95 Best Christmas Dinner Ideas Everyone Will Love

A showstopper Christmas dinner entrée of beef tenderloin wrapped in mushroom paste and crispy, buttery puff pastry.

A classic baked ham is most delicious holiday centerpiece you can serve. The brown sugar maple glaze transforms it into something magical. The outside gets shatteringly crispy as the fat and juices render, creating the most flavorful sauce to serve alongside.

Partner this special-occasion cut of beef with good wine, a swipe of homemade horseradish cream, and a platter of golden roasted potatoes and you’re on your way to a delicious Christmas meal.

Everything you need to know to roast a perfectly cooked leg of lamb for your holiday meal.

This impossibly tender, center-piece cut of beef tenderloin is the Christmas dinner of your dreams.

Honey butter and a crunchy spiced sugar coating makes this the very best holiday-worthy ham.

Standing tall like a crown, this roast is an impressive choice for Christmas dinner. It delivers juicy, tender pork chops for a crowd using our foolproof oven method of roasting the meat first at a higher temperature to achieve a golden crust, then finishing at a lower temperature to cook it evenly throughout.

This standing rib roast will bring the wow factor to any special occasion.

Ultra-tender chunks of beef chuck roast, seared vegetables, and a rich, velvety red wine sauce make this French stew ultra-cozy for Christmas dinner.

Brushed with bourbon, brown sugar, and orange, then roasted until juicy and crispy, this ham is the centerpiece you want on your Christmas dinner table.

These short ribs are a rich winter meal, too, easy and forgiving to cook under their sleek caps of fat, melting into tender chunks of pull-apart beef in the oven. Serve over mashed potatoes for an ultra-cozy Christmas dinner.

The beef brisket that makes the whole house smell like a cozy Christmas day.

The secret to the best-ever pork tenderloin? Heat the skillet in the oven! It's key for an irresistible caramelized crust.

The slow-cooker yields tender, fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs swimming in a savory broth, made deeper and richer thanks to several glugs of Cabernet. Serve with creamy polenta for a Christmas dinner everyone will love.

This main course is as quick and easy as it is impressive. Serve it with creamy tzatziki sauce and Greek lemon potatoes for a Christmas dinner everyone will love.

It’s all about the béchamel sauce and bolognese. This classic lasagna is the perfect make-ahead main for Christmas.

Make a traditional roast for Christmas, with rosemary roasted beef, carrots and parsnips, crispy potatoes, creamy horseradish sauce, and warm gravy. Serve with perfect, pillowy Yorkshire pudding.

Depending on the region of Mexico, you’ll see a variation of fillings, from sweet tamales filled with compotes and custards to vegetarian tamales or even the classic queso con rajas. Janette Zepeda calls for her personal favorite here: red pork stewed in a garlicky guajillo sauce.

Garlicky beef tenderloin roasted with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms make this a sheet pan meal worthy of a special occasion.

Slow-roasted pork shoulder marinated in garlic, herbs, and aromatics with irresistibly crispy skin. It’s perfect as the centerpiece for the big Christmas feast, served alongside arroz con gandules, savory pasteles, a simple salad, and some sliced avocado.

This juicy pork loin roast is a fantastic option when you need a main dish to feed a crowd.

Unwrapping one of these is the best gift you can give yourself. Serve this classic Christmas meal with arroz con gandules, creamy potato salad, and crispy tostones.

This classic French recipe transforms humble chicken legs, tender vegetables, and herbs into a rich stew with the most deeply flavored red wine sauce.

Unlike lasagnas made with marinara, you won’t find a drop of red sauce in sight. Here you get layers of hearty pasta, ricotta, mozzarella, Italian sausage crumbles, and an entire pound of fresh spinach.

From the deeply caramelized onions and rich, red wine sauce to the fall-apart tender braised beef, it’s the most comforting Christmas dinner. It's perfect over mashed potatoes!

Gumbo is such a labor of love – it's truly the best Christmas dinner! Serve it a scoop of white rice, thinly sliced scallions, filé powder, and a few spurts of Tabasco hot sauce.

Oven-braised beef short ribs and tender potatoes in a rich and flavorful sauce. Serve with steamed white rice and lumpia Shanghai for a Christmas dinner everyone will love.

This easy version of French cassoulet is just as rich, comforting, and deeply seasoned as the original.

