What do you eat Christmas Eve?

[Magnalux]

So I always host Christmas dinner, I’ve 22 to cook for this year! Needless to say I don’t fancy cooking much on Christmas Eve, I’m also doing some prep for the next day. I’ve a DH and three teenagers to cook for.Just wondering what kinds of meals you serve up on Christmas Eve that are low effort but still nice ! Looking for inspiration. Thanks

We always do a cheese, cured meats and crackers with olives and grapes. My DH works Christmas Eve and I’m just busy prepping food so for years we’d get kids to bed and have a cheese board and a couple of glasses of port. Kids are now mid teens so join in (without the port lol) and we play a board game!

Party food type stuff and baked camembert is our usual. This year I think we may do chilli nachos, heavy on the cheese and guac!

Baked potatoes! Something light and easy.

At my 10 year old DS request pizza with dough balls and ice cream.

Salmon & potato salad, with various salads.

We always have a cheeseboard on Christmas Eve with a bottle of port. Little work and can eat as much or as little as we want.

Vegan baked Camembert with a winter coleslaw and good bread. Lemon tart to follow.

Always a Chinese including crispy shredded duck. Delivery or from the supermarket, depends.

As this has bumped (and I didn't put my Christmas Eve Dinner on here ) ...

On the 23rd we have take-away 'Christmas Eve Eve' but this year its a Tuesday and the place we order from is closed so we need a PlanB

Christmas Eve is - lunch time vegetable grills , fish for DS , triple cooked chips , some dips . Then sandwiches, crisps, cake in the evening.

Boxing Day is homemade pizza -Tradition set in stone . I put the dough on to prove in the morning and it is ready by evening

I need to work out my A/L , I always work between Christmas/New Year but I like the 24th off

Chinese takeaway….have done now for the last 20 years and before that it would always be some sort of takeaway. Who wants to cook Christmas Eve and then again Christmas Day 😂

When the kids were younger we used to make a fish pie, with a separate one for dd as she doesn't like prawns. We've also done meatball lasagne., pizzas which DH ruined by buying a large one each including small grandchild.

Hot roast pork baguettes with applesauce and stuffing (has to be Paxo/supermarket equivalent, not the homemade stuffing I make for Christmas Day).) Served with coleslaw and sweet potato fries. Barely any effort. I did make pulled pork in the slow cooker one year but prefer the plain roasted pork, less rich ahead of Christmas Day and less work.

We have our Christmas meal on Christmas Eve (that's the day we celebrate). The day before that we always have frozen pizza - minimal effort and easy to eat while watching a Christmas film.

When I was little it was always a picnic type tea with sandwiches, crisps, apple and some chocolate. Pretty sure my parents then had a chippy tea once we were in bed.

For me and DH, we have a few options. Sometimes we go out for a nice meal (usually if we’re home for Christmas dinner). If not we have either takeaway (curry) or buy a nice ready meal type thing (some sort of meat, nice potato dish and veg).

Fish pie when the kids were little.
Now (adult children) we go out.
If/ when we have grandchildren we’ll revert to fish pie again.

Home made sausage rolls and soup. Nice bread and cheese. Simple and easy, sausage rolls a bit of a faff but worth it.

Buffet nibbles from tesco/aldi generally to keep everyone happy and we can just shove stuff in the oven if we fancy it. The other half is pescatarian, i eat meat, the kids are fussy lol.

We always had a T bone steak when growing up, think there was a bit of a deal with the butcher/dads work type thing in a 1970s way but it’s the only day of the year I remember getting steak! Carried on for years, some years they would be shared, some years you’d get your own. Then mad cow disease stopped it. Restarted when dc were here and nearly what myself at the cost. Stopped the year they were charging £80 odd for 3 as someone and shot the wrong bull… this year who knows! Hopefully dc will like some of the ideas from here!

I do a lamb tagine thing in the slow cooker - prep it the day before xmas eve, bung it on in the morning on xmas eve and its ready by the evening x doesn't take long to make some rice or have with flat breads x

I like the idea of sausage rolls from also the original poster. I think I will make a note of that.

I always feel at a bit of a loss thinking what to do unless its 45 degrees in which case its sausages and salad.

Fish pie!

Though this year we’ll have a new baby so may make it more a simple fish dish with shop bought hollandaise and M&S pre prepared veg.

Take away

We have fish pie.

For years we had a fish pie, then lasagne made with tiny meatballs and mozzarella pearls. We had pizzas one year but, as usual, DH over ordered so we had the leftovers on boxing day.