What meat do Kiwis eat on Christmas Day?

Photo / File

The results of the Great Kiwi Christmas Survey are in for 2021 and ham has been voted the most popular protein on our plates this Christmas.

Pork took the lead with 36.2 per cent of the vote – 3.2 per cent up from the poll in 2020.

Last year's winner lamb followed closely at 31.2 per cent and beef came in third at 10.9 per cent.

It's the fourth edition of the Great Kiwi Christmas Survey, which is run by Retail Meat New Zealand in conjunction with Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

The poll of over 3300 Kiwis covers a range of Christmas traditions and debates.

NZ Pork chief executive David Baines was not surprised by the result, as ham was the centrepiece of many Kiwi family Christmas tables.

"It's a delicious, traditional favourite that guarantees plenty of leftovers to enjoy in the days following."

Pork is number one with 36.2 per cent of the vote in the Great Kiwi Christmas Survey 2021. Photo / Supplied

Of those polled, 61.2 per cent of respondents expect to have at least 1-2 days of leftovers - only 4.3 per cent manage to eat it all in one day.

Other statistics included how many Kiwis will be having two meals on Christmas day (56 per cent) - with the majority sharing the day's festivities with over 10 people (30.7 per cent).

Cooking methods for the meat on the day will be dominated by ovens and BBQs, capturing 62.8 per cent and 32.5 per cent respectively – which represents a further swing to ovens from 2020 when it was 61 per cent and 35 per cent.

Most people (37.3 per cent) will take 2-3 days to prepare their Christmas meal, which will be enjoyed in the early afternoon (53.2 per cent).

Only 1.7 per cent of people will be tucking into their meal in the late evening, after a day spent opening presents (79.3 per cent), playing backyard games (49.2 per cent), driving to other family members' houses (41 per cent) and sleeping (33.4 per cent), while only 5 per cent of Kiwis will be carol singing this year.

As for dessert, Kiwi favourite pavlova won out (70.6 per cent) with strawberries and ice cream coming in second place (45 per cent).

Not surprisingly, 97.9 per cent agreed that New Zealand created the pavlova first, rather than Australia.

As with pavlova-gate, the survey also sought answers to some long-standing debates in a series of head-to-head matchups.

The must-have song on the Christmas playlist was won by Michael Bublé with "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (52. per cent) which defeated Mariah Carey and "All I want for Christmas is You" (40.8 per cent).

Meanwhile, 78.9 per cent believe Christmas music should only be played during December, yet 7.3 per cent think it's okay to play all year round.

Then there is the 5.2 per cent who believe it should never be played.

As for presents, 87.1 per cent believe that adults should definitely get them, while 93.1 per cent believe that Christmas morning is the correct time to open presents - and 2.5 per cent will be opening as soon as they get them.

Spending time with family was 61.6 per cent of those polled's favourite part of the festive season.

Finally, and perhaps the most important debate is whether "Die Hard" is a Christmas film.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently weighed in on this, saying that it should definitely be included.

The Great Kiwi Christmas Survey agreed, with 60.2 per cent in favour of the Bruce Willis classic being officially classified as a festive film.