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76days till Christmas Eve

Christmas menu 2026, ready to cook

From appetizers to the Yule log, 14 ready-made holiday menus, with quantities for your whole crew, the groceries and the game plan. You just enjoy!

AI-generated visuals: a serving idea, not a photo of the actual dish.

Popotam's tips

So you spend Christmas Eve at the table, not stuck at the stove.

  1. 10 days outReserve your birdCapon, turkey, foie gras: at the butcher's or the poultry shop, the best ones go fast.
  2. 3 days outThe groceries that keepPantry stuff, cans, drinks. The supermarket on the 23rd? No thanks.
  3. The day beforeGet aheadYule log, soup, stuffing, choux pastry: all of it gets made the day before. On the big day, you can breathe.
  4. D-DayThe capon takes its timeAbout 3 hours in the oven at 180 °C for a nice capon: it goes in mid-afternoon.
  5. 30 min
    before    The foie gras comes out of the fridgeHalf an hour before serving, no more: it slices clean and melts in your mouth.
  6. Dinner's on!Only one oven? Don't panicIf two dishes need it at the same time, each menu gives you a heads-up and tells you which one to cook first.

How much per person?

Quantities for one adult. A kid counts as half a serving.

For appetizers3 sortesof bites, otherwise nobody's hungry for the starter
Smoked salmon30 gon toasts with the appetizers, with dill cream
Foie gras50 gas a starter, with toasted gingerbread
Scallops3 noixas a starter, on a parsnip purée
Capon400 g crubones included: a 3 kg capon for 7 people
Turkey breast180 gstuffed with chestnuts, more sensible than a capon for four
Cheese90 gin total, across 3 to 5 cheeses from different families
And the rest of the winter?

Popotam also handles your everyday meals

Before the holidays, between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and to use up the leftovers: Popotam puts your week together based on your tastes, your time and your budget, with the grocery list sorted by aisle. Free, no account.

Create my meal plan

Your Christmas Eve questions

There'll be 7 of us, does that work?

Of course! Every menu adjusts from 2 to 12 guests, and all the quantities follow, right down to the grocery list. A kid counts as half a serving: with 7 at the table including 2 little ones, you're cooking for 6.

Set up the classic menu for your table
How much time in the kitchen?

For the classic menu, plan on about 2 hr before the party and 2 hr 15 min on the big day. The most laid-back one is the no-oven Christmas menu: barely 1 hr 30 min on the big day, and everything else gets done ahead.

See the most laid-back menu
What can you make the day before?

Way more than you'd think: the yule log, the soup, the stew, the stuffing for the bird, the chocolate mousse. The salmon gravlax even gets started two days ahead. Each menu's game plan sorts all of it for you, day by day.

See a menu that's mostly made the day before
How do you avoid the grocery rush on the 23rd?

By shopping in two rounds: pantry staples, canned goods and drinks right now, and only the fresh stuff (fish, meat, cheese, herbs) the day before. Each menu's grocery list is already split that way.

See a grocery list split in two
A vegetarian guest at the table, what do you do?

No need to make two meals! Keep the starter, the cheese and the dessert, and serve everyone a meat-free holiday main, like the mushroom and chestnut Wellington: nobody feels like they're eating on the side. And if the whole table is on board, there's a full vegetarian menu.

See the vegetarian menu
And with kids?

They count as half a serving in the quantities, and the menu with kids puts dishes on the table they'll actually eat: turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts, porcini sauce, then chocolate mousse with candied clementines.

See the menu with kids
I only have one oven, will that work?

Yes, as long as you're organized. Each menu spots when two dishes need the oven at the same time at different temperatures, and tells you which one to cook first. And if the oven is really a problem, there's a full holiday menu with no oven at all.

See the no-oven menu
A great Christmas dinner on a budget, is that possible?

Yes! Our smartest menu comes to about $9.64 per person, from appetizers to dessert (for the main: mushroom and Parmesan risotto). Nobody will notice the difference, except your wallet.

See the budget menu
And for the 26th or the 31st?

We thought of everyone: a holiday lunch for December 26, the way they do it in Lorraine and Alsace, and a sparkling menu to close out the year on the 31st.

See the December 26 menu
And after the holidays?

Popotam keeps making your life easier! It plans your meals for the week and puts together your grocery list sorted by aisle, for free, with no account and no ads.

Discover Popotam
Roast capon with chestnuts and baby potatoes
So, are we doing Christmas Eve?

Your menu for 6 is waiting

Classic Christmas menu, with its quantities, its grocery list in two rounds and its game plan, for about $26.33 per person.

See my menu for 6Pick another menu