Serve this peppercorn-crusted steak in Cognac-cream sauce with pommes frites and green beans almondine for the ultimate Christmas dinner.

An Italian classic made fit for a cowboy. This recipe swaps the traditional bolognese sauce for a meaty chili-spiced and fire-roasted tomato sauce, and is layered with lasagna noodles and a trio of creamy cheeses.

This jambalaya is packed with rich, deep flavors, and stars smoky andouille sausage and juicy chicken thighs. This big-batch, make-ahead dish lets you make a delicious Cajun meal for Christmas without being tied to the stove and missing out on the party.

Greek pastitsio features layers of pasta, homemade meat sauce, and the most delicious topping of creamy bechamel.

Cioppino is a big seafood stew of briny abundance, best shared among a crowd of people for Christmas. Serve with grilled sourdough bread and a bottle of your favorite white wine.

With the help of a really hot skillet and a kiss of garlic-herb butter at the end, this seared ribeye steak recipe takes only about 10 minutes on the stovetop. If you want to recreate the steakhouse experience at home, serve it up with a baked potato and a side of creamed spinach.

Pastelón is a Puerto Rican sweet plantain casserole with the perfect balance of savory and sweet — from the sofrito and tomato-flavored ground beef to the tender sweet plantain and creamy cheese.

A cozy French classic that’s really easy to whip up at home.

These Korean braised short ribs are the definition of umami-rich winter comfort food.

The perfect make-ahead meal for when you're craving seafood and lasagna for Christmas.

Flavor explodes when you treat whole pork shoulder in the style of bo ssam, the Korean dish of pork slow-cooked in spices then carved into delicate slivers.

Serve this Cajun classic with cooked white rice or toasted French bread. (And if crawfish isn’t your thing, no problem — we also have a recipe for shrimp étouffée).

This easy, cheesy spinach lasagna is total comfort food for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Make stuffed butternut squash filled with mushrooms, greens, and whole grains as a hearty vegetarian main.

Calling for baking the eggplant and adding in toasted breadcrumbs rather than breading the eggplant individually is a super-smart shortcut.

A brightened-up version of the classic comfort food, featuring the flavors of Greek spanakopita: spinach, feta cheese, fresh dill, and lots of lemon.

This creamy risotto is filled with tender butternut squash and flavored with fresh sage.

A cozy recipe for creamy polenta topped with a savory vegetarian mushroom ragu.

Beautiful stuffed shells with a caramelized onion ricotta filling, a Gruyère cheese sauce, and a cheesy breadcrumb topping.

Fresh pasta that'll satisfy all of your butternut squash cravings for Christmas.

While this lasagna is packed with vegetables, it doesn't skimp on the pasta or cheese. It's the perfect vegetarian main for Christmas dinner!

Everything you love about classic eggplant Parm, stuffed into a hollowed-out eggplant shell and topped with melted mozzarella.

Flavorful portobello mushrooms transform this vegetarian lasagna into a substantial main entree.

An easy meatless pot pie filled with sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and kale that's prepared and baked in a skillet.

A hearty mix of hearty mushrooms, nutty chickpeas, and greens in a thick and creamy coconut and tomato broth.

This vegetarian version of the classic beef Wellington will please everyone at the table, thanks to three kinds of earthy mushrooms and plenty of savory herbs.

Learn how to stuff and bake a whole pumpkin with cornbread, mushrooms, and kale to serve as a vegetarian entrée for Christmas and beyond.

So rich and creamy, these mashed potatoes are the only ones we ever make on the holidays. It's the classic potato side dish that pairs well with everything on the table.

With a little love (thanks to lemon zest and juice, Parmesan cheese, and toasted almonds), these easy roasted green beans will be your new favorite side dish for Christmas.

Extra creamy and cheese, this is the French casserole of our dreams.

No comfort food satisfies quite like homemade mac and cheese. This gooey and cozy casserole is an essential part of holiday dinners.

A comforting broccoli casserole with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

This classic version uses just six ingredients and pairs it with an incredibly easy cooking method. The cozy casserole bakes up with a golden-brown top and super-tender sliced russet potatoes that are suspended in a creamy, thyme-flecked sauce.

Snappy blanched green beans served with sautéed shallots and buttery sliced almonds.

Thin slices of Yukon gold potatoes are doused in a cheese-bolstered cream mixture and baked in a skillet until it becomes a crispy and tender gratin-like dish that everyone will love.

