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19 Quick Holiday Recipes Any Man Can Cook

Harry Gardner

Don’t know your way around the kitchen? Try these easy-to-follow holiday recipes to create the perfect feast this coming holiday season.

19 Easy-to-Cook Holiday Recipes Any Guy Can Follow

 

1. Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry Pockets

Create the perfect fun-sized cheese and spinach puff pastry tarts in under an hour. Every bite is an explosion of soft pastry, spinach, cheese, and onions. It’s the perfect appetizer to eat while you and your friends are waiting for the main event. Also, these tarts go well with wine, so make to have a bottle at the ready.

2. Italian-Style Holiday Salad

Are you looking for healthy holiday recipes that don’t suck? They try out this Italian-style holiday salad. This delicious holiday meal will definitely brighten up your dinner table with the Christmas colors red, green, and yellow. It’s the perfect palate-cleansing dish you need amidst all the booze and rich proteins you’re consuming. Plus, it only takes 15 minutes to whip up a bowl.

3. Hummus Dip

Hummus Dip | Quick Holiday Recipes Any Man Can Cook

Don’t limit your guests to the same jellied cranberries and gravy every holiday season. This year, opt to mix in some delicious hummus into the menu. It’s a Middle Eastern-inspired dip that packs a lot of flavor. Hummus goes well on meat, bread, salads, eggs, and pita chips. You can basically use it in place of the more common mayonnaise and mustard.

4. Four Cheese Baked Penne

Bless the dinner table with a large serving of some flavorful four cheese baked penne. It’s an overload of tomatoes, herbs, spices, and of course, cheese. This baked penne goes well with turkey, bread, meat, and other holiday fares. Plus, despite its rich and complex flavors, it’s fairly easy to cook up a batch and impress your friends.

5. Miso-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Add a little Asian twist to your favorite holiday side. Miso-roasted Brussels sprouts are one of the best quick holiday recipes to pair with turkey and meat. They’re light yet not lacking in flavor, which helps bring out the meat and turkey’s richness even more. Plus, it only takes around 30 minutes and your oven does most of the work.

6. Crostini With Spiced Chevre

Liven up your party by passing around a tray of crostini with spiced chevre. It’s a delicious dish of hot, melted cheese mixed with some spices, then placed on top of some oven-baked bread. It may be hard to pronounce, but it’s very easy to prepare. You can create a batch in just half an hour.

Tip: Its delicious, salty flavor goes well with beer. Make sure to stock up on all kinds of beer for your holiday party. Make sure to know what your friends like to drink. Don’t limit them to a single brand.

7. Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Nobody wants to eat dry, bland mashed potatoes. This recipe for garlic mashed potatoes has a smooth, rich, nutty flavor that stems from the dish’s slow-cooked garlic and butter-soaked potatoes. With this dish, you and your friends might not even have to douse it with gravy.

8. Herb-Roasted Turkey

The holiday season just isn’t complete without a plate of perfectly-carved turkey. However, with all the prepping it takes to cook just one turkey, any man can easily lose interest in cooking this bird. In fact, some recipes take up more than 24 hours of preparation.

Luckily, this herb-roasted turkey is different. It requires almost no preparation and you let the oven do more than 90% of the cooking. All you really have to do is season the bird, bake it, and then carve it. Any man can easily pull it off in a few hours. You should definitely include this in your list of possible easy holiday recipes to try.

9. Roast Beef With Madeira Sauce

Whether you want to take a pass on the turkey this year or just want to spice your menu up, this roast beef with Madeira sauce is perfect for you. It’s a delicious dish that offers an irresistible combination of thick, juicy meat drenched in sweet, flavorful Madeira sauce.

Plus, since this dish is fairly quick and easy to prepare, it’s the perfect addition or substitute to the traditional holiday turkey. You wouldn’t want to spend any more time cooking than you already have, would you?

10. Mini Tourtieres With Chunky Homemade Ketchup

This French-Canadian mini-meat pie recipe is a sure hit at any party. Each mini-pie is brimming with juicy chunks of meat. A single mini-pie is more than enough to satiate your craving for protein. Plus, it’s very easy to prepare. In fact, it only takes around half an hour to bake the pies.

