Christmas recipes: surprise your guests at Christmas dinner

Salmon and prawn puff pastry

Peel 100 g of prawns and sauté them. In the same oil, sauté 150 g of washed and chopped spinach. Make a bechamel. Mix the prawns with half of the bechamel sauce and the spinach with the other half and 20 g of grated cheese. Preheat the oven to 190 ^o . Line the plate with parchment paper and spread 1 sheet of puff pastry. Top with two salmon fillets, salt and pepper and cover with the spinach mixture and then with the prawn mixture. Put another sheet of puff pastry on top. Trim the excess, paint the edges with whipped egg yolk and press. Then brush the surface with more yolk and bake for 15 to 20 min.

Soup of fish and seafood

For simplicity, heat 2 liters of fish broth that you already have prepared or pre-cooked. Meanwhile, soak some clams and peel some prawns. Sauté ½ onion, 1 bell pepper and 1 grated tomato. Add 1 teaspoon of flour and toast it, stirring. Blend it in the blender and add it to the broth. In the mortar, crush 2 slices of stale bread with 50 g of almonds, 2 peeled garlic and chopped parsley, and add it to the broth. Heat over low heat, add pieces of washed and chopped monkfish or hake, the peeled prawns and the rinsed and drained clams and cook until they open and the fish is well cooked.

Stuffed turkey breast

In a frying pan, sauté 2 onions cut in julienne. Add 2 carrots in sticks, sauté and season with salt. Add 60 g of diced dried apricots, 80 g of dried cranberries and 80 g of peeled pistachios. Preheat the oven to 200 ^o . Take 1 large turkey breast open in the shape of a book. Cover with the filling, roll it up, tie it, and brown it on all sides. Arrange it in an ovenproof dish, bathe it with 300 ml of poultry broth and 200 ml of sweet wine, and bake for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the cooking juice, and grill for 20 more minutes. Remove the string and serve it accompanied by orange slices and grains of pomegranate.

Hake in green sauce

Soak 400 g of clams in cold water. Salt 4 hake fillets and brown them on both sides. Place them in an ovenproof dish and cook for 5 minutes in the oven, preheated to 200 °. Peel and chop 4 garlic and brown them in the hake pan. Add 2 tablespoons of flour, stir and, without stopping to stir, pour in 200 ml of white wine. Let the wine reduce by half and add 400 ml of the fish broth and the drained clams. Boil until they open and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Rectify with salt and boil 1 minute more. Add the hake fillets and serve. Take a look at our recipe for hake in light green sauce.

Hake and seafood cake

Take 400 g of hake, remove the skin and bones and shred it. Peel 8 prawns, cook them for 2 minutes in salted water and drain. In a bowl, beat 3 eggs, pour in 200 ml of liquid cream, 200 ml of milk, 200 ml of tomato sauce and the shredded hake, and mix. Add chopped parsley, salt and pepper and mix again. Divide into four individual molds and bake in a bain-marie, in a preheated oven for 180 ^or 30 minutes. Let cool and reserve in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Unmold, put the prawns on top and some parsley leaves, and serve with pink sauce.

Omelette and salmon roll

If you want an easy, inexpensive and attractive starter, try this roll. Spread some slices of sliced bread with mayonnaise, top them with some thin French omelets, some slices of smoked salmon, and a mixture of washed and dried salad leaves along with chopped pickles. Wrap the bread over the filling into a roll. Brush the surface of the rolls with mayonnaise. And garnish them with grated boiled egg, rolled salmon strips in the shape of shells and washed and dried dill.

Ham and fruit salad

Salads also fit in if you give them a sophisticated touch with exotic fruits and luxury ingredients like Iberian ham. Mix mango and pear cubes with the grains of a shelled pomegranate and water them with a few drops of lemon juice. Toast some cashews lightly in a frying pan, without adding any fat; remove and chop finely. Mix them in a bowl with a teaspoon of mustard, a teaspoon of agave or honey syrup, one of vinegar, and one of olive oil. Wash the lettuce and drain it. Season and mix with the chopped fruit. Add a shavings of Iberian ham or duck. And serve it with the vinaigrette in a separate bowl. Discover more Christmas salads.

