Christmas Eve dinner recipes
If, like us, you love the continental approach to Christmas Eve – where the celebrations begin with a slap-up meal – we’ve got lots of Christmas Eve dinner recipes for you, including mains, starters and sides.
There’s a classic lasagne, make-ahead fish pie, slow-cooked beef stew, the best beef wellington and lots more. Duck and prune tagine makes a great dinner with a difference, as does our mulled wine-braised venison cobbler – comforting and delicious to boot. Finish off your meal on a sweet note with Rick Stein’s double-crust apple pie.
All these recipes are effortlessly elegant but hit just the right note for a special occasion. Scroll down for some Christmas menu ideas too.
Showing 1-16 of 77 recipes
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Christmas hams
Nigella Lawson’s ham hocks with mustard and marmalade
Queen of Christmas Nigella Lawson shares an exclusive recipe for a perfectly petite pair of ham hocks with a mustard and marmalade glaze.
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Easy
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Wellingtons
Best-of-the-best beef wellington
Want to show off your cookery skills? Try our best-of-the-best beef wellington recipe for the ultimate take on this culinary classic.
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Christmas fish
Roast trout with clementine, ginger, spring onion and herbs
Fancy an alternative to all those heavy festive mains? Try this spectacular whole roast trout, served with a crisp and bright winter salad.
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Dinner party starters
Paul Ainsworth’s The Mariners taramasalata on toast
Taramasalata on toast makes a winning dinner party starter or snack. “There’s no comparison to the homemade stuff," says chef Paul Ainsworth.
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Lasagnes
Pork and artichoke brown-butter lasagne with caper pangrattato
This decadent lasagne includes artichokes, a light pork ragù, rich brown-butter bechamel and crispy caper-studded breadcrumbs for crunch.
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Easy
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Camembert
Baked camembert with harissa honey
Oozy, gooey cheese drizzled with a fiery, sweet topping; this easy baked camembert with honey recipe is perfect for entertaining.
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Duck
Duck and prune tagine
This fragrant duck tagine is cooked low and slow, so the duck legs become fall-apart-tender with ease. Batch cook and freeze in portions.
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Easy
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Easy dinner party mains
Classic saltimbocca
Italian saltimbocca sees thin tender slices of veal wrapped in sage leaves and prosciutto and served with a white wine pan sauce.
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Creamy pasta
Chicken alfredo
Creamy and rich with a hint of garlic and dried herbs, this easy chicken alfredo pasta is the ultimate in Italian-American comfort food.
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Lasagnes
Lasagne di salsiccia piccante e polenta (spicy sausage and polenta lasagne)
This lasagne hails from Italy's Veneto region. Layers of creamy polenta alternate with a rich sausage sauce, pecorino and mozzarella.
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Chicken thighs
Chicken thighs in a mustard, tarragon and grape pan sauce
The sauce is the star of this easy bistro dish, made using all those delicious brown bits from the bottom of the pan for buckets of flavour.
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Best of the best
Best of the best fish pie
Our ultimate fish pie recipe swaps milk for a quick stock and is packed with fresh herbs and zingy capers for a bright yet comforting pie.
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Medium
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Wellingtons
Tom Kerridge’s curried monkfish wellington
Tom Kerridge's spin on a classic wellington uses a spiced monkfish loin encased in fragrant coconut rice, enveloped in puff pastry.
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Christmas recipes from around the world
Christmas Jansson’s temptation
Brontë Aurell shares her recipe for Jansson's temptation (Jansson's frestelse), a classic Swedish potato dish made with cream and ansjovis.
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Duck
Sauerkraut-stuffed duck with roast apples and mulled wine gravy
This festive roast duck sings with mulled wine flavours. A rub spices the duck's skin while a mulled wine gravy adds richness.
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Medium
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Venison
Mulled wine-braised venison cobbler
The warming, fruity flavours of mulled wine are a natural companion for venison. Pair them together under cheesy scones in this cobbler.
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Medium
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