81 Traditional Christmas Foods To Feast On

Almost every family in Hungary prepares these cake rolls, called Beigli, for Christmas and Easter. The classic recipe calls for a poppy seed and a walnut filling. The filling can be altered by adding rum, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, and coffee. Other countries in central and eastern Europe are also familiar with the poppy seed and walnut rolls. Hungarian poppy seed cake is widely available during the Christmas season, but homemade is far better!

These fried plantains from Cuba make a flavorful side dish for many Latin American meals. The soft starchy interior is revealed through the crispy golden exterior, similar to a cooked potato in both texture and flavor. They are the most colorful side dish that go great with rice and fried piglet. Plantains are typically prepared on liquefied fat and served with sea salt. For extra heat, pepper might be added.

On January 7, Ethiopians who practice Orthodoxy celebrate Ganna. The national meal of Ethiopia is rooster Doro Wat, a hot chicken stew with hard-boiled eggs, served to break their 43-day fast, which starts on November 25. The berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend created with fenugreek, cardamom, and coriander (among other spices), as well as a lot of refined butter, is the secret to a delicious Wat. Forget about using utensils for this one. Ethiopia’s beloved fermented flatbread is excellent for scooping up rooster Doro Wat.

Every Christmas and Thanksgiving feast in America must include cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce must be on the dinner table, whether store-bought or homemade, loose or jellied, even more so if you’re serving turkey. Cranberry sauce over salt any day!

Herring is a staple food in Denmark, whether fried, smoked, or pickled. But a particular sort is essential for Christmas. Julesild herring is pickled and seasoned with cinnamon, cloves, and sandalwood and served as an appetizer during Julefrokost (Christmas dinners held throughout December among friends, family, and colleagues). It tastes best when paired with a slice of Danish rye bread and homemade remoulade.

Ponche navideño, or Christmas punch, is a non-alcoholic substitute for mulled wine. This festive beverage is usually given in the days leading up to Christmas Eve, during Las Posadas, a week-long celebration honoring Joseph and Mary’s trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It is made by boiling fruits like guava and apples with raw sugar cane, cinnamon, and hibiscus. You can add a dash of brandy or tequila to create a ponche with piquete (“punch with a sting”).

Christmas supper in Catalonia, Spain, starts with sopa de galets, a meaty soup with pasta shells. The recipe requires quite a lot of work because the broth, made from a combination of beef and ham bones, chicken breast, pig’s trotters, and vegetables, must simmer on a low fire for quite a few hours. The essential galets, Catalonia’s beloved big pasta shells, are then added to the broth along with freshly minced beef and pork that have been formed into bite-sized balls.

Christmas Eve is when Venezuelans customarily eat pan de jamón. This sweet-salty bread was invented in a Caracas bakery in 1905. Now, it is frequently sold in bakeries throughout December. The long loaf, traditionally served with dishes like hallacas (cooked cornbread stuffed with meat) and dulce de lechoza (a sweet papaya dessert), is similar to a savory swiss roll and is filled with roasted ham, raisins, and green olives.

This hot pork curry is prepared with onions, garlic, ginger, garam masala, tamarind water, a ton of garlic cloves, and scorching chilies. It is a Sunday staple in many Indian Catholic homes. The pork is further seasoned with bafat powder, a spice blend mainly composed of cinnamon and dried red chilies. It is frequently the centerpiece of Christmas dinners in Mangalore, an Indian city with many Catholic sites. It is typically served with sannas or steamed rice cakes.

Soup is a staple during the winter months. Due to the strong religious traditions in Italy, many Christmas recipes don’t include meat. However, the exception is cappelletti (also known as tortellini). Made with chicken and ricotta and cooked in capon broth, it is a popular Christmas Eve dish.

According to legend, this meal was first made in 1821 as part of a celebration in Puebla, Mexico, following the Mexican army’s victory against the Spanish. The dish’s colors, red, green, and white, were chosen to represent the Mexican flag while also being the perfect colors for the Christmas season. After being filled with ground pork, fruits, nuts, and spices, the chili is topped with a walnut sauce and fresh pomegranate seeds.

