German Christmas Dinner Recipes (2024)

These delicious holiday recipes represent typical German Christmas food. Treat guests to a traditional German Christmas dinner with classic dishes like roasted goose legs, braised red cabbage. and dumplings, and don't forget the mulled wine and platter of gorgeous, festive cookies.

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Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Bacon

This sweet-and-sour, traditional Bavarian braised red cabbage is always served with goose, duck, or pork. To make it, the cabbage is gently braised with tart apple, smoky bacon, orange zest, and spices.

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Pretzel and Mustard Dumplings

Dumplings made of day-old pretzels and bound with egg are common in Germany; they're a delicious way to use up stale bread and are great to serve alongside roasted goose to soak up extra gravy on the plate. The mustard is not traditional, but it pairs excellently with the pretzel rolls used here. If you can't source pretzel rolls, any plain bread rolls will do.

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Mulled Wine

This drink from Walkers restaurant in Cape Neddick, Maine, is gently infused with nutmeg, vanilla, and star anise, then lightly sweetened with honey and maple syrup. The result is a spiced, not-too-sweet mulled wine you’ll want to sip all winter long.

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Roasted Goose Legs with Sour Cherry Glaze and Gravy

Food & Wine editor Melanie Hansche reimagines the traditions of her hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany, in this recipe for sour cherry–glazed roasted goose legs. In Bavaria, it's not Christmas without roast goose, but roasting individual legs makes it a more manageable endeavor.

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Brown Butter-Cardamom Spitzbuben

German for "cheeky boys," these Bavarian cookies will be the star of your holiday cookie platter. Brown butter and cardamom make this simple cookie into a fragrant treat. Take the time to freshly grind the cardamom — its robust, citrusy flavor is worth it. You can use round or fluted cutters to cut out the cookies with any shape for the center.

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Rustic Apple Tart

This is the flakiest, easiest, best pie crust we've ever tested. Master chef Jacques Pépin has created a virtually fail-safe recipe that's completely hassle-free: You don't even need to chill the dough before you roll it out.

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Fresh Cheese Spaetzle

Former F&W senior test kitchen editor Grace Parisi had to perfect her spaetzle-making skills to prevent her German au pair from becoming homesick. Germans typically use quark when making spaetzle, but Parisi's au pair told her that the type available in the United States isn't curdy enough. So Parisi uses small-curd cottage cheese in the spaetzle and makes the chive sauce with tangy quark.

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Warm Potato Salad with Pancetta and Brown Butter Dressing

Here, brown butter is whisked into a tangy, mustardy dressing for creamy fingerling potatoes. The potato salad can be served warm or at room temperature.

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Lentil Soup with Smoked Sausage

For a special version of this hearty stew, use imported Vertes du Puy lentils, which have a rich, earthy flavor. A firm whole-grain bread would be ideal alongside.

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Sautéed German Sausages with Bacon and Apple Sauerkraut

In Germany's Pfalz region, cooks braise sauerkraut with onions, apples, seasonings, a touch of sugar, and a little of the region's Riesling wine, creating an ideal accompaniment for juicy weisswurst or bratwurst.

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Hausfreunde

This classic German recipe calls for dipping buttery almond-apricot sandwich cookies in bittersweet chocolate. The phenomenal results are well worth the effort.

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Haselnussmakronen (Raspberry-Hazelnut Macaroons)

These German raspberry-hazelnut macaroons require just five ingredients and are extremely no-fuss. Says Berlin-based blogger Luisa Weiss, "You just throw the dough together, heat up some jam, and you're almost there."

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Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen are traditional, delicately spiced German molasses-ginger cookies. This recipe from mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler was passed down from his great-grandmother to his grandmother to his uncle.

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Classic Cheese Fondue

Chef Ryan Hardy makes his luxurious fondue with two kinds of Swiss cheese (Emmentaler and Gruyère) and two kinds of spirits (white wine and Kirsch), all traditional ingredients. Some of the dipping items are also classic, like cubes of crusty bread and pickles.

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Basler Leckerli

These spiced cookie bars are an essential part of a German Christmas. They're an excellent make-ahead sweet; in fact, they get more tender and flavorful the longer they sit.

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FAQs

What is served at a traditional German Christmas dinner? ›

Treat guests to a traditional German Christmas dinner with classic dishes like roasted goose legs, braised red cabbage. and dumplings, and don't forget the mulled wine and platter of gorgeous, festive cookies.

