Recipes & Cooking
Frozen vs fresh meals: which is right for you?
Nutrition, cost and lifestyle comparison for busy Australians.
Let’s be honest: nothing tops a home-cooked meal. Preparing food in your own kitchen, using fresh, quality ingredients, is hands down the best way to eat well, enjoy real flavours, and nourish your body. There’s a reason home cooking is the gold standard for health-conscious ...
Christmas Menu - How to store & serve our food
Christmas menu available mid October - 24 December 2025.
Jump over to our online Christmas menu here
The following guide has been put together as a one-stop reference for all items on our Christmas/Entertaining Menu. Its purpose is to make storing, preparing and serving our Christmas food 100% foolproof, so you can get on with the business of ...
Christmas cooking: Make it or fake it with Gourmet Dinner Service
How to host a stunning Christmas feast—no stress or fuss required
Dreaming of a beautiful, homemade Christmas lunch but finding your calendar packed and time short? You’re not alone! The festive season should be about celebration, not stress. That’s where the magic of “faking it” comes in—making every dish look like your own, while ...
Cook + serve the perfect roast turkey: 4 easy steps
Are you responsible for the Christmas feast or perhaps you’re celebrating Thanksgiving or another big event that calls for roast turkey? Many people get anxious on Christmas Day when they think about cooking turkey. But there’s no need to panic because it couldn’t be easier, even for the amateur cooks!
Here we show you how in just 4 easy ...
Meal planning: 7 healthy family dinner ideas for busy households
Quick, Nutritious and Affordable Family Meals for Aussie Families
If your evenings are a mad dash between work, school, sport and everything in between, you’re not alone. For many Australian families, finding time to cook healthy family dinners feels almost impossible. That’s why meal planning is a game-changer—making sure everyone’s fed ...
Recipe: Minted Green Bean Salad with Yoghurt
Here’s a salad that can be appreciated all year round. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and we guarantee it’s super easy, even for the most culinary-challenged!
Enjoy it as a meal in itself (top with chicken or bacon to boost the protein) or serve as a zesty side dish. The yoghurt and herb dressing make this salad the ideal ...
Top 10 tips to feed the kids & survive the school holidays!
School holidays can completely mess with your usual food routine. But that’s ok. The trick is to make holiday food feel a bit more fun, make it more relaxed, give yourself a well-deserved break, yet still nourish those growing bodies with healthy food for kids. We can help you do all this, with these simple tips to feed the kids.
Winter warmer meals: Best comfort food to warm you up
As soon as the temperate drops, do you find yourself reaching for a double helping of warming foods? We tend to associate meals like cheesy pastas, stews, rich creamy curries, pies and pastries, pub-style meals and chocolatey treats as Winter comfort food. Let us say, these meals are not called comfort food for nothing! Don’t worry, you’re in ...
Healthy kids: best brain foods for kids
Good nutrition is vital for healthy kids. That’s because growing and developing bodies need nutrients and lots of them! The brain is no exception, it needs a huge supply of certain nutrients to optimally grow and function. That’s where brain foods for kids come in.
Interesting fact - your child’s brain grows to 80% of its adult size by the ...
Indian Recipes: Cucumber raita + other condiments
Add some flair to your curry night with these three simple condiments that can be made ahead of time and enjoyed alongside just about any Indian meal. We’ll show you how to quickly and simply prepare delicious cucumber raita; a salad of tomato onion and coriander; plus cardamom rice in the recipes below. These little side dishes are great for ...
Freezing Food: Eat well, save money + help the environment.
Our *trade secrets* revealed!
If you’re looking for ways to be healthier, save time, save money and help the environment, then learning to effectively utilise your freezer is a good step. That’s because, it’s possible to always have a meal to fall back on; so long as you’re accustomed to freezing food portions as you buy or cook. We’ve ...
Hazelnut and Mushroom Salad Recipe
While mushrooms are grown all year round, wild mushrooms are in season along the East Coast of Australia from February to May. At this time you can pick them yourself or buy inexpensively from your local green grocer. Never eat wild mushrooms you find in your yard or out in nature, unless you’re an expert – they can be dangerous or deadly! ...
Mexican Recipes: Easy Peasy Guacamole! + Quick Corn Salad
Mexico ranks as one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. Known for its ancient ruins, colonial cities, nature reserves, festivals, beach resorts, friendly people and tasty cuisine.
If you’re dreaming of a getaway to Mexico, you’re going to have to wait. In the meantime, why not bring the zesty flavours of Mexican gastronomy to ...
Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin & Prosciutto Salad
Did you know that pumpkin is a fruit, not a vegetable? That’s because the edible part is from the seed-bearing structure of the plant. October is the perfect time to enjoy this recipe as the pumpkins still taste good (and you’ll find plenty of them around as Halloween approaches!). Plus, Springtime means fresh crunchy carrots and delicious ...
