Looking for the best Christmas recipes? Whether it’s for Christmas dinner or a cookie plate, we’ve got recipes to please every diet!
Entertaining is at the heart of Christmas, and there are so many tasty opportunities to consider! Maybe you’re hosting Christmas Eve dinner, or a cozy holiday brunch. Maybe you’re hosting a holiday party that needs lots of appetizers and wintery drinks. Or maybe you’re just looking for recipes for your cookie tray.
Whatever the case, we’ve got lots of resources for the very best Christmas recipes! Here are our major collections of recipes. Or, scroll below the collections to see our top picks for main dishes, sides, and of course: cookies. And don’t forget the best Christmas tradition (in our minds), Christmas pizza! Let the cooking begin.
View the collections: our best Christmas recipes!
Looking to please everyone at the holidays? Meatless recipes can have even more flavor than their meat-heavy counterparts! Alex and I eat a lot of vegetarian recipes (in fact, we wrote a vegetarian cookbook!). Here we’ve put together a list of our favorite vegetarian Christmas recipes. Whether it’s a crisp red and green Brussels sprout salad, or our fan-favorite meatloaf, these Christmas recipes will please everyone at the table: even meat lovers!
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Looking for easy Christmas desserts? The holidays can be crazy, to put it lightly! When you’re entertaining for a crowd, the best recipes are the ones you can prepare in advance, or easily make as guests arrive. Here we’ve compiled our favorite ideas for Christmas desserts for a crowd. There's everything from a traditional Christmas pudding to seriously easy chocolate bark. Ready to get cooking?
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Looking for vegan Christmas dinner recipes to wow your friends and family? Alex and I started eating a mostly whole food plant based diet years ago. The hardest part of it was not the weeknight meals: it was the holidays! Most of our friends and family were stumped with how to cook for people who ate tons of vegetables. With that in mind, we’ve compiled our top vegan Christmas dinner recipes! From cozy vegan pot pie to the cutest holiday-inspired dessert, we think we’ll love all of them. In fact: we promise you will!
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Are you looking for the best healthy Christmas cookies for your cookie tray? If you know Alex and me, you know we’re into healthy cookie recipes…or really, healthier cookies! Here are our top healthy Christmas cookies that we think would be perfect for your cookie tray. They all have a healthier spin…but they're so delicious, you’d never know it.
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Cozy winter drinks are essential for Christmas entertaining! Here are all our best holiday drink recipes for chilly evenings. There’s everything from winter cocktails like the vibrant Poinsettia champagne cocktail and jewel-toned apple cider sangria. And then hot drinks like our spiced mulled cider and homemade hot chocolate! There's something for everyone here
Top Christmas dinner main dishes
- Best Vegetarian Meatloaf
- Favorite Vegan Lasagna
- Best Vegan Pot Pie (or Cozy Vegetarian Pot Pie)
- White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
- Best Wild Rice Soup
- Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing
- Sweet Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Lentils
- Tuscan Lentil Stew (we have this on Christmas Eve!)
- Vegetarian Meatballs & Gravy
Top healthy Christmas side dishes
- Best Roasted Vegetables
- Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes (Instant Pot version)
- Spinach Apple Salad with Maple-Glazed Walnuts
- Best Brussels Sprouts Recipe (Instant Pot version)
- Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic (Instant Pot version)
- Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Pomegranate
- Roasted Apples & Cauliflower with Dill
- Delicata Squash Salad
- Lemony Steamed Green Beans (Instant Pot version)
- Roasted Delicata Squash
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Easy Vegan Gravy
- Massaged Kale Pomegranate Salad
- Roasted Butternut Squash
- Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing
Top Christmas desserts & cookies
- Christmas Cranberry Pudding with Butter Sauce
- Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Best Almond Thumbprint Cookies
- Best Apple Pie
- Chai Spice Almond Snowball Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Affogato
- Peanut Butter Buckeye Balls
- Dark Chocolate Bark
Top Christmas drinks
- Poinsettia (Cranberry Champagne Cocktail)
- Mulled Cider
- Fall Sangria
- Mulled Wine
- The Classic Champagne Cocktail
- Holiday Punch Iced Tea
- Pomegranate Spritzer
- Spiked Apple Cider
- Orange Rosemary Sparkling Water
- Homemade Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
Christmas Pudding Recipe
(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 12 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This Christmas pudding recipe is a moist molasses cake covered in a rich butter sauce. It’s everything a classic Christmas dessert should be!
Ingredients
For the Christmas cranberry pudding
- 12 ounces cranberries
- 2 2/3 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup dark molasses
- 1 cup warm water
- Special equipment: Steamer with 9-inch round pan OR large stock pot and 9-inch round cake pan
For the butter sauce
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Slice the cranberries in half. Place them in a colander and rinse out the seeds.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix in the dark molasses and warm water. Fold in the cranberries.
- Grease the round pan and pour the cranberry mixture into the pan.
- Fill the steamer with water and place the pan in the steamer. (If you don’t have a steamer, take a large stock pot and place an item in the bottom to elevate the cake pan, like a trivet, cookie cutter, empty tuna can, or folded dish towel. Then place the pan on top and fill the pot with water about half-way up the side of the pan.)
- Bring the water to a boil, and steam for about 2 1/2 hours, checking the water level periodically, every 30 minutes or so, and refilling as needed. The pudding is done when you can insert a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean. Allow the pudding to cool. The pudding can also be made in advance and kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, make the butter sauce: in a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, stirring often. Stir in the half and half and the sugar, then add the vanilla. To serve, cut the pudding into pieces and drizzle with butter sauce.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: British
Keywords: Christmas Recipes, Christmas Pudding
A few more appetizer & cookie recipes…
Want more ideas? There are lots of ideas in the recipe collections above, but here are a few more appetizer ideas and cookie recipes that would be perfect for Christmas:
- Our Best Party Appetizers
- Baked Goat Cheese Appetizer
- Apple Cranberry Appetizer
- 63 Christmas Appetizers
- Fresh Cranberry Salsa
- Baked Brie with Roasted Cranberry Sauce
- Best Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Narwhal Gingerbread Cutout Cookies
- How to Make Shortbread Cookies
About the Authors
Sonja Overhiser
Cookbook Author and writer
Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.
Alex Overhiser
Cookbook Author and photographer
Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.
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