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I’m going to share with you some of my favourite easy roast dinner recipes. These ingredients are packed with flavour, frugal, hearty and real crowd-pleasers too.
We absolutely love a family dinner, and especially a Sunday roast. There is something so social about gathering together around a big helping of delicious food. Typically roast dinners conjure up memories of family times for me, being together and asking my Mum “How long until dinner?” and the answer never actually being factual!
A roast dinner is always time-consuming and if you have limited days at home together your time may feel too sacred for a big roast.
I love to use my air fryer, for a variety of recipes, and am a big fan of slow cooker joints of meat too. I love being able to make my own gravy, using the meat juices, and my favourite roast dinners have a ton of air fryer vegetable recipes served with them, particularly air fryer potato dishes. Be sure to check out my best potato recipes too!
One of my biggest tips for preparing a roast dinner is to use a slow cooker. You can place your meat joint on to cook first thing in the morning, or even overnight, and then enjoy the first part of the day with your family.
Not only can you cook your meat, making it lovely and tender, but you can have vegetables and even the base of a tasty gravy cooking all in one pot. With minimum effort!
In the post I’m going to share with you all of my favourite roast dinner recipes, to help you feed your family a taste meal, on a budget, with minimal effort but maximum flavour!
Roast dinner recipes
Delicious, tasty, frugal roast dinner recipes that take minimal effort and are cheap to make too.
On those days I decide to cook a roast dinner at short notice I love to make this Ninja Foodi roast beef. It takes just a few minutes to prepare and requires next to no effort from me.
I cook lots of vegetables in the broth and then turn it into a tasty beef gravy.
I used to feel that roast beef could only be done in the oven, at least until I tried this recipe!
Filling the pot up with my favourite root vegetables is a great way to have a side dish to serve up alongside this roast beef, with very minimal effort.
This is possible one of my easiest roast dinner recipes ever. It takes just a few minutes to brown the meat, and this is worth every second of that time!
I love to use my Ninja Foodi for the days when I want to make a hearty family meal, but perhaps don’t want to spend quite as much time on it.
This Ninja Foodi gammon joint is super simple to prepare, takes just a few seconds to get into the pot and is perfect for a family roast dinner.
This has to be one of my favourite ever roast dinner recipes! This is a lovely, simple gammon recipe. Sure you shred it, rather than slicing it, but it’s still absolutely delicious.
Best of all you can use all of the lovely leftovers in the coming days for gammon, egg and chips, a nice salad or even just an extra tasty sandwich!
If you want a quick roast recipe then this one is for you! It requires just a few minutes of prep time at the beginning, and near the end, and you’ve got a delicious, hearty, crowd pleasing joint.
If you’re looking for something a little different then this pulled pork is ideal. You’ll probably have lots of leftovers for sandwiches during the busy week and you can even use the fat to make a lovely load of crackling in the oven if you’re using that to cook your trimmings up.
This roast chicken is succulent, packed full of flavour and super simple.
Cooking a whole chicken in the air fryer is simple, delicious and takes less time than oven cooking too.
This whole chicken is a doddle to make. You can fill the pot with lots of lovely vegetables and then you can use the stock that it creates as the base of an absolutely delicious homemade gravy.
On more leisurely weekends I love to make the gravy entirely from scratch, other times I like to skim the fat off and then add some gravy granules.
When you're trying to stretch a whole chicken, perhaps because you're on a budget, or just reducing meat consumption, then this post has all the tips you need!
No roast dinner would be complete without a rich, hearty gravy! I love to make onion gravy and often use the stock made while slow cooking a joint of meat.
This particular beef gravy is packed full of delicious roast beef juices, especially tasty when cooked in the slow cooker!
I sometimes make this gravy in advance, and just heat it through on the hob for a couple of minutes before serving. This is a great way to speed up the roast dinner serving time, especially if you’re just serving up from the air fryer and slow cooker like I often am.
My favourite roast dinner would have to be chicken. I love to use the tips from my stretch a roast chicken post to stretch things a little. Sometimes leftovers will be turned into a chicken, spinach & filo pie or a chicken & mushroom pie.
Air fryer sage and onion stuffing is a new favourite here, and a great way to cook something extra when you’re out of oven space!