Ciorbă de perişoare is a traditional meatball soup in Romania. Perișoare are meatballs typically made with minced pork meat, rice, and spices. They are then cooked in ciorbă, a vegetable soup with parsley as a garnish and other vegetables, including onions, parsnips, and celery. It is usually served with spicy pepper and sour cream. It is eaten throughout the year, but you can also find this on the Easter or Christmas table.

Fish is a traditional Christmas meal staple in Portugal. However, compared to other countries, it is offered uniquely in Portugal. Bacalhau is a dried cod that is very salty. They soak it in advance and change the water multiple times before using it to prepare various meals. Bacalhau is typically served cooked at Christmas with boiled potatoes and green cabbage. Olive oil is used to season the dish.

Bibingga is a thick rice flour cake made with coconut milk, butter, and eggs that is typically consumed for breakfast on Christmas Eve after Misa de Gallo (Midnight Mass). Grated coconut, salted duck egg, and melted cheese are sprinkled on top in the more sumptuous versions of this dish. This salty-sweet cake is often baked in a clay pot covered in banana leaves over hot embers, but a cake tin can also be used to bake it in a home oven.

They are commonly referred to as Russian gingerbread cookies, and if you speak Russian, you’ll understand that the name pryaniki, which means “well-spiced,” is the key to their charm. Pryaniki are also comparable to lebkuchen (German Christmas cookies) and medenjaki (Slovenian honey biscuits).

Halászlé, often known as “fisherman’s soup,” is a spicy, paprika-based river fish soup with Hungarian roots. It is a bright-red soup with generous amounts of hot paprika and carp or assorted fish. The locals eat halászlé both regularly and at Christmas. The court bouillon is a crucial component of halászlé that significantly enhances its flavor. Fresh carp heads, bones, skin, and fins are used to make the soup base. These are boiled with veggies, salt, and water. After it is ready, the court broth is strained. Carp fillets, hot ground paprika, roe, and coral are added ten minutes before serving.

One of the most famous foods in the Philippines is Lechon, which is derived from a Spanish word for roasted suckling pig. Typically stuffed with lemongrass, tamarind, garlic, onions, and chives, the slow-roasted suckling pig is then cooked over an open flame on a long bamboo spit. Once the meat is properly roasted and falls off the bone, people tend to eat every part of the pig. The crispy, reddish-brown, crackling skin is treated as a delicacy. Lechon is often served with a thick, rich liver sauce cooked with sugar, fresh herbs, and vinegar.

Vitel Toné is a cold, sliced veal dish covered with a creamy, mayonnaise-like sauce flavored with tuna and anchovy. It is prepared at least a day or more in advance by braising or simmering a piece of veal from the back leg, which is then cut into thin, individual servings. For the sauce, fresh white tuna is simmered until fully cooked in white wine, cider vinegar, white onion, and garlic, and then puréed with a mix of olive and vegetable oil and egg yolks in a food processor to form a thick mayonnaise. This meal is usually served chilled or at room temperature.

On Christmas Eve, Finland has their biggest holiday meal, which includes roast ham, smoked fish, and pickled beet salad. But the vegetable casseroles that go with the meat, like lanttulaatikko, a spicy swede roast, are equally essential. Before baking, the swede is first boiled and mashed, then mixed with double cream, breadcrumbs, nutmeg, and treacle. Lastly, before cooking, buttered breadcrumbs are sprinkled on top for a golden, crisp finish.

Selyodka Pod Shuboy, a dish with Russian roots, has one of the more extravagant appearances on our list. Its name, which translates to “fish under a fur coat,” refers to the fact that it is composed of diced pickled herring stacked beneath diced potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, and mayonnaise, then topped with cooked eggs. The dish is usually decorated, is typically provided as party food and is required on many Russian occasions, especially around Christmas.