Simple and Delicious: Easy Christmas Dinner Menu Ideas for Everyone

I love a simple Christmas dinner!

Growing up with a Swedish heritage, we had a smorgasbord on Christmas Eve with my mom’s side of the family. If you don’t know what a smorgasbord looks like, it’s basically finger foods–cold meat, sausages, cheese, canned sardines, oysters, clams, vegetable trays, and it would always end with the traditional lutefisk and rice pudding.

I love it, and that’s what I always want for Christmas dinner (minus the lutefisk…), but my children and husband aren’t so keen on it, so we always end up with turkey and mashed potatoes. But the Swedes really have something good going with a smorgasbord.

For one, it’s easy to make it a potluck–some people bring cheese, some sausage, some rice pudding, some canned fish. It’s easy to transport, and much of it doesn’t require refrigeration until after it’s opened.

Everything was made well ahead of time, which means very few dishes to wash up after the meal. If that sounds like something your family would like, it’s probably the easiest way to have a festive meal and simplify at the same time. Even if it’s just cold cuts and crackers.

If you’re looking for a simple Christmas dinner menu, keep reading for full recipes below.

It doesn’t matter what you serve, as long as your family feels like it’s Christmas.

If you have the elements that “feel” like Christmas, you can skip other time-consuming dishes. As long as you get the important dishes, your family will feel like the holidays were here and special. Allow yourself to cut corners on things.

Pick out the traditional foods that absolutely have to be homemade and then think through the rest–are there good quality options that you buy pre-made or pre-prepped (i.e. cut veggies, cut fruit)? Enlist the family to help.

This might be chopping veggies for relish trays, gathering ingredients for cranberry sauce, and putting it all into a ziplock bag–or making it 3 or 4 days ahead of time. Chop all the onions and celery for your stuffing, have everything ready in containers so all you have to do is cook it on that day. Delegate. Some of us grew up being taught that the host does EVERYTHING.

So, accept help.

Assign dishes to others who are coming. If visitors are coming several days ahead of time, let them know that you need some help doing prep work for the main meal. Sit together and chop veggies. Make it a fun event in itself–listen to music and visit.

 A Simple Christmas Smorgasbord Menu

Here are some food categories you might want to include if you try your own Christmas smorgasbord.

Various Cheeses: Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc.

Various Crackers and bread: Sourdough, rye crisps, crispbread, etc.

Canned fish: Kippered snacks, sardines, smoked oysters and clams, pickled herring, etc.

Meats: Summer sausage, smoked sausage, salami, smoked turkey, ham, roast beef, etc.

Relish trays: Pickles, sweet and dill pickles, pickled beets, pickled carrots, olives, vegetables & dip.

Desserts: Whatever you enjoy. Pudding, fruit crisp, chocolate mousse, cake, or pie.

Easy Christmas Dinner Menu

If you’re looking to serve a low key, low effort Christmas dinner that your whole family can enjoy, but you’re not feeling the smorgasbord, here’s a delicious and easy Christmas menu.

Easy Christmas main dishes

Here are two delicious main dish options for your simple Christmas dinner.

1. Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

This is much simpler alternative to whole turkey, perfect for smaller gatherings. I’ll include more common ingredients, if you’re working in a limited kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-5 lb) turkey breast, bone-in
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons fresh (or dry) rosemary, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh (or dry) thyme, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder is equivalent to 1 fresh garlic clove)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
2. Mix butter with herbs and garlic
3. Gently loosen turkey skin and spread herb butter underneath
4. Rub olive oil on skin, season with salt and pepper
5. Roast for 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F
6. Let rest 15-20 minutes before carving

2. Honey-Glazed Ham

Sweet and savory holiday classic! Just to give you some options. 

Ingredients:

• 1 (8-10 lb) spiral-cut ham
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C)
2. Place ham in roasting pan
3. Mix honey, butter, brown sugar, mustard, and cinnamon
4. Brush half the glaze over ham
5. Bake 1.5 hours, brushing with remaining glaze every 30 minutes
6. Rest 15 minutes before serving

Easy Christmas sides

With a simple main dish, you should have a side dish or two to pair with it. Here are a couple of ideas that would pair well with the above recipes.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

This is a colorful and nutritious side dish, made with seasonal veggies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
• 2 cups carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C)
2. Toss vegetables with oil, maple syrup, thyme, salt, and pepper
3. Spread on baking sheet
4. Roast 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway
5. Serve hot

1. Garlic Mashed Potatoes

A creamy, classic comfort food. If you’ve got picky kids, the Brussels sprouts might not land, so try these mashed potatoes!

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 cloves roasted garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chives for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until tender (20-25 minutes)
2. Drain and return to pot
3. Add warm milk, butter, and roasted garlic
4. Mash until smooth and creamy (I like to hit it with the hand mixer for extra creaminess)
5. Season with salt and pepper
6. Garnish with chives if desired

Here are a few other easy sides, if those don’t jive with you!

• Green beans
• Stuffed bell peppers
• Potato salad
• Crusty bread
• Sweet potatoes
• Green salad

Easy Christmas desserts

Dulac Dat Pecans

This is a simple treat from down the bayou that always bangs.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2.5 – 3 cups of pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Stiffen egg white
2. Mix in sugar, vanilla, and salt
3. Gently fold in pecans until well coated
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet
5. Bake at 275°F for 25 minutes

2. No-Bake Chocolate Trifle

A simple make-ahead dessert that looks like you worked much harder for it. 😉

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate pound cake, cubed
• 2 packages instant chocolate pudding
• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups whipped cream
• 1 cup raspberry preserves
• Fresh raspberries for garnish

Instructions:

1. Prepare pudding with milk according to package
2. Layer in glass bowl: cake, preserves, pudding, whipped cream
3. Repeat layers
4. Top with whipped cream and fresh raspberries
5. Chill at least 4 hours before serving

Timing Tips

• Start ham/turkey first
• Prep vegetables while meat cooks
• Make desserts day before
• Cook potatoes last for best texture
• Allow 30 minutes resting/reheating time before serving
• Have so much fun and a merry Christmas

Simple Christmas Dinner Table Decor

If you’re craving a Christmasy vibe for the dinner, here are a few quick and free solutions to crank up the jolly.

Lighting

Changing the lighting of a space is sometimes all you need to turn the whole room festive. You might try some waterfall fairy lights (or whatever lights you’ve got) behind a sheer white curtain and dim the main lights. If you don’t have a dimmer, you can slightly unscrew half of the light bulbs for a muted glow.

Candles are always a nice touch too!

Table runner

This is totally optional, but I guess most things are. If you’d like a little bit of table decor, go outside and find some evergreen branches, perhaps a few pinecones, and any other natural elements in your area that look festive. Make a pretty, simple, totally free arrangement for your table!

I recommend tapping them outside and ensuring no little critters have tagged along.

Shop your house

If you’re a frequent reader, you’re probably rolling your eyes to see me talking about this again, but SHOP YOUR HOUSE. Seasonal decor can be as simple as choosing a color scheme, then wandering around your house to find cute things that go with it. Arrange it all in one room to look like you’re just naturally a part of Santa’s workshop.

This is how I decorate for Halloween, because I own lots of bones and skulls, creepy old books, candlesticks, pinned bugs, and other things that look relatively normal spread through the house, but if they’re all in the living room at once, guests wonder if I’m actually a witch.

How to have a simple Christmas.

If you want to go beyond a simplified Christmas dinner and bring a slower, more intentional, more present energy to the holiday season, I recommend reading this post about ways to have a more meaningful Christmas.