How important is a traditional roast dinner?
Posted by DavidinDK@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 78 comments
I am a Brit, married to a vegetarian Dane. Our Sunday or weekend meals are seldom a proper Sunday roast. Today, it was beans on toast mid-morning and fish fingers and chips in the afternoon. It was very different to the traditional Sunday roast I used to have with my parents.
So, what is your typical Sunday meal, and how important is it as a tradition?
Educational-Wolf3329@reddit
Why don’t you make yourself a roast and share the tradition with your partner?
Extra-Sound-1714@reddit
Entirely up to you. But it's Easter so a roast this weekend is ultra traditional to have.
Fred_Blogs_2020@reddit
I grew up with a Sunday roast every week and still love to cook one myself. We probably have them every couple of weeks, more in the winter when it’s cold.
YorkieN@reddit
Have recently rediscovered Sunday Roasts with my partner, who is a meat eater, I am a vegetarian. There is something lovely about all the prep and variety of the meal and the veggie element can be a big treat too, lots of parcels/ wellingtons/ meat substitutes to play with. Typically roast mini potatoes/ carrots and parsnips, spiced red cabbage or pan fried hispi cabbage, peas and red wine & onion gravy. We lead very different lives and this is a little oasis in the week, just the two of us in front of a decent film. Happy to have it in our lives again!
TrueMog@reddit
Such a lovely description!
geekroick@reddit
It's up to you to uphold the tradition, or not. No one is going to prison because they don't want a full roast with Yorkshire puddings and whatnot every Sunday.
It's more about the getting together to eat the meal and enjoy each other's company (in theory) than the menu itself, as well.
KinkyChickGamer@reddit
I love a bit of whatnot on a Sunday
Justplaythefkngnote@reddit
It's the best part
Anarky1977@reddit
Fuck him, eating meat once a week won't kill him. Supercilious twat
Shackled-Zombie@reddit
A Sunday Roast is mandated by law. You would be wise to say goodbye to your loved ones and go on the run.
God speed.
WickedWitchofTheE@reddit
What was the vegetarian eating whilst you were eating fish and chips?
Bigbanghead@reddit
Yorkshire Puddings are fantastic for a veggie. They can have the roast veg, peas, and some veggie gravy.
Just supplement yours with the joint.
Ok-Exam6702@reddit
That sounds like a poor diet!
Norman_debris@reddit
I truly believe the Sunday roast is vastly overrepresented on Reddit.
UK subs are filled with people cooking a full roast every Sunday. I don't know a single person who does that irl outside of things like Mother's Day. I know more people who go for a roast in the pub a few times a year, but nothing like the behaviour Reddit would have you think is typical.
the_fox_in_the_roses@reddit
We usually have smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. When I was a kid it happened every Sunday. I don't think it's important at all. My mother didn't enjoy the pressure or the time it took, but thought it was her duty.
Saundersdragon@reddit
We had scrambled eggs on toast. It vibes along with resting on the sabbath.
the_fox_in_the_roses@reddit
Definitely!
AKneelingOx@reddit
I love a roast but I just don't have the energy to do it after a week of work.
Makes the Christmas effort more special though.
FloralObsession@reddit
I'm American, British/Scottish ancestry, and we had a roast dinner every Sunday. My mom said it was the only way she could be sure we all stayed home after church.
Otherwise-Plane8282@reddit
It depends on how we are feeling, most weeks we have a roast, but we do change it up as well, in the summer we’ll have roast chicken with salad and in the winter we have casseroles, bacon dumpling or a good steak and kidney pudding
MidasToad@reddit
Pretty irrelevant tbh - roast meat is meh, though I enjoy the tradition with extended family.
Key_Seaworthiness827@reddit
Not. Normally curry on Sundays (made from scratch mind 😉)
Roast pork today because our family are round
Hot_Cookie2308@reddit
I love a good Sunday Roast, takes me back to when my mum was alive, her roasts were the best
Princ3ssP3ach321@reddit
To me? Not at all. I rarely have a roast dinner.