Christmas stock with stuffed shells

It is one of the traditional Christmas recipes par excellence. Wash, peel and dice 2 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 leek and ¼ cabbage. Put 400 g of beef shoulder in a saucepan, salt and bring to a boil. Remove the foam and cook for 1 hour over low heat. Remove the meat and strain the broth and cook the shells. Drain and let cool. Cook the diced vegetables in the same broth. Cut the meat into small cubes and mix with the vegetables. Add chopped parsley, salt, pepper and oil and mix well. Fill the shells and arrange them in a refractory dish. Heat them in the oven, preheated to 180 °, 5 min. Distribute them on the plates and with the remaining broth boiling.

Roast chicken with apples

Soak some blueberries and some dried plums. Peel, core and chop 4 apples. Drizzle with lemon juice. Preheat the oven to 200 °. Clean the chicken and salt and pepper it inside and out. Fill it with fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme …), 1 cinnamon stick, half of the apples and dried fruits and a lemon wedge. Sew it and tie the legs. Brush it with oil. Cover with parchment paper and bake for 30 min. Uncover it, water it with its juice and half a glass of sweet wine, cover and bake for 70 min at 160 °. Add the rest of the apples and dried fruit to the tray, pour half a glass of wine more and bake another 20 minutes at 180 °.

Chicken and pate cannelloni

Prepare a béchamel sauce and reserve it, covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge. Salt and pepper 700 g of minced chicken meat and cook it with a little oil, over low heat and covered, for about 15 minutes. Stir and cook for 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and let it warm. Peel and chop 1 onion. Póchala 20 minutes with a little oil. Mix the chicken with the onion and 100 g of pate; adjust salt and pepper. Cook 16 plates of cannelloni in salted water. Drain them, cool them with water and spread them out on the table. Distribute the filling and roll. Arrange the cannelloni in a baking dish, cover with the béchamel sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake until lightly browned. If you prefer them without meat, try these vegetable cannelloni.

Avocado shots with prawns

If you can't think of what to make for an appetizer, try these avocado and prawn cream shots. It is a super easy recipe that, in addition to having an irresistible look, is not excessively caloric (something interesting on these dates so given to excesses …). See recipe.

Prawn salpicón

Wash some prawns and cook them in salted water until they change color. Remove with a slotted spoon and cool in a bowl with ice. Peel them, reserve 4 and cut the rest into slices. Make small cubes of red pepper, pineapple and avocado and mix them with some tomatoes, washed and halved, and the cut prawns. Make a vinaigrette with some crushed raspberries along with a little olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Sprinkle the salpicón with the dressing and serve decorated with the reserved prawns and washed and chopped chives.

Prawn Christmas cream

Based on prawns, pumpkin and other vegetables, here you have a soft Christmas cream with an incredible flavor. Try it and you will not regret it. It will be so easy for you and it will be so delicious that it will not surprise you that it ends up being a staple of your party recipes. See recipe.

Baked sea bass with potatoes

You need 700 g of sea bass (you can also do it with hake), 3 potatoes, 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, 100 g diced cured ham, white wine, parsley, pepper, salt and oil. Preheat the oven to 180º. Spread poached potato and onion slices on a baking sheet. Place the sea bass on top and grill for 10 min. Pour in a glass of wine and bake for 5 more minutes. Add diced tomato and ham on top. Roast 10 min more. Take it out of the oven and place it with the garnish underneath and wash it with a mixture of olive oil and chopped parsley.

Red cabbage with apple

Cook, wash, core and cut apples into half moons and sprinkle with lemon. Soak raisins in muscat. Wash and julienne the red cabbage; Cook for 15 minutes in salted water and vinegar. Meanwhile, fry onion cut in julienne with a little cinnamon. Drain the raisins and add them to the pan. Add the drained red cabbage, sauté for 10 minutes and add a little balsamic vinegar. Brown pine nuts in another pan, add the apple and roast a little. Serve the red cabbage and apple in layers.

