List of Christmas dishes


This is a list of Christmas dishes by country.

Albania and Kosovo

  • Baklava
  • Gjel deti me përshesh
  • Trelece

Andorra

American Samoa (U.S.), Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu

Argentina and Uruguay

Panettone and turrón are the most popular Christmas sweets in Argentina regardless of socioeconomic status, with 76% of Argentines choosing the former and 59% the latter in 2015. Mantecol, a typical peanut dessert, is also popular, being favored by 49% of Argentines in the same survey. Sparkling wines, ciders and frizzantes concentrate most of their sales during Christmas season; sparkling wine is mostly consumed by small families with high and medium socioeconomic status living in Greater Buenos Aires and the country's largest cities, while cider and frizzantes are popular among lower classes and large families.

Australia

Austria and Liechtenstein

Bangladesh

Belarus

Belgium

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua

Bolivia and Peru

Brazil

Canada

Chile

China and Taiwan

Colombia

Colombian Christmas dishes are mostly sweets and desserts. Some of the most popular dishes include:

Cuba

Czech Republic and Slovakia

Kapustnica – Christmas cabbage soup
Before the Christmas holidays, many kinds of sweet biscuits are prepared. These sweet biscuits are then served during the whole Christmas period and exchanged among friends and neighbours. Also very popular are a preparation of small gingerbreads garnished by sugar icing.

Denmark

Dominican Republic

Drinks:
Desserts:

Estonia

  • Hapukapsas
  • Mulgi kapsad
  • Piparkook
  • Sült
  • Verivorst

Finland

Christmas smorgasbord from Finland, "joulupöytä",, a traditional display of Christmas food served at Christmas in Finland, similar to the Swedish smörgåsbord, including:
Other meat dishes could be:
Desserts:
Drinks:
  • Glögg or mulled wine
  • Christmas beer ; local manufacturers produce Christmas varieties
  • "Home beer"

France and Monaco

Germany

Greece and Cyprus

Greenland

Haiti

Hong Kong and Macau

Hungary

Iceland

  • Hamborgarhryggur – a smoked, cured pork roast.
  • Lambalæri - heated or smoked sheep meat from a sheep's foot.
  • Ptarmigan – gamebird in the grouse family
  • Hangikjöt
  • Oven-roasted turkey
  • Beverage combination of Malt and Appelsín.
  • Jarðarberjagrautur
  • Möndlugrautur – a Christmas rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
  • Caramelised potatoes
  • Pickled red cabbageSmákökur – small cookies of various sorts
  • * Jólasúkkulaðibitakökur
  • * Loftkökur
  • * Mömmukökur
  • * Sörur
  • * Spesiur
  • * Gyðingakökur
  • * Piparkökur
  • * Marens Kornflexkökur
  • Laufabrauð – round, very thin flat cakes with a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm, decorated with leaf-like, geometric patterns and fried briefly in hot fat or oil

India and Pakistan

Indian Christians and Pakistani Christians in Indian subcontinent celebrate Christmas by enjoying several dishes, such as Allahabadi cake, Candy canes, Plum cakes etc. Some of the popular dishes eaten during Christmas in India and Pakistan are:
Church services are also held in churches throughout India and Pakistan, in which Christmas dinners are held which include dishes such as Allahabadi cake, candy canes, Christmas cookies.
The Koswad is a set of sweets and snacks prepared in the Christmastide by people of the Konkan region. South Indian states such as Kerala have traditions observed of home-brewed wine, mostly grapes but sometimes other fruits as well like apple and rose apple; ethnic recipes of slow-cooked beef fry, rice and coconut Hoppers, lamb stew, fried rice Indian and fusion style; desserts such as Falooda, pastry, and a whole array of steamed, boiled or baked sweets, often with coconut, jaggery, sugar and spices such as cardamom and cloves.

