What to eat Christmas Eve for dinner?

[MrsPear]

I have no idea. I want something different to what I cook daily but easy. Last year I did tapas but this year I have my mother here and it will go down like a lead balloon. Any ideas?

We're keeping it simple. Stovies served with crusty bread.
Also having the cheeseboard, pate and port as we are always too full to have it on Christmas day!

We have baked brie, baguettes and home made sausage rolls on Christmas Eve. There's only us and the kids, but it's easy and delicious.

DS's partner is Swedish and so we go with her Swedish Christmas Eve meal: smoked salmon, ham, meatballs, sausages, rollmop herrings, hard boiled eggs, baked potatoes, with a side of lingonberry sauce. Washed down with Swedish glogg. It's a real nice picky meal. As usual the only person to eat the herrings is DS's partner!

We always have soup with bread and cheese. It is nice to have something light before the big meal on Christmas day.

We cook our Christmas ham and have that hot on Chriztmas eve. It will then be used for cold cuts for the rest of the holiday.

I usually bake The Christmas Ham on Xmas Eve so we have some of that with warm potato salad and a green salad and some crusty bread. Might even break out the Xmas pickles / chutneys.
It's stress free and simple before the big event and leaves enough ham to graze on til New Year

We always have fish too - usually Jamie Oliver fish pie. Plus a cake and mulled wine.

I always do a big fish pie with prawns, bacon, creamy sauce and cheesy mash on top. Lots of green veg on the side. Might start the trifle for dessert.

Baked Camembert, crusty bread, cured meats, pickles and lots of crisps, chocolate, Mince pies, alcohol etc etc

Fish supers. We finish work and wind down with fish suppers and Curries Red Kola.

We don't do dinner on Xmas eve, we host for Christmas and we have a drop in party on Xmas eve so do Christmas party bits, for us that's: A gammon sliced and laid out, cheese bites (Cathedral City are better than the M&S ones and half the price!), duck spring rolls, sausage rolls and chicken nuggets for the kids, often pigs in blankets, crisps, several Celebrations, Heroes and Quality Street boxes dotted about. Fizz, Guinness (my DH insists this is a Christmas drink), Baileys, coke and lemonade for kids, crusty bread, mini Cheddars (Christmas staple here!) and anything else we come across in the Christmas section that intrigues us. We like to go to the park and then to the pub with fireplace in the early afternoon and have chips and sausage rolls there. Christmas eve is far better than Christmas day for me.

@TrickyD Raclette is our traditional boxing day lunch, so much fun

This year I'm planning goose ragu for Christmas eve. It freezes well so the bulk of the cooking is done weeks in advance, but is unusual enough that it still feels special.

I usually make a big lasagne

We always have a cheeseboard and m and s party food on Christmas eve. Simple but nice!

We have hot roasted pork sandwiches, options of stuffing, apple sauce and gravy on the side on fresh bloomer bread and mini sausages and warm sausage rolls on the side…. That meal started 3 generations ago and will always be my go to meal on Christmas Eve.. I love it!

We are going away for Christmas to a wonderful seaside cottage (we have been there many times before), we arrive late afternoon on the 23rd and then I will be up early on the 24th to the nearest M&S to pick up the order. Part of the order will be a Gammon, so I'll bake it in honey and mustard and have it hot with chips and eggs on Christmas eve and cold for the rest of the holiday. It's going to be a very quiet Christmas this year - just me and DW and the dogs - DMIL passed due to COVID this summer, so it will be a sad Xmas for DW.

We always have Chinese, couldn’t have it last year though as they had COVID, so makes this year that bit more sweeter...

@nocoolnamesleft

Ham in coke. Very little work, tastes fab, yummy leftovers.

Another vote for ham in coke! Delicious.

Or lasagne.

Probably not the suggestion you need but we always have fish finger sandwiches, chips and salad!! So easy, I know the kids will eat it all so full tummies for bedtime!

Usually order in chinese, then later in the evening look at the Christmas day deserts in the fridge and decide which one is not making it to Christmas day!

Cook Christmas ham.
Have it with crispy rolls and coleslaw

I usually do homemade meat and potato pie with mushy peas with onions in vinegar and/pickled red cabbage which is what my grandma then my mum used to make. But then I’m northern 😄

I quite like your Nordic buffet - salmon, rye bread, red cabbage-y things, potato salad… chocolate Yule log, of course.

I used to do party food Christmas Eve rather than a meal but this year we're going out for an Indian.

Used to do the ham with broad beans in parsley sauce, roasties and Carrots. Nowadays buy a cooked ham and serve on Boxing day.

Xmas eve is easy peasy: smoked salmon, salmon fillets, prawns, pink sauce, good bread, crispy green salad. Followed by Mince pies and boozy cream.