Downton Abbey Dinner Party Menu

This Downton Abbey Dinner Party Menu is delightful for serving during Downton Abbey’s final season on Masterpiece Theatre.

Friends, are you watching the final season of Downton Abbey, beginning on January 3rd? In celebration, I’ve created a dinner party menu, some dinner party tips, and beautiful photos to show you how simple it can be! Invite your friends, delegate a few of the dishes, set the table, and get ready for an elegant, delightful, memorable dinner party!

Lori and I recently traveled to London, and visited the little town of Bampton, where the series was filmed, at the “Downton Abbey castle” Highclere Castle, and learned more about the Crawley family. This sixth and final season is very exciting for us, to finally find out what becomes of the family!

So much of Downton Abbey’s daily rhythm is about the food. Most of the connection with the downstairs staff takes place in the kitchen, during meal preparation, and then dining together (we got to enjoy tea in this exact room!), as they discuss family management, inner workings of the household, politics, and so much more, at their elaborate, perfectly-set formal table.

Everyone dressed properly for dinner back then, and in the same Highclere Castle today, Lady Carnarvon and Lord George Herbert (8th Earl of Carnarvon) never come to dinner without a long gown and a tux.

What are the essentials? Pretty China, fresh flowers, wine, and delicious food!

A formal dinner from the era of Downton Abbey could include up to twenty-two courses. Today we’re sharing a menu of just five that could possibly have been served during that time.

Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches. What is tea time, without tea sandwiches and scones?

Sausage Pinwheels. Popular during the holidays, mix a bit of puff pastry and a batch of ground sausage together, and roll into a long log shape; wrap, slice into pieces, brush with egg wash, and bake till golden.

Pear Potato Soup. It’s very delicious, and very simple to make.

Marinated Kale Salad. A small, healthy salad, you can also mix in shaved Brussel’s sprouts.

Roast Beef. Roast beef dinner is a traditional British Sunday meal, but can be served for any dinner party.

Yorkshire Pudding. Paired deliciously with roast beef, a traditional British side dish.

Sticky Toffee Pudding. It’s called pudding; however, it’s actually cake, a British steamed dessert, consisting of a very moist sponge cake, made with finely chopped dates, covered in a toffee sauce and often served with a vanilla custard or ice-cream.

And, I thought I’d throw in the 4 cardinal rules written up for the servants (spoken, of course, in a historically accurate scenario):

• Don’t talk to the guests, and avoid eye contact.
• Walk clockwise around the table.
• Bend at the waist to serve, and lower the serving plate to an appropriate height, so the guests can easily serve themselves.
• Wear white gloves, or hide your serving hand in a napkin, so the guests do not see your skin.

Will you be watching Downton Abbey this season, and possibly hosting a dinner party before the season is over?