Recipe: Lamb Ragú Pasta in 10mins
Ragù is the name given to a collection of Italian pasta sauces made with meat, vegetables and occasionally, tomatoes. Bolognese is probably the best known type of ragù. But, our lamb ragú is something else! It’s easy peasy and super scrumptious, plus requires little more skill than an ability to boil water!
Most pasta sauces will pair with ...
Recipe: Easy Mushrooms on Toast
If you’re looking for a quick but nutritious and filling meal, try this one on for size. It’s perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner or just as a side dish – so versatile!
Mushrooms on toast is actually a classic British dish, typically cooked slowly so that the mushrooms release their juices which are then absorbed by the toast when poured ...
Potato Recipes: Two Ways (Herb Roasted & Garlic Mashed)
The humble spud unfortunately is often labelled, well, humble… boring or bland. This couldn’t be further from the truth! In fact, potatoes are one of the most versatile foods out there and can be cooked and served in many exciting and enticing ways. It’s true, they’re not often the star of the meal, but their beauty lies ...
Recipe: Peach & Pancetta Salad
Peaches are the ultimate Summer fruit and it doesn’t get much better than this salad for a suggestion of sunshine and sweetness. The juicy, perfumed peaches perfectly balance with the crisp salty pancetta and creamy smoothness of the feta. Enjoy as a weekday meal or side dish, with a BBQ or try it next time you’re asked to bring a plate.
6 Easy New Year’s Resolutions Everyone Should Make
Happy New Year! It’s that time again, yup, time to recommit to your health. We all do it every January but do we follow through? Sadly not. So, instead of setting yourself up for fail with unrealistic goals, here are 6 simple resolutions that will improve your wellbeing and are easy enough to stick to for the long term.
Creative Ideas for Christmas Leftovers
If your dining table is groaning under the weight of excess catering, then don’t waste it! Let us show you how to creatively repurpose the extras into delicious next-day meals.
Recipe: Quick and Easy Christmas Shortbread
Don’t have much time or skill for home-cooking? Good, this recipe is perfect as it allows you to take shortcuts! Most shortbread recipes entail rolling out the dough, pressing in cookie cutter shapes, and then transferring them to a baking tray. If you’re pushed for time, this process is just too fiddly.
Recipe: Asparagus Milanese
Asparagus are in season right through Spring so this is the time to get the freshest, juiciest Aussie grown beauties at the very best price. This dish, originating in Italy was historically a simple celebration of Spring. That’s because asparagus are one of the first vegetables to break through the soil after Winter and eggs of course have always ...
Recipe: Stuffed Artichokes
Are you one of the many people who have only ever eaten the type of artichoke heart you buy in a jar or see on an antipasto platter? Perhaps you’re a tiny bit scared of artichokes? Love the taste but wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to prepping and cooking them?
We’re here to rescue you from this fate. In fact, we’re challenging ...
Recipe: Mushy Green Peas
Simple, tasty, healthy!
The humble green pea is rather under-rated as a vegetable but this is truly unfair, as peas are impressively high in fibre and protein, rich in powerful antioxidants, all while being low in calories.
Recipe: Red Wine & Mushroom Sauce
Winter’s coming and it’s the time for some scrumptious and intensely satisfying comfort food. Here’s the perfect, restaurant-quality red wine and mushroom sauce you can whip up to enjoy alone or to impress guests at your next dinner party. As with all our recipes, it’s easy and impossible to stuff up!
Recipe: Easy Anzac Biscuits
Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially and widely available. But we think it’s a shame to buy them when you can so easily create your own superior home-baked version.
There’s nothing like the aroma of baked oats and golden syrup, mmmm… deee…licious!
6 Cool Reasons Why Frozen Beats Fresh
The practice of freezing food dates back to 3,000BC when ancient Chinese populations used ice to store provisions. Freezing technology has come a long way since then! Today, the freezer is an integral appliance in our homes, used daily for storing and food preservation.
There are certainly many benefits to eating fresh food but here we’re ...
Recipe: Walnut + Chocolate Meringue Torte
Seriously easy twist on Pavlova
If you are a bit over ‘The Christmas Pav’ then try this simple yet five-star recipe. It’s a hit with the team here at Gourmet Dinner Service, a special treat that Janel whips up for all our staff birthdays. And now we’ve twisted her arm to share her secret recipe with you!
Recipe: Mango & Roasted Chilli Salsa
It’s mango season, so they’re in plentiful supply right now and the price is right. So get along to your local green grocer and buy a whole tray!
This mango salsa is easy to make and the perfect taste of Summer. It’s an all-rounder that works equally well with Asian or Mexican flavours; stands alone as a dipping condiment with toasted ...
