Looking for some fun new ideas for Christmas Eve Dinner? Start a new Christmas Eve Tradition this year! 5 fabulous ideas for fun celebrations, from Fondue to Raclette and beyond || Christmas Eve Dinners: 5 Fun & Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Looking for Christmas Eve Dinner inspiration? We’ve got 5 fun Festive Holiday Feasts for you!
Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. On this day, all the frenzy is over. No more running to concerts, to bake sales, to parties, to volunteer duties. Our must-do family rituals are mostly checked off the list – Family Grinch Night, Solstice Celebration, Polar Express Night, visit to Santa at “Christmas Peak”, etc. The neighbors have been jingled. My nerves have been jangled. And hopefully the shopping is long done, and wrapped gifts are nestled beautifully under the tree. If I am really lucky, I got everything I need from my first pass through the grocery store and don’t need to brave that place again!
Christmas Eve, to me, is the night it all truly begins – the special Christmas family time I cherish so much. Family time. Sometimes it is just our little family, and sometimes we host little parties, but it is first and foremost a family night. We bake cookies for Santa. Our special Elves arrive at the door with the much anticipated Christmas Eve box and Letter from Santa. And we feast. Yes we feast. We feast, feast, feast, feast.
We have a few go-to favorites in our little family, and I thought it might be fun to share them with you, in case you are looking for a little Christmas Eve dinner inspiration!
1. The Fondue Feast!
Fondue is one of our all-time favorites in this little family. It was a holiday tradition while I was growing up too, so it is especially wonderful to continue the ritual. The beauty of fondue is that the feasting can continue for hours! Growing up we only ever had oil fondue, but these days we tend to do broth and cheese fondue instead. Not only does skipping the hot boiling oil a little safer for the kids, but it gives us the sense we are also making a healthier choice (I am not sure it is truly healthier in the end, but sometimes illusion is everything 🙂
We have found that a cheese fondue alone can leave one feeling a little over-stuffed, whereas when you do a broth fondue at the same time, you can almost metabolize as you go! And the best part of fondue is that even though you can literally feast for hours, you will likely not feel over-full when you are finished! Which means there is lots of room in that belly to indulge in a chocolate fondue to finish the evening off!
Fondue Fun for the Whole Family via View from in Here
This gives some great suggestions for a broth fondue, including suggestions for vegetarian diners!
Fondue Fun for the Whole Family via View from in Here || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Fondue Party Guide via Tipnut
This little fondue party helper gives loads of recipe suggestions for cheese fondue! Better still, lots of suggestions for your Christmas Eve dessert chocolate fondue too!
Fondue Party Guide via Tipnut || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
2. The Pizza Feast!
I have to be honest – when we have our Polar Express Night a couple of nights before Christmas, one of the things we do is pick up pizza to munch on while we drive around checking off our Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt list. So the last thing I want to eat on Christmas Eve is pizza. BUT…I think it is a fabulous Christmas Feast option! And if I can ever talk my Little Holiday Helper out of Polar Express pizza, this is absolutely going to become one of our go-to Christmas Eve Feasts!
Holiday Pizza Wreath via Tablespoon
This Holiday Pizza Wreath could not be any more simple! You could even do them personal size for DIY pizza feasting!
Holiday Pizza Wreath via Tablespoon || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Candy Cane Pizza via Midget Momma
This Candy Cane pizza is sure to be a hit with the kids! Most of them seem to want to stick to cheese and pepperoni anyway so this will work out well. And if you can sneak a little green spinach stripe in there t00, even better!
Candy Cane Pizza via Midget Momma || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Cookie Cutter Pizzas via Anders Ruff Design Co.
You know how much the kids like DIYÂ pizza? Well imagine how much they will love this little Christmas DIY pizza idea! And you can encourage all kinds of brightly colored (read healthy & nutrient-rich) “Christmas ornaments” for their little Christmas trees! While they are at it, why not have them make one up for Santa?
Cookie Cutter Pizzas via Anders Ruff Design Co. || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Roasted Cranberry and Goat Cheese Flatbread via Healthy Seasonal Recipes
If you are looking for something a little more “mature”, take a look at this scrumptious holiday flatbread! The perfect grown-up addition to your Christmas Eve pizza feast!
Roasted Cranberry and Goat Cheese Flatbread via Healthy Seasonal Recipes || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Christmas Cookie Cake via Shugary Sweets
If you are having a Christmas Eve pizza feast, only a festive dessert pizza will do to finish off the evening! I know its a lot of sugar, but let’s face it – you aren’t going to get those excited little people off to sleep early tonight anyway! Not with Santa on the way! Oh and hey…make sure you save a piece of this yummy cookie pizza to put out for Santa too!
