Few meals divide opinion quite like a Sunday dinner. Everyone agrees that it should be generous, comforting and covered in proper gravy—but the moment you ask what actually belongs on the plate, the arguments begin.
Across Stoke-on-Trent and the wider Potteries, the Sunday roast remains more than just a meal. It is part of family life: the dinner that brings everyone to the table, the pub lunch after a walk, and the plate people compare with the one their mum or nan used to make.
The meat at the centre of it all
Roast beef is the traditional favourite for many people, particularly when it is served pink in the middle with horseradish sauce. Others will argue just as strongly for roast chicken, pork with crisp crackling, or slow-cooked lamb with mint sauce.
Then there is the mixed-meat dinner—a popular pub option for anyone who refuses to choose. It may not be the most traditional approach, but a plate carrying beef, turkey and gammon is difficult to dismiss when Sunday lunchtime arrives.
Roast potatoes must be properly crisp
There is very little room for compromise here. A proper roast potato should be crisp and golden on the outside, soft and fluffy in the middle, and sturdy enough to survive a generous helping of gravy without immediately falling apart.
Small pale potatoes that look as though they have merely visited the oven will not do. The best ones have rough edges, plenty of colour and usually disappear from the serving dish before anything else.
Does mash belong on a roast?
This is where the Potteries debate becomes serious. In some parts of the country, serving mashed potato alongside roast potatoes is treated as unnecessary. Around Stoke-on-Trent, plenty of people would disagree.
A spoonful of buttery mash gives the gravy somewhere to settle and turns the dinner into something even more substantial. For many local families, having both mash and roasties is not excessive—it is simply how a Sunday dinner is meant to be served.
Yorkshire puddings: beef only or every roast?
Tradition may pair Yorkshire puddings with roast beef, but modern Sunday dinners have largely broken that rule. Many diners expect one regardless of whether they have chosen chicken, pork or lamb.
The ideal Yorkshire pudding should be tall, crisp around the edges and slightly soft at the bottom once the gravy reaches it. One enormous pudding makes an impressive centrepiece, although several smaller ones provide more opportunity for soaking up gravy.
The vegetables matter too
Carrots, peas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower cheese, parsnips and swede all have their supporters. The precise selection often depends on the season and the cook, but the vegetables should never feel like an afterthought.
Cauliflower cheese is particularly controversial. Some people regard it as essential; others insist cheese sauce has no business sharing a plate with gravy. That may be one argument the city will never settle.
And finally—the gravy
A dry roast dinner is a disappointment. Proper gravy should be rich, savoury and plentiful, bringing the meat, potatoes and vegetables together. Whether it is poured carefully around the plate or generously over everything is a matter of personal preference.
An extra gravy boat on the table is always a sensible move. Nobody should have to ration gravy halfway through a Sunday dinner.
What makes your perfect Potteries roast?
So what belongs on the definitive local Sunday dinner? Beef or chicken? Mash as well as roast potatoes? One Yorkshire pudding or three? Cauliflower cheese—or absolutely not?
Tell us what must be on your plate, what should never be there, and which Stoke-on-Trent pub, restaurant or carvery serves your favourite Sunday roast.
Featured photograph: Lisa Baker via Unsplash.
