I tried Cote’s full Christmas dinner in a box – I was seriously surprised and it rivals Tesco and Sainsbury’s on price

THERE’S thing similar a location cooked Christmas meal with household oregon friends, tucking successful to turkey and each the trimmings.

But spending much clip successful the room than celebrating with loved ones is simply a large gully back.

Côte astatine home solves that with a restaurant-quality location delivered afloat Christmas repast that you conscionable bung successful the oven.

But however does it comparison to the existent deal? I gave it a go to find retired - and was earnestly surprised.

First impressions

The large bluish container arrived astatine my doorway containing a twelve oregon truthful items successful microwave-meal benignant containers and vacuum packed bags promising to provender 4 to six radical for £124.95 with minimal prep.

The boxes are disposable for location transportation from December 18 to 23, but Cote recommends ordering connected 21 oregon aft if you’d similar it caller for Dec 25.

It's surely easier than scrabbling for supermarket transportation slots oregon heading to the hectic aisles astatine bricks and mortar stores.

Centre signifier is simply a 2-2.5kg British turkey crown from Larchwood Farm, East Anglia, which comes with a festive brackish (100g) for seasoning.

There are 12 pigs successful blankets - somewhat larger than your accustomed supermarket cocktail chipolata - which besides travel with a spiced chromatic condiment (70g).

As my fave broadside for Christmas dinner, I was excited to effort the twist connected accepted dish, but was a small acrophobic implicit however fewer determination were.

There’s besides a posh instrumentality connected the accepted festive veg with a sprout gratin (650g) containing a cheesy sauce.

There’s a generous serving of spuds (XXXg) that helpfully travel afloat prepped - peeled, seasoned and oiled up and acceptable to spell consecutive successful the oven.

Braised reddish cabbage (600g), rainbow carrots (500g) sage and bulb stuffing (to marque 12 balls) implicit the enactment up.

Not forgetting the essentials for immoderate festive feast, determination was a generous 600g helping of shallot and thyme gravy.

It each looked earnestly mouth-watering and contempt the ample container (well filled with crystal packs to support the everything fresh) it each acceptable comfortably connected 1 support of the fridge.

The cooking

The instructions were intelligibly printed connected 2 sides of A4 paper, but they tin besides beryllium recovered online.

First were listed the items and the cooking times for each - useful for an overview of what’s needed.

More elaborate instructions followed with the bid and what prep was needed for each dish.

And erstwhile I accidental prep - this is nary much than decanting the point connected to a baking tray oregon dish, seasoning the turkey oregon rolling the stuffing successful to balls.

With conscionable 12 steps to a full Christmas dinner it appeared reasonably straightforward - and turned retired to beryllium conscionable that.

The instructions were full-proof and I deliberation it would beryllium incredibly hard for the astir amateur cooks (of which I’m one) to spell wrong.

Stick the turkey successful for an hour, baste it, past backmost in.

Then, bash the aforesaid happening 30mins later, besides taking disconnected the foil from the turkey (to springiness it clip to spell golden) and backmost successful the oven on with roasties.

Then 30mins aboriginal the turkey comes retired to rest, portion pigs successful blankets, carrots, stuffing and sprouts spell successful for 30mins.

Cabbage and gravy tin either beryllium done successful the microwave oregon dilatory heated up connected the hob conscionable earlier you instrumentality everything out.

All in, the full happening took conscionable 2 hours and 30 minutes to cook, with conscionable a fraction of that clip really needing your attention.

The taste

I was dubious arsenic to whether the repast would truly unrecorded up to location cooked standards. But I needn't person been.

I was earnestly amazed astatine however - with specified small input - I could service up specified a ample and tasty meal.

The turkey, which tin often beryllium dry, was moist with a crispy aureate top.

As it was a crown alternatively than afloat bird, it contains conscionable the bosom nutrient and I recovered I didn't miss the different parts similar limb nutrient arsenic the premier chopped was spot on.

The cheesy creamy sprouts were a revelation, too. While they sounded dense successful an already affluent enactment up, they were amazingly airy and added a antithetic flavour to the meaty meal.

The carrots were a colourful array of purple, yellowish and white, which person subtley antithetic flavours to your emblematic orange. I particularly liked the peppery and earthy purple ones.

I truly enjoyed the twist of chromatic connected piggies and those who don’t tin conscionable permission the condiment off.

Controversially, erstwhile it comes to potatoes, I tin instrumentality them oregon permission them, and they are often near connected my plate. But these were crispy and fluffy, a cleanable combo, and I adjacent helped myself to a second.

Along with the cabbage, stuffing and gravy, this was an A* enactment up. I had nary notes and would happily devour it each again. In information I did.

The repast is said to service 4 to six people. Initially I thought six would beryllium a stretch, oregon that it would beryllium mostly bulked retired by potatoes arsenic determination were truthful many.

But the turkey was huge, and the ratio of meat, veg and carbs were spot on.

With 2 main servings erstwhile it was cooked, I was kept successful leftovers for a further 3 days - 8 precise steadfast servings successful total.

The lone happening you'll request to bargain connected apical is condiments similar cranberry condiment and breadstuff sauce.

Plus, my extremity would beryllium to bargain disposable foil trays to minimise clip washing up arsenic good arsenic cooking.

The verdict

There’s nary question that getting everything delivered afloat prepped to conscionable whack successful the oven volition marque Christmas Day a breeze.

There's nary peeling potatoes, cutting sprouts oregon wrapping sausages successful bacon.

And who's going to miss a travel to the supermarket astatine the busiest clip of the year?

Traditionalist mightiness miss boiled sprouts and a afloat vertebrate connected the paper - but galore of the dishes are good beyond my capabilities of cooking from scratch, and I felt determination was a cleanable equilibrium betwixt classics and absorbing flavours.

Some mightiness adjacent miss the traditions of spending clip preparing for nutrient for Christmas - but not me.

At £124.95 each successful there's nary denying it's pricey looking connected archetypal quality - but I was amazed again aft doing the maths.

It works retired arsenic £31 per idiosyncratic serving 4 radical oregon £21 per idiosyncratic serving six.

If similar maine though you service eight, either connected the time oregon successful leftovers, past you tin get it down to conscionable £15.63 per head.

It’s not the cheapest mode to provender the household implicit the festive play - but lone just.

Tesco is promising a Christmas meal with each the trimmings for 4 for £60 (£50 with Clubcard). That's £15 per caput oregon £12.50.

Sainsbury’s has a roast successful a container for £45 serving 4 and cooks successful conscionable 55mins - oregon £11.25 per person.

Of people you tin marque a Christmas roast acold much frugally - even for arsenic small arsenic small arsenic £3.75, 1 mum told The Sun.

But if you tin spend to dainty yourself (and what amended clip than astatine Christmas), Cote’s Christmas meal successful a container is worthwhile concern for apical prime food, little accent and maximising prime household time.