We have a lot / hate relationship with Christmas cooking. One the one hand, no one likes all the stress. On the other hand, it’s the time of year we like to pull out all the stops, and haul out the richer or more elaborate recipes that we only make once a year.
Many of the favourite traditional Christmas foods can be quite simple, however. And it can be fun to try to put a bit of a spin on them to feed our creative impulses. But never were wiser words spoken than those by Jane Grigson about Christmas food:
“In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas. It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.”
Jane Grigson (English food writer. 13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990)
Our Christmas recipe collection has recipes from different cuisines.
See also: Christmas Day, all Christmas-related pages
Use to stuff poultry or rolled pork.
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This asparagus salad is easy to make, but very sophisticated. It looks fantastic on the table or on a buffet table, particularly around Christmas time, too, as it resembles a wreath.
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This is used as a savoury spread for nibblies or as a starter. You can spread it on warm toast (either dry or buttered), potato scones or oatcakes.
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This is like a quiche with no crust.
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Dead easy cheeseballs to make, with surprise fruit-and-nut centres that give them a bit of sophistication.
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Very common on cold buffet tables in America’s Pennsylvania Dutch country.
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A very interesting and yummy way to present mincemeat. Nice served warm.
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With its robust flavours, a slice of this quiche easily stands up as the main item on a plate of food. You can serve this quiche hot in the winter, or room temperature in the summer.
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For Thanksgiving or Christmas (or anytime), consider reviving an old tradition which has just about vanished completely — bread sauce. Bread sauce was always a classic accompaniment to pork or chicken.
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Looks as great as it tastes.
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This is a side-dish that you can make entirely in the microwave, making it ideal for times when your stove is already full-out committed — or just for times when you don’t want any pots or pans wash-up.
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Squash stuffed with couscous — very nice!
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A hearty, tasty rendition of Brussels Sprouts.
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A very quick trifle recipe.
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A good introduction to sprouts for those who are Brussels sprouts hesitant.
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A dead-easy way to make bland cauliflower into an asked-for dish.
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You can make these patties a day ahead and refrigerate, or even make ahead and freeze. Nice served with a salad made with watercress or rocket / arugula.
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A rich soup, nice in small portions as a starter
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A great way to serve leftover Christmas cake as a whole new dessert. You can make these the day before or in the morning.
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This is a real mid-Atlantic dish: British mincemeat meets North American cranberries, pecans and corn syrup. And it is really good.
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Use as a garnish for meat. Serve it cold.
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Cranberry Sauce should be healthy — after all, it’s cranberries! Most though are overloaded with a boatload of calories from added refined sugar — at a time of year, usually, when you’d rather use the calories up on so many other things.
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For many people, a creamed spinach dish is often pivotal in getting them to give spinach another chance, after a childhood of being served boiled spinach out of a can.
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This is a thick, spooning sauce that you are meant to spoon onto a hot dessert, where it melts. Good with hot mincemeat pies or steamed puddings.
