Whipping up Christmas dinner for your squad this year? If it's your first time hostessing, there's no need to panic. You can scour the internet for holiday kitchen tips and embark on a house-cleaning frenzy — or you can take comfort in the simple fact that good food creates full bellies and happy people, and that's the only goal you need to meet. Kick back with a plate of Christmas cookies and a mug ofhot chocolate; here are 37 comforting Christmas dinner ideas and recipes from appetizers to desserts that will take the headache out of building your dream holiday dinner menu.
Christmas Food Ideas Starting with Appetizers
Bacon Pastry Twists With Beer Cheese Dip
While cradling a cocktail in one hand, an easy-to-grab appetizer is essential. These flaky, cheesy bacon twists are both easy and delicious to dunk in a three-cheese beer dip. (via Brit + Co)
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Bites
A red-and-green holiday treat without sugary sprinkles? Count us in. These phyllo shells are filled with whipped pesto cream cheese and topped with basil and sun-dried tomatoes for some yummy Christmas food. (via Well Plated by Erin)
Cranberry Goat Cheese Balls with Rosemary Skewers
These cranberry goat cheese balls are the perfect balance of salty and sweet — a definite crowd-pleaser for any Christmas dinner! (via Chef Genevieve)
Holiday Crostini Trio
Spread avocado, mascarpone, and provolone onto toasted baguette slices for a tasty appetizer, and top away for three versatile holiday food ideas that will please any palate at your holiday party. (via The Baking Fairy)
Honey Almond Baked Brie
Add this this gooey, sweet, and salty baked brie to your Christmas dinner menu and guests will gather around it like it's a fireplace on a cold day. (via The Seasoned Mom)
Holiday Recipes for Side Dishes
Sesame Shrimp Puffs
The seafood lover in your home will be elated to munch on these sweet and umami-rich (thanks to oyster sauce) sesame shrimp, blanketed in buttery puff pastry. You'll definitely want to add this dish to your best Christmas recipes list. (via Brit + Co)
Cheesy Sweet Potato Gratin
This savory combination of sage, Gruyère cheese, and heavy cream is here to make sweet potato casserole even more indulgent. This is definitely one of our favorite Christmas dinner ideas ;). (via Brit + Co)
Healthy Butternut Squash Salad
Fill your guests' bellies with the seasonal flavors of butternut squash, apple cider, and pecans. The bacon is just the icing on the cake, so to speak. (via Brit + Co)
Romanesco Christmas Trees With Parmesan Snow
Turn romanesco into snow-capped trees with just six ingredients in this healthy yet cheesy dish for your next party. (via Brit + Co)
Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
Nothing will warm you to your toes quite like a good soup, and whipping one up in the slow cooker can save you time, mess, and energy. This French onion creation is a perennial favorite. (via Brit + Co)
Waffle Iron Latkes
These latkes make the perfect addition to any multi-cultural celebration, and the best part is how easy they are! From an apple butter topping to pomegranate and Greek yogurt, there's something for everyone. (via Brit + Co)
Cornmeal Biscuits With Cheddar, Chives, and Jalapeños
These slightly spicy biscuits are ideal for soaking up all that gravy goodness. (via Brit + Co)
Taco Salad
Okay, you might be thinking "Why in the world would someone serve taco salad at Christmas?" But hear me out! This recipe is full of delicious veggies, and it's just brimming with color. Keep things red and green to stay festive, or go all-out with every color of the rainbow. (via Brit + Co)
Crispy Leaf Potatoes With Rosemary, Butter, and Salt
If ever there were a bulletproof case for buying a mandoline slicer, it's these potatoes, which are sliced chip-thin, layered upright in a baking dish, and gloriously bathed in salty rosemary butter. (via Rasamalaysia)
Pumpkin Curry
If you're looking for vegan Christmas recipes, look no further than this warming, insanely delicious, and seasonal pumpkin curry. Just leave out the fish sauce to make it fully plant-based! (via Brit + Co)
5-Ingredient Christmas Salad
A complicated salad is the last thing you need to worry about when picking out Christmas dinner recipes. This palate-cleansing dish is simply butter lettuce, pomegranate seeds, and a white wine vinaigrette. (via My Kitchen Love)
Main Dishes to Enjoy With Family
Classic Roast Turkey
If you're tasked with cooking the bird this holiday season, look no further than this foolproof roast turkey recipe. (via Brit + Co)
Beef Short Ribs With Vegetables
Image via Baldacci Family Vineyards
Make a statement with a delicious short rib recipe that's cozy, filling, and features an unbelievable wine sauce. Everyone will be talking about it until next Christmas. (via Brit + Co)
Cranberry Glazed Turkey
Cranberry Glazed Turkey
Make your turkey extra-special with a delicious cranberry-pomegranate glaze everyone is sure to adore. (via Brit + Co)
