If you’re looking for a stunning Christmas dinner, breakfast for a crowd or a glamorous appetizer for all to enjoy, you’ll find them all here. These are the highly-rated Christmas recipes that readers come back to each December, and we’re sure they’ll help make your spirits bright. Whether you opt for a tray of Pear & Goat Cheese Upside-Down Puff Pastries for cocktail hour or a big dish of Spinach & Mushroom Quiche for a cozy morning, these recipes will certainly deliver.
Spinach & Mushroom Quiche
Photographer: Jen Causey
This healthy vegetarian quiche recipe is as simple as it gets. It’s a quiche without the fussy crust! It’s filled with sweet wild mushrooms and savory Gruyère cheese. Enjoy it for breakfast or brunch, or serve it with a light salad for lunch.
Roasted Honeynut Squash
Honeynut squash looks just like mini butternut squash, but on the inside, you’ll find an even sweeter, deeper orange flesh. This simple roasting method enhances the natural flavor of the squash with butter and spices.
Pear, Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall
This pear and gorgonzola salad celebrates fall with its beautiful colors. The light and refreshing vinaigrette offsets the tangy funk of Gorgonzola and the sweetness from the raisins and pears.
Pear & Goat Cheese Upside-Down Puff Pastries
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Amanda Holstein, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
These easy tarts are the perfect holiday appetizer. With a blend of sweet fig jam, creamy goat cheese and juicy pear slices all baked in flaky puff pastry, they’re a crowd-pleasing combination of sweet and savory flavors. These tarts are simple to assemble, bake quickly, and add an elegant touch to any holiday spread.
EatingWell’s Eggplant Parmesan
Here, we bake breaded eggplant for crispy results with fewer calories to boot. This makeover of the classic recipe was originally developed by our Test Kitchen in 1995 and got an update in 2020 for our 30th anniversary issue.
Whipped Frozen Apple Cider
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
This apple cider slushie–inspired frozen drink is the perfect mix of warm and cold, offering the comforting taste of autumn spices while being refreshing enough for any time you want a cooldown. Coconut milk adds creaminess. You can swap it out for light coconut milk but the texture will be thinner.
Baked Brie with Jam in Puff Pastry
This best baked Brie recipe is also the easiest. Serve this decadent yet simple appetizer with apple wedges and crackers, and watch it disappear in seconds! It’s bound to be your new party go-to.
Pan-Seared Strip Steak
Alexandra Shytsman
This fantastic strip steak is the perfect dinner for date night or any special occasion that deserves something extra delicious on the table. A little butter adds richness and keeps the leaner-than-usual beef moist without adding much in the way of total fat. Don’t know how to cook steak on the stove? No worries! Not only is this one of our best steak recipes, it’s incredibly easy. However, a word of caution: This recipe is smoky! Keep your exhaust fan on high or cook in a skillet on a hot outdoor grill.
Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Brittany Conerly
In this installment of Diaspora Dining, Jessica B. Harris’ series on foods of the African diaspora, the author and historian rings in some changes to the Christmas traditions of her own childhood.
Melting Potatoes
These melting potatoes are aptly named, as high-heat roasting creates a crispy exterior, while a final broth addition makes them extra creamy. Serve them with roasted chicken and a salad for dinner.
High-Fiber Apple-Cranberry Baked Oats
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
This cranberry-apple baked oatmeal is the perfect fall breakfast to cozy up to. Combining the comforting warmth of baked oats with the seasonal sweetness of apples and the tartness of cranberries, this dish is a delicious and nourishing way to start the day. Oats and apples are packed with fiber, promoting a healthy gut and keeping you fuller longer. We like naturally sweet, firm apples like Honeycrisp and Fuji. If you prefer something a little more tart, swap one out for a Granny Smith.
Ricotta & Sun-Dried Tomato Puff Pastry Bites
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
These ricotta and sun-dried tomato puff pastry bites will take your holiday spread to new heights with their flaky, golden crust and creamy filling. Ricotta pairs beautifully with the tangy, savory sun-dried tomatoes, with a hint of lemon and spice tying it all together. This easy bite-size appetizer is both elegant and delicious and sure to impress your guests at any gathering!
Lemon-Garlic Clams with Brown Rice Risotto
Ali Redmond
Littleneck clams are steamed in a white wine and garlic sauce and served over no-stir brown rice risotto that’s baked in the oven and made creamy by adding Parmesan cheese and a little butter. The clams are garlicky and briny, with a pop of heat from red pepper and a bit of acidity from lemon, a perfect contrast to the creamy risotto. This fuss-free dish is perfect for holiday gatherings like Feast of the Seven Fishes but easy enough for a weeknight dinner.
