Quick & Easy Christmas Recipes

Our quick holiday recipes include quick and easy holiday appetizers, main courses and desserts to help you enjoy a stress-free time, including our mini spinach and cheese pizzas on pita which take just 15 minutes to prepare. Or, try our classic Christmas pork loin with pancetta and sage which only takes 10 minutes to prepare and just under an hour to cook. Check out the rest!

Staff Picks

Fennel and Orange Salad

124

The classic flavor combination of fennel and orange makes a wonderful winter salad.

Tortellini en Brodo

Tortellini en brodo ("in broth") is a traditional first course for Christmas feasts in northern Italy. Because it calls for only a few ingredients, make sure they are of the highest quality, especially the chicken stock (now is a good time to use any you might have in your freezer).

Frisee Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Frisee has a slightly bitter taste and crisp, curly leaves. Pair it with a tangy vinaigrette for an easy side dish.

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan

Replace the usual cranberry juice with pomegranate juice for a tart, refreshing twist on the classic cocktail. A lime wheel makes an eye-catching garnish against the garnet-hued drink.

Hazelnut Puppy Chow

This childhood favorite, also known as reindeer food or muddy buddies, gets the grown-up treatment and big chocolate flavor with the addition of hazelnut spread and cocoa powder.

Turnip and Potato Mash

Serve this peppery replacement for mashed potatoes alongside seared steak.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

475

Chickpeas, once roasted, take on the flavor and texture of nuts, making them a fun snack with drinks. Prepare the simple appetizer in under 15 minutes for any holiday cocktail party.

Ginger Red-Wine Spritzer

To get the party started, stir or shake up a round of these festive drinks.

Flavored Cheese Balls

410

Make all 3 flavors of cheese balls or prepare just 1 or 2, adjusting the ingredients accordingly.

Easy Chocolate Mousse

111

Easiest dessert ever! Break out the blender and bring on the spoons for this rich chocolate mousse that's a snap to make.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes with Walnuts

The red grapes' sweetness brings out the nutty notes in the sprouts. Walnuts can be swapped for almonds or pecans.

Fried Mozzarella

280

No guest will be able to resist this bite-size ball of gooey goodness.

Inspiration and Ideas

Buttered Carrots

Buttered carrots are an excellent side for Roast Poussin with Prunes and Thyme.

Elderflower-Champagne Punch

116

This festive punch will get your party started and keep it rolling all night.

Olive Tapenade and Goat Cheese Crostini

Easy Crostini

This recipe adapted from "Martha Stewart Holiday Party Foods."

All Quick & Easy Christmas Recipes

Creamy White Bean and Vegetable Mash

Butter and cream usually mean mashed potatoes are off-limits for vegans, but this variation gets its silky texture from white beans instead. Adding the legumes also doubles the amount of protein compared with traditional spuds.

Green Bean and Shallot Ravioli Salad

In this take on the green-bean casserole, cheese ravioli replaces the heavy mushroom soup, while sauteed shallots and crunchy toasted almonds stand in for the fried onions.

Cranberry Simple Syrup

Use this cranberry simple syrup to create cranberry cocktails to serve at any holiday gathering.

Neapolitan Green Beans

A staple at an Italian table, this vegetable side dish is slow-cooked with garlic, tomatoes, and a sprig of basil. Recipe by Lucinda Scala Quinn.

Bacon-Wrapped Ginger Shrimp

These festive, easy appetizers will get the party started.

Coffee Coquito

Coquito translates to "little coconut" in Spanish and refers to the coconut milk in this Puerto Rican rum cocktail. Put a twist on the classic by adding a shot of espresso.

Apple-Pie Spiced Cider

318

Season your cider with the same spices you would use in a pie—cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg—then warm it up for a cozy finish.

Glazed Carrots and Ginger

For a less spicy dish, omit the chili pepper.

Hearty Garlic Greens

Any combination of hearty autumn greens will work well in this recipe; try Swiss chard, Tuscan kale, and mustard greens.

Creamy Red and Green Cabbage

This traditional side gets a colorful update with a mix of red and green cabbages.

Sauteed Peas and Red Onion

This is a delicious accompaniment to our Rib Roast with Rosemary-Garlic Potatoes.

Leek Dip

We serve this dip with cucumber, cauliflower, fennel, daikon radishes, jicama, kohlrabi, and celery.

Fried Herbed Almonds

217

These crunchy thyme-flecked nuts are delicious served with sherry and slices of manchego cheese.

Sparkling Campari Punch

You can reach for all Italian bottles to make this festive, effervescent punch: prosecco, Campari, and Cocchi Americano. Mix with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and rounds of your favorite citrus--we used grapefruit, orange, and Meyer lemon.

Martha's Favorite Royal Icing

Royal icing is best for decorating cookies, since it dries to a plaster-hard finish. This recipe yields enough to cover about 100 three- to four-inch cookies. To ice all those in this story, you will need to make two batches of icing; increasing the recipe by half won't work well.

Figs and Prosciutto

Sweet and delicious, figs make the perfect pairing for a thin slice of Prosciutto di Parma -- which, by the way, is nitrate-free and low in saturated fat. Get more healthy holiday recipes

Grapefruit-White Wine Sparkler

This drink combines sweet-tart grapefruit juice and gin with sparkling wine for an effervescent cocktail that's perfect for toasting the holiday season.

Whole Wheat Seeded Crackers

Making these big, pleasantly scraggy crackers involves nothing more elaborate than a basic whole wheat flour dough and a quick toast in the oven. Great on their own, the speckled snacks are even more enticing on a cheese board next to a wheel of something creamy.

Maple-Bourbon Cider

194

Stir or shake up a round of these festive drinks to get the party started.

Christmas Rum Punch

271

A dash of seasonal cinnamon ensures this refreshing rum punch recipe from Locanda Verde bartender Naren Young will be a welcome addition to any holiday party. Also Try: Horse and Carriage Punch

Sparkling Pear and Cranberry Cocktail

214

This cocktail is made with icy Moscato d'Asti, which is sweeter than champagne but much lighter than the rich dessert wine also made from Italian moscato grapes. Just the right medium for this fizzy drink, it adds flavor to the silky pear and tart cranberries.

Account

More