Sunday Lunch: 10 Ideas for the Whole Family

Two dishes dominate most Sunday tables: creamy beef sirloin sauce and slow-roasted duck with dumplings and cabbage. Neither demands fancy technique — just time in the oven — and both can be largely prepped the day before, so on Sunday you're only finishing them off.

This dish lives or dies by its sauce. Root vegetables — carrot, parsnip, celeriac — are browned until golden, topped up with stock, blended smooth and finished with cream. The meat (beef round or true sirloin) needs time: let it sit in the vegetables and spices — allspice, bay leaf, thyme, whole peppercorns — overnight if you can, so it cooks through tender and soaks up all the flavour. Balance the sourness with lemon, the sweetness with cranberries. A proper sauce is silky, never floury — if it's thickened with flour instead of blended vegetables, you can taste the difference.

Crispy skin comes from slow roasting, not high heat. Roast the duck for 2.5–3 hours at 150–160°C to render the fat under the skin, then crank the oven up to 200°C for the last 15 minutes to get that final colour. Baste it with the pan juices as it cooks. Serve with bread dumplings and braised red cabbage — its sweet-and-sour edge cuts nicely through the rich meat.

• Marinate the meat ahead of time. With both sirloin sauce and duck, the rule holds: the longer the meat sits in the spices, the deeper the flavour goes — ideally overnight.

• Brush the duck with honey or apple juice about 20 minutes before it's done; the sugars caramelise and give the skin a lovely sheen.

• Cook the sauce and the cabbage a day ahead. Overnight in the fridge, the flavours mature and come together; the next day you're just reheating, with only the dumplings and meat left to sort.

An Italian Sunday really comes down to two dishes: lasagne and risotto. Lasagne can be assembled ahead and just baked off; risotto needs to be made at the last minute with constant stirring. Pick whichever suits how much time you've got right before lunch.

A good lasagne rests on three layers: a slow-cooked meat ragù (proper Bolognese), a smooth béchamel, and a good tomato sauce made from fresh or good-quality tinned tomatoes. Fresh basil and grated parmesan go between the layers. Once baked, let it rest for 10 minutes so it holds its shape when sliced.(We're still working on our own lasagne recipe for you — for now, use this method as a guide.)

Risotto's creaminess doesn't come from cream — it comes from the starch in Arborio or Carnaroli rice. Toast the rice dry first (tostatura), splash in some wine, then add hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly for about 18 minutes. Right at the end, off the heat, beat in cold butter and parmesan (mantecatura) — that's the step that gives it that truly silky texture. Vary it with mushrooms, saffron or seafood.

When there's no time for a big roast, two dishes ready in half an hour can save your Sunday: grilled salmon with a grain salad and chicken stir-fry with vegetables. Both are on the table before the oven's even fully warm, and they hold their own against the slower classics flavour-wise.

Salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids — a 100g portion delivers roughly 700–1900mg of EPA and DHA depending on the type, and the American Heart Association recommends two servings of oily fish a week. Brush the fillet with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill for 3–4 minutes per side until just pink in the middle. Serve with a grain salad — the recipe below uses rice, but feel free to swap in quinoa with cherry tomatoes, cucumber and lemon juice. Done in 20 minutes.

Slice the chicken breast into thin strips. Heat a little sesame oil in a hot pan or wok and stir-fry the chicken with peppers, broccoli and carrot over high heat for just a few minutes, so the vegetables stay crisp. Season with soy sauce and freshly grated ginger — it's on the table in 15 minutes.(We're still working on a quick chicken stir-fry recipe for you.)

A meat-free Sunday doesn't have to feel like a compromise. Pumpkin curry with coconut milk and roasted peppers stuffed with cheese will fill up the whole family — and studies link a largely plant-based diet with lower cardiovascular risk: a meta-analysis of 13 cohort studies found roughly a 15% lower risk of cardiovascular disease among vegetarians.

Pumpkin curry plays on the contrast between sweet pumpkin and rich coconut milk; it comes together quickly and is served with rice or naan. In our recipe collection, you'll currently find a close cousin — chickpea curry with coconut cream — which works just as well. Feta-stuffed peppers are colourful and refreshingly simple — the feta brings a salty creaminess that pairs beautifully with the roasted pepper.

The sweet finish after a hearty lunch should be light — and, above all, made ahead. Reach for a homemade fruit tart, a fresh cheesecake with fruit, or an Italian panna cotta you can make on Saturday.

A traditional fruit tart smells like home and can be baked the day before — the flavour only improves. Cheesecake with fresh fruit is fresher and lighter, ideal after a richer main course. If you fancy something airier, go for panna cotta or chocolate mousse in a glass.

• The tart can easily be baked on Saturday; it only gets better overnight.

• Cheesecake and panna cotta both need a few hours or overnight to set in the fridge — make them the evening before lunch.

• Chocolate mousse can be spooned into glasses and chilled ahead; come morning, dessert is sorted and you've got more time for the main course.

Pick one main course and, at most, one dessert — more courses just means more stress, not more fun. Shift the bulk of the work to Saturday: sauces, cabbage, desserts and marinades can all be made a day ahead, so on Sunday you're just finishing up and actually get to sit at the table with your family. And whatever you choose, one dish done really well will impress more than three thrown together in a rush.