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What is the most popular meal to have on Christmas Eve in Germany? ›

Potato salad with sausages

This is indeed one of the number one favourite meals for a German Christmas Eve. One-third of the population serves potato salad with sausages. This perfectly demonstrates the saying that less, in this case, really is more.

What is a typical German dinner? ›

In Germany, the evening meal is called Abendessen or Abendbrot – the latter is actually more like a supper, and literally translates to 'evening bread'. Following a hearty lunch, Germans traditionally enjoy a lighter dinner, with breads, hams, sausages, cheeses, and pickles all being very common.

What is the most popular Christmas tradition in Germany? ›

In Germany, people use an Adventskranz, or advent wreath, with four candles on it to celebrate the four advents or the four Sundays before Christmas. On each of the four Sundays preceding Christmas Eve, a candle is lit. After lightning the first candle, the Christmas season officially begins.

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What is the Christmas greeting in Germany? ›

Frohe Weihnachten! Merry Christmas

What do Germans drink for Christmas? ›

Mulled wine is the main drink at the markets. It's so popular that many of the markets have special decorated cups for the wine. You pay a deposit for them and get it back when you return them or just keep the cup as a souvenir of your visit.

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What is Santa called in Germany? ›

The term Weihnachtsmann is a very generic German term for Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus.

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What day is Christmas dinner in Germany? ›

The Christmas meal in Germany is a very important part of the Christmas celebration. This is usually an extravagant, multi-course meal enjoyed on December 25th. On Christmas Eve, December 24th, a simpler meal is served. Advent is a very important part of the Christmas season in Germany.

What dessert do Germans eat at Christmas? ›

Lebkuchen. This traditional German cookie is one of the most popular around Christmastime because it has those classic gingerbread flavors. The soft, chewy, and lightly glazed treats are a must-have for your cookie plate. Get the Lebkuchen recipe at A Beautiful Plate.

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What sweets do Germans eat? ›

German desserts

Name	Description
Carrot cake
Cheesecake	Traditionally made using a German dairy called Quark instead of cream cheese.
Dampfnudel	Typical of southern Germany, a sort of white bread roll or sweet roll eaten as a meal or as a dessert
Dominostein	A sweet primarily sold during Christmas season in Germany and Austria.

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What biscuits are popular in Germany at Christmas? ›

Lebkuchen are traditional German Christmas cookies. Whether you make traditional circles or cut into stars and hearts, friends and family will love these Christmas biscuits. You can decorate them in so many ways as well.

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What are the top 3 German dishes? ›

Top 5 foods in Germany

Schnitzel. You can find these everywhere in Germany from classy restaurants to street food vendors. ...
Spätzle. For a country that is big on their meat, one of the most famous German dishes is Spätzle; which is completely vegetarian. ...
Bratwurst. ...
Stollen. ...
Kartoffelpuffer.

Oct 17, 2016

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What do Germans eat on Christmas? ›

At the centre of a German Christmas evening spread you'll usually find a roasted goose, turkey or duck, traditionally served with lovely plump bread dumplings – the classic round ones, or one great big festive loaf-shaped one, known as a Serviettenknödel (pictured sliced, above), plus braised red cabbage or stewed kale ...

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What is Germany's national dish? ›

Sauerbraten (pronounced [ˈzaʊ̯ɐˌbʁaːtn̩]) is a traditional German roast of heavily marinated meat. It is regarded as a national dish of Germany, and is frequently served in German-style restaurants internationally.

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What do you eat on Krampusnacht? ›

Krampusnacht

Authentic German Austrian Spaetzle with Caramelized Onions. Authentic German Austrian Spaetzle with Caramelized Onions. ...
Authentic German Rouladen Recipe. Authentic German Rouladen Recipe. ...
20 Best German Side Dishes (+ Easy Recipes) ...
Danielle Fernandez. ...
German Schnitzel (Schweineschnitzel)

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Why do Germans eat goose at Christmas? ›

One legend has it that Queen Elizabeth I was gobbling up goose when she heard the British had defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, ordering all of England to mimic her dinner at Christmas. The tradition then presumably spread from England to Germany, where it stuck.

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What is a popular Christmas decoration in Germany? ›

Christmas angel

Step into any German house at Christmastime and you'll find an abundance of Christmas angels (Weihnachtsengel) around the home. One of the most popular decorations, the angels are either put on the tree or placed on sideboards.

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