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Christmas Hosting Checklist

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Updated October 2026

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Counting back from the day.

  • Four weeks out
  • Invite everyone, and ask about allergies and anything they will not eat
  • Order the ham, turkey or roast (good butchers book up)
  • Sort out who is bringing what: a dish, drinks or dessert
  • Check the oven works, and that the roasting tin fits inside it
  • Two weeks out
  • Get final numbers
  • Plan the menu around the oven, not the recipes
  • Count the chairs, plates and glasses
  • Borrow or buy whatever is short: chairs, platters, serving spoons
  • Write two shopping lists: things that keep, and fresh food
  • The week before
  • Big shop for everything that keeps
  • Make anything that freezes well: sauces, pastry, puddings
  • Move a frozen turkey to the fridge (about 12 hours per kilo)
  • Clean the bathroom guests will use
  • Wash the good tablecloth and napkins
  • Clear fridge space (you will need more than you think)
  • Christmas Eve
  • Fresh food shop
  • Set the table tonight
  • Peel and chop what will keep overnight
  • Make the desserts, the gravy base and any cold sides
  • Buy more ice than seems sensible
  • On the day
  • Meat in, and write down what time it comes out
  • Let the meat rest for at least 20 minutes while everything else cooks
  • Drinks onto ice
  • Somewhere for coats and bags
  • Empty the bins before anyone arrives
  • Put leftovers in the fridge within two hours of serving

Click any line to edit it. Enter makes the next one, Backspace on an empty line removes it. Paste a whole list in and every line becomes an item. End a line with a colon to make it a heading.

Add what you need

The list above is what almost everyone needs. These are the rest. Tap one to add it.

Food and drink

  • Ham
  • Turkey or roast
  • Prawns or seafood
  • Salads
  • Bread rolls
  • Gravy
  • Cranberry sauce
  • Christmas pudding
  • Custard or cream
  • Cheese board
  • Soft drinks
  • Wine and beer
  • Something good without alcohol
  • Tea and coffee

The table

  • Tablecloth
  • Napkins
  • Serving platters
  • Serving spoons
  • Candles
  • Bonbons
  • Place cards
  • Extra chairs
  • A kids' table

Before anyone arrives

  • Bathroom stocked and clean
  • Fresh hand towels
  • Spare toilet paper
  • Dishwasher emptied
  • Room in the freezer for ice
  • Containers for leftovers
  • Somewhere for coats and bags

Presents and extras

  • Presents wrapped
  • Cards written
  • Batteries for toys
  • Camera or phone charged
  • A playlist ready
  • Something for unexpected guests

Keeping cool

  • Fans or air con on early
  • Ice, and then more ice
  • Shade outside
  • Cold drinks in the esky
  • Sunscreen by the door
  • Jugs of water on the table

If people are staying

  • Beds made up
  • Spare pillows and blankets
  • Towels out
  • A spare phone charger
  • Breakfast for the morning after

Working backwards from lunch

The jobs are not the hard part. The hard part is that almost everything wants the oven at the same time, and there is one oven.

Pick the time you want everyone sitting down, then work backwards from there rather than forwards from when you get up. The roast needs its resting time: twenty to thirty minutes, and it is not optional. That rest is also when the oven is free, so anything that needs it hot goes in then.

Cold food needs fridge space, not oven space, and fridge space is the thing people run out of. Count your shelves before you shop, not after. If you are somewhere warm, an esky with ice is a second fridge and it is worth clearing a corner for it.

Anything that can be served at room temperature should be. Most salads are better for it, and every dish that does not need to be hot at one o'clock is one less thing competing for the stove.

A run sheet for the day

Counted back from the moment you sit down. Your meat is the only thing that sets the clock: check its label for the cooking time and work from the longest number.

How much to buy

These are rules of thumb, not promises. Hungry guests, big appetites and the number of side dishes all move them.

Keeping it safe

A frozen turkey needs around 12 hours per kilo to defrost in the fridge, so a 5 kg bird goes in by the 21st. A probe thermometer pushed into the thickest part is the only reliable check that it is cooked: the middle should reach 74°C (165°F). Food that has been out for more than about two hours, or one hour on a hot day, should not be eaten.

Hot Christmas, cold Christmas

The list works in either hemisphere, but the problems differ. Where it is hot, the enemies are heat in the kitchen, warm drinks and food left out in the sun, which is why ice and the esky appear so often. Where it is cold, the enemies are coats on every chair and a cold house, so give coats a home and get the heating on before people arrive.

Questions people ask

When should I start getting ready for Christmas?

Four weeks out is when to send invitations, ask about allergies and order anything from a butcher. Two weeks out you get final numbers and work out the menu. The week before is the big shop for everything that keeps. Christmas Eve is for fresh food, setting the table and prepping what will survive overnight. Most of the stress comes from leaving the shopping until the last few days, when the shops are worst.

What can I make the day before?

Gravy, desserts, and anything peeled or chopped. Roast potatoes can be par-boiled, roughed up and left in the fridge overnight. They are better for it. Salads can be made and dressed at the last minute. Set the table the night before too; it takes twenty minutes and it is twenty minutes you will not have on the day.

How much ice do I need?

More than you think, and it is the most commonly forgotten thing on the list. Roughly a kilo a head if you are keeping drinks cold on a warm day, and more again if an esky is standing in for fridge space. Buy it last so it has less time to melt.

How do I cook Christmas lunch with only one oven?

Cook the meat first and let it rest while everything else goes in. The rest is not lost time, it is your oven window. Serve whatever you can at room temperature. If you have a barbecue with a lid, it is a second oven, and it keeps the heat out of the kitchen.

What should I ask guests before the day?

Anything they cannot eat, and whether they are bringing anyone. Ask when you invite them, not the week before, because by then you have already shopped. It is also the moment to ask who wants to bring a dish, if you want the help.

How much turkey or ham do I need per person?

As a rule of thumb, allow about 500 g of turkey per person, weighed raw and on the bone, and a little more if you want leftovers. For ham on the bone, about 300 to 400 g a head. These are rough guides: the more side dishes you are serving, the less meat people eat.

How long does a frozen turkey take to defrost?

Longer than people expect. In the fridge, allow around 12 hours per kilo, so a 5 kg bird needs two and a half days and should be in the fridge by the 21st. Put it on a tray on the bottom shelf so it cannot drip onto other food. Do not defrost it on the bench.

How long can Christmas food stay out?

About two hours, or one hour if it is properly hot. After that, cold food and cooked food should go back in the fridge. On a hot day, serve cold dishes in batches and keep the rest in the fridge rather than putting everything out at once.

Sorted by when, not by what

The hard part of hosting Christmas is not remembering the jobs, it is doing them in an order that leaves you sitting down when everyone arrives. This list counts backwards from the day.

Change anything you like. Every family's Christmas is different. Tick as you go and it saves on your device, so you can start now and pick it up on Christmas Eve with nothing lost.