18 Best Christmas Dinner Ideas

This amazing macadamia halibut has been our family's special occasion dinner for Christmas Eve, birthdays, anniversaries, and more.

You can completely prep the fish in the morning and simply bake it before serving, giving it the perfect crispy crunch. Don't skip the lemon cream sauce to drizzle over the top.

Serve with roasted asparagus or broccoli, they can cook on a second pan in the oven at the same time.

This dish is affectionately known in our family as "steak and tubes," my mom's nickname for it when we were going up. It was our annual Christmas Eve dinner for more years than I can even remember.

The beef is marinaded in a 2-ingredient steak marinade and then sauteed in butter. It tastes amazing with the buttered noodles and is very kid-friendly.

Serve it with steamed baby carrots topped with butter and brown sugar.

If you have never made a homemade lasagna and are nervous to try, this is the BEST lasagna recipe for beginners. Step by step photos walk you through how to prep and assemble an easy lasagna ahead of time that you can bake for a delicious Christmas dinner.

Serve it with a light salad and homemade garlic bread or my super-easy bread machine focaccia.

While you're at it, you may as well plan an entire Italian Christmas dinner menu!

If my favorite lasagna isn't what you're looking for, one of the other delicious and easy pasta recipes, fresh breads, or Italian desserts might be.

Check out the whole list of ideas here:

I still remember my mom prepping these elegant and festive pork tenderloins for holiday dinner parties when I was young.

When you slice the tenderloins, you'll see a swirl of festive red cranberries mixed with a creamy blue cheese filling. They can be completely prepped ahead of time and just baked before serving.

Serve them with roasted sweet potatoes or my make-ahead sweet potato casserole.

This delicious and budget-friendly beef recipe is perfect for Christmas dinner because you can cook it on the stove top, in the oven, or in a slowcooker, whatever works best for your full menu.

This festive red and green soup is loaded with tender vegetables and satisfying cheesy tortellini.

It is a simple recipe to feed a crowd for the holiday. Add it to the buffet table with some easy sandwiches or use it as an elegant first course.

In fact, if you like the idea of using a Crockpot for your Christmas dinner, you won't want to miss this list of all my favorite crockpot recipes that would be perfect for the holiday.

Roasted turkey is such a traditional holiday recipe but it can often be overlooked at Christmas. My easy herb butter turkey actually tastes even more amazing the next day.

You could cook the turkey, slice it, and store it in the fridge. Reheat it in gently simmering gravy on the stovetop until it has just heated through.

It's the perfect way to have make-ahead turkey. You could serve the meat as open faced sandwiches on warm bread or over a big scoop of Crockpot mashed potatoes.

Sweet, juicy pineapples and a golden mustard and brown sugar glaze coats this easy spiral ham recipe. We often serve it for our Easter dinner but it would be right at home on the Christmas buffet as well.

The recipe is easy enough that even my husband can make it on his own!

Serve the ham with warm biscuits and crispy Crockpot green bean casserole.

This elegant pork loin recipe features an easy and delicious green peppercorn sauce drizzled over the top.

I love that the entire thing can be prepped ahead for an easy Christmas dinner.

Serve it with this crispy wild rice and roasted carrots salad for a fun holiday side dish.

Chicken parmesan can be fussy but this particular recipe has all the make-ahead tips you need to have perfectly crispy baked chicken cutlets for Christmas dinner.

For a special treat, serve it with a side of homemade alfredo pasta and a light green salad to balance out all the richness.

Want to get your Christmas cooking done in advance? This freezer-friendly pasta casserole is always a huge hit.

When we don't want to fuss with lasagna, we always make a giant dish of this delicious Italian sausage casserole. There's baby spinach mixed in which gives it a fun festive color.

Serve it with a big platter of fresh pineapple, the flavors pair together perfectly!

For smaller family gatherings, this rich and creamy pasta rosa with crumbled sausage and grated parmesan is a wonderful Christmas dinner.

The recipe is so easy, my daughter has made it for our anniversary before! It should be served freshly after making it but only takes a little time to prep.

Serve it with Caesar salad and wedges of crispy garlic bread.

Another crowd pleasing casserole that has the perfect red and green Christmas flair is this yummy creamy peso chicken pasta bake.

Red tomatoes and green spinach are swirled inside this pesto-alfredo pasta and topped with buttery bread crumbs.

Serve this dish with a festive green salad with fresh apples and craisins to balance out all the delicious richness.

Do you have a few picky eaters in your family? If you need a reliable kid-friendly Christmas dinner to serve to the little ones, this pan of ham and cheese sliders is sure to be a hit.

You can prep the entire pan ahead of time and just pour the butter topping over the top before baking. They only need about 10 minutes in the oven and are good even lukewarm.

This makes it easy to serve something fancier for the grown-ups if everyone has happy kids.

If Christmas dinner looks more like an Open House than a sit-down meal, you absolutely need this tomato-based chicken chili in your rotation.

Make a big pot of this festive red chili and keep it simmering on the stovetop or transfer it to a slowcooker to keep warm. Set out all the yummy toppings and let your friends and family serve themselves as they stop by for a visit.

Serve it with a big bowl of tortilla chips for dunking or a basket of fresh dinner rolls. These bread machine crescent dinners rolls would be perfect since it makes a nice big batch.

The holiday season is filled with rich goodies. When you need something on the lighter side, this easy Tuscan chicken soup is loaded with fresh vegetables and sure to make you feel better.

Warm and comforting and filled with festive red and green colors from the tomatoes and zucchini, this soup pairs perfectly with your favorite homemade breads.

I recommend our favorite Italian bread with butter or olive oil for dipping!

Want to add a little "surf" to a surf and turf Christmas dinner? You don't need to have access to fresh shrimp to enjoy a delicious shrimp cocktail or entree.

This recipe for roasting frozen shrimp can be paired with your favorite cocktail sauce or tossed in a lemon garlic angel hair pasta for homemade shrimp scampi.

If you need a smaller Christmas dinner for 2 or 4, this roasted chicken with vegetables might be a better fit than a whole turkey.

You can mix and match the veggies to suit your family but the red potatoes and carrots are our personal favorites. A juicy lemon tucked inside coupled with sprigs of fresh thyme give this chicken a lovely holiday flavor.

This is a perfect all-in-one Christmas dinner but you could also serve it with fresh bread from your bread machine.