Pork loin with bacon

Clean some slices of bacon and spread them slightly knurled on the table. Arrange the pork tenderloin on top, wrap it with the bacon and tie it up. Preheat the oven to 200 ^o . Transfer the meat to a baking dish greased with oil and drizzle with a little brandy. Add 600 g of sweet potato and two chopped fennel bulbs to the dish. Bake 30 minutes, cover the meat with parchment paper and cook for another 30 minutes. Remove the meat and vegetables. Collect the cooking juice and heat it with 100 ml of meat broth. Let it reduce for 1 minute, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in water and stir until thick. Remove the thread from the meat, cut it into slices and serve it over the vegetables and the sauce aside.

Chicken and mushroom volcanoes

Wash and chop 1 leek and 100 g of mushrooms. Also chop 150 g of chicken breast. Sauté the leek for 5 minutes. Add the chicken and mushrooms, and sauté until golden brown. Add a tablespoon of flour and sauté for 1 minute, stirring. Salt and pepper and add 1 beaten egg with 100 ml of cooking cream. Wash chives and chop it. Sprinkle it over the previous mixture and stir until the egg begins to set and the sauce thickens slightly. Fill 4 volcanoes with the previous preparation and put them on the plate lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with the grated cheese, gratin until the surface is golden, and serve.

Scallops Galician

Any recipe that uses seafood is a great party dish. And if they are scallops, as in this case, they have many more points because, in addition to being one of the most tasty and exquisite mollusks, they have such showy shells that they serve to present the dish without having to heat your head too much. See recipe.

Christmas thistles

Make some thistles into squares (if you want to save time, you can use canned ones). Peel some garlic, cut them into thin slices and brown them with a thread of oil. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour and toast, stirring. Add half a liter of milk, season and cook, stirring, until obtaining a light béchamel sauce without lumps. Add some crushed almonds and cook for a couple more minutes. Serve the thistles with this béchamel on top and some toasted almond slices.

Grilled fish with seafood

Peel, grate and fry 1 onion. Grate 3 tomatoes and add them. Season, add a pinch of sugar, sauté 5 min and remove. Sauté 250 g of peeled prawns in this oil and set aside. Add 250 g of washed mussels and 250 g of clams (which you will have left to soak for 30 min), ½ glass of wine and bay leaf. Cook until they open, remove them and reduce the sauce for a few minutes. Wash, chop and sauté 500 g of sea bass or hake 2 min. Add the sauce, the sofrito, 300 ml of fish stock, paprika and cook 5 min. Serve the fish with the shellfish and the crushed sauce.

Roast lamb with honey

Salt and pepper 4 small lamb shoulders. Wash 4 potatoes, without peeling them, dry them and cut them into wedges. Peel 250 g of shallots and cut them in half. Preheat the oven to the maximum temperature. Arrange the shoulders on the oven plate, water them with a thread of oil and roast for 6 or 8 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and add the potatoes, shallots, washed thyme and a glass of white wine. Spread them with a mash of 4 garlic, four tablespoons of honey and lemon juice and bake for 1 hour at 160 ^o . Serve accompanied by the potatoes and shallots, and washed down with the cooking juices.

Baked bream

Fatty fish, like sea bream, last up to three months frozen. So you can do it earlier and have it stored in the freezer. Or substitute it for carp or hake, which although they also go up in price at this time, they do not do as much as sea bream. See recipe.

Roasted rack of lamb

Rack of lamb is cheaper than other pieces of meat such as sirloin of beef, for example. If it is still too expensive for your budget, you can substitute it for ribs or pork loin and be like a queen with the same preparation. See recipe step by step.

Prawns in cava

Seafood dishes always bring a touch of party and if you make them with frozen seafood, as in the recipe that we propose, they can be quite well priced. Both prawns and prawns are some of the cheapest seafood on the market. And if you buy them in advance, much more still. See recipe.

