Gordon Ramsay shares exact time you should serve Christmas dinner

December is almost here, and with it, the countdown to the biggest and best meal of the year: Christmas dinner.

And Gordon Ramsay is here to answer the most important question surrounding the epic feast; what time should you sit down to eat?

Whether you're a fan of honey-roasted parsnips, homemade stuffing, or one of those families who have Yorkshire puddings alongside all the trimmings, the meal serves as a heartwarming way to gather with loved ones and raise a toast to the year gone by.

It's an enjoyable few hours, usually accompanied by a tipple or two and a special side dish that your mum has secured from the extra fancy M&S range of festive goods.

But for those putting together the meal, it can be like cooking a Sunday roast on steroids.

With more mouths to feed than usual, and the pressure to get things absolutely right, Christmas day can snowball into a stressful experience for the designated cooks.

Gordon Ramsay knows this more than most, given he has six children to feed alongside wider family. And given his speciality, you'd forgive his relatives for automatically assuming the Hell's Kitchen star will be in charge of the food.

For Gordon, the key to cooking that perfect Christmas dinner comes down to the time you prepare it for.

In a video posted by The Jonathon Ross Show on TikTok in the run-up to last Christmas, the celebrity chef explained the correct way to approach the day so that it 'goes down a success'.

Ultimately, for Gordon, if you focus on preparing the meal too early in the day, you're setting yourself up for a mountain of stress instead of enjoying the bank holiday.

"Stop worrying about calling lunch too early," Gordon says.

What is his solution? Well, the 'lunch' should very much fall between the traditional times of lunch and then dinner (or tea, depending on what you call it).

He explains: "Push it back to three or four o'clock. That way you don't stress out and you get to enjoy it as well."

On top of this, Gordon said you should 'get all the family' to help prep the day before.

As for the turkey? Put it in the oven at 5.30am or 6am on a low temperature.

"Go back to bed for a few hours and then get yourself a plan, with an ABCD, 10am, 11am," he says. Ultimately, 'stop worrying'.

According to a poll from 2022, the most popular time for Brits to sit down and eat Christmas dinner is at around 2pm, with 28 percent choosing this time of the day to feast.

A 3pm scran down is favoured by 23 percent of people, with 18 percent opting for 1pm. Some go even later, though, with five percent sitting down at 5pm, and three percent sitting down at 6pm.

As for what is on your plate, most Brits want to get rid of bread sauce, with 27 percent wanting it gone from Christmas dinner status. Controversially, 20 percent also want sprouts regelated, and 12 percent said cranberry sauce has no place.