Season’s Eatings: One in ten Brits will eat six or more Christmas dinners this year

With just under a month to go before the big day, the festivities are well underway – particularly when it comes to treating the taste buds.

New research reveals we love Christmas dinner so much, and attend so many different gatherings, that the average Brit gets stuck into three Christmas meals over the festive period – with 25 – 44 year olds eating four or more. One in ten (11 per cent) will eat no less than six Christmas dinners this year.

But the nature of the meal itself is changing, with 20 per cent now saying they would happily swap turkey and the trimmings for a non-meat option. This figure is even higher with the 35-44 age group (26 per cent).

With the research identifying 10 key times to enjoy a festive meal across December including the annual work Christmas party, Christmas dinner with the in-laws and kids’ Christmas get-togethers, it seems modern day Britons start tucking into festive fayre well ahead of December 25. According to the new research commissioned by Linda McCartney’s, the well-loved vegetarian brand founded by Linda McCartney, more than half (51 per cent) eat a full Christmas dinner at their work party, while 5 per cent confess to having rustled one up at some point in December, ‘just because I fancied it’.

While 98 per cent of us eat a Christmas meal, 22 per cent won’t actually sit down to one on Christmas day itself. Many of us continue the festivities after the big day – over a third (38 per cent) have Christmas dinner on Boxing Day.

Across the Christmas period, the research by Linda McCartney’s found just how many Christmas dinners will be eaten in the UK this year:

• Almost 20 million Christmas dinners will be eaten before 25th December

• One in ten (11 per cent) will have six or more festive feasts in total

  • 14 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women

• Almost a fifth (18 per cent) will have five or more

  • 20 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women

• Almost a third (32 per cent) will have four or more

  • 43 per cent of 25-34 year olds and 38 per cent of 35-44 year olds

According to the research, the top 10 occasions we eat a Christmas dinner are as follows:

Looking for an alternative to the traditional Christmas dinner? Get inspired with Linda McCartney’s kitchen recipe pages. For a straight to oven option, try the Linda McCartney Vegetarian Beef Roast with Red Wine and Shallot Glaze, available at Morrisons, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.