Happiest Christmas Menus Ever

Recipe: Blue Cheese-and-Pecan Stuffed Cherry Peppers

Recipe: Prosciutto-and-Manchego Cheese Straws

Recipe: Crispy Pork Meatballs

Recipe: Garlic-Butter Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

Recipe: Spinach-and-Artichoke Bites

Recipe: Spiced Orange-Bourbon Punch

Recipe: Cranberry Sangría Punch

Recipe: DIY Deviled Egg Bar

Recipe: Fizzy Cider Punch 

This festive party for 10 features yourbest friends, sparkly and fun decor, and a menu that's full of finger foods and big-batch drinks. Toast the season with a menu of sophisticated (but easy!) appetizers and crowd-pleasing punches. 

Recipe: Stuffed Beef Tenderloin with Burgundy-Mushroom Sauce

Recipe: Cider-Glazed Carrots with Walnuts

Recipe: Herbed Potato Stacks

Recipe: Buttermilk Fantail Rolls

Recipe: Balsamic Green Beans with Pearl Onions

Recipe: Beet, Fennel, and Apple Salad

This elegant sit-down dinner is everything you want in a celebratory meal—and it's easy on the cook too. This sophisticated menu is satisfying without being too heavy. Bring together close family to enjoy beef tenderloin and seasonal sides.

Recipe: Pancake Bake with Cinnamon Streusel

Recipe: Sausage-and-Cheese Grits Quiche

Recipe: Country Ham Hash

Recipe: Christmas Sunrise

Recipe: Citrus Salad with Granola

Recipe: Sweet-and-Spicy Sheet Pan Bacon

Recipe: Romaine with Creamy Olive Dressing

Here's our gift to you: A memorable menu that won't steal any time away from family on December 25. Invite family and freinds over to enjoy a "help yourself" buffet of sweet and savory dishes. This entire brunch menu can be made or prepped in advance. Double recipes for a crowd, as needed.

Recipe: Gentlemen’s Casserole

Recipe: Chicken-and-White Cheddar Casserole

Recipe: Gruyère Cheese Sauce

Recipe: Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Recipe: Winter Fruit Compote

This menu is mostly make-ahead―so like us, you can relax and enjoy the beginning of the holiday.

You don’t have to sit at the dining room table to break out your best. Take a casual approach, and serve the meal fireside using your special china and silver.

Recipe: Goat Cheese-Pesto Crostini

Recipe: Pork Loin Roast With Carolina Apple Compote (pictured)

Recipe: Bacon-Brown Sugar Brussels Sprouts (pictured)

Recipe: Butternut Squash Risotto (pictured)

Recipe: Home-Style Butterbeans 

Recipe: Christmas Shortbread Cookies

These dishes create unexpected twists without being too fancy. Best of all, you can pull off this fabulous menu for 6 to 8 with plenty of time left to share with family and friends.

Recipe: Holiday Roast With Gravy 

Recipe: Sautéed Brussels Sprouts With Apples

Recipe: Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes 

Recipe: White Chocolate-Cranberry Crème Brûlée 

Recipe: Sugared Cranberries and Mint 

This mouthwatering plate of holiday favorites may look fancy, but it's easy enough for even the novice cook to pull together with success.

Recipe: Cajun Green Bean Stir-fry

Recipe: Cajun Bread Knots

Recipe: Satsuma Salad

Recipe: Shrimp and Andouille Sausage With Asiago Grits (pictured)

Recipe: Asiago Grits

Recipe: Pineapple-Apple Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce

This marvelous meal is full of spicy Louisiana flair. Gather family, invite friends, kick back, and relax—Cajun style.

Recipe: Citrus Batida

Recipe: Slow-Roasted Pork

Recipe: Caribbean Rice and Peas

Recipe: Winter Fruit-and-Cucumber Salad

Recipe: Rutabaga-Carrot Mash

Recipe: Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée

Serve Caribbean- and African-inspired dishes before Santa arrives this year. Each recipe is perfect to serve buffet style and easy to eat with a fork while balancing a plate on your lap. So fill your plate, find a comfy chair, and be joyful.

Recipe: Cheese Straws

Recipe: New Ambrosia With Buttermilk-Coconut Dressing

Recipe: Squash-and-Mushroom Hominy

Recipe: Hot Slaw à la Greyhound Grill

Recipe: Pork Loin Chops With Pear-and-Vidalia Pan Gravy

Recipe: Sweet Potato-Buttermilk Pie

Recipe: Hot-Spiced Bourbon Balls

Matt and Ted Lee adapted this tempting holiday menu for 6 from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (W.W. Norton, $35), their critically acclaimed collection of regional recipes and witty commentary (not to be missed by any food lover). This merry menu creates an easygoing style but reflects Ted and Matt's serious food knack for updating Southern classics without loosing a lick of their delectable essence.