Princes_Slayer@reddit
Just made a quick roast. Frozen roasties & yorkies, some carrots, cabbage, a bit of chicken…and a vegetarian Linda McCartney ‘mince & onion’ pie for vegetarian husband. We have Bisto ‘beef’ and Goldenfry ‘chicken’ gravy granules, both suitable for vegetarians. Does the trick in our house and isn’t hours slaving in the kitchen
Happy_Ad_3918@reddit
We have a roast dinner probably every other Sunday. (It’s not exact, we have more in the winter and fewer in the summer but it probably works out about that)
It’s just nice having a big roast dinner once a week, everyone sitting around the same table nattering away.
symbister@reddit
I haven't had one since I left my parents home to go to college in 1977. And still cant bring myself to due to memories of Sunday afternoons with everyone stuffed and falling asleep to the sound of wrestling on the TV.
Special-Nebula299@reddit
Its like oxygen. It only feels worrying when you cant get it.
andycwb1@reddit
Traditional roast perhaps once a month. There’s only two of us, so it tends to be a somewhat cut down version - usually chicken, roasties, roast carrots and some green veg with some gravy and cranberry sauce from the freezer.
Traditional_Lead_603@reddit
For us it’s not the roast that’s important, it’s the siting down together, wrapping up the weekend kind of thing. The actual meal could be a takeaway. In fact - as the one who cooks all our meals every other day, a takeaway on a Sunday is more than welcome. It means I get the day off too.
Fibro-Mite@reddit
We had a regular roast when we had kids at home. Now, when they've grown and flown and it's just the two of us, we just have whatever my husband wants to cook - he is a really good cook. Today he's made french onion soup from scratch, to have with baguettes covered in melted cheese floating on top.
Yesterday we went to our daughter's house for an early Easter roast dinner, which our son cooked (that's typical, our daughter is an indifferent cook, her husband is an awful cook, but our son takes after my husband and loves to cook - it's just daughter's house is bigger than son's so fits us all around a table more easily).
bonjourivresse@reddit
Did he eat the fish fingers? Is he a pescatarian? Because you could bake a whole fish (good marinated in soy/ginger/garlic or lemon/garlic/herbs) and have nice side dishes for something more special. Alternatively, you could roast yourself a poussin and make nice stuffing with plenty of nuts and seeds for protein for the vegetarian (v similar to nut roast) and have all the same side dishes as a standard roast. You can get vegetarian gravy granules or make homemade vege or onion gravy (although you could have chicken gravy if you divide it in half and add your chicken scrapings from the pan to yours.).
We don't have a roast every sunday but I'd be sad if we never had one!
Maybe take up going out for lunch on a Sunday and make it somewhere that does a roast!
dereks63@reddit
I do a full roast for my wife and I, she has everything except the meat. Tbh I've eaten it without meat, it's just fine.
Leading_Shock5840@reddit
I’ve loved a Sunday roast since I was little and I love cooking so I do one every weekend sometimes just for myself other times family comes
No-Dinner-3715@reddit
it was an occasional thing for us but growing up it was every Sunday with grandparents.
My mum died last year and doing my dad a roast on a Sunday just feels right! We then all snooze in front of a film!
Toast with apple and cheddar and some cake for tea!!
weedywet@reddit
Nothing you eat or when you eat it is “important”
fattfreddy1@reddit
I married an American and moved there 25 years ago. I last had a roast about 10 years ago when my mum was still alive. As a kid we had them every Sunday unless it was a hot summer and we would get salad (disappointment day). When my mum visited she would bring packs of yorkie mix as you can’t get the ingredients here to make them. I miss Sunday dinners.
highlandcow75@reddit
The last time I had a roast on a Sunday was the last time Christmas was on a Sunday.
BG3restart@reddit
Whilst I had kids still living at home, we always had a roast on Sunday. Once they flew the nest, we'd have a late cooked breakfast, then go to the pub mid afternoon where we'd share a baked camembert with a half baguette each and a bottle of red. Now there's just me, I usually have something I've batch cooked, like lasagne or chilli, or I have a fish finger sandwich, which is probably my favourite meal. If I really can't be bothered, I just have cheese and biscuits. I'm retired and a lot of my social life involves lunching in restaurants mid-week, so I don't always want a big meal on Sunday too. If you've got family, I still think all sitting around the table on a Sunday is a nice thing to do.
