Not just any Xmas dinner – cook this M&S one in an hour!

Preparing Christmas dinner is usually an all-day affair.

But Marks & Spencer has created a turkey roast for four with all the trimmings in gravy that can be cooked in just one hour.

The Christmas meal, which is due to hit M&S shelves on November 29, is £45 and includes turkey, stuffing, carrots, red cabbage, roast potatoes and pigs in blankets, all of which can be cooked at the same temperature.

The High Street stalwart came up with the idea after shoppers complained about the stress of the different timings needed to cook each part of a festive meal, according to M&S’s director of product development, Kathryn Turner. 

It is one of a range of dishes that M&S expects will help it shift record amounts of party food this year.

M&S said it expects to sell around 90 million nibbles from its festive range over the 2023 season, accounting for around a quarter of party food sold across all retailers and supermarkets.

The push to take the crown as the most popular Christmas food shop comes as the firm continues to cash in on booming sales as its turnaround strategy bears fruit.

Food sales in the six months to September surged by 15 per cent after M&S cut prices on hundreds of products to attract customers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. 

On the drinks front, it has released a range of low-alcohol beverages to capitalise on the rising numbers eschewing alcohol. For those who still fancy a tipple, there is also a vodka made from Jersey Royal potatoes that are too big to be sold for cooking.

Turner said many competitors have been looking to reduce costs by using cheaper ingredients. But M&S was looking to make manufacturing more efficient to avoid sacrificing what goes into its food.

‘I think there’s a reason people come to M&S and that’s for a quality product,’ she told The Mail on Sunday.