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Christmas in Italy is one of the country's major holidays and begins on 8 December, with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the day on which traditionally the Christmas tree is mounted and ends on 6 January, of the following year with the Epiphany. According to tradition, the Christmas Eve dinner must not contain meat. A popular Christmas Day dish in Naples and in Southern Italy is capitone, which is a female eel. A traditional Christmas Day dish from Northern Italy is capon. Abbacchio is more common in Central Italy. The Christmas Day dinner traditionally consists by typical Italian Christmas dishes, such as abbacchio, agnolini, cappelletti, Pavese agnolotti, panettone, pandoro, torrone, panforte, struffoli, mustacciuoli, bisciola, cavallucci, veneziana, pizzelle, zelten, or others, depending on the regional cuisine. Christmas on 25 December is celebrated with a family lunch, also consisting of different types of pasta and meat dishes, cheese and local sweets.

Jamaica

  • Christmas cake or black cake – a heavy fruit cake made with dried fruit, wine and rum.
  • Sorrel – often served to guests with Christmas cake; Sorrel is made from the same sepals as Latin American drink "Jamaica," but is more concentrated and usually flavored with ginger. Adding rum is traditional at Christmas time.
  • Curry goat
  • Rice and peas – a Sunday staple, at Christmas dinner is usually made with green gungo peas instead of dried kidney beans or other dried legumes.
  • Christmas ham
  • Chicken
  • Pine and ginger

Japan

  • Christmas cake – the Japanese style Christmas cake is often a white cream cake, sponge cake frosted with whipped cream, topped with strawberries and with a chocolate plate that says Merry Christmas. Yule Logs are also available.
  • Christmas cookies - A Christmas sugar cookie's main ingredients are sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and baking powder. Sugar cookies may be formed by hand, dropped, or rolled and cut into shapes. They are commonly decorated with additional sugar, icing, Christmas sprinkles. Decorative shapes and figures can be cut into the rolled-out dough using a cookie cutter.
  • Christmas cupcakes
  • Crème caramel pudding in Japan - a crème caramel ubiquitous in Japanese convenience stores under the name custard pudding. Made with eggs, sugar and milk, sometimes served with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
  • French fries
  • Fruit parfait - Made by boiling cream, egg, sugar and syrup to create layers differentiated by the inclusion of such ingredients as corn flakes and vanilla ice cream. Topped with melon, banana, peach, orange, apple, kiwi, cherries and strawberries and whipped cream.
  • Gingerbread house
  • Ice cream
  • KFC fried chicken – turkey as a dish is virtually unknown in Japan and the popularity of KFC's fried chicken at Christmas is such that orders are placed as much as two months in advance.
  • Nabemono
  • Poached egg salad
  • Shōyu ramen
  • Tamagoyaki - Japanese Omelette
  • Yakiniku

Korea

South Korea celebrates Christmas as a holiday after support of the united nations during the Korean War. Generally, Christmas themed foods similar to the ones found in western countries are enjoyed. Because North Korea bans any form of religion, Christmas is not allowed.

Latvia

  • Jāņu skābs
  • Piparkūkas

Lithuania

Malaysia and Singapore

Malta

  • Panettone – from the Italian tradition
  • Fruitcake – from British influence
  • Christmas/Yule log (cake) – a log that is made from chocolate and candied fruits
  • Mince Pies – from British influence
  • Timpana – traditionally served as a starter
  • Roast Turkey – from British influence

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Palestine

Panama

Paraguay

Philippines

Poland

On 24 December, Christmas Eve, twelve dishes are served as a reminder of the Twelve Apostles. Polish people often do not eat meat on this day; instead, they choose from a variety of fish and vegetable dishes. The meal begins when the first star is seen.

