Dairy Free Christmas Menu
It’s easier than you might think to keep Christmas dairy free. If you are cooking at home you can have absolutely everything dairy free if you wish, then your child won’t be missing out on anything they can see and would like to have. If you are eating in someone’s house you will need to speak to them prior to the occasion to ensure your child’s allergy will be catered for, or else choose to bring your own safe dishes. I usually suggest bringing a dessert or a starter which I know will be ok for my boys and will be nice to share with everyone also.
Here’s some ideas for keeping the traditional Christmas Day feast dairy free.
Starters
Melon and parma ham is simplicity itself and always a hit with my boys.
Prawn cocktail – the traditional Marie Rose sauce is made with tomatoes, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and lemon but I’ve often seen it made with tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and a dash of cream. If you are making it the second way try a dash of soya or oatly cream rather than dairy cream.
Soup – make any dairy free soup, recipes here for mushroom soup, bacon and turnip soup and roasted tomato soup.
The Main Event
Turkey – there is no need to use butter or milk to cook this. I know some people soak turkey in buttermilk before cooking but this is absolutely not necessary. I usually chop up some root vegetables, arrange them in the roasting tray, drizzle over some olive oil, pop the turkey on top, stuff it and put it in the oven like so. If you want to use oil to baste then any vegetable oil is fine.
Ham – I make the ham with honey and mustard dressing, all deliciously dairy free. Here’s how I do it.
Boulangere potatoes – these are a great dairy free substitute for potatoes Dauphinoise or gratin and are super delicious. Here is the BBC Goodfood recipe.
Roast potatoes – parboil the potatoes for 15 minutes. Put two dessert spoons of goose or duck fat in a oven-proof dish and put in the oven at 180c while parboiling potatoes. Then put the potatoes into the oil along with a few cloves of garlic and roast for 30 – 40 minutes.
Mashed potatoes and vegetables – just make sure that you don’t use any butter or cream.
Stuffing – I love stuffing, many recipes call for butter but I’ve had great results by substituting margarine or olive oil. Here is a recipe for Apple and herb stuffing.
Sausage meat stuffing – ensure the sausage meat you use contains no milk products.
Desserts
Christmas Pudding – here’s a recipe for a yummy dairy free one.
Rocky road bars, you can make this in the shape of a Christmas pudding to make it more seasonal! Recipe here.
Dairy free Trifle – another easy one, recipe here.
You could also make any of these desserts:
- Rhubarb and apple crumble
- Strawberries and mereingue nests and dairy free custard
- Chocolate Brownies
- Peach, raspberry & blueberry batter cake
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Victoria Sponge with coconut cream
- Fresh fruit salad with dairy free custard or dairy free ice-cream.
For other treats and sweets check out my post for Christmas Treats.
For anything processed or in a jar or a packet that you might use such as gravy or cranberry sauce, do check the ingredients. Milk ingredients lurk in the most unlikely places.
Be mindful at this time of year that when your fridge is a lot fuller than normal and there’s a lot of food serving and eating that it is easier for cross contamination to occur.
