Christmas buffet ideas please!

[TH22]

Hi all,

Thanks to the latest travel rules, I've found myself in a position where we are home on a Christmas Day...along with two additional guests!

I've made it clear im not spending all of Christmas Day in the kitchen and rather than doing a full roast dinner, we're going to have a buffet of sorts.

I don't mean a beige buffet of sausage rolls and sandwiches, but lovely salmon, cheeses and other assortments of lovely goodies.

Can you please hit me with your ideas, either hot or cold, ready made from shops or can be made the day before and heated up.

Thank you!

We are having a Christmas drinks party for friends and it will be buffet style food. This is my list -
Caramelised onion sausage rolls
Blinis
Blinis on a cucumber slice
Peach, prosciutto, mozzarella ball on a cocktail stick
Homemade cheese straws
Cheese & meats grazing board
Pretzels
Dates stuffed with cheese, wrapped in Parma ham
Cocktail sausages in honey & mustard
Duck spring rolls/other M&S party food
Rosemary focaccia
Melon wrapped in Parma ham on a cocktail stick

Cheese and pineapple hedgehog (obviously)

Balsamic pickled onions, available from deli type places (pretty sure they're Belazu)

I think assuming you all eat it, a lovely ham, with some slices already carved.

Potatoes, if not hot roasties then whole baby potatoes roasted in their skins with oil, salt and rosemary are delicious at room temp.

Devilled eggs
Pasta pesto salad
Waldorf salad
Fingers of cheese wrapped in Parma ham. M&S do these ready prepared.
Slices of frittata (homemade or prepared)
Padron style peppers
Cous-cous salad, perhaps Moroccan style with apricots & almonds

These are sounding great, thank you!

I'm doing a Christmas Eve buffet for the family and this is what I've got on the menu;

Pork pie
Ham hock terrine
Sausage plait
Baked Ham
Pate x 3
Cheeseboard with grapes, figs, celery and dates etc
Redcurrant & mustard glazed cocktail sausages
Scotch eggs
Quiche
Crusty breads and crackers
Chutney, pickles and beetroot
Mini garlic & herb baked potatoes
Green salad
Seasonal coleslaw
Celariac remoulade
Kohl Rabi salad
Tomato salad
Chicory salad
Antipasti selection
Smoked salmon, langoustine, prawns
Cheese & pineapple hedgehog

Mince pies
Christmas cake
Yule log
Stollen
Nigellas mont blanc
Alcohol steeped fruit and cream

First time ever hosting at my house so I'm very excited!

I’ve really got into Graze boards this year. I got a good book but there are loads of ideas on the internet. I make them up in the afternoon and fridge/foil them till we are ready and I find I don’t have to make a substantial meal / something very simple alongside them works great - one of my most successful was sausage sandwiches and a graze board full of onions, grated cheeses, pickles and sauces. It felt a lot posher than sausage sandwiches but very little effort really. We do dessert ones too with pots of melted chocolate, fruit, sweets and chocolate.

[[https://www.cookfood.net/menu/christmas/buffet]

Not cheap, but very good quality.

Sorry - link fail:

https://www.cookfood.net/menu/christmas/buffet

I make Bajan fish cakes, they're actually really easy and taste amazing. This is closest to the recipe I use as mines printed in a booklet we bought in Barbados.
best-barbados-vacation-packages.com/barbados-food/bajan-fish-cakes-recipe.html
Tesco sell the salt fish, and for a buffet I'll be making teaspoon size ones.

Baked camenbert with cranberry glaze, toasted walnuts and nice crusty breads to dip in, homemade sausage rolls, loaded potato skins and stuffed peppers…

tentative3 How did I get to be in my 50s without ever adding roast potatoes to a buffet? That's genius.

@Serin

tentative3 How did I get to be in my 50s without ever adding roast potatoes to a buffet? That's genius.

Not just potatoes, but mini Yorkshire pudding, or mini toad in the hole work really well.

Have something warm, chili in a slow cooker so people can serve themselves.

There's a thread about vegan gluten free canapes that will give you some good ideas

Salmon mousse, homemade festive sausage rolls (plenty of recipes online), slices of cooked turkey and ham, chutneys and chilli jam, selection of cheese and Crackers, potato salad and coleslaw, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, plenty of Cranberry sauce, nice breads, hummus, Devilled eggs, baked camembert, scotch eggs, pork pies, mince pies.

Mince pies
Potato salad
Biscuits
Mini quiches etc
Cake
Cheese and fruit platter
Sweets and chocolates
Nice crusty bread and cranberry sauce
Cold cuts of meat
Homemade sausage rolls

The kids and grandkids usually come on Christmas day afternoon for a buffet ( we have our Xmas on Xmas eve )
It consists of...
Home made rolls, split and piled into a basket on the table.
Cold meats.
Cheese's.
Hard boiled eggs.
Small salad
Sauerkraut and pickles.
Small sausage rolls.
Pork pie.
Crisps.
Home made sherry trifle (my wrist always seems to slip with the sherry 😉 )
Cranachan ( my wrist always seems to slip with the whisky 😁)

You need to have some beige freezer tapas though 🙈

I'm doing a pre-christmas get together this Sat. I'm not sure if will be as posh as your planned buffet, but this is what I'm doing:

Chicken pie (Delia recipe, can serve cold or make in advance and cook on the day)
Cheese and potato pasties (make in advance and cook on the day)
Fresh bread
Cheese board
Crackers
Cocktail sausages
Scotch eggs
Salad bits
Houmous and crudités
Cold meats
Breadsticks

Will do a choice of ice cream or banoffee pie for pudding.

Nigellas Liptauer ball

www.google.com/amp/s/www.food.com/amp/recipe/liptauer-cheese-a-la-nigella-lawson-454685

Pastries- maple&pecan plaits, cinnamon swirls, cheese twists, bacon and cheese puffs
Loads of bread and good butter with salt crystals
Honey mustard cocktail sausages

I like a Nordic-y buffet on Christmas Eve - salmon, rye bread, ham, cream cheeses, baked plums and pastries.. so I’d adapt that -

We're doing a buffet lunch for family members that we won't be with at Christmas, a few days before.
Chicken, ham and leek pie
Black bean chilli (some vegan/vegetarian guests)
Little sausages on sticks
Mini jacket potatoes
Red cabbage slaw
Green beans
Cheese and crackers
Mince pies
Yule log

So nearly all can be done in advance, not too much work, hopefully tasty and with some nutritional value!

Came to post the same as @inigomontoyahwillcox. We have this all set in our freezer ready. We used the in store base guide for putting a buffet together too.
Simple, delicious, low effort, maximum quality.

Love a good buffet.

I’m surprised my local FB page isn't yet crammed full of Christmas Graze tables though 🤮