What alternatives have you had for your Christmas dinner?

[Geekmama]

This year i'm really considering having Mexican food on Christmas Day. So my question is...... Have you ever had an alternative Christmas dinner? did you feel like you had missed out? did it feel less Christmassy?

Bye the way I know I'm BU talking about Christmas in September Sorry. [santa]

We never have Christmas dinner. We have a help yourself buffet all day long. It's great.

We had a chinese one year

Had curry one year. It was fabulous! Apart from roast potatoes there isn't anything I particularly like about traditional Xmas dinner. Wish more people would do something different!

Sparklingbrook Ohh sounds nice, what sort of food do you have?

We always have roast beef.
My friends parents always have take away Indian! They buy it Xmas eve lunch, stick in fridge and reheat Xmas lunch each to their own!

When exh and I split he announced he wouldn't let me see dc at all Xmas day.
So we had our Xmas day a day early. I had fajitas on the 25 th with older dc!!
He was raging.

I'm having a pizza! A nice one but a pizza nonetheless. I have my day planned. Me and the dog. Will do a run first thing and see my friend for breakfast then the rest of the day is relaxing, eating, drinking, watching tv and going out for a couple of dog walks. I am really looking forward to it and also to having a day on my own. I constantly watch what I eat and am vegetarian so a decent tomato and mozzerella pizza perhaps pimped up with some extra veg really floats my boat

We have duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes and veg.
It's scrumptious.
Never understand why people eat turkey it's so boring.

Anything really Geek. We go food shopping and everyone gets to choose. I like nice cheese and crackers, DH makes great coleslaw and potato salad. Big bowl of leafy salad. Loads of pickles.
Two DSs are teens now but they like cold meats and crusty bread. Crisps and dips etc. Nothing mega posh.

It's so nice to just have everyone eat whenever they like and not having a huge deadline in the middle of the day where everyone has to stop whatever they are doing.

Friends and family can pop in whenever they like and have something to eat too.

We're having a Christmas high tea this year instead. I'll do a roast on NYE

Baby is due the week before Christmas, if he's arrived by Christmas Day we'll be going nowhere. I've told DH I want a very rare steak and a large glass of fizz, followed by a cheese board featuring all the unpasteurised cheese I can find and the nice bottle of port we bright back from Portugal. All the loveliest things I've had to go without for a while!

We did roast pork belly one year, lamb kleftiko another. We ate out one year which was Indian food.
This year we’re having afternoon tea DS (6) suggested it and I thought why not? Should be fun.

when it's just me and DH we usually have a duck - lovely.

DD hates Sunday dinner type meals. One year for Christmas she had ravioli. Another year she had Thai food. Christmas dinner should be something you really like so I say have whatever you fancy.

DD1 is vegetarian, so I have made various veggie Xmas dinners for her while the rest of us have the full traditional turkey.
I’ve done an apricot, Brazil and cashew nut roast, decorated with cranberries, a mushroom brioche, and a colourful Mexican croustade with avocado, orange, yam and kidney beans, on previous occasions.
There are lots of shop bought options now too.
Christmas dinner should be a family celebration, and each family makes its own traditions. You can cook whatever you like, OP - the turkey is not compulsory! It’s just an easy option that cooks itself while you’re opening presents, and needs no effort apart from stuffing and serving up.

'Takeaway' indian (from the freezer)
Home-made lasagne another year.

I loved both.

The sky did not fall in :)

We have haggis, it's what the DCs want, it's easy to cook in the slow cooker, and leftovers make nice pie for Boxing Day.

I did a lobster thermistor a couple of years ago. Really quick and easy, didn't spend the whole day in the kitchen. Just wasn't Christmas though, I'd never do it again.

We always have goose, or a galantine of turkey, pheasant and chicken. Goose really does add a special something, and you have enough fat for three months of epic roasties.

We have the all out meal with turkey, ham, beef, some sort of game with trimmings etc, but we have it on Christmas Eve. All the family round etc. Then the next day, so I guess Christmas Day dinner becomes about either a cold buffet or sometimes a curry or similar from the leftovers.

Spaghetti and tomato sauce. Kids choice, much to the horror of our wider family

Lamb, roast potatoes, Yorkshires, stuffing, red cabbage, parsnips, Swede, pigs in blankets, sprouts, plenty of mint sauce and gravy. Followed by loads of Christmas pud and cream.
I hate turkey (hence the lamb) but it wouldn't feel like Christmas without a massive roast for me. I think if was on my own I'd make a mini roast with a lamb chop, or just eat biscuits all day.

When we were in Thailand we ate Thai food.

We often discuss having an alternative meal but actually really enjoy a traditional Christmas lunch. We only eat a roast about 2-3 times per year so it feels special to us. Also if the turkey tastes dry something has gone wrong as ours is always very flavoursome.

We had turkey last year - never again! I don’t much care for it, and it was a pain in the ass to cook.

This year will either be roast venison, beef, or a luxury fish pie. I like the idea of something which can be made ahead of time and flung in the oven at the appropriate time. I actually really enjoy cooking, just not so much on Christmas Day.

I love xmas roast! One year we did a buffet but it just didn’t feel right and to be honest was just as much faff as a roast! I make an epic roast though and don’t find it hard to cook at all.

We've had roast beef rib before now, for a number of years. This year, it's just 5 if us, so wondering about getting a small turkey crown, and a small pork joint with crackling, as we've often done 2 meats.

Next year, I might do a goose. Venison could be an alternative.