Warm-Marsupial8912@reddit
Important here, and the leftover meat goes toward meals the next couple of days.
One_Complex6429@reddit
Pull your self together, man. Britain's men and women are relying in you to uphold the tradition if the Sunday roast!
Dodderino-El@reddit
About to make Roast gammon for tea tonight. I was a veggie for nearly 40 years. Still had roasts but with a different main. Get the roasts on 😀👍
GalwayGirlOnTheRun23@reddit
It’s Easter Sunday and you’re eating fish fingers and chips for dinner??? Would you not make an effort to make a nice meal for the holiday? We have chicken, roast potatoes and veg.
bluepeacock3@reddit
Oh and I’ve been to work today so…..holiday shmoliday
StreyyK@reddit
Come on. A roast chicken with potatoes is hardly anything special is it?
bluepeacock3@reddit
It’s a lot of faff for not much reward.
bluepeacock3@reddit
All the more reason not to make the effort, I’m currently considering beans on toast at the moment.
DavidinDK@reddit (OP)
Today, we walked the dogs and decided on an easy day. I seldom eat meat however, we both eat roast vegetables, and out of necessity, we make our own stuffing and Yorkshire puddings. (They are difficult to source here in Denmark) I also make my own mint sauce, but we have a stock of Bisto.
I should have said, "I am retired, so every day is a weekend day."
JamieKameleon@reddit
judgemental much?
armadillounicorn@reddit
I do a roast every week - usually chicken nowadays cos it's cheap. And I make it spicy cos that's our preference.
I like to have a proper family dinner everyday at the table while I still have kids at home and I love roasts and the tradition is an excuse to have one every week.
But the having a dinner round the table with family is the important part. The food should be whatever the family prefers.
byjimini@reddit
Honestly, it’s an excuse to have Yorkshires and roast potatoes, no matter the meat. Chuck in some carrots, peas and shallots and it’s now a roast.
What I will say is the importance of the gravy. These days I’m taking half the stock from the meat in the slow cooker and boiling the spuds in it, then let it reduce down before thickening. Bloody tasty.
Suspicious_Banana255@reddit
Vegetarian Brit here, I love a Sunday dinner and have everything except the meat. However I hate cooking so we only have it if we go out for it.
Slight-Reindeer-265@reddit
In our house…very important. But every family is different and each to their own.
R0gu3tr4d3r@reddit
Same for me. Family round, can be up to 10. Not so much in the summer, but certainly every winter weekend.
Sweaty_Ear_9247@reddit
Eating something purely because it's traditional isn't something most people prioritise any more, it's more "if you like it, eat it".
As a veggie myself, if I get a hankering for a roast I grab an Aunt Bessies vegetarian toad in the hole, then add all the usual vegetable extras. You could even give a vegetarian roast dinner a whirl yourself. The range of veggie equivalents has become quite vast!
Equivalent-Good-7693@reddit
It’s actually law to have a roast dinner on Sunday
Pyjama365@reddit
It's as important as you make it. I don't feel a roast dinner is 'proper' without at least 4 veg (excluding potatoes, obvs) and ideally 5. I like 6-8 veg on Christmas. As a result, because I don't want to cook 4+ veg on the regular, I don't have a roast at home on the regular (though I'm usually alone on Sundays anyway).
My partner usually works weekends, but does the bulk of the cooking in the week. We don't have a roast often during the week because, if I'm not the one cooking, it's not my place to be demanding the menu - he's cooking the things he's interested in cooking or trying out new skils. Sometimes if he's off work for a weekend, then I'll request a roast, but I'd be helping prep in addition to my usual wash-up tasks because it's extra faff for him to accommodate my preference of 4+ veg.
Imho, if you want Sunday roasts regularly, then you have to be the one to make them because doing them 'properly' is extra faff than a usual 1meat/1starch/2veg meal. As you mentioned a veggie spouse, I'd recommend going to Lidl just before or just after a bank holiday weekend for veggie main items you can sub in alongside whatever meat main item you might be having for yourself. They tend to have lots of 2-packs of single portions of more interesting veggie main dishes around bank hols/Easter/Xmas, when they know folk might be having a big family meal with extended family and not know what to feed 1-2 veggie guests.