Slow-Cooker Balsamic Short Ribs
Now here’s a beef short ribs recipe you can serve to company—even on a holiday.
Cranberry-Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Alexandra Shytsman
These festive cheesecake bars are the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. Cranberries add a pop of color and tang.
Fig & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Roll
Photographer: Jacob Fox, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
Buttery puff pastry is a tasty shortcut ingredient that can be used in many delicious ways. Here, we roll out a pastry sheet and cover it with fig jam and crumbled goat cheese, then roll it up into a log and bake it. The end result is a sweet-and-savory appetizer that looks and tastes impressive, especially considering it has just three ingredients.
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Lindsey Lower
These muffins taste like they came straight from a bakery, but with a healthy twist! Nutty almond and coconut flours replace all-purpose flour which helps lower carbs. A bit of brown sugar and apple sauce add a touch of sweetness. Make these ahead for an easy grab-and-go breakfast for the week.
Spaghetti & Spinach with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Photographer: Kelsey Hansen, Food Stylist: Greg Luna
To achieve flavor quickly in this sun-dried tomato pasta recipe, we use the oil from sun-dried tomatoes to create the base of the cream sauce. Meanwhile, the residual heat of the pasta wilts the spinach in record time for a fast weeknight dinner.
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions
Photographer: Fred Hardy II, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
Fresh herbs, onion and sautéed bacon flavor this easy Brussels sprouts recipe. This savory dish is delicious in the fall and winter months when Brussels sprouts are in season.
3-Ingredient Cranberry-Brie Bites
Baked Brie is a perennially popular appetizer. Here, we complement the Brie with tart cranberry sauce and bake it in pretty individual tartlets using premade pie crust for an ultra-easy, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
Easy Broccoli-Cheddar Quiche
This broccoli and Cheddar quiche gets its creamy texture from evaporated milk. It’s a great recipe to make ahead: simply reheat before serving or cut into slices and reheat each morning for breakfast. Using precut microwaveable broccoli cuts down on prep time, but if you have broccoli crowns sitting around, go ahead and use those up. Just be sure to cook the broccoli only until barely tender or the final dish will have overcooked, soggy broccoli.
Italian Wedding Soup
Jennifer Causey
Forget the marble-size meatballs you find in many versions of this Italian Wedding Soup. In this easy recipe, they’re full-size, full-flavored and plenty filling.
Cranberry Coconut Trifle
No other dessert turns heads like a trifle. Festive in every way, this trifle recipe glows from within with scarlet layers of juicy cranberries. The filling is made from an astounding 6 cups of antioxidant-packed cranberries! We made the custard with a combination of low-fat milk and light coconut milk. From-scratch brown-butter sponge cake, made with whole-wheat pastry flour, stands in for store-bought ladyfingers.
Crispy Smashed Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic & Parmesan
Photography / Brie Passano, Styling / Sammy Mila / Holly Raibikis
Topped with Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar, these flavorful Brussels sprouts will be the star on any table. Smashing the sprouts creates a wide surface area that gets mouthwateringly crispy in the oven.
Chicken Parmesan Casserole
We took the best parts of chicken Parmesan—ooey-gooey cheese, crispy breadcrumbs and plenty of tomato sauce—and spun them into an easy family-friendly casserole.
Christmas Breakfast Casserole
Enjoy this Christmas-morning casserole while you open presents. Breakfast casseroles are perfect for when you have a crowd to feed, and you can make the prep even quicker by tearing the bread into pieces the night before.
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
Department: Eating Well, Brand: Eating Well Digital, Source Type: Staff, Photographer: Stacy K. Allen, Props: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Ana Kelley
Sweet cherries complement the tart goat cheese in this easy shaved Brussels sprouts salad. Pistachios add an extra layer of crunch. A sharp chef’s knife works well to slice the Brussels sprouts thinly. A microplane grater is best for finely shredding the goat cheese.
Creamy White Bean Soup
Photography: Caitlin bensel, Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Prop Styling: Julia Bayless
This light, creamy white bean soup recipe is richly flavored thanks to plenty of beans, veggies and Parmesan cheese.
Cranberry-Prosecco Cocktail
A splash of cranberry juice in sparkling wine and a garnish of cranberries and rosemary sprigs make an exceptionally festive party-ready cocktail that’s easy to make, too.