eight

Why: With *quite* enough to do around the festivities before even considering the Christmas Dinner, Cook offers a solution for busy households. With all the elements ready-made, all you have do is remember to defrost the food in the time to heat and eat. Serving eight hungry people, each box includes a stuffed turkey crown, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, sprouts, pigs in blankets, pork and apricot stuffing and the all-important gravy. Plus, once you've defrosted the turkey, the whole thing can be on the table in three hours and 20 minutes. 
How much: £119.35 (serves 8)
Buy it: Cook Christmas Dinner 

Gousto Christmas Dinner Box

Why: Judging by the reception we’ve had to our regular best recipe box guide, Gousto is the most popular product on the market for dinner DIYs. We're still waiting to see what the company announces for this year's Christmas dinner, but they went all out last year with dinner on the big day itself and plenty of treats to tuck into before and after. From Yorkshire pudding pizzas through to Christmas trimmings nachos, Gousto had everything covered. Stay tuned for Gousto's 2023 Christmas menu.
How much: From £2.99 per portion
Buy it: Gousto 

Hello Fresh Christmas Dinner

Why: Hello Fresh can be relied upon to provide the goods when it comes to delicious, easy dinners that not only help reduce waste but also help reduce your time scanning the supermarket shelves. Ideal. You can tweak the number of guests to feed four, six, eight or ten people, and there's options to select a dinner-only box, or dinner and dessert (we know which one we'd choose). Offical boxes have yet to be announced, but previous examples of dishes included a butter basted turkey, roast potatoes, stuffing studded with cranberries and carrots enhanced with a sticky glaze and thyme. Optional add-ons included a festive dessert and a decedent cheeseboard, all delivered straight to your door.
How much: From £16 per person
Buy it: Hello Fresh

The Cote Christmas Feast

Why: This year Cote's Christmas feast is centred around a 2.25kg turkey breast, which you're invited to spruce up with some garlic oil and optional streaky bacon. Pigs in blankets, pork and apricot stuffing with sage, spiced braised red cabbage, truffle gratin dauphinoise potatoes, roasted parsnips with chestnuts, carrots and swede puree and cranberry and thyme jus are all served alongside. Add a bottle of wine to complete your meal!  
How much: £99.95 (serves 4-6)
Buy it: Côte At-Home

Riverford Christmas Recipe Box

Why: Offering high-welfare meat and organic veggies, Riverford puts the feelgood factor in your Christmas feast. There are a range of options to choose from, depending on how many you’re catering for, or dietary requirements. While a complete Christmas box has yet to be announced, you can still pre-order your turkey with Riverford, guaranteeing the best in quality. It also offers a range of centerpiece joints for a not-so-traditional meal. Opt for a beef forerib, or a whole lamb shoulder, for a change. 
How much: From £9.65 (serves 2-3)
Buy it: Riverford

Mindful Chef

Why: Mindful Chef is known for being the healthy alternative to classic recipe boxes. Christmas is no different for the nutrition-conscious brand where all recipes are made without dairy or gluten and use high-quality ingredients including ethically sourced meat. Its festive specials menu last year included a ton of classic and contemporary options, from chicken with gingerbread stuffing and carrot fries, to a vegan leek, potato and cranberry bean bake. We're expecting more healthy and wholesome recipes from the brand again this year.
How much: From £6.25 per portion
Buy it: Mindful Chef 

Simon Rogan Christmas 'At Home' Menu

Why: If the thought of cooking again this year is all a bit too much for you, why not let a chef do the hard work for you? We’re not talking about just any chef either, we’re talking about one of the UK’s best. Three Michelin starred Simon Rogan's 'At Home' delivery boxes have gone from strength to strength - he does one a month now, using the best seasonal produce from his Cartmel farm. They rotate every month, with the December box including potted Cornish mackerel, poached stuffed turkey and Christmas pudding with fig leaf cream. Plus you'll even get some mince pie chocolates to round off the meal.
How much: From £95 per person
Buy it: Simon Rogan At Home

Eversfield Organic Turkey Banquet Box

Why: We understand that some cooks love the process of pulling together a feast in their own kitchen, so don’t always want ready-made components. Eversfield Organic usually offers a popular annual Christmas Turkey Banquet Box in which you’ll find all the ingredients to make a roasted bronze turkey with herby potatoes, chestnuts wrapped in streaky bacon, creamy mashed carrot and swede, shredded brussels sprouts, honey glazed parsnips and a cranberry and onion gravy. Serving 6-8, it's a great for big groups or perfect for smaller families who love Boxing Day sandwiches!
How much: From £89 (serves 6-8)
Buy it: Eversfield Organic 

The Cookaway

Why: Fancy a festive feast with a difference? The Cookaway's festive recipe boxes include celebratory meals from across the globe, from an Indian street food experience to a traditional beef Wellington. You can even order in some canapés to kick off the festivities while you wait for the mains to cook.
How much: From £55 (serves 2-3)
Buy it: The Cookaway

Fancy a finishing touch to your feast? You might like our round up of the best Christmas crackers for 2023.