Layer crunchy greens and Tuscan kale, sweet date-pickled onions, and crisp fried shallots up to a full day in advance for the ultimate holiday salad.

These mashed potatoes are the ideal make-ahead side dish. While classic stovetop mashed potatoes are best made right before serving to keep them from drying out, you can make this casserole a full day in advance without having to worry they’ll see the same fate.

Bundles of roasted green beans wrapped in candied bacon are a fun alternative to your standard green bean sides and a leveled-up version of green beans with bacon.

All the savory flavor of French onion soup — caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and melted Gruyère — layered between slices of tender golden potatoes.

This classic broccoli casserole, made with canned cream of mushroom soup and Ritz crackers, is bound to be a family favorite.

Thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes get tossed with a flavorful cream sauce, layered with plenty of Pecorino Romano, and baked until browned and bubbly.

This three-ingredient butternut squash side goes well with almost every Christmas main dish.

A make ahead-friendly recipe for creamy mashed potatoes baked in a casserole and topped with lots of Parmesan cheese.

Thanks to a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, this corn casserole comes together quickly and is a perfect side dish for any meal.

Adorned with toasty nuts, fried shallots, and radicchio, this green bean salad is a beautiful addition to your Christmas dinner table.

It's soft and tender on the inside with just a touch of texture from sweet corn and cornmeal, and blanketed with a delicate golden crust.

An easy homemade version of the classic comforting side dish, in which tender boiled russet potatoes are tossed in a creamy cheese sauce and baked until warm and bubbling.

Learn how to wrap brie in puff pastry with the toppings of your choice for an easy appetizer to serve all holiday season.

It's all about the buttery, garlic panko breadcrumbs sprinkled very generously on top at the end. That extra crunch and boost of flavor makes deviled eggs the perfect, easy appetizer for your Christmas gathering.

These crispy, flaky, cheesy twists require just two ingredients and a few minutes of your time, and yet they deliver big — real big — out on the buffet table. Make puff pastry cheese straws for your Christmas party or serve them with cocktails for happy hour at home.

This five-ingredient party dip is the ultimate Christmas appetizer.

Make a classic shrimp cocktail with perfectly poached shrimp and zingy cocktail sauce.

An irresistible combination of salty, crispy bacon with sugar-sweet dates and creamy cheese.

Stuffed mushrooms are an elegant vegetarian appetizer that are guaranteed to be devoured at any occasion. They’re incredibly easy to make by filling tender mushroom caps with crispy panko, fresh herbs, and two types of cheese.

In this retro recipe, a classic mixture of cream cheese, shredded cheddar, scallions, bell peppers, and seasonings becomes the most delicious spread for crackers.

Homemade pigs in a blanket are the perfect last-minute appetizer. Sprinkle a bit of flaky salt or everything bagel seasoning on the dough before baking for extra flair.

Store-bought puff pastry makes these spinach and feta cheese bourekas as easy as they are delicious (and they’re very delicious).

This stunningly easy appetizer calls for just three ingredients and a slow cooker.

Made with fresh lump crabmeat, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and Old Bay seasoning, this hot and creamy dip is a party classic.

Feta cheese covered in honey-and-fig jam-glazed pecans, baked until the nuts are glazed and fragrant and the cheese is soft and spreadable. It’s a ridiculously delicious appetizer that will look stunning on the holiday table.

These crispy fried goat cheese balls with a gooey center and tangy mango sauce will be the hit at your Christmas gathering. You could also dip them in sweet chili sauce, raspberry pepper jelly, or store-bought pesto.

Not sure what to bring to the Christmas party? The answer is always this creamy dip.

Looking for an easy make-ahead appetizer for Christmas? These cheese puffs are the ticket. Gougères are made from the classic French pâte à choux, with a generous amount of cheese folded into the dough before baking. The dough puffs and then dries in the oven, making for a tender, crisp puff with a hollow center.

A 3-ingredient fast and fancy appetizer with colorful peppers and milky mozzarella cheese. Add variety to the platter by stuffing Peppadews with salami and Parmesan, then top with chopped fresh herbs.

A simple recipe for a pull-apart puff pastry tart made with basil pesto and goat cheese.

This Southern classic is the ultimate no-bake cheese dip. Serve it with crackers and crudité, or with fried green tomatoes.

Balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard are flavor standouts in this mouth-watering caramelized leek, spinach, and goat cheese tart made with frozen puff pastry.