The Ultimate Christmas Food Face-Off

Hey everyone! I’m so excited to write this post because I ADORE Christmas food. Today I’m going to pit against each other the foods that my family and I eat around Christmas and December to find the ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS DINNER PLATE. However, first I would like to credit the Wonderful! podcast by Griffin and Rachel McElroy, because this format is very heavily inspired by their Thanksgiving food episode. (And what a fun episode it was.)

So ‘how is this going to work??’ I hear you ask. Well, I’m going to be organising the foods I normally eat at Christmas dinner (or have eaten at some point in time) into their various categories and picking a winner from each to give me my final ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS DINNER PLATE. Let’s get started!

centrepiece

turkey v fish

(Listen, I didn’t know what to call this section.) If my vegetarian cousins come over then we have fish as well, but although I do try to not eat meat… I have to go with turkey here. It’s just such a classic Christmas thing for me and it is also EXCELLENT as leftovers. (But I love fish too.)

WINNER: TURKEY

sides

sausages v roast potatoes v stuffing v bacon

Okay, this is SO DIFFICULT for me. I like sausages, but I do eat them at other times so…sorry, they’re going. Roast potatoes are one of my favourite foods ever and I can’t imagine a Christmas meal without them — plus they’re great for leftovers. However, I can’t eat stuffing at any other time and both sausage and parsely stuffing are so tasty. I love the bacon that we put on the turkey because it’s just! So good and crispy! (It’s one of the first things to run out at Christmas dinner.) UGH. But I just love crispy roasties so much that it’s going to have to be potatoes.

WINNER: ROAST POTATOES

veggies

carrots v parsnips v turnips v sprouts v sweet potatoes

I mean, vegetables are cool and all, but I thought they would get obliterated in the sides category, so. Carrots are such a good option as lots of people like them and they go well with everything, as are parsnips and turnips (which I can’t really tell apart, oops). Sprouts are not my favourite vegetable ever, but they’re so good when cooked well and absolutely ICONIC as a Christmas food. Sweet potatoes are also a solid choice, but I do eat them at other times. It’s a close one for me, sprouts are such an important part of my Christmas meal but at the end of the day I would prefer to actually eat carrots.

WINNER: CARROTS

sauces

bread sauce v apple sauce v cranberry sauce

I never really have bread sauce so that can go immediately, oops. I do love both apple and cranberry sauce, hmm…. But I think that cranberry sauce makes the best leftover turkey sandwich.

WINNER: CRANBERRY SAUCE

desserts

christmas pudding v christmas cake v yule log

Anyone who has talked to me about Christmas foods can probably guess what I’m picking here, and that’s christmas pudding. The others are good too but dude, Christmas pudding. I love making it every year with my grandma, I love when you get to set it on fire (!), I love finding charms in your slice. Also it just TASTES SO GOOD. Especially with rum butter.

WINNER: CHRISTMAS PUDDING

wild card

pigs in blankets v mince pies v bacon sandwich

This section is just the stuff that wouldn’t go anywhere else, haha. Pigs in blankets are great as party food, a bacon sarnie is a such traditional breakfast Christmas food for my family but I just love mince pies too much to let them go.

WINNER: MINCE PIES

That leaves my ultimate Christmas plate as: turkey, roast potatoes, carrots, cranberry sauce, Christmas pudding, and mince pies as a wild card. I’m very happy with that! I hope you enjoyed this post, and that even if you don’t celebrate Christmas you’re having a good December. (It is VERY COLD where I am at the moment, brr.)

do you have a favourite food for a particular celebration? how is your month going?