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Craft your perfect Christmas dinner from our best holiday recipes. Whether you’re hosting a casual buffet or a formal sit-down dinner, we’ve got plenty of ideas to help you feed the ones you love the most.

A Christmas table with prime rib, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and rolls.

Growing up in Wisconsin, Christmas dinner with family always included a juicy baked ham, a seemingly infinite array of side dishes, and a sweets table that groaned from the weight of all my mom’s cookies and desserts.

This year, I wanted to pull out all of the stops. I kept some of my favorite things, but switched up the main event and learned how to make the most delicious Prime Rib ever.

Whether you’re celebrating with friends, having Christmas dinner with family, or celebrating a very, merry mixture of both, maybe my Christmas dinner ideas will inspire you to update your own traditions.

Table of Contents
  1. Perfect Prime Rib
  2. Cheesy scalloped potatoes
  3. Favorite green beans with bacon
  4. Super soft dinner rolls
  5. Crockpot cranberry apple cider
  6. Festive cranberry wreath cake

Perfect Prime Rib

Prime Rib with Mustard Cream Sauce
Learn how to cook the perfect Prime Rib with step-by-step instructions and photos. This prime rib recipe will be the star of your holiday table, and it's even better with a drizzle of mustard cream sauce.
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A platter of sliced prime rib.

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Christmas Recipes

Baked Ham with Crumb Topping

This succulent Baked Ham stands out from the crowd with a spiced brown sugar glaze and a crunchy crumb topping, the perfect antidote to salty smoked ham. You’ll love the leftovers too, if you happen…

4 hours
Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fennel
This fabulous Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with roasted fennel is the sheet pan dinner of your dreams. The pork is tender, the bacon is salty, and the fennel soaks up the juices from both! It's also fancy enough for "company" and ready in an hour.
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Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin surrounded by roasted fennel and onions.

Grilling and Smoker Recipes

Hibachi Steak with Grilled Wasabi Potatoes

Plain old meat and potatoes gets a major flavor overhaul with this Hibachi Steak and Wasabi Grilled Potatoes recipe, based on the wildly popular entree at the Cheesecake Factory. There’s no need to marinate the…

1 hour
How to Make Rotisserie Chicken
Learn how to make rotisserie chicken at home with my super simple spice rub (4 ingredients plus salt & pepper). Or, recreate that same delicious flavor for your next oven-roasted chicken! 
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A rotisserie chicken on a white plate with slices of lemon.

Cheesy scalloped potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes
At dinners and parties throughout the Midwest, Scalloped Potatoes are always the first thing to disappear. This recipe uses a quick, made-from-scratch cheese sauce that's layered with plenty of potatoes.
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A baking dish full of scalloped potatoes.

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Side Dish Recipes

The Best Mashed Potatoes

The Best Mashed Potatoes in the world are just 3 ingredients (plus salt and pepper) and so simple, they barely even need a recipe. You’ll want these at your table for all the major holidays…

30 minutes
Cheesy Potato Casserole
Cheesy Potato Casserole is a cornerstone holiday recipe in the Midwest. This version has from-scratch cream of chicken soup and a crunchy cornflake topping.
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A pile of cheesy potato casserole on a plate.

Side Dish Recipes

Boursin Mashed Potatoes

This easy recipe for Boursin Mashed Potatoes uses baby potatoes with soft skins so you don’t even have to peel them! And the garlic and herb soft cheese melts like a dream, making every bite…

45 minutes
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
Oven-crisp Rosemary Roasted Potatoes are an easy, delicious side dish that goes with everything from quick family suppers to holiday feasts.
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Roasted rosemary potatoes on a baking sheet.

Favorite green beans with bacon

Green Beans with Bacon
An easy recipe for Green Beans with Bacon (and a touch of brown sugar, too). Cook the bacon and blanch the beans ahead of time, and this dish comes together in minutes.
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Green beans with bacon on a white platter.

More tasty vegetable recipes

Vegetable Recipes

Harvest Roasted Vegetables

An easy recipe for Harvest Roasted Vegetables with butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, bacon, and walnuts. Your new favorite fall side dish!

1 hour
Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
This Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole is a great mix of convenience and from-scratch cooking and won't take up any oven space.
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Slow cooker green bean casserole on a patterned platter.

