These recipes are all handed down through the years in our Italian household from Grandma, Mom, Aunts and the recipes were continued on through each generation on to our kids and grandchildren.
We still do the 7 fishes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is traditionally Lasagna, Antipasto and Ham or Lamb ,but don't forget to check out our Holiday side dishes.
We all love Italian desserts and struffoli is at the top of the list of must makes along with many cookies.
Stroll through this delicious gallery of recipes and see if anything jars your Italian family's memory of Christmas traditional meals.
During the month of December, we love to make homemade candies and special treats for the kids and holidays are perfect for family fun, carrying on traditions and keeping our loved ones alive with their memory in the kitchen.
Here is a great roundup I make every year to celebrate the present family and those we lost with love and gratitude they left behind their culinary legacy.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
The tradition in an Italian family on Christmas Eve is to not eat meat.
In Italy, the Christmas celebration lasts about one month, starting on December 8th, the day of the Immacolata, on which traditionally the presepe (Nativity scene) and the Christmas tree are set up, and lasting until the Epiphany, celebrating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, on January 6th.
In Italy, Christmas Eve is usually a family gathering.
Traditionally, the cenone (Christmas supper) is served at home and children recite little verses for their parents and family.
Festive Holiday Appetizers
The Menu
Presents are given on Christmas Eve or on the 25th.
The menu of the Cenone varies from region to region, but traditionally it excludes meat items and is based mainly on fish.
For dessert, there are all kinds of fancy holiday bread such as panettone, filled with raisins and candied fruits, and such sweets as cannoli, a cheese-filled pastry, and many other delicacies.
Family parties continue until almost midnight when everyone attends church services and worships.
The Christmas Day dinner is the most important Christmas family tradition in Italy.
While Christmas Eve’s supper is a meatless meal, on Christmas Day it is permissible to eat meat.
Usually, it will be stuffed cappone (capon) or tacchino, or mixed roast or roast beef.
Panettone is served as a dessert or as breakfast.
Another famous Christmas bread is pandoro which originated from Verona. The Torrone (nougat), with honey or chocolate almonds or pistachios, is the most typical of the Christmas sweets.
You will find some of these delicious traditional treats below.
Honey Spiral Ham
Stuffed Calamari
Baccala
Christmas Day Antipasto
Amaretto Fudge
Baked Brie with Raspberries
Deviled Eggs
Butter Crumb Escargot in Wine
Sugar Cone Trees Cake Topper
Homemade Pizza
Capon(aka Rooster)
Traditional Sunday Sauce
24 Cookie Recipes
Mom's Peanut Brittle
Panettone
Pandoro
Pizzelle
White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Italian Rainbow Cookies
Struffoli
Leg of Lamb
Mom's Lasagna Recipe
The Story Of 7 Fishes on Christmas Eve
Frittata
Spinach and Eggs
Utica New York Tomato Pie
Best Christmas Roundup Pin for Later
Try Some Other Holiday Recipes We Enjoy
Easter Recipes
Game Day Recipes
Best Holiday Side Dishes
Red White and Blue Recipes
Halloween Roundup
Thanksgiving Recipes
Christmas Recipes
Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2014. It was edited and re-published in 2019.
Lots of good eats here.
ReplyDeleteOh my Claudia!! Everything looks so good. I would love to try it all.
ReplyDeletexoxo Catherine
Now, this sounds like my kind of Christmas! We also put up our Christmas tree on the 8th, it's an Irish tradition too. My daughter just the other day asked if we could go to Italy for Christmas, I think we'll try and do it next year! In the mean time I'm going to enjoy trying some of these lovely recipes. Thank you for sharing them x
ReplyDeleteSo many delicious recipes. Here in Veneto we always have too many panettone or pandoro at Christmas! My husband is a family doctor and so many of his patients give him one or the other as a Christmas gift I end up having to give them away!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so good
ReplyDeleteMany ideas to choose for the ultimate Italian-style Christmas table! And it's really hard to choose only few...
ReplyDeleteThis all looks fabulous! There are a lot of similarities in our Christmas traditions, but learning something new is fun too!
ReplyDeleteThe honey ham and stuffed calamari caught my eye right away! What a wonderful round-up!
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to about the Italian Christmas traditions. Loved your delicious recipe round up - so helpful for anyone planning a menu.
ReplyDeleteWish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.
How wonderful! Living away from my family, I miss Christmas Eve dinners the most - the 7 fishes! The best! Everything here looks wonderful! I will at least make pizzelle :)
ReplyDeleteFantastic roundup! I mean I don't even know where to start - I want to try them all! Thanks so much for sharing it just in time for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great collection of recipes. Our Christmas Eve dinner is our Christmas dinner. We celebrate at night time so that the little ones can stay home and play. We love it that way. I bet your delicious dishes are a welcome addition. I especially like your stuffed calamari.
ReplyDeleteSuch great menu items! Yum!
ReplyDeleteWhat a delicious selection of Christmas recipes! I definitely will have to give some a try!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fabulous selection!! I wish we were having an Italian Christmas now! We do always have panettone which is just delicious, but so many of these look scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteWhat a delicious looking menu. We keep things very southern traditional at my house. Not very different from THanksgiving with the addition of a Red Velvet Cake and sometimes my aunt makes ham.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear about different traditions around the world and learn about all of the regional recipes too! Delicious!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to read about other country's traditions. In my family we always put the Christmas tree up on 24th December :)
ReplyDeleteI believe I'd enjoy eating at your house for a month or so. My parents had Italian friends and I loved visiting them during the holidays where live in grandma, from the old country, was doing the cooking and baking.
ReplyDeleteYour awesome post was featured on Full Plate Thursday,464. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us and hope you have a great New Year! Hope to see you in 2020!
ReplyDeleteMiz Helen