Plane_Cut9127@reddit
You do you. If it's important for you to have a Sunday roast, then make the effort. I'm a Dane married to an Englishman and we tend to have a roast most weeks - it's not traditionally Danish but we both like it.
MrSebastian_Melmoth@reddit
I like having a nice roast lunch followed by a proper treat dessert every Sunday. Its something to look forward to at the end of each week.
when_music_hits@reddit
Absolutely love a full on Sunday roast when I'm home, but if I'm out or abroad I'll try anything else.
rawcane@reddit
I used to do them when I had the kids at home every weekend. I think it's a nice thing to do as a family and it's a good way to get in all the major food groups and have some leftovers for lunch/soup etc. Now everyone is so busy it's not really worth it.
Sweet_keto_chef@reddit
I would never do a roast when I was single, even in a shared house.
Yesterday we had roast pork and tonight we’re having roast chicken though. I think we had three roasts in a week once as well.
We’re a special case though, I’m a Chef so doing a roast isn’t a big deal, and my wife is a very fussy eater who loves a roast and not a great deal else, so it’s safe, if you know what I mean.
nogardleirie@reddit
It's as important as you both want it to be. If you don't care for it, don't bother.
Soldier_Faerie@reddit
I'm a lifelong vegetarian, but we've never done anything equivalent to a sunday roast. We just eat normal food, nothing 'special', it's no different to any other day of the week. Just never been a thing in our house.
hellopo9@reddit
It used to be very important and a bigger part of the culture. It's a really nice tradition to have a fancy traditional meal once a week. However, today people care less about traditions and culture in general (especially English people). Culture and traditions take work to maintain, I think the idea of a Sunday Roast will sadly disappear in a generation.
False-Sandwich-2051@reddit
in an age where chicken can be purchased by the actual bucket, not really important at all
underwater-sunlight@reddit
Make your own traditions that suit your life. If a roast dinner is something you miss, establish a way to include it, either eating out on occasion, trying veggie options...
My wife and I like a roast. Daughter isn't so keen and neither of us are massive eaters so it can be a bit of a waste.
Outside_Duty3356@reddit
It’s one of the few meals my ND family all annoy so I do make the effort. However I do cheat wherever possible but I always make the Yorkshires from scratch
PsychologicalRise368@reddit
Not important whatsoever.
Its just a meal, have what you want that makes you happy.
Twisted_paperclips@reddit
Every other weekend we have a full Sunday roast, as we are both at home. Otherwise it's pie and mash or something similar that husband and step son fancy as i'm working.
There's no pressure for either of us to cook it, but it is part of a ritualistic Sunday reset - prep the meal, then clean whilst it cooks, eat then settle down for the evening before returning to work the next day.
twilekquinn@reddit
We're having one today because we can be arsed but its not important to me either for Easter (not religious in the slightest) or Sunday generally. Its just the two of us, if we had a larger family maybe it would be different.
PinkxxAcid@reddit
My favourite meal is a Sunday roast we have them maybe 2 times a month but only because we enjoy them not because it's traditional
omgee1975@reddit
Roasts are more of an English tradition than a tradition for all Brits. We rarely had one growing up and I never have one now.
PetersMapProject@reddit
We only do a roast occasionally, maybe 3-4 time a year including Christmas.
Almost everything in a roast is vegetarian, you just need to swap out the meat and gravy. Pies (e.g. Pieminister) fit in really well, and I recommend M&S Plant Kitchen gravy.
Nouschkasdad@reddit
I have never cooked myself a Sunday roast and I don’t remember it being a thing in my family growing up.
ProfPMJ-123@reddit
It’s not important at all as a tradition.
There’s a number of people who have “a proper Sunday dinner” instead of having a personality, but you can safely ignore them.
You do you.
skibbin@reddit
I probably have about 3 per year. I get annoyed that pubs are only serving roasts on Sunday about 5 times per year
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