How people are bonding through food this Christmas

Christmas time is a great opportunity to strengthen bonds with family, friends and romantic partners. From bonding with loved ones over a board game, gifting a partner a loving gift, or even reminiscing over a delicious Christmas dinner, the festive period encourages people to carve connections with loved ones.

However, it can also cause stress and arguments in the home – whose family will you spend Christmas with? Should you host Christmas Day this year? 

With this in mind, we’ve surveyed 2,000 Brits to uncover how people across the nation are approaching Christmas.

Key findings: 
• Just 1 in 3 Brits would WANT to host Christmas Day at their own home
• 1 in 4 households are expected to have an alternative to turkey this Christmas
• Roast potatoes are officially the nation’s favourite Christmas trimming
• 47.8 million Brits would NEVER want to host Christmas Day
• 694 million pigs in blankets expected to be eaten on Christmas Day
• Glaswegians are set to eat the most pigs in blankets this Christmas, more than any other city
• 8.2 million Brits have asked guests to bring a dish for Christmas dinner, instead of cooking the whole meal

70% of Brits would never want to host Christmas Day in their own home

Hosting Christmas Day comes with a huge amount of pressure – guests expect a delicious meal with all the trimmings, games and entertainment, not to mention a whole host of fond memories to reminisce about in years to come. 

We asked the nation whether they would feel comfortable and at ease when hosting Christmas Day and a whopping 70% said they would never want to host Christmas Day in their own home, instead preferring to visit someone else’s home for the festivities. 

When asked the reasons for this, 79% said that cooking for a lot of people bothers them and 1 in 4 (25%) even admitted that cooking a Christmas dinner for family would be extremely anxiety-provoking. 

This may explain why 8.2 million Brits (12%) have asked guests to bring a dish for Christmas dinner, instead of having sole responsibility of cooking the full meal themselves.

How does Christmas affect romantic relationships?

There are many opportunities to feel closer to your partner at Christmas, whether through gifts shared around the Christmas tree or even venturing out on romantic dates to Christmas markets. 

However, with added stressors of how much to spend on each other, and where to spend Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, it can be a complex space to navigate when in a relationship.

1 in 3 people feel closer to their partner at Christmas

Our survey revealed that 1 in 3 people feel closer to their partner emotionally during the festive season, with 12% going on more dates with their significant other. 

And with Christmas encompassing the love language of ‘gifting’, it’s not surprising that 20% of people say that thoughtful gifts bring them and their partner closer – interestingly, men (6%) are more likely than women (3%) to want to be gifted kitchenware this Christmas. 

1 in 2 (48%) Brits admit they have been intimate in the kitchen, and with 18% claiming that the festivities make them more intimate with their partner, this number could skyrocket in December. Christmas traditions could be getting us in the mood as 11% of women are getting turned on by their partner carving a turkey. It looks like the kitchen counter could be getting a lot of use this December – just a heads up!

A quarter of couples have more arguments at Christmas

Certain elements of Christmas can put a strain on romantic relationships – we uncovered that 1 in 4 couples have more arguments due to festive stress. 

With 51% of Brits having experienced an argument with their partner in the kitchen, the prep for Christmas dinner could be set to cause many issues this year. Interestingly, 1 in 10 people said that cooking with their other half always results in arguments so it may be a good idea to stay out of the way if your partner is the chef on Christmas Day.

6% of couples argue about where to spend Christmas and 3% bicker about how long they’ll have to be apart from each other if celebrating separately.

Roast potatoes are the nation’s favourite Christmas trimming

With so many different trimmings available, we wanted to settle the debate on which is the nation’s favourite, once and for all. We asked Brits to pick their top five Christmas trimmings of all time to establish an official rank. 

In first place is roast potatoes, with 54% of Brits choosing this crispy delicacy as their all-time favourite. 

Pigs in blankets (37%), turkey (32%), stuffing (30%) and gravy (30%) round off the top five. Yorkshire puddings (28%), brussels sprouts (24%), parsnips (19%), beef (14%) and cauliflower cheese (14%) finalise the top 10. 

When it comes to city breakdowns, Bristolians and Norwich residents are officially the biggest fans of roast potatoes, with 73% of locals including roast potatoes in their top five favourite trimmings of all time. However, Aberyswyth locals prefer pigs in blankets (60%) and stuffing (40%) to roast potatoes (20%). 

While turkey finished in third place, our survey revealed that 1 in 4 (23%) of people actually plan to choose an alternative to turkey this Christmas. This is most prevalent among millennials, with 26% wanting a different option to turkey – interestingly, 50% of Portsmouth locals will be steering clear of turkey this year. 

Across the UK, 694 million pigs in blankets are set to be eaten on Christmas Day, with the average person expected to eat 10 on the big day. 

However, our study revealed that some cities are bigger fans of pigs in blankets than others. In fact, Glaswegians are expected to eat the most – a whopping 23 on Christmas Day alone! Other cities loving this delicacy are Portsmouth (14), Oxford (13), Brighton (13), Aberdeen (13) and London (12). 

Christmas is a fantastic time to bond with family and create memories that will last a lifetime. Whether you plan to cook the Christmas dinner with your partner, eat around a table full of your nearest and dearest, or even gift a loved one some new kitchenware, connections can be carved anywhere in the kitchen. To view our range of gift sets in time for Christmas, tap here for more information.

Methodology

Global Knives commissioned a survey of 2,000 adult Brits via OnePoll in October 2024, with a focus on how people are carving connections in the kitchen – from getting intimate on the worktop to bonding with family and friends over a home-cooked meal. 

The survey criteria were as follows: 
• Those aged between 18 and 65+
• People from 30 different cities in the UK