Christmas Cookie Cake via Shugary Sweets || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
3. The Raclette Feast!
So if I really had to choose just one of our favorite family feast options above all others, this might be it! We only have one little mini-raclette grill, and so it is a bit of a slow-meal around here :). I am excited to report, however, that I heard from a reliable source what Hubby Helper is getting for Christmas this year, and it’s a big family size Raclette grill with a stone cooktop! He will be over the moon! And in fact, raclette is what we will be feasting on for Christmas Dinner this year! It would have been our Christmas Eve feast, except the gift won’t be open until Christmas Day!
As for dessert, well, you honestly probably won’t feel much like dessert after this, but if you do, I might recommend some fresh fruit, or perhaps a chocolate fondue with pineapple and strawberries :).
It’s a Raclette Christmas via Food & Wine Girl
This is a great little introduction to Raclette, with some good tips and tricks that will ensure you have a smashing Christmas Eve Feast!
It’s a Raclette Christmas via Food & Wine Girl || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
It’s a Raclette Christmas via Food & Wine Girl || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
4. The Tourtière Feast!
With Hubby Helper being a good French-Canadian, Tourtière has always been a Christmas Eve tradition in our little home. If you don’t know what it is, you should! Meat pie just doesn’t speak to what this phenomenal palate-pleaser really is. You really do need to try it to understand.
While we don’t usually eat it as Christmas Eve dinner, the Tourtière factory gets underway right after the Christmas cookie aftermath has been cleaned away (and sometimes before!). Hubby Helper often makes extra to gift away to friends and family, and it is a much anticipated given on our Christmas Dinner and/or Boxing Day menu! Served up with mashed potatoes and a savory gravy, it is truly a treat for the taste-buds!
Tourtière: A French-Canadian Meat Pie Recipe via Grow a Good Life
Tourtière: A French-Canadian Meat Pie Recipe via Grow a Good Life || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Vegan Tourti̬re РCilantro and Citronella
This vegan version really intrigues me. As Hubby Helper has been flirting with veganism over the past few years, I think I need to give this a try!
Vegan Tourti̬re РCilantro and Citronella || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
French Canadian Sugar Pie via Just Plain Living
Why not send them off to bed with visions of sugar pie dancing in their heads?! This is another treasured Christmas dessert tradition at our little home!
French Canadian Sugar Pie via Just Plain Living || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
5. The Lasagne Feast!
When I came across this fantastic Christmas Lasagne recipe, I knew I had to include it here! Lasagne is one of the top 3 reqested special dinners around here, so Christmas Lasagne most certainly deserves a place of honor as one of our 5 Festive Feasts for Christmas Eve!
Christmas Lasagna via Life with the Crust Cut Off
Make it ahead of time, and pop it in the over for a dead-simple Christmas Eve dinner!
Christmas Lasagna via Life with the Crust Cut Off || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread via See Vanessa Craft
Around here, you can’t have lasagne without garlic bread – that just wouldn’t be right!
Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread via See Vanessa Craft || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
Christmas Lasagna via Oh My Goodness Chocolate Desserts
Can you imagine anything better than this for dessert after a good lasagne feast! I didn’t think so! Me neither!! Not only would Santa give this dessert a thumbs up, you might end up with a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking if you forget to leave him a slice!
Christmas Lasagna via Oh My Goodness Chocolate Desserts || Christmas Eve Dinner: 5 Fun Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
That is it for our little list of special Holiday go-to dinners! The only thing missing is Shepherd’s Pie, and in spite of its Christmassy name (now that I think about it) I just can’t feel festive about it! If you have a Christmas Eve Dinner tradition you don’t mind sharing with us, we would love to hear it!
Try something new this year! From Fondue to Raclette – these feasts are fun for the whole family! || Christmas Eve Dinners: 5 Fun & Festive Holiday Feasts! || Letters from Santa Holiday Blog
I was looking through your Letters to Santa and I think they are very nice for the children. However, when reviewing the envelope to send the letter in I’m asking for you to make a correction. on the return address where it says HO HO HO, it reads HOH OHOHO. Could you please make that change and have it read HO HO HO. Thank you very much. Janice Breuklander
Thanks for the kind words Janice! To be honest, we went with HOH OHO because that is the format of our postal codes in Canada. It had not occurred to me that it might look a little strange to those from other countries! We will certainly take that into consideration in our upcoming site update! Many thanks again for drawing it to my attention!