👉 Turkey and pudding in England, twelve meatless dishes in Poland, fried chicken in Japan, prawns on the beach in Australia – Christmas tastes completely different around the world. Here is what people eat for Christmas in 15 countries, the stories behind the dishes, and a few festive recipes you can make at home this year.
🇬🇪 1. Georgia
Georgia celebrates Orthodox Christmas on 7 January. On Christmas Day, people walk through the streets in the joyful Alilo procession, singing carols and collecting sweets for charity. The biggest feast, though, is on New Year’s Eve: tables are covered with chicken satsivi in walnut sauce, gozinaki (honey and walnut candy, a must for the new year), churchkhela, pkhali and khachapuri.
🇵🇱 2. Poland – Wigilia
On Christmas Eve, Polish families wait for the first star to appear before sitting down to Wigilia, a meatless supper of traditionally twelve dishes – one for each apostle. Expect clear red barszcz with tiny mushroom dumplings (uszka), pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms, fried carp, herring and poppy seed cake. An extra place is always set for an unexpected guest.
👉 Try similar dumplings: varenyky with potato and onion.
🇺🇦 3. Ukraine – Sviata Vecheria
Ukraine’s Holy Supper also has twelve meatless dishes. The most important is kutia – wheat berries mixed with poppy seeds, honey and nuts – which is served first. Since 2023, Ukraine officially celebrates Christmas on 25 December, though many families still keep the January traditions too.
🇩🇪 4. Germany
Christmas markets fill German towns with the smell of Glühwein (mulled wine), roasted almonds and gingerbread (Lebkuchen). The famous Stollen – a buttery fruit bread covered in powdered sugar – comes from Dresden. On Christmas Day, many families roast a goose with red cabbage and potato dumplings.
🇮🇹 5. Italy
Italy has two rival Christmas cakes: tall, fruity panettone from Milan and star-shaped, golden pandoro from Verona. In southern Italy, Christmas Eve is often a seafood dinner – Italian-Americans call it the “Feast of the Seven Fishes”.
🇬🇧 6. United Kingdom
The British Christmas dinner is roast turkey with roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, “pigs in blankets” (little sausages wrapped in bacon), stuffing and gravy. Dessert is a dark, rich Christmas pudding, often set on fire with brandy, and little mince pies.
👉 Make it yourself: classic Christmas pudding.
🇫🇷 7. France – Le Réveillon
The French feast late on Christmas Eve with oysters, smoked salmon, foie gras and roast poultry. Dessert is a bûche de Noël, a chocolate sponge roll decorated like a log. In Provence, tradition calls for thirteen desserts, including nuts, dried fruits, nougat and fougasse bread.
🇪🇸 8. Spain
Spanish families gather for a big Nochebuena dinner on 24 December – often seafood, roast lamb or suckling pig – followed by turrón (almond nougat) and marzipan. The season ends on 6 January with roscón de reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread with a small figure hidden inside.
🇵🇹 9. Portugal – Consoada
On Christmas Eve, the Portuguese eat bacalhau (salt cod) boiled with potatoes, cabbage and eggs, drizzled with olive oil and garlic. The festive cake is bolo rei, a crown-shaped bread full of candied fruit.
👉 Another salt cod classic: bacalhau à Brás.
🇸🇪 10. Sweden and Scandinavia
The Swedish julbord is a Christmas buffet of pickled herring, gravlax, meatballs, ham, and Janssons frestelse (a creamy potato and anchovy bake). On 13 December, St. Lucia’s Day, everyone eats golden saffron buns called lussekatter. In Denmark, December means warm, round æbleskiver pancake balls with jam and powdered sugar.
🇲🇽 11. Mexico
From 16 to 24 December, Mexicans celebrate las posadas with processions, piñatas and food. Christmas Eve brings tamales, bacalao a la vizcaína (salt cod with tomatoes and olives), romeritos in mole, and hot ponche navideño, a fruit punch with cinnamon and sugar cane.
🇵🇭 12. Philippines
The Philippines has one of the longest Christmas seasons in the world. After midnight mass on Christmas Eve comes Noche Buena: roast pig (lechón), glazed ham, a ball of Edam cheese (queso de bola) and rice cakes like bibingka and purple puto bumbong.
🇯🇵 13. Japan
Christmas is not a traditional holiday in Japan, but it has its own fun customs: fried chicken (thanks to a famous 1970s ad campaign, millions of families order KFC on Christmas Eve) and a white strawberry shortcake, the classic Japanese Christmas cake.
🇦🇺 14. Australia
In Australia, Christmas falls in summer. Many families eat outdoors: cold prawns, oysters, glazed ham, salads and barbecue, with pavlova – a meringue cake topped with cream and fresh fruit – for dessert.
🇺🇸 15. United States
American Christmas dinners vary by family and region – glazed ham, roast turkey or prime rib, mashed potatoes and pies are common. December is also the season of Christmas cookie baking, gingerbread houses and eggnog.
🎄 What Christmas Foods Have in Common
- Sweet breads – stollen, panettone, bolo rei, roscón and saffron buns all use rich dough with butter and dried fruit.
- Fish on Christmas Eve – in Catholic and Orthodox traditions, the night before Christmas is often meatless, so carp, cod and seafood take centre stage.
- Nuts and honey – from Georgian gozinaki to Spanish turrón and Ukrainian kutia, they symbolise wealth and a sweet new year.
- Sharing – an empty chair in Poland, food for neighbours in Mexico: Christmas food is always meant for many.
❓ FAQ
What is the most popular Christmas food in the world?
Roast meat (turkey, ham, goose or pork) is the most common main dish in Europe and the Americas, while sweet breads and cookies appear almost everywhere.
Why do some countries eat fish on Christmas Eve?
Christmas Eve was traditionally a fasting day without meat in many Christian traditions, so fish dishes became the festive centrepiece.
When do Georgians celebrate Christmas?
On 7 January, following the Orthodox calendar. The big family feast in Georgia is on New Year’s Eve.
Why do Japanese people eat KFC on Christmas?
A successful marketing campaign in the 1970s made fried chicken a Christmas Eve tradition in Japan.
👉 More holiday reading: Halloween and Day of the Dead foods around the world and the Georgian supra feast.
