Christmas Party Food Ideas

With the holiday season nearly upon us, it’s a good time to start planning for any festive parties you have in mind.

In this guide, we’ll look at some of the best festive party food ideas, which could work for Christmas itself as well as the lead-up to and include New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

So, let’s dive in!

Note: Always keep potential allergies in mind when deciding what Christmas party food to include in the context of any allergies guests might have. Checking what allergies any guests have in advance can help you include suitable food for them and also give you a chance to inform them of what they cannot eat.

In some cases, allergies should be avoided entirely, as for some people, just being around certain allergies can cause a reaction whether or not they consume the food. Keeping all of this in mind can keep all of your guests safe and happy.

1. Baked Food

Standout Baked Food Recipe: Small Christmas Cakes

The ingredients list below comes originally from Good House Keeping.

Ingredients of the soaked fruit for the cakes:

• 100 mls of dark rum
• 150 grams of raisins
• 150 grams of sultanas
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 25 grams of unsalted butter
• 50 grams of chopped mixed peel
• 50 grams of dried cranberries
• 75 grams of chopped dried figs
• Zest and juice half an orange

Ingredients of the actual cakes:

• 100 grams of light muscovado sugar
• 100 grams of unsalted butter (softened with plenty of grease)
• Half a tablespoon of ground allspice
• Half a tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• Half a tablespoon of ground nutmeg
• Half a tablespoon of mixed spice
• Two medium eggs (beaten lightly)

Ingredient for the cakes’ decorations:

• 125 grams of white ready-to-roll fondant icing
• 15 grams of red ready-to-roll fondant icing
• 40 grams of green ready-to-roll fondant icing
• Icing sugar (turned to dust)

Steps Required to Make Small Christmas Cakes

• The soaked fruit should be added to a large bowl (that is not metallic) before adding it with mixed peel and dried fruit.
• Take a small pan to carefully heat up the rum with orange zest and juice (follow the manufacturer’s instructions or search for instructions if unsure). Do this until the mixture is warm. Turn off the heat carefully and add maple syrup and butter and stir until the new mixture is fully melted.
• Pour the fruit over and cover. Then allow it to soak overnight at room temperature.
• Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius or 150 on fan mode. Gradually grease and line the tins using baking parchment.
• Moving on to your Christmas cakes, you’ll need to employ either a handheld whisk or freestanding mixer along with a sizeable bowl. Beat the butter with the sugar until you get a pale and fluffy texture. This should take around five minutes. Carefully beat in eggs. Next, sift in spices and flour before beating for a short period of time to combine these elements.
• Then, employ a large metal spoon in order to fold the soaked fruit mixture along with any liquid in.
• It’s now time to divide the cake mix. You’ll want a mix of prepared tins and level. It will take twenty minutes to bake before lowering to 150 degrees Celsius or 130 should you have a fan mode on. Bake for an additional 50 minutes. Or otherwise, wait for a skewer added into the middle of the cake becomes clean. Allow it to cool in tins for an hour before turning them out on to a wire rack. Allow them to cool fully now.
• Now, you’ll want to decorate your cakes. For this, dust with icing sugar. Then use a roller to roll your white fondant icing to a thickness of 1mm. Employ a small but sharp knife to cut out four splash marks, with the right size to cover the top of each cake. Re-roll the trimmings if required.
• Take the green fondant and roll it out to a thickness of 1mm before creating eight holly leaves with a suitable cutter. You’ll then want to take the red fondant and separate it into twelve pieces before rolling it into balls to create ‘berries’.
• Get a little water so you can apply the white fondant pieces to every cake so it resembles cream. Add the ‘holly leaves’ and ‘berries’ with water if required. And voilà.

Finally, beyond the ingredients listed above, you’ll also require four sweetcorn tins of 325 grams each or a similar product. You’ll also need 3.5cm of holly cutter.

Here are some festive baked food ideas:

• Christmas truffles
• Mulling-spiced apple biscuits with cheese
• Caribbean rum cake
• Small Christmas cakes
• Gingerbread men
• Cozonac (features alcohol)
• Savoury cheese and herb biscuits
• Christmas Pavlova
• Eccles pie star wreath
• Vegan raspberry and lemon trifle
• Gluten-free Christmas fudge cake
• Pistachio and cherry nougat pandoro
• Panforte
• Rum and raisin cake
• Baileys chocolate tiffin
• White snowball cake
• Christmas cupcakes
• Black forest gateau
• Florentines

Cooked Food

Standout Cooked Food Recipe: Mini Jacked Potatoes

The ingredients list below comes originally from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients for mini jacked potatoes:

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 500-gram bag of new potatoes
• 75 ml half-fat soured cream
• Sea salt
• Small bunch chives (they should be snipped)

Steps Required to Make Mini Jacked Potatoes

• Set your oven to heat to 190 degrees Celsius or 170 degrees Celsius if using the fan mode.
• Prick each of your mini jacket potatoes using a fork. Rub them with oil and add some sea salt.
• Place the jacked potatoes on a baking sheet and then put them in to bake for an hour.
• Once baked, allow the mini jacket potatoes ten to fifteen minutes to cool.
• Cut a small cross at the top of every potato before pinch the bases to open a little.
• Apply soured cream (1 teaspoon) along with freshly ground black pepper and some chives.
• Serve the mini jacked potatoes right away.

