Posted 8 hours ago
Thu 20 Nov, 2025 08:11 AM
The cold weather is here, Christmas is around the corner and the festivities are beginning! So what better time to get your flatmates together for a hearty roast dinner?
Living in Halls is a great time to learn new cooking skills and try out new dishes, so here’s a roast dinner recipe fit for you and your flatmates!
👀 and you could win a £50 flat meal out! Scroll to the bottom to see how you can enter the Halls Christmas competition...
Making a roast dinner involves a number of steps and will take a few hours to make. However, the end result is always worth it, trust us!
Remember:
· Make sure your kitchen is tidy and clean before you start cooking
· Never leave your cooking unattended, especially when it’s a longer recipe like this one
· Always open a window before you start cooking and turn on the extractor fan to allow smoke out
· Wipe up any spills or grease as they occur
· When you have a number of pans on the stove, make sure the handles are facing inwards so that they can’t be accidentally knocked
· Take extra care with hot dishes, trays, oil
· Prepare vegetables and meat on separate chopping boards to avoid cross contamination
Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
· Roast chicken or vegetarian alternative e.g. nut roast
· 2kg Potatoes
· 1KGg parsnips
· 1KG carrots
· 1KGg sprouts
· 20g Thyme
· 20g Rosemary
· 200g Stuffing Mix
· Yorkshire Puddings (optional)
Extras to make your flat meal festive:
· Christmas crackers
· Christmas decorations
· Festive playlist – try this one!
· Post-dinner games
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°F and cook your chicken according to the instructions (a large chicken can take around two hours). A nut roast will take less time to cook but just follow the instructions on the packet.
2. Peel your potatoes and cut them into evenly sized pieces. Boil water in your sauce pan and carefully add the potatoes to the water to boil for around 10 minutes until soft. Remove and drain the potatoes. Tip: To avoid hot water splashing, lower the potatoes in with a spoon rather than tipping them in at once.
3. Add 4 tbsp of sunflower oil to a roasting tin before adding your potatoes and seasoning with garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Tip: shake them to make the surfaces rough as this will help them go crispy in the oven. Allow them to stand for 15 minutes to let the moisture out as this will help them crispen up. The potatoes will take around 1 hour to cook but can take longer if you prefer them crispy.
4. In the meantime, prepare your vegetables by washing, peeling and chopping your carrots and parsnips into long pieces. Boil in a saucepan for 3-5 minutes until soft, then drain and add to a roasting tray. Drizzle oil across the veg and season with salt and pepper before adding to the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes.
5. You can boil your sprouts for 5 minutes but if you prefer crispy sprouts, trim and halve them before placing in an air fryer basket and drizzling over oil and seasoning. Cook for around 10-15 minutes and toss half way through.
6. Pour your stuffing mix into a bowl and add 400ml of boiling water (or the amount given on the packaging). Allow the mix to stand for 5 minutes or long enough so that you can mould into balls and bake on a baking sheet for 25-30 minutes until golden and cooked through.
7. At this stage, your chicken/nut roast, potatoes and vegetables will be almost cooked. It’s time to bring it together with your gravy. Add boiling water to your gravy granules until the texture is suitable for pouring (the packaging will have instructions for you to use).
8. If you’re including yorkshire puddings, it’s time to bake those! They usually take 5-10 minutes so can be done at the end.
9. Deck the Halls! Get the table ready, put the music on and get your Christmas crackers out
10. Plate up your roast dinner ready for serving – enjoy!
WIN £50 voucher for a Liverpool restaurant of your choice
Don’t forget to send photos and videos of your flat’s festive celebrations to hallslife@liverpool.ac.uk before 23:59 on Monday 8 December to win a £50 voucher to a Liverpool restaurant of your choice – good luck!