Roasted Chicken with Carrots
For a Christmas dinner or otherwise, every home cook needs a roast chicken recipe in their back pocket. Start with this step-by-step recipe, which shows you how to stuff, truss, roast, and baste the bird until juicy and golden brown. (via Simply Recipes)
Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Loin With Apple and Rice Stuffing
This dish combines a classic holiday side with a crowd-pleasing main, and it's wrapped in prosciutto for a show-stopping finish. (via Well Plated by Erin)
Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup
Pasta doesn't get enough cred when it comes to holiday recipes, but nothing's cozier than a delicious bowl of warm tortellini. Except tortellini soup, that is (via Half-Baked Harvest)
Four-Cheese White Lasagna
This vegetarian lasagna-ravioli hybrid is made a little unconventionally, making it a great Christmas meal idea. Instead of neatly layering pasta sheets and cheese, fold a little bit of cheese into each individual pasta sheet, then layer haphazardly for a rustic look. (via Simply Recipes)
Roast Beef Tenderloin With Mushrooms and White Wine Cream Sauce
This melt-in-your-mouth holiday meal is cooked in one pan in under an hour. Sauté mushrooms in an oven-safe skillet, put the beef on top, roast, rest, and make a cheesy, herby cream sauce with the pan drippings. (via Half Baked Harvest)
Turkey Roulade With Apple Cranberry Stuffing in a Bacon Weave
This dish is all about texture, from the crispy bacon coat to the tender turkey in the middle and soft stuffing interior. This is one Christmas dinner recipe you won't want to miss out on. (via Boulder Locavore)
Dessert Christmas Recipes that are Delicioso
Keto Eggnog
Got guests who are committed to the low-carb lifestyle? This keto eggnog is the perfect dessert to serve the carb-conscious. (via Brit + Co)
Peppermint Bark
This easy peppermint bark recipe is so simple to make, you'll have plenty of time on your hands for more ambitious endeavors — like cooking the turkey. (via Brit + Co)
Holiday Puppy Chow
Your go-to sweet treat gets a festive upgrade when you add in red and green candy! Bonus points if you have a red or green bowl to put it in ;). (via Brit + Co)
Jacques Torres' Chocolate Chip Cookies
No surprise here: the secret to Torres' high-quality chocolate chip cookies is high quality ingredients, like butter, flour, and chocolate. Letting the dough age for 24 hours and sprinkling it with sea salt at the end doesn't hurt either. (via Brit + Co)
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
When it's your first year hostessing, the simpler you can keep your Christmas dinner recipes, the better. That's why we're huge fans of these 3-ingredient vegan Christmas cookies. (via Brit + Co)
Baked Hot Chocolate Donuts
Donuts are an all-purpose treat that can serve as Christmas breakfast, brunch, or dessert. This baked hot chocolate-inspired version doesn't require any special tools to make and is uber delicious. (via Brit + Co)
Dulce de Leche Cream-Filled Churro Donuts
These six-ingredient donuts, made with biscuit dough, have a cinnamony exterior and a rich dulce de leche filling that pairs wonderfully with Mexican hot chocolate. (via Brit + Co)
Eggnog French Toast
Another recipe you can serve as a Christmas dinner or brunch is this sweet French toast. The secret to nailing that 'nog flavor is the nutmeg and vanilla combo. Yum. (via Brit + Co)
Easy Vegan Slow Cooker Hot Cocoa Christmas Dessert Idea
Give your oven and your plates a break and add this dairy-free hot chocolate to your easy Christmas dinner menu, or enjoy with Christmas waffles! Add all ingredients to the slow cooker, and let the gadget do the rest for you. (via Brit + Co)
Champagne Ice Cream
This egg-free, celebration-worthy holiday dinner idea gets its creaminess from cream cheese and, better yet, its booziness from sparkling wine. (via Brit + Co)
Cinnamon Roll Pecan Pie
We call this pie holiday crack for a reason (or two): the pie crust is made of mini cinnamon rolls and the pecan filling is buttery on the verge of illegal, which definitely makes it one of our favorite holiday dishes. (via Brit + Co)
Easy Spiced Hot Fruit Bake
Hear that? That's a scoop of ice cream begging to top this sweet tray of apple, pear, cranberry, pineapple, and gluten-free dessert. (via Cotter Crunch)
Check out our New Year's Eve dinner ideas for more inspo, and take a peek at our cooking and baking courses and newsletter for more recipes!
Additional reporting by Justina Huddleston and Paige Johnson
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Sara Cagle
Sara is a food and lifestyle freelance writer in Los Angeles. She writes a weekly events column for the Los Angeles Times and loves writing food content for Brit + Co. After all, the English language's most fun adjectives are best applied to delicious foods. In her free time, she's a hip hop dancer, avid moviegoer, and thorough face-mask user.
