Christmas Meal: 5 Festive Menus For All Tastes

With less than ten days to go until Christmas, many of us are still working on our Christmas Eve or December 25th menu. If you are lacking inspiration and/or have health or budget constraints for Christmas dinner, read our article below! We've come up with 5 festive menus for all tastes.

1- The traditional holiday menu

If your family is one of those that never breaks from tradition, there will surely be turkey on the menu for your Christmas dinner.

But how well do you know how to cook this iconic holiday bird? To help you pull off a traditional Christmas meal, we've put together our best recipes in the first of our 5 holiday menus.

For a traditional Christmas menu, we suggest cooking:
- homemade foie gras as a starter
- some chestnut turkey
- from chestnut log for dessert

2- The festive fish menu

If you or your guests don't like meat much and swear by fish, it is quite possible to compose a Christmas meal around seafood.

The second of our 5 festive menus features noble products such as salmon, crab and monkfish.

For a fish Christmas menu, we suggest you prepare:
- fresh salmon puffs as an appetizer
- some crab avocado verrines as an appetizer
- some saffron monkfish.
- a tangerine sorbet accompanied by homemade gingerbread for dessert

3- The vegetarian party menu

With more and more people being vegetarian or even vegan, you may have to put together a vegetarian party menu for one or more of your guests.

In order for this menu to be both festive and in line with your guests' convictions, you will need to cook seasonal vegetables and fruits, if possible with a little touch of refinement worthy of a Christmas meal.

For a vegetarian Christmas meal, we suggest you cook:
- a truffle oil Jerusalem artichoke soup as a starter
- a vegetable curry with basmati rice
- a fruit minestrone for dessert

To note: to prepare the fruit minestrone, consider adapting our recipe with seasonal fruits and accompany it with a vegan ice cream made with almond or coconut milk if necessary.

4- The light festive menu

The holiday season can be difficult for people who need to watch their weight or diet for health reasons.

If some of your guests suffer from diabetes or cholesterol, you will of course have to adapt the menu accordingly. That's why we've included a light menu among our 5 festive menus.

The recipes below feature vegetables and lean fish. We also suggest some delicious desserts that are much lower in calories than the traditional pastry log.

For a light Christmas menu, you can offer:
- crab celery purée as an appetizer
- a fish papillote with leek by preparing it with haddock (a lean but delicious fish)
- a Raspberry and Rose Mousse for dessert

To note: if you prefer to serve a cake with more chocolatey flavors, we recommend making the cocoa and cherry cake. This cake is rather light but looks just like a black forest as long as you serve it with a little low-fat whipped cream.

5- The cheap party menu

If you have to prepare a Christmas meal for many guests on a limited budget, you will of course have to do without some expensive products.

However, with the last of our 5 festive menus, we will show you that it is possible to organize a cheap Christmas Eve without sacrificing the greed and the taste.

For a cheap Christmas menu, we suggest you cook:
- pesto puff pastry
- some fresh pasta with mushrooms and truffle oil
- a homemade glazed vacherin

To note: our ice cream cake recipe is a vanilla raspberry vacherin, but there's nothing stopping you from adapting it with other ice cream flavors if you prefer praline or chocolate vacherin, for example.