35 Holiday Entertaining Recipes

Your holiday season will be a breeze with these 35 Holiday Entertaining Recipes! Each one will tantalize and delight your friends and family!

vertical collage of christmas and thanksgiving holiday entertaining recipes

This time of year I’m always on the lookout for great recipes to make for my family and friends. Once October hits, I have Thanksgiving AND Christmas on the brain almost all the time. These 35 Holiday Entertaining Recipes will make planning your meals a snap! From drinks and appetizers to the best desserts… and even a simple gift ideas, you’ll find everything you need to get you through the holidays!

35 HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING RECIPES
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Thanksgiving Recipes

1
Apple Cider Mimosas
This easy apple cider cocktail is simple, delicious, and perfect for fall! Thanksgiving is the perfect time for this Apple Cider Cocktail, especially one as easy and tasty as this.
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2
Mushroom Bacon Swiss Crostini
These little crostinis are packed with delicious flavor and so simple to make! The perfect holiday appetizer recipe - it's sure to please a crowd!
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3
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter is a must-make recipe for fall, great on rolls or even ice cream!
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4
Crock Pot Turkey Breast with Cranberry Sauce
This turkey is a delicious slow cooker recipe perfect for a small crowd at the holidays. A small breast is cooked and infused with a homemade cranberry sauce for amazing flavors!
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5
Crockpot Stuffing
This easy stuffing is perfect for holidays when oven space is short! It’s slow cooked while you are preparing for the holidays so you don’t have to worry about it. This dressing has an amazing flavor because of the herbs and seasonings!
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6
Cranberry Jello Salad
This cranberry jello salad combines raspberry gelatin with cranberry sauce, pineapple and orange zest for a delicious side dish or dessert that’s perfect for the holidays!
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7
Roasted Butternut Squash & Brussel Sprouts Quinoa Salad
Inspired by the flavors of fall, this salad makes the perfect side dish for a holiday dinner. It also happens to be hearty enough to serve as a vegetarian-friendly main dish!
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8
Cranberry Fluff
Cranberry Fluff combines pineapples, marshmallows & Cool Whip with cranberries, grapes & pecans for the perfect cranberry dish for your holiday menu!
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9
Dijon Maple Green Beans
In need of a quick and easy Thanksgiving side dish? These green beans and bacon are a total winner! Plus, they can be made in advance!
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10
Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries
This is the perfect holiday side dish recipe for Thanksgiving! It's loaded with tangy crannies and sweet squash for a tangy, savory bite you'll absolutely love!
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11
Pumpkin Fudge Pie
Rich and decadent, this twist on a classic Holiday dessert elevates traditional pumpkin pie to a whole new level of deliciousness!
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12
Apple Rum Raisin Cake
Like a crisp Fall day, Apple Rum Raisin Cake will tickle your senses. A moist and very flavorful cake studded with rum-soaked raisins, fresh sweet apple chunks, and crunchy walnuts it's a great cake to add to your holiday spread this year!
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Christmas Holiday Entertaining Ideas

Christmas Dinner is always a chance to make a fancy main dish i wouldn’t normally try. These recipe are completely delicious and so pretty.

If you need some new goodies for your Christmas cookie plate or cookie exchanges, these treat will make you everyone’s favorite baker!

Christmas Dinner

13
Slow Cooker Candy Cane White Hot Chocolate
A perfectly minty winter treat! It's an easy recipe that's perfect for enjoying after your holiday meal!
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14
Tomato Soup Shooters with Mini Grilled Cheese
These shooters are a fun appetizer that can be served at parties, for entertaining, baby showers or weddings. They’re comfort food in small bites that everyone loves!
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15
Cherry Cheesecake Dip
Cherry Cheesecake Dip is the most delicious, easy to make no-bake cheesecake! It’s the ultimate 5-ingredient dessert or appetizer for any party! No plates needed for this amazing treat! You can serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers or just eat it with a spoon like me! I love this dip!
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16
Garlic Roast Beef
Enjoy this beautiful Garlic Roast Beef with a crisp garlicky crust on the outside and juicy inside, this elegant meal is special enough for holidays!
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17
Crock Pot Ham with Spiced Honey
Crock pot ham with spiced honey is the perfect hands-off dinner for your holiday table! Only a handful of ingredients and only ten minutes of prep work required!
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18
Portuguese Rice Pudding (Arroz Doce)
This rice pudding is a traditional Portuguese dessert recipe made with cooked rice, sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon, and lemon peel! It's comforting and delicious. Everything you want at Christmas time!
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19
Sparkling Cranberries
These sweet and tart berries are the perfect addition to your holiday table and they're sure to impress your crowd this holiday season!
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Christmas Desserts