Portugal

  • Bacalhau – codfish
  • Cabrito assado – roasted goat
  • Borrego assado – roasted lamb
  • Polvo cozido – boiled octopus
  • Polvo à lagareiro - dish based on octopus, olive oil, potatoes, grelos and garlic.
  • Carne de Vinha d' Alhos – mainly served in Madeira – pork dish
  • Bolo de mel – mainly served in Madeira - Cake made with molasses
  • Bolo Rei – a beautifully decorated fluffy fruitcake
  • Bolo-Rei escangalhado – it is like the first one, but has also cinnamon and chilacayote jam
  • Bolo-Rainha – similar to Bolo-Rei, but with only nuts, raisins and almonds
  • Bolo-Rei de chocolate – it is like the Bolo-Rei, but has less fruit, nuts, chilacayote jam and many chocolate chips
  • Broa castelar – a small, soft and thin cake made of sweet potato and orange
  • Fatias douradas – slices of pan bread, soaked in egg with sugar, fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon
  • Rabanadas – they are like fatias douradas, but made with common bread
  • Aletria – composed of pasta, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, lemon peel, cinnamon powder and salt
  • Formigos – a delicious dessert made with sugar, eggs, pieces of bread, almonds, port wine and cinnamon powder
  • Filhós / Filhozes / Filhoses – depending on the region, they may be thin or fluffy pieces of a fried dough made of eggs, honey, orange, lemon, flour and anise, sprinkled - or not with icing sugar
  • Coscorões – thin squares of a fried orange flavoured dough
  • Azevias de grão, batata-doce ou gila – deep fried thin dough pastries filled with a delicious cream made of chickpea, sweet potato or chilacayote, powdered with sugar and cinnamon
  • Tarte de amêndoa – almond pie
  • Tronco de Natal – Christmas log – a Swiss roll, resembling a tree's trunk, filled with chocolate cream, decorated with chocolate and mini – 2 cm Christmas trees
  • Lampreia de ovos – a sweet made of eggs, well decorated
  • Sonhos – an orange flavoured fried yeast dough, powdered with icing sugar
  • Velhoses – they are like the sonhos, but made with pumpkin
  • Bolo de Natal – Christmas cake
  • Pudim de Natal – Christmas pudding, similar to flan
  • Vinho quente – mulled wine made with boiled wine, egg yolk, sugar and cinnamon
  • Turkey – on the island of Terceira, turkey has recently taken over as the traditional Christmas dish over Bacalhau, due to the influence of American culture on the island, home to the United States Air Force's 65th Air Base Wing.

Puerto Rico (U.S.)

  • Arroz con gandules – yellow-rice, pigeon peas, olives, capers, pieces of pork, spices and sofrito cooked in the same pot.
  • Escabeche – pickled green bananas or cassava and chicken gizzards.
  • Macaroni salad – with canned tuna and peppers.
  • Morcilla – blood sausage.
  • Pasteles – Puerto Rican tamle made from milk, broth, root vegetables, squash, green banana, plantain dough, stuffed with meat, and wrapped in banana leaves.
  • Hallaca – tamale made from grated cassava and stuffed with meat wrapped in banana leaves.
  • Pastelón – sweet plantain "lasagna".
  • Pig roast – Puerto Rico is famous for their pig roast. It is also a part of their national dish.
  • Potato salad – most commonly made with apples, chorizo and hard-boiled eggs. Potatoes are sometimes replaced with cassava.
Drinks:
  • Bilí – Spanish limes or cherries fermented in rum with spices, brown sugar, citrus peels, bay leaves, avocado leaves, often cucumber, ginger, and coconut shells.
  • Coquito – spiced coconut eggnog.
  • Coquito de guayaba - spiced guava eggnog with cream cheese or coconut milk added.
  • Piña colada
  • Rum punch – rum, orange liqueur, grenadine, ginger ale, grapefruit juice served with fruit, lemon and lime slices.
  • La Danza – champagne with passion fruit juice, orange liqueur, lime juice, lemon juice, and strawberry juice.
Dessert:
  • Arroz con dulce – Spiced coconut and raisin rice pudding.
  • Bread pudding – soaked in coconut milk and served with a guava rum sauce.
  • Dulce de cassabanana – musk cucumber cooked in syrup topped with walnuts and sour cream on the side.
  • Dulce de papaya con queso – Fermented green papaya with spices and sugar syrup served with ausubal cheese or fresh white cheese.
  • Flancocho – Crème caramel with a layer of cream cheese and Puerto Rican style spongecake underneath.
  • Majarete – rice and coconut custard. Made with coconut cream, marshmallows, milk, rice flour, sugar, vanilla and sour orange leaves with cinnamon served on top.
  • Rum cake
  • Tembleque – a pudding made with cornstarch, coconut cream, sugar, milk, orange blossom water and coconut milk.
  • Turrón – Sesame brittle or almond brittle.
  • Mantecaditos – Puerto Rican shortbread cookies. Made with shortening, coconut butter, flour, almond flour, vanilla, nutmeg and almond extract. They are usually filled with guava jam or pineapple jam in the middle.
  • Natilla – Milk, coconut cream and egg yolk custard made with additional cinnamon, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and orange blossom water. Served in individual ramekins with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Romania

