Christmas Dinner Ideas

Chef Holiday Recipes Made Easy

« New Orleans chef John Besh says the combination of a bitter green with a sweet fruit and a strong cheese is a personal favorite of his. The salad here features fresh quince, a winter fruit that’s like a cross between an apple and a pear.

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Green Salads

Jacques Pépin’s Favorite Holiday Desserts

Easy Christmas Dinner Recipes

« Inspired by the classic combination of bagels with lox and cream cheese, Tory Miller devised this variation using smoked, locally raised trout and homemade English muffins.

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Easy Holiday Hors’Oeuvres

Healthy Holiday Recipes

« Marcia Kiesel’s luxuriously creamy soup is the perfect starters for a holiday dinner because it can be made in advance, then reheated and garnished just before serving.

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Delicious Vegetable Soups

Holiday Dishes to Make One Week Ahead

« Almost twice the size of ordinary gougères, these golden French cheese puffs are a bit like crispy, cheesy, slightly spicy popovers.

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Make-Ahead Main Courses

Holiday Dishes to Make Three Days Ahead

« This is one of the best upside-down cakes ever—the maple syrup infuses both the apples and the cake, making the dessert taste like a stack of apple pancakes.

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Make-Ahead Desserts

Holiday Dishes to Make the Day Before

« Dean Fearing loves the holiday feel of butternut squash, especially when it’s combined with ginger, as it is for his smooth, gently sweet soup. He tops it with whipped cream flecked with chopped pecans

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Holiday Entertaining Special

Holiday Entertaining Shortcuts

« In these single-serving desserts, the rich and creamy cheesecakes are baked atop a chocolate-wafer base. You don’t need any special equipment to make them—just a muffin tin and foil liners.

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Chef Holiday Recipes Made Easy

Intimate Christmas Dinner

« "It’s traditional to stuff birds with plain bread," chef Celestino Drago says, "but I like to use focaccia with herbs; it’s nicer."

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Fuss-Free Holiday Recipes

Recipes for Two

Vegan Christmas Recipes

« To create a terrific vegetarian main course, chef Michael Symon tosses quinoa with arugula, apple, raisins and fresh herbs, then spoons the salad into a halved baked squash (a great source of iron and vitamins A and C).

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Vegetarian Pasta Dishes

Vegetarian Casseroles

30-Minute Hors d’Oeuvres

« These spicy, tangy little party snacks are Southwestern take on the classic combination of smoked salmon, red onion and capers. Chef Dean Fearing throws in roasted garlic, lime juice and jalapeño and replaces the standard cream cheese with sour cream.

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Quick Party Appetizers

Tasty Party Snacks

Christmas Appetizers

« Melissa Clark’s speedy, creamy spinach-and-shrimp dip is a variation on a cocktail-party classic.

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Crackers for Dipping

Easy Holiday Hors d’Oeuvres

« A gentle heat makes these seasoned walnuts ideal with cocktails.

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Sweet and Savory Cocktail Cookies

Great Aperitifs

Christmas Hors d’Oeuvres

« Anything big made small is ultrafun for cocktail parties, and these quick, one-bite mac and cheeses are the ultimate example.

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10 Fast Appetizers

Christmas Dinner Side Dishes

« Fabio Trabocchi sears golden, buttery fingerling potatoes and tosses them with fresh dill; if you can’t find fingerlings, try baby Yukon Gold potatoes. For a lighter version, leave out the pancetta.

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Potato Side Dishes

Warm Winter Salads

Christmas Soup Recipes

« The secret to this savory mushroom soup from Joël Robuchon: a little crème fraîche.

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Warming Soup Recipes

Breads and Biscuits

Christmas Stuffing Recipes

« This stuffing is slightly sweet and fragrant, with plenty of herbs. There’s no meat in it, so it’s a little bit lighter and fresher-tasting than stuffings made with sausage.

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Delicious Roast Chicken

Savory Bread Puddings

Holiday Vegetable Side Dishes

« Most people cook carrots in water, Shawn McClain says, which dulls their flavor. His secret to keeping them supertasty is to cook them in carrot juice and orange juice until glazed.

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Healthy Vegetable Recipes

Roasted Vegetables

Christmas Casserole Recipes

« Chef Sam Hayward usually tops these lush onion-sweetened greens with an excellent aged raw-milk cheese from Vermont called Tarentaise. He says Gruyère or any other Alpine-style cheese is a great substitute.

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Holiday Potluck Recipes

Christmas Roasts

« "The great thing about doing a whole rib roast is that you don’t have to concentrate," Michael Mina says. "Season it right with salt and pepper, put it in the oven and then you can focus on all the dishes that go along with it."

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Fast Roasts

Jacques Pépin’s Perfect Christmas Dishes

Christmas Turkeys

« The gorgeous mahogany color of this roasted turkey comes from a glaze of lemon-infused apricot jam.

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Christmas Dinner Ideas: Holiday Pinot Noir Pairings

Christmas Main Course Recipes

« At Akasha restaurant in L.A., chef Akasha Richmond prepares a sweet-and-spicy glaze for ham using house-made pomegranate-jalapeño jelly. An easier alternative: doctoring store-bought jalapeño jelly with pomegranate juice.

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Pairing: Holiday Ham and Beaujolais

Holiday Potluck Recipes

« This hearty, meaty baked pasta is chef Tom Valenti’s ultimate make-ahead meal. "It’s actually better the next day," he says. "I always make more than I think we’ll need—and we always eat all of it."

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Crowd-Pleasing Christmas Dinner

Make-Ahead Holiday Dishes

Christmas Wine Pairings

Easy Christmas Desserts

« Kate Krader has been making these fudgy, sweet-salty brownies since she was 10 years old. As a kid she used regular table salt; now she recommends a flaky sea salt like Maldon, because the flavor is less harsh and it melts so nicely into the batter, accentuating the chocolaty sweetness.

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30-Minute Desserts

Holiday Cookie Party

Modern Classic Holiday Desserts

« Scott Conant frosts white cake with a not-too-sweet meringue, adding a nutty liqueur to the filling and frosting, giving it an Italian flavor. The cake is a knockout, with or without the liqueur, and stellar with either homemade or store-bought dulce de leche.

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Layer Cakes

12 Days of Holiday Baking

Holiday Drinks

« This puckery drink is prepared with rum and fresh mint like a classic mojito, but New Orleans chef John Besh makes it holiday-worthy by topping it with a splash of Champagne.

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Bargain Wines

Christmas Cocktails & Wine Guide