20
Chocolate Mint Cake Mix Cookies
Cake mix cookies are easy to make and fun to eat, especially when they are sandwiched around a minty buttercream! These cookies are festive and delicious!
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21
5-Minute Microwave Fudge
This fudge is a quick, sinfully delicious, easy homemade fudge recipe. It is sure to become a holiday favorite as well as a quick fix if you have a sweet tooth!
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22
Christmas Swirl Sugar Cookies
These Christmas cookies are delicious and although they look rather impressive (insert pat on the back here) they are actually really simple.
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23
Gingerbread Men Cookies
These cookies are a delicious and soft classic gingerbread cookie recipe. The kids will love decorating them at home or at school parties. They are a fun cookie to bring to an annual cookie swap!
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24
Red Velvet Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
These little guys are rich, decadent, and everything you love about red velvet cake in bar form. Add some Christmas sprinkles on top for a festive dessert idea everyone loves!
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25
Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
These truffles are easy to make and will have people drooling for more! They are the perfect treat to give to friends, take to a holiday party or a cookie swap!
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26
Santa’s Sweet & Salty Christmas Snack Mix
This snack mix is super tasty and so easy to put together!! The boys helped me make it and it's on our Christmas Eve treat-making list now! It’s got just the right mix of sweet & salty – with a bit of peppermint thrown in (because those White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s are my favorite)!
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27
Spice Pecan Triple Chocolate Bark
This bark is A-mazing. Really, my husband tried a piece and said “Wow! That stuff is good! Like really good!” Make this for yourself, family, and friends. It would be a great treat to handout for a holiday gift.
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28
Christmas Cookie Tree
This easy to make Christmas Cookie Tree will delight your holiday guests and look stunning on your Christmas buffet!
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29
Vanilla Candy Cane Cupcakes
These Christmas colored funfetti cupcakes are perfect for the holidays! With a hint of mint from the buttercream, they will fly off the plate!
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30
Poinsettia Christmas Cookies
These cookies are crazy easy to make and super pretty. No cookie press required here friends!
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31
Snowball Cookies
These cookies are made with pecans, and rolled into powdered sugar so they look like a snowball. They are one of my favorites, and are perfect for Santa's cookie plate!
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32
Stained Glass Cookies
These cookies are a delicious, beautiful, and easy to make holiday cookie. Soft, buttery cookie dough, rolled out and cut into holiday shapes, then filled with melted candies so they look like stained glass!
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33
Scottish Shortbread Cookies
Scottish Shortbread Cookies are melt in your mouth good! Buttery and delicious, these simple cookies are the talk of my cookie plate!
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34
Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares
This dessert is a holiday staple made with just five ingredients! No one can resist the peanut butter and corn flake base and sweet chocolate topping!
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Fun Christmas Gift Ideas

35
"You've Been Snowed On" with Free Printables
This is a fun neighbor gift idea similar to being “boo’d” over Halloween, but instead “You’ve Been Snowed On” with Free Prints to show your neighbors some holiday spirit!
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36
Stove Top Potpourri Recipe with Printable
We were given this stove top potpourri for Christmas one year from one of our neighbors. I absolutely loved it! I decided to mix up a batch of my own. I’ve had it simmering on the stove all day and my house smells amazing!
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5 Comments

  1. What a great list! I regularly make my own granola, crackers (great use for nut pulp!), nut milks, nut butter, kombucha, hummus, dressings, and pesto. I have tried to make yogurt a few times but haven’t gotten it quite right, yet. Yeast breads intimidate me for some reason, though I made my own english muffins once last year! I will definitely be bookmarking this list and making some of these (ketchup!) very soon.

  2. I made this last night and it was delicious! I used almond milk instead of soy and I used zucchini noodles instead of ramen.

    I love love love miso soup so it’s nice to have another way to make it!

  3. this recipe looks so good I’m going to have to try it. I am just starting to get into making my own soups and this one sounds perfect. Thanks.

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