Create Christmas Dinner Menu and Cooking Plan

Serve a menu and run a kitchen

A handwritten or printed menu lifts a family meal into an occasion. It also answers the question guests always ask, “what are we having?”, and it lets you mention who is vegetarian before the plates arrive. The first page of this template is built for the dining table: a centred, framed card with sprigs of pine in the corners, a serif title and a script “Menu”, with each course announced by a small caps heading and a gold rule.

The second page is for the person who is actually cooking. Christmas dinner is a logistics problem disguised as a meal: one oven, six dishes, three people in the kitchen and a turkey that needs to rest. A schedule on the fridge door with a time and a name against each task is what separates a calm kitchen from a loud one.

Filling in the menu page

1. Use the sample. It fills both pages with a traditional turkey dinner and a sensible timetable.
2. Small line and title. The line at the top might be a family name; the title can be anything from “Christmas Dinner” to “Christmas Eve Supper”.
3. Date and place. One line, for example “Thursday, 25 December at 2 pm”.
4. Add the dishes. One per line: up to three starters, three mains, four sides, three desserts and three drinks. A course with no dishes is left off the card, so you can print a simple three-course menu.
5. Rename courses with the pencil icon: “Appetisers”, “The Roast”, “To Finish” or “Cheese”.

Using the cooking plan

Choose “Yes, add page 2” and type one step per line using the pattern Time | Task | Who. The time is printed in bold in the theme colour, and every row has a tick box so you can mark each step done. Fourteen rows fit on the page. Empty rows stay in place, so if you only have ten tasks you can write extra jobs by hand.

A good plan works backwards from the time you want to eat. Write the serving time first, then the roast, then everything that has to be done before each. Typical entries are taking the turkey out of the fridge early, preheating the oven, peeling the vegetables, making the sauces, putting the potatoes in the hot oven, resting the meat, warming the plates and laying the table.

Small details that make the table

• Cut dishes to fit. Each line is limited to 54 characters, which keeps the card tidy. “Roast turkey with herb butter” fits, a full recipe description does not.
• Mention allergens kindly. A small note such as “(vegetarian)” or “(contains nuts)” after a dish is helpful. For serious allergies, tell your guests directly as well.
• Print one per place, or just one for each end of the table. Folded in half the card stands up like a place card; mount it on card stock for a firmer menu.
• Keep the plan visible. Tape the second page inside a kitchen cupboard door where steam will not reach it, and let the helpers tick off their own lines.

Layout and sizes

Both pages are US Letter portrait. The menu text scales down slightly when you list more than eleven dishes so that everything fits within the border; the plan uses a clear table in the theme colour. The four themes are classic red and green, winter navy and ice, forest and gold, and berry and cream.

Guests coming? Send them the party invitation in the same colours. If you are cooking for the week and not just the day, the weekly meal planner helps you plan what to eat around the big meal. Teachers and children counting down to the day will like the advent calendar.

Questions people ask

Can I use the menu without the cooking plan?
Yes. Select “No, menu only” and the file contains just the menu card.

How many dishes fit on the menu?
Fifteen, spread over five courses. Each course has its own limit: three starters, three mains, four sides, three desserts and three drinks.

Can I make a menu for a different meal?
Yes. Change the title and rename the courses. It works for Christmas Eve, Boxing Day brunch or New Year’s dinner.

Is the plan only for turkey?
No. The steps are free text, so it works for a nut roast, a ham, a goose or a barbecue in the southern hemisphere.

What if I need more than 14 steps?
Put the main steps on the page and write the rest by hand in the empty rows, or print a second copy for the pre-dinner jobs and use it for Christmas Eve.

Can I print the menu on coloured paper?
A cream or ivory paper looks very good. Avoid dark paper because the text is dark.