Tip: If you want to drastically reduce the cooking time, ditch the homemade ketchup. The recipe shows a prep and cook time of two and a half hours. But you’re actually spending two hours of that making the ketchup.

11. Leftover Ham Salad With Potato Crunch

The holiday season doesn’t end once the parties are over. More often than not, you’ll have a bunch of friends who stayed the night. Plus, chances are, everyone’s too tired (or hungover) to do anything, including cooking.

But don’t fret. You can easily whip up a delicious pork dish in just half an hour. All you really need for this is some left over ham and chips. Bake them together to create one greasy, cheesy, meaty, hangover-curing post-holiday meal.

12. Hors d’Oeuvres

It may be impossible to pronounce, but it’s very easy to make. Impress your guests by coming up with this French-inspired, five-star appetizer you can do in 20 minutes: Hors d’Oeuvres. They’re basically bread marinated in beets then topped with yogurt. Instead of the traditional chicken and tuna sandwiches, this is definitely a huge step up.

13. Sausage Stuffing

Are you looking for easy holiday side dish recipes? Then this one’s for you! No holiday dinner party is complete without a delicious batch of sausage stuffing. It’s a heavenly combination of herbs, bread, vegetables, and Italian sausages. This sausage stuffing is the perfect side dish for your turkey dinner.

Tip: Prepare this dish ahead of time and throw it in the oven before the dinner party.

14. Special Holiday Gravy

Ditch the bland store-bought turkey sauce and try this special holiday gravy instead. It’s a versatile dressing made of delicious fat drippings and broth. This gravy is the perfect dip to use on your turkey and mashed potatoes.

Note: The recipe yields around two cups. Add more ingredients if you want to serve more.

15. Garlic and Bacon Green Beans

Swap out your usual string bean dish for this delicious garlic and bacon green beans recipe. It’s a tasty combination of crunchy beans and juicy bacon fried in olive oil. This goes well with your favorite easy holiday recipes such as turkey, chicken, and duck.

16. Rosemary Monkey Bread Stuffing

Don’t limit your guests to only one choice of stuffing. Add a batch of delicious rosemary monkey bread stuffing into your holiday dinner party for a wider range of choices. It’s a flavorful stuffing dish with delicious, fragrant herbs. Pair this dish with some jellied cranberries for a mouthful of exploding flavors in every bite.

17. Christmas Tree Salad

No dinner is complete without some delicious, healthy holiday recipes. Amidst the fat and grease, we need to load up on our greens as well. This hearty salad resembles a Christmas tree. The colors red, green, and yellow will fill your plate.

18. Pecan Pie

When it comes to holiday dessert recipes, nothing beats the classic pecan pie. Every slice contains an array of different flavors. Its crunchy crust containing a warm, soft filling is simply irresistible. In fact, pumpkin and apple pies can only hope to trump this all-time favorite.

19. Pears With Blue Cheese and Prosciutto

The best part about this pears with blue cheese and prosciutto recipe is that it’s probably easier than most conventional appetizers. For example, it may take you 20 minutes to throw together a bunch of sandwiches. Apart from being unappealing, it already took almost half an hour to make. On the other hand, these bite-sized snacks only take 10 minutes to prepare. Plus, the combination of sweet and salty flavors will satiate your guests’ palate without ruining their appetite.

 

For easy holiday dessert recipes, check out this video by Tasty:

These are just some of the best holiday recipes for you to follow. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and explore your options. Feel free to experiment with interesting new spices and ingredients to make your usual dishes more exciting. But amidst the preparation, don’t forget to enjoy the meaningful moment you’re sharing with your loved ones. Remember: the keys to a wonderful holiday dinner party are tasty food, an awesome holiday playlist, and of course, being with your favorite people in the world. And if all else fails, well, there’s always booze. 

What are your favorite holiday recipes? Share them with us in the comments section down below!

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