Christmas Dinner Ideas: 70 Mains, Sides, Desserts, 8 Menus

The short answer: the best Christmas dinner ideas start with one showstopper main, two or three sides that share the oven, something fresh and green, a make-ahead dessert and one dish your family expects every year.

• Traditional main options: ham, prime rib, turkey, beef tenderloin and roast chicken
• Sides to plan: 2 starches, 1 to 2 vegetables, 1 salad and rolls
• Make ahead: desserts, casseroles, cranberry sauce and gravy base
• 70 ideas and 8 complete menus, including budget and vegetarian menus
• Next step: Plan it with the Christmas Budget & Gift Planner ($4.99).

The best Christmas dinner ideas start with one showstopper main, two or three sides that can share the oven, something fresh and green, a make-ahead dessert and one thing your family expects every year. Below you'll find 70 ideas organized the way you actually plan: classic and non-traditional mains, sides, appetizers and desserts, eight complete Christmas dinner menus (from a classic ham dinner to a budget menu and a vegetarian one), and simple ways to keep the cost and the stress down.

If you already know what you're cooking and need the timeline and shopping list, jump to our Christmas dinner menu planner. This page is for deciding what to make.

10 Christmas dinner dishes for a starter menu

Use these ten suggestions as a starting point, not a popularity ranking. Choose one main from the first three, then the sides your household enjoys.

A fully cooked ham can simplify the cooking plan. Reheat one packaged in a USDA-inspected plant to 140°F; other precooked hams need 165°F. Read the package label, and reserve oven space for both the ham and the sides. For the finish, our ham glaze page has five recipes with amounts and timing.

How to choose your Christmas dinner

Before you pick recipes, answer four quick questions:

1. How many people? A dinner for two and a dinner for 14 need very different mains. For a small table, see Christmas dinner for two.
2. What's the budget? Prime rib and beef tenderloin cost far more per person than ham, roast chicken or a pork loin. Set the number first, then choose the main.
3. How much oven space? Most home kitchens have one oven. Pick a main that rests for 20 to 30 minutes so sides can bake while it rests, and use the stovetop, slow cooker and no-cook dishes for the rest.
4. What does your family expect? Every family has the one dish that "makes it Christmas". Keep that, and feel free to change everything else.

Classic Christmas dinner main dishes

1. Glazed ham. A practical Christmas main because a fully cooked ham only needs reheating. Our guide on how to cook a ham covers glazes and timing, and leftover ham recipes help you use refrigerated portions within three to four days or freeze them for later.
2. Prime rib (standing rib roast). The splurge main. See how to cook prime rib for a foolproof low-and-slow method.
3. Roast turkey. Not just for Thanksgiving. A smaller turkey or a spatchcock turkey cooks much faster. Use our how much turkey per person guide to size it.
4. Beef tenderloin. Elegant, quick-roasting and easy to slice, but pricey.
5. Roast chicken (or two). Budget-friendly, fast and familiar.
6. Pork loin or pork crown roast with an apple or cranberry glaze.
7. Roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary.
8. Cornish hens, one per person, for a small, special dinner.
9. Turkey breast for a smaller group that wants turkey without the whole bird.
10. Pot roast for a cozy, make-ahead dinner that cooks itself. Our easy pot roast has oven and slow cooker times.

Non-traditional Christmas dinner ideas

Not every family wants a roast. These are just as festive:

11. Lasagna (meat, spinach or butternut squash), assembled the day before.
12. Seafood feast: shrimp, baked salmon and crab legs, inspired by the Feast of the Seven Fishes. For a make-ahead starter, add our crab cake recipe.
13. Tamales, a Christmas tradition in many Mexican and Mexican-American families. Make them together as a family activity. Many families serve them with a big pot of pozole rojo.
14. Beef Wellington if you want a project.
15. Baked salmon with a herb or mustard crust.
16. Enchilada bar with red and green sauces.
17. Short ribs braised in the oven the day before.
18. Chicken parmesan with a big salad.
19. Breakfast-for-dinner Christmas with a Christmas breakfast casserole, bacon and cinnamon rolls.
20. Potluck-style Christmas where everyone brings a dish. Our Christmas potluck ideas list helps you assign dishes.

Vegetarian Christmas dinner mains

21. Stuffed butternut squash with wild rice, cranberries and pecans.
22. Mushroom Wellington in puff pastry.
23. Vegetable lasagna with ricotta and spinach.
24. Eggplant parmesan.
25. Lentil and mushroom shepherd's pie with mashed potato topping.
26. Baked macaroni and cheese as the main, with roasted vegetables. Our baked mac and cheese is a crowd favorite.

Christmas dinner side dishes

Plan two starches, one or two vegetables, a salad and bread. Our full list of Christmas side dishes has more, with make-ahead notes.

27. Mashed potatoes, which hold well in a slow cooker on warm.
28. Scalloped potatoes, creamy and oven-baked.
29. Green bean casserole, assembled a day ahead.
30. Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon or balsamic.
31. Sweet potato casserole with pecan or marshmallow topping.
32. Homemade stuffing, baked in a dish.
33. Dinner rolls, made ahead and frozen.
34. Gravy, with the base made the day before.
35. Honey-glazed carrots.
36. Roasted root vegetables (carrots, parsnips and beets).
37. Creamed spinach.
38. Corn casserole or corn pudding. Our corn casserole recipe can be assembled a day ahead.
39. Winter salad with pears, pomegranate seeds and walnuts.
40. Wild rice pilaf with cranberries.
41. Cranberry sauce, made up to a week ahead.
42. Macaroni and cheese.
43. Au gratin or Hasselback potatoes.
44. Garlic green beans with almonds.

