Christmas Day lunch has been voted as the best festive food – with roast potatoes named the favourite part of the meal.
The roast turkey is not actually the star of the show, as it ranked just behind the crispy spuds – with pigs in blankets coming in third place.
Roast parsnips, gravy, and sage and onion stuffing, also ranked among the top ten best bits of a Christmas meal, according to the poll of 2,000 adults.
And Brussels sprouts took fifth place, with 21% of over-65s crowning them as the winner – compared to just 5% of 25-34-year-olds.
When it comes to Yorkshire puddings, which came in at fourth place on the list, the region they are most popular in is not actually their home region – with those in the North East enjoying them the most.
The least favoured choices include mint sauce, roast carrots, and pork and apple stuffing – with 7% of Londoners even claiming peas are their favourite part of the meal.
The research was commissioned by Lottoland, in conjunction with their new offer on three festive lottos.
CEO, Nigel Birrell, said: “There is a lot to look forward to when it comes to Christmas day eating.
“Whether you’re roasting them in goose fat or trying them in the air fryer, roast potatoes are one of the best things about Christmas, and I’m glad to see them taking pride of place this year.”
The survey also found that when it comes to meat, turkey could be on its way out – with 18-24-year-olds confessing they were most likely to favour roast chicken and beef over the traditional turkey.
Conversely, the over-65s were overwhelmingly in favour of the traditional bird, with 39% voting it the top performer.
Regardless of what’s on the plate, it appears that Christmas Day lunch outshines all competition when it comes to festive foods.
The main event was closely followed by mince pies, Christmas pudding, and cheese boards on the list of Yuletide favourites.
And more than one in ten (11%), of those aged 35-44, claimed mulled wine was the best festive treat.
The research also shows that our penchant for sugar wanes as we get older, as 18-24-year-olds prefer Celebrations, gingerbread, and hot chocolate over a Christmas roast – while the over-65s were least likely to favour the chocolate treats.
And the only chocolates to make it into this year's top 10 festive foods list were Quality Street.
The rankings saw Terry’s Chocolate Orange coming in at number 11, while Cadbury’s Roses took just 4% of the votes.
Surprisingly, one in five (21%) people aged 25-34 said they didn’t have any festive favourites at all.
And for those in London, mince pies were a preference over the traditional roast.
Those living in the capital were also most likely to favour Christmas cake, closely followed by mulled wine, according to the figures by OnePoll.
Nigel added: “It’s interesting to see the only chocolate making the top 10 Christmas food list this year are Quality Street – which goes to show that whether or not there are Bounty bars in the Celebrations tin, they still have fierce competition from Nestle.
“The research does show our tastes differ when it comes to age and gender, but I think it’s safe to say, there is no better time than Christmas for great food – it’s hard to narrow it down to a top 10.
“We’ve got our own Christmas Top Three happening this year, with special offers on the big three festive lottos – El Gordo, El Nino and Mega 2023.”
THE NATION’S TOP 10 CHRISTMAS DINNER ITEMS:
- Roast potatoes
- Roast turkey
- Pigs in blankets
- Yorkshire puddings
- Brussels sprouts
- Sage and onion stuffing
- Roast parsnips
- Gravy
- Roast chicken
- Roast beef
THE NATION'S TOP 10 FESTIVE FOOD AND DRINKS:
- Christmas Day lunch
- Mince pies
- Pigs in blankets
- Christmas pudding
- Christmas cake
- Cheese boards
- Mulled wine
- Baileys
- Yule log
- Quality Street
