31 Extra-Special New Year's Eve Dinner Ideas

Celebrate the arrival of a new year with this impressive yet easy pasta dish. The sauce uses an entire bottle of red wine, along with pancetta, shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes, and plenty of Pecorino Romano.

Saffron instantly elevates any meal, which is why it's just the spice for an occasion as special as New Year's Eve. This seafood stew gets plenty of bonus flavor from grated orange zest, fennel, cherry tomatoes, and clam juice.

Breaded and pan-fried pork chops are a fabulous dinner for New Year's Eve. They're topped with a vinegar sauce and bright salad made with thinly sliced radishes, sliced shallots, fresh parsley, and dill leaves.

Want to really wow your family on New Year's Eve? Start by making our homemade eggless pasta dough, then toss it with short-rib ragu that is fork-tender and rich as can be.

Serve meaty swordfish steaks with an aromatic sauce made from garlic, lemon juice, red-wine vinegar, capers, oregano, and pepperoncini for a for a dazzling New Year's Eve dinner. Pair with roasted vegetables or a light salad with greens and citrus.

This hearty Italian-American recipe is suitably spectacular for New Year's Eve. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are pan-seared, then they finish cooking with sweet Italian sausage, hot pickled cherry peppers, and plenty of herbs.

Vegetarians and meat lovers alike will love this interpretation of a Shepherd's Pie for a New Year's Eve dinner. It's made with a robust filling of cremini mushrooms and green lentils.

This recipe is fast and really special. Rather than the usual heavy cream, this inspired take on shrimp Alfredo creates the sauce by whisking pasta water into an egg yolk; the mixture is added to a pot with unsalted butter, more pasta water, and grated Pecorino Romano.

The ultimate special occasion meal, seared duck breasts are served over a combination of roasted golden and red beets, sliced grapefruit, and pomelo. It's a colorful and delicious medley of winter produce.

This is our ultimate lasagna recipe; the meat filling is made with ground beef and sweet Italian sausage (because one variety certainly isn't enough). Ricotta cheese, shredded mozzarella, and eggs make for a super creamy filling. Plus, you can assemble the lasagna ahead of time and bake it on the night.

You might not have the time to make this Italian beef recipe on a typical weeknight, and that's why it's just the thing to make for New Year's Eve dinner. A rich filling of pimiento-stuffed green olives, raisins, parsley, and Parmigiano-Reggiano makes for a memorable meal.

Who doesn't love mac and cheese? This pimiento-cheese-inspired version is party worthy and pairs oh so well with Champagne. Chopped bell pepper, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire sauce bring a lively flavor to this New Year's Eve dinner recipe.

Go all out for dinner and serve this spectacular and delicious dish. Two pork tenderloins are wrapped in all-butter puff pastry, which makes a golden brown and flaky crust for the delicate meat.

Celebrate the new year with this old-fashioned favorite. It's a slow-cooked dish that you can simmer on New Year's Eve or make it ahead and reheat.

This simple sauté is also a sophisticated seafood dinner. Fillets of sea bass are crisped on the stovetop and served with a sauce made from vermouth, butter, and capers.

Thinly pounded chicken breasts are wrapped with sage leaves and prosciutto, then pan-fried until crisp for a quick-cooking but special entrée.

Go all out with this recipe for short ribs cooked with aromatic ingredients including allspice, bay leaves, thyme, fresh ginger, and orange zest.

If, like us, you wonder why you don't eat lamb more often, try this simple yet special main course for New Year's Eve.  Lamb loin chops are rubbed with crushed black peppercorns and salt, then pan-seared and served with roasted potatoes and broccolini.

A riff on the traditional trout almondine, this broiler-friendly, 45-minute meal makes a fabulous dinner.

Wait for the ball to drop as you twirl strands of flavorful spaghetti around your fork. It's a meal that pleases both kids and adults. 

There's arguably no recipe that's more apt for a holiday meal than a perfect roast chicken. The chicken is nestled between a mixture of carrots, shallots, fingerling potatoes, and lemon and everything roasts together.

Seared scallops are delicious on their own and even better when served over pasta with grilled fennel for a rich yet lighter special occasion entrée.

Make your last meal of the year one to remember with this seafood stew that features a mouthwatering array of small clams, striped bass fillets, large shrimp, plus white beans for extra heartiness.

Inspired by our founder's Polish roots (and her impressive cabbage garden), this recipe is one of Martha's favorites for a cold winter's night. 

If you're looking for a something different for a special occasion dinner recipe, try this olive-oil poached halibut. The mashed potatoes just might be the best part; they're rich and silky as they are made with the olive oil from poaching the fish.

Dried porcini create a flavorful stock for this rich risotto that's packed with your choice of mushrooms—oyster, morel, maitake, cremini, or a mix. It's a truly indulgent plant-based meal. 

Spiral-glazed ham is a top-tier holiday meal on its own, but we amped it up even more with a glaze made from molasses, brown sugar, honey, mustard, and allspice. It cooks with cipollini onions, which absorb the flavors and caramelize in the bottom of the roasting pan.

This is no ordinary recipe for mussels in white wine sauce—the broth for these bivalves is made by sautéing chorizo (a spicy Spanish pork sausage) in a pan with shallots and garlic, followed by dry white wine, cherry tomatoes, and cannellini beans.

An all-American classic, pot roast satisfies for every occasion. Make it easier than ever by cooking it in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot for fast and flavorful results.

Turn store-bought gnocchi into a fantastic New Year's Eve dinner served in individual dishes. This recipe calls for building a sauce with butter, garlic, and chicken broth, then tossing the gnocchi with the sauce, cooked chicken, broccolini, and plenty of cheese—and baking until bubbly.

Let winter greens like Tuscan kale shine in this hearty and healthy New Year's Eve dinner. Pork tenderloin is served with a salad of roasted sweet potatoes, quinoa, and kale for a satisfying meal.