Best Dishes for an Easy Christmas Buffet

Have something hearty and delicious easily prepped and ready to go when the first carload of visitors arrives. Double or triple ingredients for a quick, self-serve starter.

Save time making drinks for your guests by offering classic punch of cranberries, citrus, vodka and bubbly prosecco comes complete with a beautiful frozen holiday wreath floating elegantly in the bowl.

Make this salty-sweet treat ahead of time and place overflowing bowls around your holiday home to give the gift of a by-the-handful snack to guests in every room.

A tasty and unexpected appetizer, this tart can be made in advance and set out buffet style for your family to slice up and enjoy over and over.

Is it a beautiful wreath or a delightful cheese dish? Spoiler alert: it’s both! Part table decor and part appetizer, this colourful Christmas-themed starter is 100 per cent festive and sure to disappear just as soon as someone has the heart to carve into it.

Set out as a main dish or appetizer, this recipe yields 12 servings of incredible Atlantic salmon seasoned to perfection and infused with fennel, spinach and a lemon-pepper pop.

Tasty and traditional, Alton Brown’s recipe for turkey and stuffing hits all the right holiday high notes.

Complete with thick and smooth gravy, this pot roast dish might just become your new oven-free favourite.

These mashed potatoes are anything but bland, due to the addition of sharp Cheddar and fiery horseradish. Plus, this recipe can be prepped ahead of time and held at the perfect temperature in the slow cooker itself — no need to reheat.

Add a sweet surprise to the Christmas buffet by expanding your culinary repertoire. Sweet potatoes mashed with banana and topped with pecans create a taste and texture treat for all to discover.

Whether you call it dressing or stuffing, everyone looks forward to this traditional side all year long. Put a Southern spin on an old favourite with this cornbread-based dressing that doesn’t have to cook in the bird.

Ready in just 30 minutes, this cranberry sauce adds an unusual touch by blending orange juice, brown sugar and whiskey. It’s sweet enough to have the family looking forward to Christmas at your house next year. Sorry!

Add a beautiful pop of bacon-topped green to your buffet feast. This simple recipe for Brussels sprouts is as easy as it is delicious.

Leave regular old boiled carrots in Christmas past. Look to the future with sweet, soft carrots soaked in buttery whisky glaze.

Absolutely decadent and delicious it’s hard to know if the best thing about this pie is the taste or that it can be made days in advance of your holiday feast. Set out with a variety of Christmas desserts and let masses fight over who gets a slice.

A fun and colourful dessert the whole family will love, this giant party-worthy doughnut is festive, sweet and mixes vanilla cake and Canadian maple syrup.