Celebrate Christmas with your family with these flavor-filled dishes, drinks, and desserts of Indian-Inspired twists to classic holiday recipes! We're talking about cranberry coffee cake muffins, roasted tandoori chicken, and all the chai-spiced desserts and drinks!
Your family is going to look forward to Christmas at your home every year with this Desi Christmas Dinner Menu.
I've rounded up 25 options of Indian-style appetizers, side dishes, main dishes, drinks, and desserts that are tried, tested, and true! A majority of it is vegetarian-friendly as well. This includes two Indian-inspired cookie options for Santa on Christmas Eve.
At the end, I've also provided my tips and tricks to hosting a successful desi Christmas dinner at your home. It also includes an editable sample menu to help plan out the dishes for each course.
If you're looking for more ideas, be sure to check out these Indian Potluck Party Recipes and 20+ Authentic Indian Curry Recipes!
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Christmas Morning
Wake up in the morning to freshly baked Cranberry Coffee Cake Muffins and Almond Halwa Croissants! Your home will smell like heaven. These are easy to prep beforehand and bake them off while everyone opens presents.
Leftover Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake Muffins
Almond Halwa Croissants
Appetizers
For appetizers, you'll want a few quick options that are low effort to put together but keep your family happy and busy. I find that different cheese pairings are low effort but high ROI, and most of them don't take up space in the oven! This gives you a chance to finish off any side or main dishes while they mingle and munch on the appetizers.
Usually, I go with a classic crowd-pleasing cheese appetizer and another option that's vegetable forward for balance. They are so easy to make, a little helper in the kitchen can definitely prepare them in the morning or afternoon before holiday chaos sets in.
Cranberry Pistachio Goat Cheese Log
Achaari Deviled Eggs
Mango Chutney Puff Pastry Brie Bites
Pear Brie Cracker Bites
Puff Pastry Samosa Pinwheels
Side Dishes
Undoubtedly the best part about Christmas: the Side Dishes. We're talking breads, winter veggies, sauces, rice, and potatoes.
Indian spices and chutneys make all of these side dishes vibrant and ridiculously flavorful.
Chutney Cheese Brioche Rolls
Garam Masala Oven Roasted Carrots
Spiced Ginger Cranberry Sauce
If you want something a bit more complex than a Cranberry Sauce, give Cranberry Chutney a try! It's sweet, tangy, and has green chili for just a bit of spice.
Cranberry Chutney
Honey-Roasted Delicata Squash
Tadka Mashed Potatoes
Chaat-Style Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
Saffron Rice
Main Dishes
A perfect roast is the centerpiece to your Christmas table. It's what everyone looks forward to! I love these various options for using a tandoori marinade to roast a chicken or even marinated cauliflower if you've got vegetarians! It's gorgeous, vibrant, unique, and so flavorful.
Whole Oven-Roasted Tandoori Chicken
Roasted Whole Cauliflower 65
Curried Roast Chicken with Rice
Chili Paneer
Drinks
Chai Hot Chocolate
Your guests are going to be ready to take a nap on your couch.. and then they'll never leave after you cooked them a wonderful feast. Don't forget the chai and coffee!
Masala Chai (Tea)
Cardamom Coffee
Desserts
Leave these Indian-inspired cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve!
Jaggery Gingersnap Cookies
Chai Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
And for the rest of the family, a chai tres leches cake, plenty of rice pudding options, and Indian sweets are easy to make ahead and keep in the refrigerator before getting ready to serve.
Masala Chai Tres Leches Cake
Lemon-Cardamom Olive Oil Cake
Rice Kheer
Sweet Potato Seviyaan Kheer
Date Nut Ladoos
How to Prepare for Hosting Christmas Ahead
If you're hosting Christmas for the family, it can be extremely overwhelming!
Here are some of my favorite tips for prepping your kitchen as well as your menu ahead of time.
Prepping your Kitchen and Home
- Clear out as much space in your refrigerator and freezer as possible the week prior.
- Choose your dishes, desserts, and drinks and make a grocery list 2 weeks beforehand. Continue to refine it up to a week before Christmas.
- Go grocery shopping 3-4 days before Christmas, or even earlier for wine and mixers.
- Try storing everything for one recipe in one part of your refrigerator or store it in large ziploc bags! Put a sticky note with the name of the recipe and list of ingredients in the bag so you know exactly what you need to grab.
- Prep all the kitchen equipment you need and take note of the appliances you will be using at what time for which recipe. This is especially important if you will be multitasking in the kitchen.
- Focus on cleaning only the areas that guests will occupy - like your kitchen, dining room, living room, and bathrooms. I promise you don't need to do all of your laundry and power wash your backyard before guests come.
- Grab some extra tupperware containers so you can pack up leftovers for your family to take home.
- Delegate what you can to other family members and friends so you can enjoy the day, too! Don't be shy.
- Clean as you go and cherish your family hanging around the kitchen to chat and celebrate!
Prepping your Menu Ahead of Time
- Be serious about what you think you are able to accomplish in the week leading up to Christmas. Making cranberry sauce or sauces is easy, yes. You can definitely knock that out. But it's easy enough that a family member or friend can follow your preferred recipe so you can spend 30 minutes doing something else.
- Cranberry sauce can be made up to a week ahead and it'll taste amazing! Just keep it in an airtight container. When ready to serve, just transfer it to a small serving dish.
- A lot of dishes can be frozen ahead of time and defrosted in time for dinner. Curries freeze really well.
- Make the cookie dough the day before Christmas Eve so the flavors can mingle in the refrigerator overnight. Then, bake them off fresh in the morning so that your home smells heavenly.
- Tres Leches Cake, Kheer, and most Indian desserts store really well in the refrigerator and are ideal to make ahead.
- Prep all the vegetables as soon as you receive them. Mince them, portion them, and get everything chopped up as needed. Store them in ziplocs with labels on them so you know which dish you need them fore.
Cheers to stress-free entertaining and Merry Christmas!
Sample Christmas Dinner Menu
Don't get overwhelmed by the options! Here's a sample Indian-Inspired Christmas dinner menu with all of my favorite recipes.
Feel free to edit this template I made for you on Canva.
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