Mami's 3 Little Monkeys: 5 Christmas Dinner Ideas!

5 Christmas Dinner Ideas

Author: Whitney Hollingshead

Eating great food is one of the best parts of the holiday season. Maybe your family has a running tradition for your Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas Day dinner. However, if you are looking to try something new or even start a new tradition, here are some great alternatives to consider.

Traditional with a Twist

Traditional Christmas dinner often consists of ham, roast beef, turkey, or duck. You can keep up your family tradition by serving your meat of choice with new sides.

Here are some other side dish options to include on the table this year:

Potato salad

Wild rice blend

Baked macaroni and cheese

Sour cream and chive mashed potatoes

Steamed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc.)

Spinach and berry salad

Broccoli salad

Fruit salad

Cornbread

Garlic cheese biscuits

Scones

If your family members are very tradition bound, this may be the best mix up option to try. You can make the traditional meal and add one or two new dishes to the lineup. Who knows, your new dishes may become the new family favorites!

Italian Feast

Consider switching things up this year with an Italian feast. For example, you can serve lasagna or chicken fettuccine alfredo with salad and garlic bread.

If you have more people involved, consider setting up a pasta buffet bar. A buffet bar is a fun way for everyone to socialize as they create their own dinner. Will you have some picky eaters in your group? Letting each person build their own custom plate is the perfect way to meet everyone’s unique tastes.

Offer multiple options in each category:

Pastas (all pastas should be cooked, drained, and served promptly)

Rigatoni

Fettucine

Spaghetti

Angel hair

Bowtie

Frozen cheese ravioli

Frozen tortellini

Tri color rotini

Sauces

Marinara sauce

Olive oil

Alfredo sauce

Garlic cream sauce

Pesto

Stroganoff

Toppings

Mushrooms

Fresh spinach

Fresh tomatoes

Sun dried tomatoes

Crumbled bacon

Grilled chicken

Diced ham

Meatballs

Shrimp

An empty table, counter, island, or bar works the best for serving food buffet style to your guests. How you place the food on the surface can greatly impact the overall experience as well. Check out these additional helpful hints for serving dinner buffet style.

South of the Border

If you love Mexican food, try one of these menu alternatives:

Salsa Roast

Beef roast

Salsa (red or green, heat level of choice)

Canned sweet corn

Canned black beans

Corn tortillas

Sour cream

Fresh cilantro

Lime wedges

Place beef roast in slow cooker. Cover with entire bottle of salsa. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred meat with forks. Add sweet corn and black beans just before serving. Serve with corn tortillas. Top with sour cream, cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Salsa roast is a delicious and simple recipe. You can also use the meat to make enchiladas or burritos.

Mexican Lasagna

Corn Tortillas

Ground beef or chicken

Enchilada sauce (red or green)

Shredded cheese

Kidney beans

Refried beans

Salsa

Sour cream

Cook the ground beef or chicken. Cover bottom of 9x13 pan with corn tortillas. Cover tortillas with ½ of cooked meat. Sprinkle meat with cheese, salsa, and kidney beans. Cover with another layer of corn tortillas. Spread a layer of refried beans. Top refried beans with ½ of enchilada sauce. Cover with corn tortillas. Repeat the meat, cheese, salsa, and kidney bean layer. Cover with corn tortillas. Spread remaining enchilada sauce on top. Cover with cheese. Bake in oven at 350 until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Mexican lasagna is a fun way to serve the best of Mexican flavors in one simple dish. While this meal may require some prep time, clean up is relatively quick!

Taco or Nacho Bar

Tortillas or tortilla chips

Ground beef (browned)

Chicken (cook in slow cooker with salsa of choice)

Black beans

Refried beans

Fiesta rice

Shredded lettuce

Diced tomatoes

Chopped onion

Cilantro

Ranch dressing

Salsa

Sour cream

Avocado or guacamole

Serve all of the ingredients in individual bowls buffet style and let your guests build their own dinner. A taco/nacho bar can be especially festive if you serve the individual ingredients in fun holiday containers.

Dinner Activity

Turn your Christmas dinner into a fun activity for everyone involved. Each person can make their own dinner by setting up a pizza making factory in your kitchen.

Individual Pizzas

Frozen roll dough, pizza dough, refrigerated biscuits, sandwich thins, or pitas

Pizza sauce

Alfredo sauce

BBQ sauce

Ranch dressing (use as sauce)

Pesto sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Ricotta cheese

Pepperoni

Sausage

Ham

Grilled chicken

Bacon

Fresh tomatoes

Green peppers

Mushrooms

Black olives

Pineapple

Red onion

This dinner activity usually works best with smaller groups of people, unless you have a giant kitchen and multiple ovens.

Brunch

Consider serving the big meal of the day in the late morning. Brunch is a great time to serve incredible breakfast foods without feeling rushed. You can even consider serving brunch in the late morning and then serve your traditional Christmas dinner, or one of the other alternatives above, later in the day. For something a bit unconventional, but very fun, serve brunch on Christmas Eve night!

Here are some suggestions of delicious and festive brunch foods. You can serve a few as a meal, or make several options and serve a brunch buffet:

Chocolate batter pancakes with crushed peppermint

Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes or muffins

Cranberry muffins

Quiche

Breakfast casserole (eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, cheese, peppers, onions)

Mini fruit pizzas (use sugar cookies as the crust)

Baked orange french toast

German pancakes with berries and whipped cream

Gingerbread waffles

Cinnamon Rolls

Ham, bacon, or sausage