When you tuck into your Christmas dinner tomorrow, will you be eating turkey or have you ditched it for something else?

According to Pub & Grill, the classic turkey Christmas dinner is on its way out, because data collected by the pub chain reveals that over half of Brits (51 per cent) feel obliged to eat turkey due to tradition.

If freed from this obligation, 65 per cent of Brits would ditch turkey as the centrepiece of their Christmas table, with pies, burgers and steaks amongst the top alternative choices. More than one in 10 (12 per cent) would even opt for a curry for their Christmas meal instead of turkey, if given the choice.

A freshly grilled steak, in particular, is the preferred dish of choice for as many as 46 per cent of Brits, who claim it’s the single most luxurious meal around. Even though it’s the top choice for nearly half of us, one in five say it’s also the most difficult to cook.

According to the data, Brits are considering ditching a home cooked Christmas meal, with over half (53 per cent) naming the stress of managing cooking times as the single biggest reason to give it a miss, followed closely by the post-dinner clean-up (50 per cent), the pressure of making a mistake (31 per cent) and cost of purchasing ingredients (28 per cent) as other key factors.

As well as the culinary challenges faced by hosts, over one in five (27 per cent) said that the pressure of entertaining would be the main reason behind them not wanting to have the festive feast at home, highlighting a lack of engagement (39 per cent) and political disagreements (20 per cent) as potential worries.

What’s more, when it comes to difficult dinner guests, aunts and uncles have been named as the least favourable relative to sit next to during a Christmas meal, with respondents claiming they had tendencies to ask annoying questions (44 per cent), not provide engaging conversation (39 per cent), and are generally uninteresting (35 per cent).

On the other hand, when it comes to picking their favourite Christmas dinner companion, a third of Brits (29 per cent) claim they’d most like to sit next their children, with over half (53 per cent) saying kids are the most likely family member to make them laugh.

Carrie Nelmes, marketing manager at Pub & Grill said: “It’s clear that hosting a traditional Christmas dinner in your home can be challenging for all sorts of reasons. Given the year we’ve all had, it’s no surprise that Brits are in search of a fresh, tasty and stress-free meal for Christmas 2021, and we deserve it.”