30 Best Christmas Side Dishes

Our best Christmas side dishes! From fresh vegetable sides to crowd-pleasing casseroles, they'll all be hits on your holiday dinner table.

These Christmas side dishes include everything you need for a delicious holiday feast! They range from fan-favorite potato recipes to stunning winter vegetables, fresh salads, make-ahead casseroles, and more. No matter what main you’re making, you’ll find Christmas side dishes to love. I don’t know about you, but the side dishes are always my favorite part of Christmas dinner. It doesn’t matter whether my family is having lasagna or prime rib—I’ll be more excited about the vegetables, potatoes, and homemade dinner rolls on the table. I hope these Christmas side dishes are the highlight of your holiday dinner too. Our…

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Cinnamon Rolls

These easy homemade cinnamon rolls are soft, gooey, and delicious! They're my family's favorite holiday breakfast. Make-ahead instructions included!

breakfast

This cinnamon roll recipe is my family’s favorite holiday breakfast! Easy and delicious, it makes the best cinnamon rolls I’ve tried. They have a soft dough filled with a rich brown sugar and cinnamon swirl. A gooey vanilla glaze (or cream cheese frosting!) takes them over the top. I first shared this recipe in 2019, inspired by the cinnamon rolls my mom made on Christmas morning when I was growing up. Now with over 350 5-star reviews, it’s since become a reader favorite! I recently updated it with new photos, make-ahead and freezing instructions, and tips for cinnamon roll success.…

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Gingerbread Cookies

Our best gingerbread cookie recipe! These festive treats are soft and warmly spiced, with a rich molasses flavor. Perfect for spreading holiday cheer!

baking

What could be more festive than gingerbread cookies?! With Christmas just a few weeks away, I’m ready to turn up the holiday cheer around here, and making this gingerbread cookie recipe seems like a great place to start. For one, it makes the house smell amazing, filling it with the comforting aroma of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. It’s also a blast to make—rolling out the dough, cutting out gingerbread people, baking them, and decorating them once they cool. But more important than all of that, these gingerbread cookies are delicious! They’re soft, warmly spiced, and richly flavored with molasses and…

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25 Best Christmas Appetizers

Need some Christmas appetizers for your next holiday party? Find our best ideas below! They include easy, crowd-pleasing dips, finger foods, and more.

These Christmas appetizers will be a hit at any holiday party this season! I’ve made them for countless family gatherings, cozy cocktail hours, and get-togethers with friends over the years. Fun, flavorful, and festive, they’re crowd-pleasers every time. These Christmas appetizers include tasty finger foods, delicious dips, platters, and more. Many can be made ahead, and others are quick to throw together at the last minute. Whether you’re hosting a holiday party or looking for the perfect bite to bring, you’ll find easy appetizer ideas to try. Our Top 5 Christmas Appetizers Stuffed Mushrooms My husband Jack can’t get enough…

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Homemade Hot Chocolate

This homemade hot chocolate is creamy, thick, and flavorful, made with both melted chocolate and cocoa powder. It's a perfect cozy treat for a cold day!

winter / beverage

This hot chocolate recipe is so much better than a powdered mix! Made with two types of chocolate—a chopped bar and cocoa powder—it’s deliciously rich, creamy, and just the right amount of sweet. It’s super easy to make too—it comes together with 5 simple ingredients in under 10 minutes. We’ve already made this homemade hot chocolate a few times this December, and I have a feeling that it’ll stay on repeat all month long. It’s the perfect warming treat for a cold winter night, especially if you have a kid (like ours) who loves cozying up under the Christmas tree…

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25 Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

Ready for holiday baking? Find our best Christmas cookies below! They include easy recipes for sugar cookies, spice cookies, cut outs, and more.

I’ll be baking Christmas cookies on repeat for the next few weeks! They’re one of my favorite parts of the holiday season—sweet, festive, and perfect for making with family and sharing as a gift. If you ask me, there’s no better way to spread holiday cheer. In case you’re ready for holiday baking too, I’ve rounded up my best easy Christmas cookie recipes below. They include traditional Christmas cookies like gingerbread as well as fun shortbread variations, classic chocolate chip cookies, and more. They’re all great for holiday parties, cookie tins, and baking with loved ones (kids included!). I hope…

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Pignoli Cookies

Learn how to make pignoli cookies! These Italian pine nut cookies are chewy, nutty, and full of rich almond flavor. They're perfect for the holidays!

These pignoli cookies are a new addition to my holiday cookie lineup, and I already can’t get enough of them. A toasty, crunchy pine nut crust surrounds the chewy cookies, which are bursting with almond flavor (my favorite at Christmastime). They’re easy to make with 7 ingredients, but I think they’d be the star of any holiday cookie plate. I first tried pignoli cookies on a trip to Italy years ago, and I re-discovered them more recently at a bakery near our cottage in Michigan. I bought so many over the last few summers that I knew I had to…

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Christmas Sugar Cookies

I make these Christmas sugar cookies for the holidays every year! Cut into festive shapes, they're perfect for decorating with icing and sprinkles.

Let’s make Christmas sugar cookies! My family loves breaking out our cookie cutters to bake these cookies for the holidays every year. They’re classic cut-out sugar cookies, with crisp edges, soft middles, and a warm, buttery flavor from vanilla and almond extract. Made with a simple 8-ingredient dough, they hold their shape in the oven, which means that you can cut them into all kinds of holiday shapes. While you could enjoy these Christmas sugar cookies plain, we think half the fun of making them is decorating them. Top them with icing, plus sprinkles, colored sugar, and/or candies for a festive…

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Spritz Cookies

This spritz cookie recipe has been in my family for years! Buttery, tender, and decorated with sprinkles, they're our favorite Christmas cookies.

This spritz cookie recipe comes straight from my mom’s recipe box! My family has been making it every Christmas for over 40 years—my first kitchen memory is of baking these spritz cookies with my mom and sister for the holidays. Made with a 6-ingredient dough, these spritz cookies are buttery, tender, and scented with almond extract, not unlike sugar cookies or shortbread. What sets them apart from other cookies is how they’re made. Spritz cookies get their festive shapes from a cookie press. Their name comes from the German word spritzen, which means “to squirt,” which describes how the dough…

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Creamy Potato Soup

Warm up on a cold day with this easy potato soup! Thick, creamy, and loaded with toppings like green onions and cheese, it's the ultimate comfort food.

winter / soups

This potato soup recipe is the ultimate comfort food for a cold day! It’s like a loaded baked potato in soup form—the thick, creamy, savory soup is piled high with toppings like sour cream, shredded cheese, and green onions or chives. Jack loves it so much that he can polish off half the pot in a single night. Luckily, this potato soup comes together in one pot with simple ingredients, so it’ll be easy to keep in our rotation this winter. It’s one of those recipes that’s so much more than the sum of its parts. You start with humble…

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Stuffed Mushrooms

This stuffed mushrooms recipe is a delicious, easy party appetizer! The filling is a crispy, savory combo of breadcrumbs, garlic, herbs, and cheese.

appetizers / winter

This stuffed mushrooms recipe is one of my favorite party appetizers, especially for the holidays. Instead of making a typical cream cheese filling, I stuff the tender mushroom caps with a crispy, garlicky breadcrumb mixture. Sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese make it rich and savory, pine nuts add crunch, and parsley adds freshness. Grab two while you’re at the snack table—these bite-sized apps disappear fast. Another reason to love these stuffed mushrooms: they’re easy to make! They come together with 10 simple ingredients and about 15 minutes of hands-on prep. If you’re looking for a quick, crowd-pleasing appetizer for your next party, I…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.