I often freeze herbs so I have them on hand but you can use dried sage and it will still taste delicious!
Did you know it is really simple to make your own stuffing! I’ve gone for a rustic look with my sage and onion stuffing. You can also blitz it in your food processor to make it look a little more like ‘normal’ stuffing.
When I want to make a tasty roast dinner, with minimal effort, I will pop frozen yorkshire puddings in the air fryer. They're super fast and it is a great way to feed a hungry crowd too!
We absolutely love tasty roast potatoes and this post is jam packed full of tips to help you do the same!
These tasty rosemary and garlic roast potatoes are oven cooked to perfection, packed full of flavour and super simple too.
Parmentier potatoes are crispy delicious little potatoes with lashings of garlic and rosemary. A great roast dinner accompaniment or just a fun way to make dinner a little more special.
These roast potatoes are fast, super fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside too.
This is one of the first ever recipes that I created in my air fryer and these roast potatoes are perfect. Ready in under 30 minutes and super tasty too!
These tasty Marmite roast potatoes are so simple but packed full of flavour and a great alternative to the standard plain roast potato, which can feel a little samey if you have it every Sunday!
Just like the Marmite roast potatoes these are delicious potatoes, made with the addition of OXO cubes. These are delicious, packed full of flavour and so simple to make too. A great chance from the bog standard roast potatoes!
How to cook frozen roast potatoes in the air fryer - ideal for those days when you're short on time but still fancy a nice, tasty roast dinner.
When you want to serve something a little different be sure to give these hasselback potatoes a go. They take just a few minutes to prepare and they're a real show stopper - perfect for when you've got a hungry crowd to feed.
This is another recipe ideal for serving when you want to feed a hungry crowd and want to offer something a little bit different alongside your classic dishes.
When I want a super simple side dish I like to open a tin of potatoes and make these air fryer canned potatoes. They’re super simple, tasty and delicious. A great way to make a fast side dish with minimal effort.
Did you know that you can cook your potatoes for mash in the air fryer? I use a Masha to get smooth, creamy mash and this turns out perfect in the air fryer!
This root vegetable mash is packed full of flavour and super simple to make too.
These mashed potatoes are perfect for those days when you've got a bit more time, or perhaps want to keep the hob top free for cooking vegetables or stovetop stuffing.
When I'm in a hurry, but want to make a delicious yet simple mash, without looking at the hob every minute or two, I like to make these pressure cooker mashed potatoes.
This hearty cauliflower cheese dish is simple to make, taking just 20 minutes, and is rich, delicious and creamy - the perfect roast dinner side dish!
How to cook carrots and parsnips in the air fryer - perfect to serve alongside a tasty Sunday roast dinner!
Carrots are a classic and delicious staple for our roast dinners. They take just minutes to prepare, are super cheap and in season for months too!
How to cook tasty Tenderstem broccoli in the air fryer
I love to make air fryer green beans. They take just a few minutes to cook and they are so healthy and delicious too.
I absolutely love these honey glazed parsnips. They are super simple, tasty AND cheap too!
We love to serve nice simple desserts with our roast dinners and this pizookie is a real winner. You can use shop bought cookie dough if you want to save time and effort.
Another great simple dessert would have to be these air fryer cookies. You can follow my dough recipe or buy shop bought!
If you’ve already got your oven on cooking up your favourite treats why not make a simple but tasty looking dessert? This chocolate ripple cheesecake is really simple to make but looks, and tastes, absolutely lovely!
This apple crumble is super simple, packed full of flavour and perfect for serving up after a tasty roast dinner.
This rhubarb crumble is always a winner, and I love making individual ones in the air fryer with rhubarb from our garden.
When you want a twist on a classic dessert this rhubarb and pineapple crumble is delicious, and just the right balance or sweetness and bitterness.
I love to make this super simple chocolate sauce. It is simple to make, uses ingredients I always have in and tastes great with just about all desserts.
If you’re looking to enjoy a simple dessert, such as ice cream, then this salted caramel sauce is a simple way to bring a little flare to dessert without a lot of effort.
If you want to keep your dessert super simple then my 3 ingredient mug cake ticks that box!
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