ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

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“Family meal” is a venerated tradition in restaurants where staffers gather and enjoy a meal together before service begins. Typically prepared by the kitchen staff and served buffet-style, the family meal helps to bring the team together around a table—just like at home. The chefs carried over this tradition to ChefSteps because we believe that cooking and eating together makes us better at our jobs—and better at life. In years past, different chefs teamed up with non-kitchen employees to prepare great meals like <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/family-meal-vietnamese-spring-rolls--2">Vietnamese Spring Rolls</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/family-meal-chefsteps-style-biryani">ChefSteps-style Biryani</a>, and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/family-meal-korean-barbecue">Korean Barbecue</a>. This year—after many, many months of social distancing and working remotely—we wanted to bring the team together and share the ChefSteps family meal tradition with colleagues visiting from different parts of the country and the globe. Since we’re heading into the holiday season, we built this family menu around robust holiday centerpieces, rather than a single dish or cuisine. We couldn’t agree on just one holiday roast, so the chefs prepared five, supported by a flavorful cast of side dishes and desserts.All the recipes for this meal were pulled from <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/gallery">right here</a>, with a few tweaks made here and there (because the chefs can’t help but iterate and experiment, even with tried-and-true recipes). When prepping the <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beautiful-aromatic-beets-for-any-occasion">aromatic beet side dish</a>, for example, they swapped golden beets for the classic red. Seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice, they served the beets with ricotta, blue cheese, and fresh herbs. Extra truffles on hand? Right into the Wellington (it’s <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-ultimate-beef-wellington">The Ultimate</a>, after all). Keep on scrolling to see our full menu, plus some tips from the chefs for serving a crowd.