55+ Christmas eve and Christmas dinner ideas to pull together a delicious and crowd-pleasing holiday menu. Including traditional and non-traditional (plus regular, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan) nibbles, appetizers, mains, sides, desserts, and even drinks to wow your guests!
No matter your intentions, planning the perfect Christmas dinner menu can easily become a month + long affair when juggling between that, finding/making Christmas gifts, preparing your annual gingerbread house, decorating, and reveling in all the holiday spirit! Luckily, I’ve compiled this list of the best Christmas dinner recipes (and previously, one for Christmas breakfast/brunch) to give you a head start!
Whether you want to put together a traditional Christmas dinner, vegan or vegetarian Christmas dinner, looking for unique Christmas dinner ideas, or even Christmas buffet ideas, this list of Christmas dishes ideas has plenty to choose from, including all my favorite traditional and non-traditional holiday crowd-pleasers!
With a list of holiday menu ideas to fit every course (desserts and drinks included) and multiple dietary requirements, keep reading to pull together a delicious Christmas menu. Not only are most of the below recipes easy to prepare, but many of them can, partially or in full, be made ahead of time and reheated on the day to minimize the holiday stress!
Plus, if you’re looking for meal top tips on how to host a stress-free holiday, check out my post on Thanksgiving dinner ideas!
What To Serve For Christmas Dinner?
Appetizers
Whether you’re hosting a Christmas party food buffet or just need nibbles to keep tummies happy while waiting for Christmas dinner, here are some simple and crowd-pleasing sweet and savory snacks and Christmas party food ideas.
Puff Pastry Christmas Appetizer
Ricotta and Spinach Puff Pastry Snowflake
Christmas Pull-Apart Bread
Roasted Chestnuts
Easy Candied Pecans
You might also enjoy these candied walnuts.
Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread
Prefer your garlic bread minus the cheese? Check out this recipe for roasted garlic bread instead!
Cheddar Cornbread
Dinner Roll Baked Camembert Wreath
Guide to Making the BEST Cheese Platter
Crostini (With Tips + Toppings)
Starters
While some people love to jump right to the main event, you may prefer setting out several courses over the day. First up, the perfect easy Christmas appetizers, like soups and salads, that will impress your guests without weighing them down.
If you plan to make a soup starter, note that most soups will taste even better on day two, so it’s a wonderful dish to prep in advance and reheat for your Christmas dinner and Christmas eve dinner.
Arugula Pomegranate Salad (Vegan Optional)
Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad (Vegan Optional)
Red Cabbage Salad
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Carrot Ginger Soup
Cream Of Mushroom Soup
Ginger Butternut Squash Soup
Vegetarian French Onion Soup
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Looking for more soupy Christmas food ideas? Check out these recipes for cream of asparagus soup, pumpkin soup, or mushroom, garlic, potato soup.
Mains
I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for non-traditional Christmas dinner recipes (aka ideas for Christmas dinner other than turkey), so while my list of Christmas food recipes may not contain turkey, beef, or pork, and it’s not a Christmas ham dinner menu, you might enjoy chicken, salmon, or even a vegan/vegetarians Christmas dinner main or Christmas Eve dinner ideas.
Whole Roasted Chicken
Mushroom Wellington
Stuffed Butternut Squash
Oven-Baked Salmon
Chicken Brine Recipe
Whole Roasted Cauliflower
For your plant-based guests, they may also enjoy these roasted cabbage steaks.
Meatloaf with the Best Sticky Glaze
Christmas Side Dishes
This list simply wouldn’t be complete without plenty of delicious Christmas dinner sides. From homemade gravy (with or without drippings) to mashed potato, and other favorite holiday vegetable dishes, the only struggle will be trying not to choose too many of these top sides for Christmas dinner to prepare!
Honey Roasted Carrots
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Want to try a more non-traditional Christmas dinner offering? Give this mashed sweet potato a try or even mashed purple potatoes. They’re usually fairly healthy, paleo, easy to turn vegan, ready in under 30 minutes, etc. And they are also great Christmas ham dinner sides.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Brown Gravy Recipe
If you’re looking for a meat-free version, check out this recipe for vegan gravy recipe instead!
White Gravy
Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Roasted Mini Red Potatoes
Want your spuds to be as crispy as possible? Try this recipe for smashed potatoes, which are a great addition to a non-traditional Christmas dinner menu.
Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Au Gratin Potatoes
If you’re looking for more of an “individual-serve” style potato side for a non-traditional Christmas dinner, you might enjoy these parmesan potato stacks (aka muffin tin potatoes). They’re super crispy on the outside and tender in the middle, with plenty of flavor variations.
Air Fryer Green Beans
Easy Green Bean Casserole
Speaking of crossover Thanksgiving dishes, you might also love these candied yams with sweet brown sugar and a wonderfully tender texture.
Drinks
When pulling together your list of easy Christmas dinner menu ideas, it’s easy to forget about the “other side” of the meal, aka the drinks! However, here are a few of my favorite options to keep adults and children happy, all non-alcoholic (though many contain optional alcoholic twists!).
Hot Chocolate
White Hot Chocolate
As delicious as hot cocoa is anyway, enhance them even more with super simple flavored syrups, like vanilla, coffee, and lavender syrup, or even a few drops of rose water for a “Turkish delight” flavor.
Homemade Chocolate Milk
Mulled Apple Cider
Cranberry Juice
Pomegranate Juice
Make a quick pomegranate or cranberry cocktail by combining the juice with white wine (or sparkling water for a mocktail version) and extra pomegranate seeds.
Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
Fruit Punch
Desserts
I don’t know about you, but I’m never able to eat Christmas desserts directly after the main course. Give me just an hour, though, and I’m ready to dig into something sweet. Luckily, most of the below easy Christmas dessert and after-dinner snack ideas can be prepared in advance, too, for minimal fuss on the day.
Gingerbread Cookies
Want to engage in a group activity, or just enjoy the spoils or your hard labor? Well, why not also check out my post on how to design, make, and build the best gingerbread house!
Christmas Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Slice-and-Bake Swirl Cookies
Stuffed Baked Apples
Reindeer Peanut Butter Cups
Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Festive Yogurt Bark
Winter Fruit Salad
Apple Crisp Recipe
Not a fan of apples? Try this mixed berry crumble instead or even this peach dump cake!
Vegan Hazelnut Truffles (Ferrero Rocher)
Chocolate Eclairs – 3 Ways
If you try any of these Christmas dinner ideas, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I would also love to see your recipe recreations – tag me on Instagram @Alphafoodie!
ILovePotatoesandGravy Gravy Smith
To the dearest Alpha Foodie,
I love these recipes Alpha Foodie. You rock. Also, I love the wide array of recipes with potatoes (no gravy tho? 🙁 do better. L). TBH, I also can’t eat dessert until an hour after dinner too. Laughing Crying Emoji /nsx #ChristmasEats #YouPutTheDinInDinner
Sit Long, Talk Much, Laugh Often
ILovePotatoesandGravy “PoGravy” Smith out.
#micdrop
Support @ Alphafoodie
Hi there,
Thank you for your comment!
I do have gravy recipes here on the blog – 3 of them actually 🙂
Brown Gravy – https://www.alphafoodie.com/easy-brown-gravy/
White Gravy – https://www.alphafoodie.com/homemade-white-gravy/
Brown Vegan Gravy – https://www.alphafoodie.com/quick-easy-brown-vegan-gravy/