Seasonal December Dinner Menu Ideas to use as inspiration and a starting point for your own family menus. Simple, healthy, from-scratch meals include side dishes as well as a couple dessert ideas for the month.
Not sure why to menu plan? Check out all the great reasons here!
December meals are all about balancing holiday treats and traditional dinners with easy and good-for-you meals - at least that's how it is for our family.
Balancing a ham and cheesy scalloped potatoes holiday meal with curried turkey soup or make-your-own tacos on other nights.
When there are cookies and treats around, it's nice to make a chicken and vegetable soup to balance it all out, don't you think?
And whether you have snow or not, it's still a time of baking and simmering yummy things to eat around our tables, enjoying our warm homes and families.
Cooking From the Garden in Winter
Most of the garden is done except for late-fall lettuce, chard, kale, and a few cabbages that made it through the cold.
But the freezer and canning shelf keeps giving us garden goodness from the produce put up through the summer and fall.
Pulling bags of peppers, corn, and green beans from the freezer to use in a soup with nourishing bone broth for my family on a dark winter's night is one of the reasons I grow and preserve food.
What about you - do you try to balance the meals in December, too?
I hope you find inspiration from these dinner menu ideas for your families!
December Dinner Menu Ideas
Week 1
Fast & Easy Curried Red Lentil Soup, green salad with homemade vinaigrette, Easy Artisan Bread
Thai Inspired Turkey Curry (using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving)
Turkey-Spinach Frittata with Feta & Tomatoes (replacing the chicken with leftover turkey), cut veggies and Best Ranch Dip
Stir Fry with Pork & Vegetables on rice noodles
Mediterranean Fish Bake, green salad with ranch dressing
Week 2
Roasted ham, Slow Cooker Cheesy-Garlic Scalloped Potatoes, Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower, green salad with Homemade Vinaigrette
Ham & Bean Soup (using leftover ham and ham bone), Quick & Tender Breadsticks (save half for Thursday's dinner)
Rotisserie or Slow Cooker Spiced Whole Chicken, Simple Corn, Pepper & Onion Saute (using frozen corn & peppers), Baked Tasty Rice
Curried Chicken & Rice Soup (use leftover chicken), green salad, leftover breadsticks
Sausage, Bean & Greens Gratin, Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese salad
Week 3
Slow Cooker Sausage-Bean Soup with Spinach & Tomatoes, Easy Sourdough Artisan Bread
Greek Style Shrimp & Orzo, green salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Soft tacos or taco salad
Cajun Beef on Spiced Potatoes, Orange-Almond Spinach Salad
Sauteed pork chops & onions, Baked Grated Garlic Carrots, oven roasted potatoes
Week 4 - Christmas Week
Christmas Morning Brunch: Make-Ahead Monkey Bread (using real ingredients), Make-Ahead Peppered Maple-Mustard Bacon, Delicious Overnight Scrambled Eggs with Spinach, fruit (NOTE: Grab a printable menu here for your holiday morning!)
Roast Turkey, Sausage-Cranberry Stuffing (best!), Garlic-Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Garlic Green Beans
Individual Chicken-Tomato Shepherd's Pies (use leftover turkey & mashed potatoes), salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Traditional Turkey Noodle Soup, Easy Artisan Bread
Pasta with Roasted Tomato Sauce, green salad with homemade vinaigrette
Monthly Dessert Ideas
More than 15 Christmas Cookies and Candies to choose from this month!
My "must-makes" are the Moose Munch caramel corn, quadruple chocolate brownies, peanut butter balls, cream cheese mints (or the butter mints, depending), and dark chocolate coconut clusters.
What about Saturdays & Sundays?
Our family’s menu always has a couple of standards for the weekends - it's one of the ways I make menu planning easier!
Saturdays alternate between burgers on homemade buns (or pigs-in-blankets) & fries and homemade pizza.
Sundays are mostly on-your-own leftovers (if nothing is available, a quick pasta is made using our frozen roasted tomato sauce or pesto).
If you need more ideas for menu planning, you can always check out these articles in our archives:
- Menu Planning 101 & 5 steps to frugal menu planning
- Seasonal cooking through the year
- Monthly dinner menus
