80 Best Christmas Dinner Ideas For the Best Feast Ever

Partner this special-occasion cut of beef with good wine, a swipe of homemade horseradish cream, and a platter of golden roasted potatoes and you’re on your way to a delicious Christmas meal.

A classic baked ham is most delicious holiday centerpiece you can serve. The brown sugar maple glaze transforms it into something magical. The outside gets shatteringly crispy as the fat and juices render, creating the most flavorful sauce to serve alongside.

A showstopper Christmas dinner entrée of beef tenderloin wrapped in mushroom paste and crispy, buttery puff pastry.

Everything you need to know to roast a perfectly cooked leg of lamb for your holiday meal.

This impossibly tender, center-piece cut of beef tenderloin is the Christmas dinner of your dreams.

Honey butter and a crunchy spiced sugar coating makes this the very best holiday-worthy ham.

Standing tall like a crown, this roast is an impressive choice for Christmas dinner. It delivers juicy, tender pork chops for a crowd using our foolproof oven method of roasting the meat first at a higher temperature to achieve a golden crust, then finishing at a lower temperature to cook it evenly throughout.

This standing rib roast will bring the wow factor to any special occasion.

Ultra-tender chunks of beef chuck roast, seared vegetables, and a rich, velvety red wine sauce make this French stew ultra-cozy for Christmas dinner.

Brushed with bourbon, brown sugar, and orange, then roasted until juicy and crispy, this ham is the centerpiece you want on your Christmas dinner table.

These short ribs are a rich winter meal, too, easy and forgiving to cook under their sleek caps of fat, melting into tender chunks of pull-apart beef in the oven. Serve over mashed potatoes for an ultra-cozy Christmas dinner.

It’s all about the béchamel sauce and bolognese. This classic lasagna is the perfect make-ahead main for Christmas.

The beef brisket that makes the whole house smell like a cozy Christmas day.

The secret to the best-ever pork tenderloin? Heat the skillet in the oven! It's key for an irresistible caramelized crust.

Make a traditional roast for Christmas, with rosemary roasted beef, carrots and parsnips, crispy potatoes, creamy horseradish sauce, and warm gravy. Serve with perfect, pillowy Yorkshire pudding.

This main course is as quick and easy as it is impressive. Serve it with creamy tzatziki sauce and Greek lemon potatoes for a Christmas dinner everyone will love.

The slow-cooker yields tender, fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs swimming in a savory broth, made deeper and richer thanks to several glugs of Cabernet. Serve with creamy polenta for a Christmas dinner everyone will love.

Garlicky beef tenderloin roasted with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms make this a sheet pan meal worthy of a special occasion.

Flavor explodes when you treat whole pork shoulder in the style of bo ssam, the Korean dish of pork slow-cooked in spices then carved into delicate slivers.

Depending on the region of Mexico, you’ll see a variation of fillings, from sweet tamales filled with compotes and custards to vegetarian tamales or even the classic queso con rajas. Janette Zepeda calls for her personal favorite here: red pork stewed in a garlicky guajillo sauce.

This juicy pork loin roast is a fantastic option when you need a main dish to feed a crowd.

Slow-roasted pork shoulder marinated in garlic, herbs, and aromatics with irresistibly crispy skin. It’s perfect as the centerpiece for the big Christmas feast, served alongside arroz con gandules, savory pasteles, a simple salad, and some sliced avocado.

Unwrapping one of these is the best gift you can give yourself. Serve this classic Christmas meal with arroz con gandules, creamy potato salad, and crispy tostones.

This French-inspired pot roast has all the flavors of beef bourguignon. The rich red wine sauce is flavored with bacon, thyme, and beef broth, and the baby potatoes, mushrooms, and carrots or parsnips (or both!) are cooked right in the sauce to make this a meat and vegetable dish all in one.

This classic French recipe transforms humble chicken legs, tender vegetables, and herbs into a rich stew with the most deeply flavored red wine sauce.

Tender braised beef in a rich, caramelized onion gravy that's perfect over mashed potatoes.

A cozy French classic that’s really easy to whip up at home! Chicken fricassée is a flavorful, creamy, and comforting chicken dinner with herbs and aromatics.

Osso buco is traditionally served with risotto alla milanese, although we love pairing it with creamy polenta. You could also serve it with mashed potatoes, pasta, or even crusty bread to soak up every drop of the velvety sauce.

With just 6 ingredients, this unbelievably tender pot roast and vegetables has a gravy that's next level. Plus there’s no meat searing or onions that need sautéing in this recipe — the slow cooker does all the work for you.

This take on the traditional French dish is easy and just as delicious.

A hearty beef chuck stew with potatoes and carrots in a rich tomato sauce, perfect over steamed white rice.

Whether you toss it with pasta or serve it over creamy polenta, you can't go wrong with this cozy Italian-style meat sauce.

This is a true one-pot French-Italian dish — kind of like chicken fricassée, but with an Italian pasta sauce. It pairs perfectly with a side of pasta or a nice glass of wine.

Tender braised beef in a rich, spiced sauce. We love serving it spooned over egg noodles, fluffy couscous, rice, or creamy polenta to round out the meal.

Hearty, meaty, and packed with warm spices! Potatoes, eggplant, ground meat, and creamy bechamel sauce are layered and baked like a casserole.

