How to Make the Perfect British Roast Dinner

One of Britain’s most famous meals is the roast dinner, traditionally eaten every Sunday, although it can be eaten on any day of the week. The meal consists of numerous aspects, including meat, potatoes, vegetables and is usually topped off with gravy.

If you get it right this meal tastes absolutely delicious and succulent, although cooking the perfect British roast dinner can be a real challenge. If it seems like a daunting prospect, the below guide showing how to make the perfect British roast, including top tips such as how much time to allow should help.

Meat

Although the meat can vary, beef is probably the most popular. If you’re not quite sure how much you need to buy don’t worry, here’s a general idea. 2.5kg of bone-in beef or 1.5kg of beed without bones will feed approximately 6 people.

The amount of time you cook the beef for really depends on how you prefer to eat it. If you like your meat ‘rare’ then you should cook it 11 minutes for every 450g. If you like your meat medium it should be cooked 14 minutes for every 450g and 16 minutes for every 450g if you like your meat well done.

After your remove the meat from cooking, you should wrap it in aluminium foil and leave it to stand for approximately 20 minutes. This will give the joint time to ‘rest’, which creates a soft, tender piece of meat. It also releases the juices resulting in the meat being tastier, and the juices that collect in the bottom of the pan are great for creating gravy later on.

Roast Potatoes

Potatoes are an essential part of the perfect British roast dinner. To get the perfect roast potatoes you need to cut the potatoes into quarters, and then wash them to get rid of all the starch.

You should then cook the potatoes in water for approximately 25 minutes, until they are very soft. Next, place the potatoes on a tray with pre-heated oil (15 minutes pre-heated). You should then coat the potatoes with oil before putting them in the oven.

They will need to remain in the oven for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes, with you regularly turning the potatoes every 15-20 minutes. When they are cooked, you should get them out and season them with salt, or garlic salt if you want to add an extra bit of flavour.

Vegetables

Vegetables are another very important part of the perfect British roast dinner. Although carrots and peas are staple vegetables, there is room for some flexibility depending on what your personal taste preferences are. While some people like to include broccoli, sweet corn, and a variety of other vegetables, other people like to keep it simple, so it’s really up to you.

Whatever your preference, vegetables are a very important part of the perfect great British roast. You can cook these while the potatoes are in; they take less than half an hour to cook.

Gravy

Finally, the real finishing touch to the perfect British roast is the gravy. Creating home-made gravy from the juices of the meat is a wonderful option that will add the ideal complementary taste to the whole meal.

If you want to create thin gravy then collect the juices and fat left over from the meat and add a small amount of wine or stock. Mix these together and cook on a low heat in a pan.

However, if you’re cooking for more people, or want thicker gravy, then you can add flour to the mixture. Either way the essential part is to preserve the flavour. If you prefer an easier option for gravy, you can simply use a ready-made stock cube and add hot water, but creating this kind of home-made gravy definitely provides the best accompaniment.

Conclusion

Creating the perfect British roast isn’t as hard as you first might think. With these helpful tips you are all set to make a scrumptious meal for the entire family.

Article by Natalie Moody

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