How to roast a goose for Christmas: tips and video

First time roasting a goose? Watch our handy Christmas goose video for all the best tips on achieving the perfect bird this festive period.

Alternatively, read our handy tips here.

delicious. team

Written by the expert and completely food-obsessed team behind this website, our social channels and our monthly magazine.

Find more

Steps on how to roast a goose for Christmas:

A 4.5kg goose will feed about 6-8 people. Keep it uncovered at room temperature for two hours before cooking.
Season the cavity of the goose and push in some fresh herbs. Tie the bird into a neat shape with cooks’ string and then sprinkle it with salt before putting it on a wire rack inside a large roasting tin.
Roast the goose in an oven heated to 220 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
A roast goose creates a large quantity of fat. Remove your goose from the oven after about 30 minutes and pour off any fat into a bowl. Return the bird to the oven for a further one hour and 20 minutes, reducing the heat to 180 degrees.
Continue to pour off the fat every 20-30 minutes.
A goose is cooked when a digital thermometer pushed into the thickest part of the thigh reads 65-70 degrees Celsius.
Pour off any remaining fat then leave the goose to rest on a lipped board for 20-30 minutes, covered with a loose tent of foil whilst you make your gravy.
Roast goose will give you lovely home-produced fat which will keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to two months. Discover ways to use up leftover goose fat here.