32 Show-Stopping Christmas Dinner Ideas from Appetizers to Desserts to Everything in Between!

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 of hot chocolate; here are 32 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

Cranberry Goat Cheese Balls with Rosemary Skewers

Recipe: by Chef Genevieve

• 1/3 cup Sweetened Dried Cranberries
• 1/3 cup Toasted Pecans
• 1 tsp Dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 8oz goat cheese log
• 16 Rosemary sprigs

1. Start by finely chopping dried cranberries with pecans.Add dried parsley, salt and pepper.
2. Roll 8oz goat cheese into 16 balls then roll in your crumbs mixture.
3. Skewer with a Rosemary sprig for an extra festive touch.

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)

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 Pastry 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. (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)

Cornmeal Biscuits With Cheddar, Chives, and Jalapeños

These slightly spicy biscuits are ideal for soaking up all that gravy goodness. (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)

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

Roast Chicken With Carrots

For a Christmas meal 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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Cranberry Glazed Turkey

Make your turkey extra-special with a delicious cranberry-pomegranate glaze everyone is sure to adore. (via Brit + Co)

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. (via Boulder Locavore)

Dessert Christmas Recipes that are Delicioso

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)

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)

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.

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)

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)

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