Gluten Free Festive Bake

Being gluten free should not mean missing out – which is why I’ve created my very own Gluten Free Festive Bake recipe. I always see people talking about the Gregg’s Festive Bake so I tried to recreate this fan-favourite, but completely gluten free. Flaky gluten free puff pastry with roast chicken, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a stuffing crumb coating.

I’m a big believer that us gluten free folk should never have to miss out, which is why my early Christmas gift to you is this Greggs Festive Bake dupe!

Now, while I can’t persuade Greggs to offer any gluten free pastry goods, I can promise these are SUPER easy to make and absolutely delicious.

They are a wonderful way to use up Christmas dinner leftovers too, mopping up any leftover chicken (or turkey), stuffing and cranberry sauce.

You can make a batch and freeze them to reheat for an easy lunch or dinner – or have them as a lazy, tasty dinner with my gluten free oven chips or air fryer baby potatoes.

And if you need more recipe inspiration for Christmas meals, why not try my Christmas Sausage Rolls and my Christmas Mac and Cheese recipes next?

I’ve also got a gluten free Steak Bake dupe as well – I’ve never, ever been able to eat Greggs so it’s been fun creating gluten free versions of their recipes to try!

Ingredients

To make this gluten free Greggs Festive Bake dupe recipe you will need:

• Gluten Free Puff Pastry: You can make your own homemade gluten free puff pastry (you’ll need a double batch of my recipe). But I usually use the JusRol gluten free puff pastry for this for ease!
• Butter: This forms the base of the gluten free white sauce
• Milk: I use full fat but you can use semi-skimmed
• Plain Gluten Free Flour: You’ll need a plain or all purpose gluten free flour blend.
• Streaky Bacon: You can also use bacon lardons or even some chopped, cooked ham.
• Roast Chicken: Leftover roast turkey also works well if you’re making this with Christmas dinner leftovers
• Gluten Free Stuffing: I use leftover gluten free stuffing from a packet mix for this.
• Cranberry Sauce
• Egg
• Gluten Free Breadcrumbs + Sage: I used my homemade gluten free breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you could swap the two ingredients for some gluten free stuffing mix.

How to Make Gluten Free Festive Bakes

Here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this Greggs Festive Bake gluten free dupe recipe is to make.

Preheat the oven to 200C / Fan 180C / Gas Mark 6 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

If you are using JusRol gluten free puff pastry, remove it from the fridge 10 minutes before you need to unroll it, to avoid it cracking.

To make the white sauce, melt the butter over a low heat in a small saucepan. Add the gluten free flour, stirring for a minute to create a roux.

Next, pour a small amount of the milk into the pan, stirring continually until smooth. Repeat until all the milk has been added and there are no lumps. Take off the heat and set aside.

Unroll both sheets of gluten free puff pastry. Cut the first sheet into 4, equal-size rectangles.

Shred the roast chicken, cut the cooked bacon into small pieces and break the leftover stuffing into small chunks.

Evenly top the pastry rectangles with the chicken, bacon and stuffing, ensuring you leave a 1-2cm border around the edges.

Using a teaspoon, add dollops of the (cooled) white sauce, followed by cranberry sauce, on top of the meat and stuffing.

Brush the borders of the pastry with a little beaten egg. Cut the second rectangle of puff pastry into 4 rectangles, the same as the first sheet.

Place a pastry rectangle on top of each topped pastry, pressing down gently round the edges to seal them.

Use a fork to seal the edges properly. Carefully lift the festive bakes onto the baking tray.

Add the gluten free breadcrumbs, sage and a pinch of salt to a pestle and mortar and grind into a fine crumb.

Brush each festive bake with more eggwash, score some small slits into the top (for steam to escape) then sprinkle over the ground breadcrumbs.

Bake the Festive Bakes in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown and puffy. You can enjoy them hot or cold.

Storing and Freezing

Once baked, these will easily keep in the fridge for a couple of days. Ensure you reheat them thoroughly if you’re eating them hot.

These gluten free Festive Bakes are so easy to make ahead of time, you can either freeze them before or after baking.

Construct the festive bakes then freeze them (flat, before decanting into a tub or bag) before egg-washing them.

Defrost in the fridge overnight before baking, brush them with beaten egg and then coat with the stuffing crumb, before baking as normal.

You can also freeze these Festive Bakes once cooked and then simply reheat (thoroughly) in the oven before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some FAQs about this easy bread pudding recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.