We love the holiday season, but we love easy holiday recipes even more! There’s no denying how demanding this time of year can be. With all the gift shopping, home decorating, and gingerbread baking, it can be tough to get through it all. And then add on the social engagements that pop up and the food prep that those events usually entail. Smart shortcuts are essential making it through the season. In particular, we love the way that these easy holiday recipes deliver classic flavors yet require only a fraction of the usual amount of work.
Don’t believe it’s possible? We’ve developed a handful of party-friendly recipes that prove that preparing a festive feast doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Delicious, easy to prepare, and even easier to transport, they’ll be your saving grace when you’re invited to yet another potluck.
What kind of shortcuts are involved with these easy recipes?
Featuring options for appetizers, sides, mains, dessert, and even breakfast these easy holiday recipes give you everything you need to host your own gathering or help a friend out. But the best part of all is that each one contains at least a couple of elements that can be made and refrigerated or frozen ahead of time. Things like pie crusts and casseroles will retain their original taste and texture for ages when stored in the freezer. You can also always store any leftovers for future you to enjoy past the holiday season!
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Easy Holiday Recipes- Appetizers
1. Delicious Stuffed Mushroom Recipe
Stuffed mushrooms are a holiday classic, and for so many reasons. They may not get as much attention as our other holiday favorites, like turkey and mashed potatoes, but we can’t imagine the holiday season without them. This recipe in particular provides easy customizations for just about any dietary need, whether your guests are vegan or need to be gluten-free. Freeze them for later while they’re still unbaked to ensure your final product arrives at the dinner table in the best possible condition.
Related: Reuse Thanksgiving Leftovers: 30 Meals To Enjoy After Your Holiday Feast
2. Easy Spinach and Artichoke Dip Recipe
Spinach and artichoke dip is another can’t-miss classic that belongs in every holiday spread. There are also plenty of ways you can adjust it to suit the preferences of you and your guests, whether that’s ditching the mayo in favor of more sour cream, or adding a few red pepper flakes for some extra heat. (You can even use non-dairy mayo). Serve it with your preferred dipping vehicle, whether that’s sliced French bread, cut up veggies such as carrots and celery, or tortilla chips.
3. Cozy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
If you’re planning on having multiple courses at your holiday party, this butternut squash soup is the way to go. It will impress your friends and family and can be enjoyed by everyone since it’s vegan! You can also make this ahead of time and just reheat it when the guests arrive, which is really helpful.
Easy Holiday Recipes: The Side Dishes
4. Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad (Homemade Dressing!)
Everyone loves a good side dish! Fresh and salty Caesar salad is the ideal way to cleanse your palate when switching from one fabulous side dish to the next. Made with shredded Brussels sprouts, this salad offers a few ways to simplify. Instead of slicing Brussels sprouts one by one, use a food processor with a shredder attachment to get perfect results in a quarter of the time. Then, keep that food processor out to make a super simple, yet authentic Caesar dressing that’s so good, you’ll want to have it on hand even after the holidays have ended. It only sounds fussy!
5. Potatoes au Gratin
If you’ve always wished there were a way to eat potatoes and mac and cheese at the same time, then this is the recipe for you. Thinly sliced potatoes are stewed in a glorious cream sauce and festooned with showers of shredded cheese that melt to create a perfectly crispy, golden topping. This recipe also relies on a bit of butternut squash to highlight the seasonal vegetable and give the dish a bit of sweetness, which lightens up the dish a bit.
Related: Making Peace with Food: How Letting Go Gave Me More Control of My Life
6. Quinoa, Kale, And Butternut Squash Salad
This butternut squash salad is the perfect side dish for any holiday event or gathering. It is great warm, cold, or at room temperature, which makes it really easy on the host. Swap out the kale for spinach or arugula if you’re not a fan. If you’re serving a vegan crowd, leave off the cheese (or use a vegan one instead) and you’re good to go!
Easy Holiday Recipes- Main Dishes
7. Stuffed Shells With Spinach
If you’re cooking for picky friends and family, it’s almost impossible to go wrong with a cheesy pasta dish like this. Pasta and cheese together are universal crowd pleasers. Great with both meat and meatless fillings, it’s a recipe that omnivores and vegetarians can enjoy alike. You can also save time while making it by using frozen, pre-cooked spinach instead of fresh. Just be sure to remove as much liquid from the spinach as possible to avoid any unwanted sogginess. Keep squeezing it out. Stuffed shells freeze well, too.
8. Vegan Pot Pie Pockets
Save yourself the trouble of making pie dough from scratch and use your favorite brand of vegan puff pastry instead. Just be sure to check the label to guarantee it doesn’t contain any trace amounts of dairy. Then, whip up a big batch of these handheld pot pies to use throughout the entire holiday season. They freeze well! Heat them up in the microwave for a quick, festive lunch, or bring a whole box of them to your next holiday party for a surprise handheld treat.