Pork tenderloin with mashed potato

Salt and pepper a sirloin and brown it in a frying pan with oil, thyme and some crushed garlic. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a refractory source, add sweet wine and bake for 12 minutes at 200 °. Remove the meat from the source and strain the cooking juice into a saucepan. Add 200 ml of liquid cream, heat until it boils and thicken the sauce with a teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in a little water. Add salt. Cut the meat into not very thick slices, distribute them on the plates and serve them with the sauce and mashed potatoes or, if you prefer it lighter, pumpkin or apple.

It is clear that the Christmas dinner menu does not have to be very expensive or complicated. As you have seen, all these Christmas recipes are easy to make (although they are laborious at times) and there are them for all tastes and pockets. And we also tell you all the tricks for you to prepare your own low cost , last minute Christmas menu , and with a super sophisticated look.

How to prepare a low cost Christmas menu

in advance. It is one of the infallible tricks to prepare Christmas recipes at a much better price. The price of many seafood goes through the roof around the holidays. But if you buy them early and freeze them, you save a fortune. Keep in mind that many pieces of meat and fish last about two months frozen.
Wait at the last minute. The opposite also works: wait until the last minute and what is on sale because they have not sold it and they want to get rid of it at a more reasonable price. The downside of this trick is that you cannot predict what you will cook, you have to improvise with the product you find on sale.
Give the change. Another classic of low cost cuisine is to substitute the main ingredient, which is usually the most expensive, with a cheaper one. For example, substituting bream for carp or hake, which, although they also go up in price around this time, do not do as much as this typical Christmas fish. Or the veal, for lamb or pork. And the turkey, for chicken.
Practice the cooking of use. The techniques of the so-called "safe food", which is nothing more than taking advantage of leftovers as was done in the kitchen of a lifetime, can also help you lower your budget. You just have to plan a menu that will serve you for several dishes. For example, you can make roast chicken with nuts or Christmas broth with meat and vegetables and what you take advantage of it to make some cannelloni for another holiday. Discover more ideas for making use of leftovers.

Tricks to improvise last minute Christmas recipes

Preparations and frozen. If you are one of those in favor of prevention is better than cure, you can apply that same philosophy to your kitchen and your recipes. You can have homemade frozen stir-fries and broths, for example, like our cream of vegetables and cubes step by step.
Throw away precooked and canned goods. Although it is true that homemade preparations are richer and healthier because you control what you put in and are free of preservatives and other non-recommended products, it cannot be denied that they can get you out of a hurry or save time in any of the steps in the recipes. . Briks of broth, sliced and washed vegetables, or precooked cans of rice, quinoa or pasta, help you save time in preparation and have attractive side dishes in no time.

Touches to give your Christmas dinner a more sophisticated look

Very chic plating. Sometimes you just need to put sprouts, aromatic herbs, seeds, nuts and spices to make a daily dish look like a real party. The trick is to add them last and without mixing them to make them look in all their splendor.
Party sauces. Sauces and vinaigrettes also add a plus to your Christmas dishes and recipes or any celebration. A dry pork tenderloin is not the same as accompanied by a mustard and honey sauce like that of our light sauces.
Elegant kitchenware. Another tactic that does not fail is to change the support of the recipes. That is, in a place of a normal and ordinary daily dish, you can serve your Christmas menu in pretty spoons and shots (for appetizers, for example), combinations of dishes for main recipes (and thus solve at the same time the not having enough dishes of the same set for all the guests), or putting details that dress more dishes (such as pastry doilies on the underplate …)
Themed ornaments. And of course, add a decorative touch that reminds you of the celebration, Christmas in this case. From candles to stars to balls and Christmas garlands. Or simply spreading dry leaves and typical fruits of this season on the table: pineapples, pomegranates, mini apples …

And if what you want are light Christmas recipes, don't miss our low-calorie Christmas menu. Yes, believe it or not, it is possible!