With less than two weeks to go until the big day, research from Mitchells & Butlers reveals that over 1 million guests are set to dine out on Christmas Day.

In our pubs and restaurants across the UK, like Harvester, Toby Carvery, Miller & Carter, Browns, Sizzling Pubs, Ember Inns, All Bar One, O'Neill's and Vintage Inns we've got 72,000 turkeys, 2,500 tonnes of potatoes, 235 tonnes of Brussels sprouts and 103,000 mince pies on order, as we welcome guests to share the most special day of the year with us.

Although Turkey remains a traditional favourite, according to the 250,000 meals already on order sales of Chocolate Brownies are outselling the traditional Christmas Pudding, and in Harvester nearly 50% of the meals set to be served will not be turkey.

With a predicted nine hours spent preparing, cooking and clearing away a Christmas Day feast, it's no wonder that Brits across the country have made the decision to ditch the dish cloths this year!

Among the time spent making Christmas dinner, research indicating that it costs the average family £178 to cook at home, put together with the pressure of serving multiple courses to the extended family means chefs at home could be cooking up a lot of stress.

This could be why Mitchells & Butlers has seen increased bookings for Christmas Day, with the top ten booking hotspots from guests in Birmingham, London, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Sheffield, Sutton Coldfield, Glasgow, Nottingham and Coventry.

If you are cooking at home, don't forget that Toby Carvery's website features some handy Toby Tips, including how to create the perfect roasties, gravy and Yorkshire Puddings. Our research has also indicated the gift of Christmas dinner is set to be a seasonal sell out with sales of gift cards which can be used within our pubs and restaurants expected to attract £500,000 in sales, up 34% from last year.

Catriona Kempston, Marketing Director, at Mitchells & Butlers comments;

"As we try to cram more and more into our Christmas Day, avoiding motorway queues and instead giving families time together in a relaxing, welcoming environment as well as getting home cooked food meets the tradition of Christmas, but with a twist."

"We are a Nation of bakers, but now more than ever time spent with our loved ones is coming first and though the tradition of cooking at home is still prevalent, the hours that can be given back by dining out this Christmas is outweighing it."