Vegetable Recipes

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Parmesan

This recipe for Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan and Lemon turns boring broccoli into something crispy and caramelized in 40 minutes or less. Delicious! True confession: I actually grew up eating frozen broccoli with melted Velveeta…

40 minutes
Vegetable Casserole
Vegetable Casserole, just like mom used to make! Made with frozen veggies, Velveeta, and buttery cracker crumbs, it's always the first side dish to disappear.
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A pan of vegetable casserole with Velveeta and cracker crumbs.

Super soft dinner rolls

Soft Yeast Dinner Rolls
When nothing but homemade bread will do, try these easy Soft Yeast Dinner Rolls. They are perfect at your holiday table, on the side of Sunday Supper, piled with any kind of meat, or served simply with a bowl of soup.
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Soft yeast dinner rolls on a baking sheet.

More scrumptious bread recipes

Bread Recipes

3-Ingredient Homemade Biscuits

Trusted for the last 40 years, this easy homemade biscuit recipe requires just 3 ingredients. Whip up a batch of homemade biscuits for a dinner side dish, shortcake-starter, or as the base of a breakfast…

15 minutes
Homemade Crescent Rolls
Pillowy soft with a sweet, buttery taste, these Homemade Crescent Rolls are perfect for all the holidays or a weekend baking project.
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A basket of homemade crescent rolls.

Crockpot cranberry apple cider

Slow Cooker Cranberry Apple Cider
Slow Cooker Cranberry Apple Cider is simple to make, sweet, and delicious. This welcoming, spiced hot beverage makes the whole house smell amazing, too.
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Slow cooker cranberry apple cider in a clear mug.

More Christmas cocktails

Cocktail Recipes

Eggnog

Homemade Eggnog is the ultimate holiday cocktail. This easy holiday drink recipe is going to become your new holiday party tradition. So much better than store-bought eggnog!

1 hour 15 minutes
Brandy Old Fashioned
From Friday fish fries to supper clubs, the Wisconsin drink of choice is a Brandy Old Fashioned. Here's the authentic recipe for the Wisconsin twist on this famous classic cocktail.
VIEW RECIPE
A brandy old fashioned in a clear glass.
White Russian
The classic White Russian cocktail is made with vodka, Kahlúa, and cream. It's simple, delicious, and tastes a little bit like iced coffee.
VIEW RECIPE
A white Russian cocktail with a bottle of Kahlua in the background.

Festive cranberry wreath cake

Cranberry Wreath Cake
Cranberry Wreath Cake is a luscious chocolate cake covered in sweet vanilla buttercream and is perfect for the holidays or any winter celebration. A crown of fresh rosemary and sugared cranberries makes a stunning finishing touch.
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A slice of cranberry wreath cake on a plate with a fork.

More delicious desserts

Cake and Cupcake Recipes

Easy Chocolate Eclair Cake

This no-bake easy chocolate eclair cake is the recipe my mom used to make, and one of my family’s favorites. Inspired by the chocolate eclair cake Portillo’s serves, it comes together in about ten minutes—all…

20 minutes
Bûche de Noël (Yule Log Cake)
It's officially Christmas when Buche de Noel appears, thickly frosted in chocolate ganache bark and dotted with tiny meringue mushrooms. If making a Yule Log cake seems too elaborate, don't worry; all the steps are broken down into one easy-to-manage project.
VIEW RECIPE

Italian Recipes

Pizzelle

An easy Pizzelle recipe for the classic Italian cookie, lightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla or anise. All you need are 6 ingredients and 1 pizzelle maker! I learned about Pizzelle from one of my…

45 minutes
Christmas Sugar Cookies
These frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies are my grandma’s best recipe, so buttery and sweet! A family favorite. No Christmas is complete without them.
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Frosted sugar cookies decorated for Christmas on a baking rack.
A Christmas table with prime rib, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and rolls.
Executive Chef and CEO at | Website | + posts

Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.

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Comments

  1. Once again, you developed an outstanding selection of ideas/recipes! The pictures as well as step by step recipes are very helpful. The difficult part is narrowing choices. Happy holidays. Thanks again.

    Reply

  2. I haven’t used any of these recipes yet but I will be using some of these recipes for Christmas dinner I’m always looking for a new recipe I get tired of cooking the same Christmas dinner year after year

    Reply