Christmas appetizers

Keep appetizers light so guests still have room for dinner. More ideas are in our Christmas appetizers list.

45. A Christmas charcuterie board, which can double as the appetizer and a grazing table.
46. Shrimp cocktail.
47. Baked brie with cranberry and pecans.
48. Caprese skewers in Christmas colors.
49. Spinach artichoke dip. For a spicy option, make buffalo chicken dip.
50. Stuffed mushrooms.
51. Deviled eggs.
52. Cheese ball with crackers.

Christmas desserts

Desserts are the easiest part of Christmas dinner to make ahead. See our full list of Christmas desserts.

53. Pecan pie.
54. Apple pie.
55. Pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie.
56. Yule log (bûche de Noël).
57. Cheesecake with cranberry topping.
58. Gingerbread cake.
59. Trifle with berries and whipped cream.
60. A tray of Christmas cookies and Christmas candy.
61. Bread pudding with caramel sauce. Or make a big dish of homemade banana pudding the night before.
62. Peppermint brownies.

Drinks for Christmas dinner

63. Hot apple cider in a slow cooker.
64. Sparkling cranberry punch.
65. Eggnog.
66. Mulled wine.
67. Hot chocolate bar for the kids.
68. Festive Christmas cocktails for the adults.
69. Sparkling water with rosemary and cranberries.
70. Coffee and tea with dessert.

8 complete Christmas dinner menus

Pick a menu, then adjust one or two dishes to your family's favorites.

Hosting the night before too? Our Christmas Eve dinner ideas pair a lighter Eve menu with any of these, and our Christmas breakfast ideas cover the morning.

Christmas dinner ideas by group size

Christmas dinner ideas from around the world

If you want a new tradition, borrow one from another country's Christmas table:

1. Italy (and Italian American): the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, with fried calamari, baked clams and pasta with clams.
2. Mexico: tamales, pozole and bacalao (salt cod stew), plus ponche to drink.
3. United Kingdom: roast turkey with stuffing, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, pigs in blankets and Christmas pudding.
4. Germany: roast goose or duck with red cabbage and potato dumplings.
5. Poland: the meatless Wigilia Christmas Eve supper with pierogi, beet soup and fish.
6. Sweden: the julbord buffet of ham, meatballs, pickled herring and rice pudding.
7. The Philippines: the Noche Buena feast after midnight Mass, with ham, lechon and spaghetti.
8. Puerto Rico: pernil (slow-roasted pork shoulder), arroz con gandules and coquito.

Counting down to the big day? Our days until Christmas countdown shows how long you have left to shop and cook.

How to plan Christmas dinner on a budget

Christmas dinner can cost far more than it needs to. A few rules that save the most:

• Choose the main by price per serving. Ham, pork loin, whole chicken and turkey usually cost much less per person than beef tenderloin or prime rib.
• Shop your pantry first. Check what you already have for baking and sides before writing the list.
• Buy in two trips. Shelf-stable items and baking supplies in early December when they're on sale; fresh produce, dairy and the main a few days before.
• Make it a potluck. Ask guests to bring a side, a dessert or drinks.
• Don't overdo the sides. Five or six sides are plenty for most groups; more just means more leftovers.

For a full budget walkthrough, read how to host Christmas dinner on a budget, and plan the whole week's meals with our Christmas week meal plan.

Make-ahead Christmas dinner plan

Spread the cooking out so Christmas Day isn't all kitchen:

• One week before: cranberry sauce, pie dough, cookie dough and dinner rolls (freeze).
• Two to three days before: shop for fresh produce, chop onions and celery, make the gravy base.
• The day before: bake pies, assemble casseroles, set the table and thaw anything frozen in the fridge.
• Christmas morning: take the main out of the fridge, prep vegetables and set out serving dishes.
• While the main rests: bake the sides and warm the rolls.

Our Christmas dinner menu planner has a full hour-by-hour cooking timeline that works backward from dinner time.

Christmas dinner food safety

A big meal with lots of guests is when food safety matters most:

• Use a thermometer. FoodSafety.gov lists 165°F for turkey and chicken (and stuffing), and 145°F for beef, pork and lamb roasts with a three-minute rest.
• Reheat ham correctly. The USDA says to reheat a fully cooked, USDA-inspected ham to 140°F; a cook-before-eating ham needs 145°F with a three-minute rest.
• Thaw in the fridge, not on the counter. Allow about a day for every 4 to 5 pounds of turkey, per USDA's roasting guide.
• Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and eat them within three to four days, according to the USDA.

Plan Christmas dinner on paper

The easiest Christmas dinners are planned before December gets busy. The Christmas Budget & Gift Planner ($4.99) includes a Holiday Menu page, a Holiday Grocery List and a Holiday To-Do Timeline alongside your holiday budget and gift list, so dinner, gifts and spending are planned in one place. It also comes with a Christmas budget and gift tracker spreadsheet for Excel and Google Sheets.

Hosting more than one holiday meal? The Holiday Season Bundle ($15.99) adds the Meal Planner & Grocery List, Sinking Funds Tracker, 100 Envelope Savings Challenge, Bill Tracker and Cleaning Schedule. And when Grandma's recipe is the one everyone asks for, save it in the Family Recipe Binder ($6.99), which has its own Holidays section.

Make it yours

The best Christmas dinner isn't the fanciest one. It's the one where the cook gets to sit down too. Pick a main that fits your budget and your oven, keep the one dish your family can't do without, make as much as you can ahead of time and let guests help. Then write down what worked, so next year's menu is already half planned.

For the rest of the season, browse our Christmas planning checklist and the full Christmas guide.

Want a lighter main than ham? Our pork tenderloin recipe roasts in about 30 minutes, with a holiday maple glaze option.