Recipe: Citrus Salad  

Recipe: Ragoût of Mushrooms With Creamy Polenta (pictured)

Recipe: Creamy Polenta

Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Let these outstanding recipes, along with the warmth and laughter of these friends, resonate with you and your family.

Ragoût of Mushrooms With Creamy Polenta is a hearty meatless main course. Don’t let polenta scare you―it’s just the Italian version of grits.

Recipe: Roasted Pork with Dried Fruit and Port Sauce

Recipe: Mashed Potatoes en Croûte

Recipe: Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

Ring in the Christmas season with a special family dinner. It will set the tone for the season and create memories for your children.

Recipe: Grits-and-Greens Breakfast Bake

Recipe: Streusel Coffee Cake

Recipe: Cornmeal-and-Brown Sugar-Crusted Bacon

Recipe: Coffee Milk Punch

Do some prep work in advance to pull off this menu with ease and time to spare. Your family will love the twists on their favorite breakfast dishes.

Recipe: Warm Lemon-Rosemary Olives

Recipe: Latina Lasagna

Recipe: Green Beans with Garlic

Recipe: Leafy Green Salad with Pears

Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake

Invite over your office buddies or best girlfriends for a holiday luncheon full of Southern hospitality.

Recipe: Cherry-Pecan Brie

Recipe: Tossed Greens-and-Grapes Salad

Recipe: Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Whipped Horseradish Cream

Recipe: Crispy Potatoes with Fennel

Recipe: Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

Recipe: Easy Asiago-Olive Rolls

Recipe: Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

This beef tenderloin menu inspires the creative cook in you while pleasing guests who love a traditional meal. From the start to its grand finish—Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake—this Christmas celebration will be one for the memory book.

Recipe: Quick Winter Pickled Veggies

Recipe: Deviled Ham Terrine

Recipe: Fennel-Crusted Rib Roast

Recipe: Roasted Asparagus

Recipe: Warm Greens With Cornbread Croutons

Recipe: Buttermilk Panna Cotta With Zinfandel-Poached Figs

Test Kitchen pro Marian Cooper Cairns developed this mostly make-ahead menu that mixes traditional recipes with updated Southern classics.

Recipe: Whiskey Sour

Recipe: Crab Crostini

Recipe: Roasted Dry-Rub Turkey With Gravy

Recipe: Cornbread Yeast Rolls

Recipe: Sautéed Green Beans

Recipe: Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Recipe: Smoky Cranberry-Apple Sauce

Recipe: Peanut Butter-Banana Sandwich Bread Puddings With Dark Caramel Sauce

Put the spark back in your turkey dinner with fresh recipes we promise will mingle beautifully with your family’s time-honored dishes.

Menu: Glamorous Cocktail Party

Crowd-pleasing small bites and sparkling drinks make for a festive-yet-relaxed holiday féte. (We'll clink to that.)

Menu: Red Velvet Dessert Buffet

This wondrous, Wonka-esque dessert buffet celebrates one of the South's most iconic flavors in creative new ways. And yes, you're going to need a bigger dessert plate.

Menu: Merry Morning Christmas Brunch

With a little help and advance prep work, these recipes deliver awesome flavor while you relax and reconnect with family and friends.

Recipe: Baby Blue Salad 

Recipe: Creamy Bell Pepper ’n’ Tomato Soup

Recipe: Beef Tenderloin With Henry Bain Sauce 

Recipe: Sweet Onion Pudding (pictured)

Recipe: Simple Roasted Asparagus (pictured)

Recipe: Refrigerator Yeast Rolls (pictured)

Recipe: Cream Cheese-Coconut-Pecan Pound Cake

This menu for 8 is a beautiful balance of delicacies―some to make ahead and others that you can prepare immediately before the meal.

Recipe: Sparkling Cranberry Cocktails

Recipe: Mini Manchego-Tomato Chutney Tartlets

Recipe: Beluga Lentil Toasts

Recipe: Chestnut Soup

Recipe: Spinach and Celery-Leaf Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Recipe: Green Beans with Shallots and Clementine Zest

Recipe: Wild Rice Salad

Recipe: Cornish Game Hens with Butternut Croutons

Recipe: Individual Pear Tartlets

Cookbook author Katherine Cobbs shared her tried-and-true recipes for creating a memorable holiday meal that puts a new spin on classics.

Menu: Wintry Feast

This hearty midwinter's meal showcases the bounty of the season and pairs especially well with a crackling fire.