Authentic Italian Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Recipes
These authentic Italian Christmas Eve and Christmas Day recipes will help you to plan a holiday just like my Nonna Chiarina used to have.
Originally published December 16, 2016.
The following Italian dishes are the types of food my southern Italian family (some of whom are now all over the globe) makes at Christmastime, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
They may not be exactly the same as other southern Italian families’ recipes, but I can assure you one thing: they are authentic. Nonna taught my mother how to make most of these recipes, and my mother taught me. I hope you enjoy them and find something to add to your Christmastime menu. Maybe you can even introduce some dishes to start an Italian tradition in your own home. Buon Natale!
Click on the photos for the recipe.
Italian Christmas Eve Dishes
As is the tradition in Italy, the Christmas Eve meal consists mainly of seafood and no meat. Often called Feast of the Seven Fishes (Cena della Vigilia).
Insalata di Baccalà ~ Salt Cod Salad
Deep Fried, Battered Salt Cod ~ Very delicious!
Spaghetti with Anchovies ~ Super quick and easy recipe
Oven-Baked Fish -White fish topped with tomatoes, breadcrumbs and spashed with vinegar, this is a super easy yet delicious seafood dish.
Linguine and clams – Nonna didn’t make this, but families nearer the coast would (spaghetti alle vongole).
Frittelle ~ called many different ways, these are Italian style Christmas doughnuts
Christmas Day Dishes
Lupini with Olives ~ Super healthy and nutritious snack
Chicken Soup with Grattini all Uovo ~ Homemade pasta for soup
Cicerchiata ~ Cioffe, made and served in a different style.
Pizzelle ~ Crisp, flat pastries made in a special pizzelle iron.
Zuppa Inglese ~ A no bake dessert made from biscuits/cookies.
Ceppo di Natale or Tronchetto di Natale ~A Yule Log
Zuccotto ~ a pumpkin shaped dessert that is lined with sponge cake and filled with cream.
I’ll keep adding to this post as I publish more authentic recipes for the holidays, so check back every now and then.
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Love how you can preserve generations of recipes through your blog. Always happy to see recipes that are family traditions. Thank you for sharing :)
Isn’t that wonderful? Thank YOU, Shumaila!
Lovely to see a different side to holiday food, with some delicious looking dishes.
Thank you, Helen!
Such a wonderful collection of holiday recipes! So many I want to try, particularly the Pizza Inglese and Chicken Soup with Grattini all Uovo. Beautiful photos
Hope you do, Tara! They’re soooo good! Thank you!
What a great collection! These all look delicious…especially those frittelles, yum!!
Yess!!
Such a delightful collection of Italian dishes! My daughter and I pick something we hadn’t tried before and make it for Christmas – this list gives us so many more intriguing and delightful things to choose from. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Wonderful!! Merry Christmas to you too, Shashi!
Some of these dishes are similar to Portuguese traditional Christmas dinner, namely the salt cod, and especially the cioffe, which I loved scoffing as a child. Our cioffe -same stripes shape- (in Portugal) were covered in sugar and cinnamon, hmm so delicious, I remember it well now. My mum used to make them. I moved to the UK 25 years ago, and I have not seen them/eaten any since. I never did learn how to make them so, thank you, very much, for sharing this. I shall try your recipe, and attempt to do the cinnamon (Portuguese) variation. Lupini, with or without olives, is also a Portuguese snack, although it is eaten mostly in the Summer (mostly in cafés by the beach), downed with the great Portuguese beer, Sagres. As for the salt cod, yours is also a variation of a Portuguese dish. Salt cod, accompanied with boiled potatoes, cabbage and egg, all drizzled with a good measure of good olive oil, is actually the traditional main Christmas meal in Portugal, well, at least it was, in our home. Doesn’t sound very appetising but, as a child, I used to love mashing the potatoes on my plate, with my fork, and they’d taste so good with the olive oil. Thanks for the lovely memories which your post has brought me.
How lovely to hear of the similarities with Portuguese cooking, Marina! I’ve never been to Portugal, but just got back Tuesday from my very first time in Spain, so I’m getting closer! :) There was SO much salt cod there.
Happy that you found the cioffe recipe. Let me know how they turn out and Merry Christmas!
Makes me wish I was Italian! ;)
You can be an honorary Italian, Cathy! ;)
Good gracious ! It brings me back to my childhood …. It seems that I shall make a major change of plans :-) Thank you for sharing all the beauties !
Oh that’s wonderful!! You are very welcome! Merry Christmas to you! :)