This classic French chicken is the coziest thing you’ll cook this fall. We love serving it over a bowl of creamy polenta or with crusty bread.

Oven-braised beef short ribs and tender potatoes in a rich and flavorful sauce. Served over rice, it's the ultimate comfort food.

Lamb is braised low and slow in the oven with broth, red wine, and ras el hanout. Serve over mashed potatoes or creamy polenta.

Chicken pot pie is quintessential comfort food for so many people. Nothing’s cozier than a warm, savory filling encased in a buttery, flaky pie crust.

This beef stew is inspired by the iconic flavors of French onion soup.

Greek pastitsio features layers of pasta, homemade meat sauce, and the most delicious topping of creamy bechamel.

These Korean braised short ribs are the definition of umami-rich winter comfort food.

Pastelón is a Puerto Rican sweet plantain casserole with the perfect balance of savory and sweet — from the sofrito and tomato-flavored ground beef to the tender sweet plantain and creamy cheese.

This easy, cheesy spinach lasagna is total comfort food for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Make stuffed butternut squash filled with mushrooms, greens, and whole grains as a hearty vegetarian main.

Calling for baking the eggplant and adding in toasted breadcrumbs rather than breading the eggplant individually is a super-smart shortcut.

A brightened-up version of the classic comfort food, featuring the flavors of Greek spanakopita: spinach, feta cheese, fresh dill, and lots of lemon.

This creamy risotto is filled with tender butternut squash and flavored with fresh sage.

A cozy recipe for creamy polenta topped with a savory vegetarian mushroom ragu.

Beautiful stuffed shells with a caramelized onion ricotta filling, a Gruyère cheese sauce, and a cheesy breadcrumb topping.

Fresh pasta that'll satisfy all of your butternut squash cravings for Christmas.

While this lasagna is packed with vegetables, it doesn't skimp on the pasta or cheese. It's the perfect vegetarian main for Christmas dinner!

Everything you love about classic eggplant Parm, stuffed into a hollowed-out eggplant shell and topped with melted mozzarella.

Flavorful portobello mushrooms transform this vegetarian lasagna into a substantial main entree.

An easy meatless pot pie filled with sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and kale that's prepared and baked in a skillet.

A hearty mix of hearty mushrooms, nutty chickpeas, and greens in a thick and creamy coconut and tomato broth.

This vegetarian version of the classic beef Wellington will please everyone at the table, thanks to three kinds of earthy mushrooms and plenty of savory herbs.

Learn how to stuff and bake a whole pumpkin with cornbread, mushrooms, and kale to serve as a vegetarian entrée for Christmas and beyond.

So rich and creamy, these mashed potatoes are the only ones we ever make on the holidays. It's the classic potato side dish that pairs well with everything on the table.

Snappy blanched green beans served with sautéed shallots and buttery sliced almonds.

Extra creamy and cheese, this is the French casserole of our dreams.

No comfort food satisfies quite like homemade mac and cheese. This gooey and cozy casserole is an essential part of holiday dinners.

With a little love (thanks to lemon zest and juice, Parmesan cheese, and toasted almonds), these easy roasted green beans will be your new favorite side dish for Christmas.

This classic version uses just six ingredients and pairs it with an incredibly easy cooking method. The cozy casserole bakes up with a golden-brown top and super-tender sliced russet potatoes that are suspended in a creamy, thyme-flecked sauce.

This can be assembled up to a day ahead before baking, which makes this the perfect make-ahead holiday side.

This classic broccoli casserole, made with canned cream of mushroom soup and Ritz crackers, is bound to be a family favorite.

Thin slices of Yukon gold potatoes are doused in a cheese-bolstered cream mixture and baked in a skillet until it becomes a crispy and tender gratin-like dish that everyone will love.

Layer crunchy greens and Tuscan kale, sweet date-pickled onions, and crisp fried shallots up to a full day in advance for the ultimate holiday salad.

A comforting broccoli casserole with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Roasting rounds of sweet potato in a delicious honey-butter bath delivers caramelized, ultra-tender bites every single time.

All the savory flavor of French onion soup — caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and melted Gruyère — layered between slices of tender golden potatoes.

Thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes get tossed with a flavorful cream sauce, layered with plenty of Pecorino Romano, and baked until browned and bubbly.

Bundles of roasted green beans wrapped in candied bacon are a fun alternative to your standard green bean sides and a leveled-up version of green beans with bacon.

Thanks to a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, this corn casserole comes together quickly and is a perfect side dish for any meal.

Tender baby spinach, mixed in a flavorful cream sauce, makes one of the best and easiest side dishes for holiday dinners.

These mashed potatoes are the ideal make-ahead side dish. While classic stovetop mashed potatoes are best made right before serving to keep them from drying out, you can make this casserole a full day in advance without having to worry they’ll see the same fate.

This three-ingredient butternut squash side goes well with almost every Christmas main dish.

It's soft and tender on the inside with just a touch of texture from sweet corn and cornmeal, and blanketed with a delicate golden crust.

Adorned with toasty nuts, fried shallots, and radicchio, this green bean salad is a beautiful addition to your Christmas dinner table.

An easy homemade version of the classic comforting side dish, in which tender boiled russet potatoes are tossed in a creamy cheese sauce and baked until warm and bubbling.