13 Insanely Good Christmas Meal Ideas
One of the most challenging things during Christmas is coming up with meal ideas and recipes for the appetizers, main courses, and desserts.
With all the meal ideas in this article, it’ll be super easy for you to prep and cook Christmas meals for everyone to enjoy.
1. Roasted Beef Brisket
This ravishingly succulent, tender beef is glazed with smoky barbecue sauce and honey.
To make the steak epic, use a tender steak cut and make a killer sauce that’s sweet and spicy. The brisket should be slow-cooked for eight hours or until it becomes fork-tender and melts in your mouth.
To get a full burst flavor, roast it in the oven and baste it with the sauce mixture of spicy barbecue sauce and honey for extra sweetness.
For a crazy-good Christmas meal, pair the brisket with mashed potatoes, veggie salad, or roasted artichokes.
Serve with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, which is undoubtedly one of the best Christmas gift ideas for your parent.
2. Crunchy Salad
You can lighten up your big Christmas supper with a delicious crunchy salad.
For your base, use crunchy vegetables like cucumbers, carrots, jicama, and celery. For extra crunch, throw in some candied nuts and pomegranate seeds, then sprinkle some blue cheese.
For the dressing, go for something with a tropical, zesty vibe like a citrus-balsamic dressing which revives the taste and binds all the ingredients.
3. Roasted Mozzarella Potatoes
These legendary potatoes have a crisp exterior, a soft interior, and a rich buttery flavor. Everyone likes potatoes, so you must include them on the Christmas table!
The potatoes’ golden brown, crunchy appearance, flavor, and texture result from the mozzarella cheese, which bakes into a crunchy crust.
What makes these potatoes undoubtedly holiday-worthy is that they’re easy to make.
Dice your potatoes and spread them on a baking tray. Sprinkle the cheese, rosemary, and kosher salt and bake.
4. Vegetable Lasagna
This tasty dish calls for spinach lasagna with broccoli, noodles, herbs, three kinds of cheese, and your favorite marinara sauce( homemade or store-bought).
You can use frozen veggies to save some prep time because they are already cooked.
With this lasagna, you can stuff different vegetables of your liking. If you use mushrooms and peppers, make sure you saute before adding the sauces. Try using Pecorino Romano instead of the traditional Parmesan cheese for a sharper flavor.
5. Meatloaf
Although meatloaf can seem like a simple dish, with some imagination, it can be transformed into a festive lunch. For instance, a Christmas meatloaf may have rich additions like raisins, onions, and seasonal spices. You can go the extra mile and add bacon and cheese for a delectable dish.
The nicest thing about meatloaf is that it is simple to prepare, cooks relatively quickly, and can be customized in such a way as to appeal to practically anybody.
You can always cook it on Christmas Eve if you don’t want it to be kitchen-busy on Christmas Day.
6. Roasted Vegetables
Vegetables like carrots, squash, and potatoes already have a natural and fresh taste and roasting them enhances their inherent flavors.
However, you can get more creative and top your roasted veggies with pecan crumble for extra deliciousness. This combo serves you a crispy exterior with incredibly tender vegetables underneath.
7. Roast Chicken
Roast chicken is a wonderful option if you want something staple and straightforward.
A whole chicken roasted in herbs and butter turns golden brown and makes a stunning centerpiece for your holiday table.
To create a simple, satisfying, and festive holiday feast, you can add a few veggies, such as potatoes and carrots. Although you can spruce it up with different sides or even bake it in a crust, you can’t go wrong with some zest, kosher salt, black pepper, and butter.
8. Loaded Pot Roast
Another popular Christmas meal idea is pot roast, a one-pan supper that nearly always pleases everyone at the table. You can even cook it in the slow cooker to give yourself more time to finish your Christmas preparations.
To make your pot roast rich and tender, cook it for a longer time at a lower temperature.
Don’t forget to prepare a hearty gravy to serve with it. You can also cook carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables along with the roast for tender and flavorful sides.
9. Lemon Goose
The goose has a long-standing tradition as a Christmas feast and will fit in just well on your table.
The fat and added lemon in the goose make for a zesty, rich, soft flesh that is hard to overcook, which makes it exceptionally delicious.
You can also transform the goose fat into a scrumptious gravy.
10. Salmon
A festive salmon dish that is colorful and delicious is a striking addition to your festive table. It’s easy to cook, as you can pan-fry it on medium high heat to get a perfect crispy and crunchy salmon skin.
You can serve it with asparagus and some roasted baby potatoes for a stunning Christmas dinner.
11. Stuffing
No Christmas feast buffet is complete without stuffings. You can make an easy stuffing using apricots, onions, celery, Walnuts, cranberries, and mushrooms.
Just try to picture the explosion of tastes and sensations! The bread is moist to perfection because of the vegetables.
It doesn’t matter if you eat this stuffing as a standalone or put it inside your chicken or turkey. It’ll still be perfect!
12. Apple Pecan Pork Chops
Sprinkle cranberries, apples, walnuts, and pecans on top of wonderfully seasoned, tender, and succulent pork chops. Now that is the flavor of the ultimate feast!
The cranberries, pecans, and nuts give you a super crunch feel that adds fantastic textural contrast to the soft pork chops.
This dish serves a mouthwatering mix of rich, sweet, and salty flavors.
13. Seafood Stew
The ingredients and the vibrant flavor of this dish make it distinctive; and it’s not difficult to cook.
The secret to the perfect stew is to slow-cook your potatoes for 3-4 hours.
Then add water, scallops, and shrimp, and stir. Cook covered for another 15-20 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and scallops become opaque.
Peeling and slicing the potatoes is the most challenging step in this quick and simple dish, but you may even do it the night before. Cover the potatoes with water and put them in the fridge to speed up assembly the following day.
Conclusion
Serving scrumptious Christmas meals adds holiday cheer to your home. From sides to entrees to dessert, most people look forward to what’s being served on the Christmas table. With the above menu round-up, you have great ideas that will give you and your family even more to celebrate!