Moving on to cooked festive foods, here are some ideas worth considering for a party:

• Mini mushroom crackers
• Mini jacket potatoes
• Cheesy polenta fritters
• Ascolana olives
• Sausage rolls
• Vegan sausage rolls
• Fried stuffed olives
• Mac and cheese bites
• Small cornish pasties
• Blue cheese and fig tarts
• Cheese and garlic tear-and-share bread

Other Food Delicacies

Standout Other Food Delicacy Recipe: Chickpea Salad

The ingredients list below comes originally from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients for chickpea salad:

• 400 gram can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• One Lemon Juiced
• One red onion (slice it thinly)
• Small pack of coriander (roughly chopped)
• Small pack of parsley (roughly chopped)
• Two large, chopped tomatoes
• Two tablespoons of harissa
• Two tablespoons of olive oil

Steps Required to Make Chickpea Salad:

• Take all of the ingredients listed above and mix them. Mash a bit to allow the chickpeas to be a little rough at their edges so that they can absorb the dressing more effectively.
• You can serve then and there, or you may want to prepare it one day in advance before putting it in the fridge to preserve it for the following day. Do not make a Chickpea salad sooner than that, however.

You may be interested in the following festive-friendly food delicacies:

• Cheese board
• Chickpea salad
• Avocado bruschetta
• Mango salsa with tortilla chips
• Shrimp avocado cups
• Stuffed dates with goat cheese and pistachio
• Various types of crisps (e.g. salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, ready salted etc.)

Alcoholic Drinks

Standout Alcoholic Drink Recipe: Baileys Cocktail

The ingredients list below comes originally from Olive Magazine

Ingredients for a Popular Baileys Cocktail Drink:

• 25ml of Baileys
• 25ml of coffee liquor
• 25ml of double cream
• 25ml of vodka
• Chocolate shavings (for decorating at the top of the drink)

Steps Required to Make a Baileys Cocktail

• Place your cocktail shaker on the counter (or other suitable preparation area) before adding the Baileys, vodka, coffee liquor, double cream, and finally ice. Shake well until you feel the external area of the shaker become cold.
• Carefully strain your cocktail mix into a suitable glass (e.g. chilled coupe glass).
• Decorate with chocolate shavings.
• Serve the cocktail!

For the adults at the party, you may want to offer some of the following festive alcoholic drinks:

• Picante
• Mojito
• Baileys cocktail
• Classic snowball
• Festive rum and ginger punch
• Champagne
• Classic mulled wine
• Prosecco
• Gingerbread espresso
• Bellini
• Eggnog
• Gingerbread gin or gingerbread gin and tonic
• Grasshopper cocktail
• Mulled cider
• Martini

Non-alcoholic Drinks

Standout Non-Alcoholic Drink Recipe: Mulled Tea

The ingredients list below comes originally from BBC Good Food

Ingredients for Mulled Tea:

• Four clovers
• Half an orange (quartered)
• One bay leaf
• One cinnamon stick
• One tablespoon of cranberry sauce
• One tablespoon of dried rose petals
• One tea bag of green tea
• Two handfuls of frozen mixed berries

Steps Required to Make Mulled Tea

• Have a large saucepan ready and add one litre of water before adding dried rose petals, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves, cranberry sauce, orange and frozen mixed berries.
• Allow the mixture to boil while stirring here and there. Remove the saucepan from the heat source and turn off the heat too for safety.
• Add a tea bag to the mixture and give it two to three minutes to steep.
• Strain this mixture via a sieve into a heatproof jug.
• Serve the mulled tea warm for your guest(s) to enjoy.

For those who don’t or can’t drink, here are some general non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails to consider:

• Cocoa
• Hot chocolate
• Coffee (decaf is the best option for an evening service)
• Black tea
• Festive fruit punch
• Chai latte
• Mulled tea
• Clemente mock martini
• Pomegranate iced tea
• Lemon drop martini mocktail
• Passion fruit martini mocktail
• IPA non-alcoholic
• Gingerbread latte
• Frozen blackberry smoothie
• Alcohol free sparkling wine
• Kopparberg non-alcoholic
• Virgin piña colada

If opting for mocktails and other non-alcoholic drinks that resemble alcoholic alternatives, be sure to clearly signify which drinks are alcoholic and which are not. Double check you’ve labelled these correctly, too.