Five Christmas food hacks to save time when preparing a festive lunch or dinner

It is almost Christmas Day, which, if you're like me, means one thing: stress.

Whether you are hosting the extended family at your house, having a small gathering or even taking food to someone else's place, Christmas generally means lots of cooking and food prep, and maybe a few frayed nerves.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

I have a friend who refuses point blank to serve 'Christmas food'. No ham, no turkey, no seafood and definitely no stuffing. She will unashamedly serve her Christmas Day guests sausages on a roll.

I get that this approach is not for everyone, including myself, but I have come up with a few ways to cut down on the food prep and stress while still serving up a Christmas Day lunch or dinner you can be proud of.

1. Cheat salads

If your Christmas Day includes salads, and you want a selection, it can become overwhelming making them all, which is where a few shortcuts can come in handy.

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Nowadays, you can buy all manner or pre-made or partly-made salads at the supermarket.

Not to sound too much like Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, but simply taking something store-bought and placing it in a nice dish might be all you need to make it more presentable.

But, if like me, you like to go a step further, I have a great hack that will make one of your store-bought salads look and taste better and go further, without much fuss.

Step one is to buy a pre-made cous cous salad from a supermarket.

Aldi is selling a Pumpkin and Mint Cous Cous variety for $6.49 for 500 grams, while Woolworths sells a 600 gram variety for $10.

It is perfectly fine as it is, but you can also make it a bit more special with a few additions.

I like to add about a quarter to a half of one finely chopped red onion and about the same amount of crumbled feta cheese.

To make it go further and really fill up a bowl, I also add a bag of prewashed salad leaf mix – my favourites are rocket or baby spinach but you can use any, and voila!

You have what Meghan would call an 'elevated' salad that looks and tastes great while cutting out quite a few steps. You have also upped your vegetable intake by adding the leaves.

And you can use this template for a range of other premade salads.

Another idea is to buy a bag of salad, such as Woolworths' iceberg lettuce mix, then give it a festive makeover by placing it on a platter and topping with some slices of fresh pear, nectarine or mango and adding some pomegranate seeds and a light dressing.

2. Swap the whole turkey

As well as being expensive and time consuming to cook, roasting a whole turkey can be tricky and not for the faint-hearted. There is also a whole lot of food waste.

Why not swap out a whole turkey for a smaller portion?

Ingham's offers Frozen Turkey Breast Traditional Roast in a 1kg variety that is selling at Woolworths for $19.50.

There is also a 2kg variety for $30.

It is in the frozen section, which means you can buy it in advance and store it in the freezer until you are ready to use it. It will also take up far less room than a whole turkey.

They are super simple to prepare. Just thaw and bake, or bake from frozen. You can do it on the day or even the day before and have it carved up ready to go. This too is a simple process as there is no bone – and no waste.

And if you keep an eye out in the lead-up to Christmas, you may even pick one up on sale.

3. Buy a pavlova base

If Christmas in your family means pavlova, why not save time by buying your base?

Supermarkets offer a variety of premade pavlovas you then only have to decorate on the day.

Coles sells a 12-serve pavlova base for $9.20 while Woolworths sells a very luxe looking pavlova that also serves 12 for $8.

Then all you have to do is add some fruit – fresh, frozen or even canned is fine – and you have a pretty special Christmas Day dessert with very little effort.

Or you could make it even easier with a do-it-yourself pavlova grazing board.

Simply buy the small individual pavlovas and arrange them on a platter along with toppings such as whipped cream and a variety of fruits and other toppings for guests to construct themselves.

Not only does it save you time, but your guests can customise their pavlova to their own tastes.

Jules Sebastian is among the fans of creating a pavlova station.

Her version includes packets of petite meringue nests and a variety of toppings such as chocolate syrup, passionfruit curd, caramel sauce, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, passionfruit, kiwi fruit, mangos, cherries and whipped cream (she whips her own and adds vanilla essence and sugar).

She also makes her own raspberry sauce by adding raspberries and sugar to a saucepan and simmering.

4. Prepare what you can in the days before

This sounds simple, but many people add to their own Christmas Day stress by failing to start their food prep early. Many dishes can be prepped or made in the day or days before.

Nine's The Today Show food expert Jane de Graaff is a big fan of prepping as much as you can in the lead up to Christmas.

Stuffing is one dish that actually tastes even better a day or two after you make it. Even if you are planning to roast a whole turkey, you don't need to stuff it.

I prefer to make a tray or trays of stuffing, or even shape them into balls. While I prefer fresh breadcrumbs, I have found some bakeries sell bags of breadcrumbs, which cuts down on prep time.

Other things that can be done in advance include preparing vegetables and salads, or even washing, peeling and chopping them, making sauces and gravies, preparing the marinade for the ham, brining chicken, and making or prepping desserts by setting jellies and even whipping cream.

5. Par boil or microwave potatoes before baking

If you want to cut down on cooking time, one tip is to microwave or par boil potatoes before you bake them.

One of my favourite baked potato recipes is Jamie's Oliver's Best Roast Potatoes, and he recommends par boiling the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes before baking.

This not only cuts down on oven time but ensures they are lovely and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

This is good for two reasons; you don't need to watch them as long in the oven when you might already be entertaining guests, and you are not running a hot oven for as long on what might be a warm day.

As well as par boiling, I often use a microwave to pre-cook vegetables that require longer cooking times.

I put whole potatoes straight on a plate in the microwave or place pieces in a bowl of water to cook. I have also pre-cooked other vegetables, including sweet potatoes and carrots, either whole or chopped.

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