Romanian Christmas foods are mostly pork-based dishes. Five days before Christmas, Romanians are celebrating the Ignat Day, a religious holy day dedicated to the Holy Martyr Ignatius Theophorus, associated with a practice that takes place especially on villages scattered around the country: the ritual of slaughtering the pigs. And they are using everything from the pigs: from their blood to their ears. Five days later their tables are filled not only with generous pork roasts but also with:
  • Piftie – pork jelly, made only with pork meat, vegetables and garlic
  • Lebăr – liver sausages, a local variety of liverwurst
  • Caltaboș – sausages made from organs
  • Cârnaţi – pork-based sausages
  • Sângerete – blood sausages
  • Tobă – head cheese made from various cuttings of pork, liver boiled, diced and "packed" in pork stomach like a salami
  • Sarmale – rolls of cabbage pickled in brine and filled with meat and rice
  • Salată de boeuf – a more recent dish, but highly popular, this type of salad uses boiled vegetables and meat. It can include potatoes, carrots, pickled red peppers and cucumbers, egg whites bits. Everything is mixed together with mayonnaise and mustard.
  • Cozonac, the Romanian equivalent of panettone or sweet bread.
  • Strong spirits: Palinka, Rachiu, Ţuică

Russia

San Marino

Serbia and Montenegro

South Africa

Christmas is in the summer in South Africa, so many summer fruits such as watermelon and cantaloupes are enjoyed at this time. Popular desserts include trifle, melktert and peppermint crisp tart. Many people in South Africa hold Braai barbecues for Christmas or New Year's Day.

Spain

cider

Sri Lanka

Sweden

Switzerland

Thailand

Trinidad and Tobago

In Trinidad and Tobago traditional meals consists of generous helpings of baked ham, pastelles, black fruit cake, sweet breads, along with traditional drinks such as sorrel, ginger beer, and ponche de crème. The ham is the main item on the Christmas menu with sorrel to accompany it.

Ukraine

Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians in Ukraine traditionally have two Christmas dinners. The first is a Lent Dinner, it is held on January 6 and should consist of meatless dishes. The second is a Christmas Festive dinner held on January 7, when the meat dishes and alcohol are already allowed on the table. The dinner normally has 12 dishes which represent Jesus's 12 disciples. Both Christmas dinners traditionally include a number of authentic Ukrainian dishes, which have over thousand-year history and date back to pagan times.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, what is now regarded as the traditional meal consists of roast turkey with cranberry sauce, served with roast potatoes and parsnips and other vegetables, followed by Christmas pudding, a heavy steamed pudding made with dried fruit, suet, and very little flour. Other roast meats may be served, and in the nineteenth century the traditional roast was goose. The same carries over to Ireland with some variations.

United States

See also: Thanksgiving Dinner

Venezuela

  • Hallaca – rectangle-shaped meal made of maize, filled with beef, pork, chicken, olives, raisins and caper, and wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled to cook.
  • Pan de jamón – ham-filled bread with olives and raisins and often sliced cheese.
  • Dulce de lechosa – dessert made of cooked sliced unripe papaya in reduced sugar syrup
  • Ensalada de gallina – salad made of potato, carrot, apple and shredded chicken
  • Pernil – commonly referred to as roast pork

Vietnam