Actually Delicious Christmas

In celebration of my new book, the Actually Delicious Slow Cooker Cookbook, I’ve decided to have a slow cooker Christmas this year. There’s so many recipes that work perfectly for the festive season, so lets have a gander at them bab! Here’s a few of my absolute faves that make feeding a crowd simple as chucking a few bits in the slow cooker.

Starters

This section is for those of you who go proper boujie at Christmas. If you like to do a full on three course meal, you do you boo – I ain’t got time for that. BUT if you need a little bit of inspo, I’m ya gal. Soups are a really easy way to kick off a meal, and very simple to make. One of my favourite soups from the book is the deliciously rich mushroom soup. Serve this up with a runny poached egg in the middle, and everyone will think you’ve transformed into Nigella. If you’re looking for something with a little spice to start your meal, have a look at my Thai inspired butternut squash soup. It’s got coconut milk, lemon grass and plenty of chilli warmth to really get you excited for the rest of the meal.

Mains and Sides

If you’re reading this at Christmas or Thanksgiving, then you have to try my slow cooker turkey breast. I know, it sounds wild to cook your festive turkey in the slow cooker, but stay with me! If you’re only cooking for a few of you, sometimes getting a whole turkey can be a lot of commitment to leftovers. If you just buy a skin on turkey breast, there’s far less leftover but still enough for a few sandwiches! When you cook the turkey low and slow like this in loads of butter and stock, it stays incredibly juicy and *moist* (soz not soz) so no one can moan about dry turkey anymore. You still get the super fun job of smushing a compound butter under the skin of the turkey, don’t worry. I know it’s everyone’s favourite part of the festive season (not). The compound butter is really simple, just a case of mixing together a few herbs and zests with plenty of softened butter! The citrus zest really elevates the flavour of the turkey to new heights.

In my family, we love to have a few different meat options on our festive table. Everyone likes a ham at Christmas, and my delicious slow cooker honey mustard ham is the perfect Boxing Day sandwich filler. It’s so simple to chuck in, slather the ham in honey, mustard and soy sauce then pop it on low for a few hours. Bish, bash, bosh!

I know some people aren’t a fan of the traditional Christmas roast but still fancy a bit of turkey at this time of year. My little brother and sister are OBSESSED with the slow cooker turkey birria tacos, so I know they’d be absolutely buzzing to have them for dinner. A Mexican feast would be so delicious, all spread down the table with guacamole, a charred corn and feta salad and some spicy potato wedges or rice. As I am the potato Queen, I’d have to have some roast potatoes on the side, glazed up in a little chipotle paste for a spicy Mexican inspired kick. Plus, cover it all in cheese, obvs.

Desserts, puddings and sweet treats

I have so many delicious recipes that would be perfect for your festive dessert table this year, but one of my ultimate favourites has got to be a chocolate lava cake. Served with plenty of ice cream and fresh pouring cream, nothing can beat it! It might take a few practice goes before you get it spot on as you need to know your slow cooker – but that means you get more chocolatey goodness! It’s gooey, it’s oozy, it’s filthy.

Sometimes we don’t need extra stress, especially at Christmas. One of the best things about slow cookers is that you can just chuck everything in have a glorious dish at the end of it, so a chocolate orange brioche bread and butter pudding is perfect! Layer everything up in the bowl, pour over the easy custard and sprinkle plenty of chocolate chips before popping on the lid and leaving it to do its thing while you eat your Crimbo din-dins. Phwoaaaaar.

Photography by Haarala Hamilton