9. Easy Chicken Pot Pie
And if a more traditional chicken pot pie is more your style, we have that as well! To make our lives easier, I recommend using pre-made pie shells, found in the frozen or refrigerated section. That being said, if you love making your own crust, go for it! If you’re cooking for a small group or just want to present something a little more refined and less homespun, these individual pot pies are great. You can make them right in their containers!
10. Classic Spaghetti Bolognese
No one is ever disappointed when they see classic spaghetti Bolognese on the table! This recipe is hearty, comforting, and easy to make. It also fills your kitchen with the most delicious smells. It takes well to some alterations, too. If you want to switch things up a little bit but still want to make a pasta dish, try this seasonal pumpkin pasta.
11. Gruyere, Green Bean & Mushroom Mac And Cheese
Typically, if you’re going to add a vegetable to your mac and cheese, it’s broccoli. But this version includes green beans and mushrooms, which you see in traditional holiday meals. Make this recipe a few days in advance and freeze it. Thaw in the fridge a day before you need it and slowly heat it in the oven the day of your gathering. Consider adding a fresh layer of cheese on top too if going this route!
12. Vegetarian Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna
This is a vegetarian, gluten-free-friendly dish. So there’s no meat in it, and you can choose gluten-free lasagna noodles if necessary. You can absolutely make this lasagna ahead, freeze it and defrost it in the fridge the day you serve it. Then heat it up in the oven (covered) at 300 or 350 F for 30 min to an hour and it will be as good as when you just made it. You can also assemble the lasagna at home and bring it unbaked to your friends/family dinner to bake in their oven if you want. This is a good option if you have a lot of time on your hands to both cook it and then wait for it to cool enough to slice!
13. Vegan Shepherd’s Pie with Lentils
Shepard’s pie is a comforting classic! This version is made with lentils, but it can easily be made with Beyond Beef or regular ground meat! This would be a delicious meal for a potluck or a great way to use up holiday leftovers to create a new meal! Vegan and vegetarian friendly.
Easy Holiday Recipes- Desserts
14. The Best Chocolate Pecan Pie
Classic pecan pie is great, but this sweet treat proves that it’s even better with chocolate. Pecan pie takes well to freezing, which you can do either baked or unbaked, so it all depends on what’s most convenient for you. Just be sure to give it an extra 15 to 20 minutes in the oven if you didn’t bake it before freezing.
Related: No-Bake Desserts: 11 Sweets When You Don’t Want To Fire Up The Oven
15. Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
There’s nothing more festive than flipping a pineapple upside-down cake out of its pan to reveal its glorious, candied fruit-topping. You can swap the regular flour for a gluten-free version (we recommend Bob’s Red Mill brand) or substitute milk with coconut milk to give it an extra boost of tropical flavor in a plant-based way. Whatever you decide to do, there’s almost no way to mess up these cakes, which are all the more cute thanks to their miniature size.
16. Carrot Cake
Not a fan of the typical holiday fruit cake? This single-layer carrot cake takes most of the fuss out of the baking process and delivers crowd-pleasing results every time. Want to make it ahead of time but don’t have enough room left in your freezer? It holds up particularly well in the fridge because it’s so moist and dense. We love this one because it’s a single-layer cake and that means it’s much simpler to prep and serve.
Holiday breakfasts recipes:
17. Easy Quiche Lorraine Recipe
This Quiche Lorraine is the perfect recipe to bring to a breakfast or brunch celebration around the holidays. It can be eaten hot, cold, or at room temperature, which makes it a great candidate for a potluck.
18. Vegan Banana Bread
Who doesn’t love banana bread? This recipe is always a hit and can be loaded up with your favorite add-ins such as nuts, chia seeds, chocolate chips, and so on. We like that you can make this in a square baking dish, which changes the presentation up a little bit.
19. Cinnamon Bun Scones
Is it a scone? Or a cinnamon bun? It’s kind of both! Nothing says the holidays like warm cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven. We got a little creative with this recipe and made them into cinnamon bun scones instead. Your friends and family will absolutely love these.
20. Vanilla Almond Granola
Want to be the favorite guest at your next gathering? Bring this delicious homemade granola as a host gift to say thank you. But it’s granola so that means as soon as you sample it, you’ll kind of want to eat all of it. So, make sure to make a double batch so that you can enjoy some for yourself.
We hope you enjoy these delicious, easy holiday recipes at your potlucks and parties this season! Comment below with your favorite or any recipes you’d like to see us develop in the future!
Pro tip: Help future you out in this busy season by stocking your freezer with homemade meals! Taking a few hours over the weekend to prep your freezer meal stash will give you peace of mind when things get chaotic.
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