Our Favorite Paleo Christmas Recipes
Post by Lucha: World traveler, culinary student and Media Director at Paleo Flourish Magazine. Lucha will try most food but prefers Indian, Thai and Mexican food above all else. She is currently either cooking, eating, grocery shopping, or browsing recipes on Pinterest.
Even though my heritage is Jewish, my family always celebrated “secular” Christmas with our family friends. We never took up the Jewish tradition of movies and dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and for good reason: we didn’t want to miss out on the food! Not to mention another opportunity to join around the table and celebrate the holiday season with our community. For me, that’s what Christmas is all about.
But I’ll stop myself now from getting sentimental and introduce our awesome selection of Paleo Christmas recipes. No matter your background or how you celebrate the holidays, we can all agree that the end of the year is the perfect time for delicious and healthy food to be shared with those we love! So without further adieu, here are our favorite Paleo Christmas recipes.
Table of Contents – Paleo Christmas Recipes
- Paleo Christmas Eggnog Recipes
- Paleo Christmas Recipes – Starters and Appetizers
- Paleo Christmas Recipes – Sweet Potato Side Dishes
- Paleo Christmas Entrée/Main Recipes
- Paleo Christmas Pies and Cakes
- Paleo Christmas Cookie Recipes
- More Paleo Christmas Dessert Recipes
- What To Do With Christmas Leftovers?
If you click or tap any of the links above, it will instantly take you to the recipe below. Or download the entire list by clicking on the green button below.
Paleo Christmas Eggnog Recipes
I’ll admit I personally was never that into eggnog, but being such a key part of the Christmas tradition, here is a short list of a few eggnog recipes that keep it Paleo.
1. Carrot Nog
This wild and crazy eggnog recipe is “veganized and healthified” with the help of coconut milk, almond milk and … carrot juice?! Also slippery elm is an optional component that adds texture. (Photo courtesy of Lauren from Oatmeal with a Fork.)
2. Skinny Eggnog Paleo
Here’s a skinny eggnog recipe that is more traditional, with vanilla, grated nutmeg and a pinch of salt. It’s sweetened with coconut sugar and stevia extract. (Another great photo and recipe from Lauren at Oatmeal with a Fork!)
3. Dairy-Free Delicious Eggnog
Kelly’s eggnog recipe is slightly similar to the above eggnog, but also includes a great cinnamon spiced meringue recipe to be used as a topping!
4. Dairy-Free Egg Nog
The simplest eggnog recipe on the list, this one uses only a few ingredient, and nothing that is too hard to find.
Paleo Christmas Recipes – Starters and Side Dishes
1. Honey Masala Chai Roasted Nuts
These sweet and spicy nuts are a great snack for early-bird guests, or as a healthy snack to munch on while you’re cooking up a storm! (Joshua from Slim Palate gave us permission to reproduce his photo. Thanks!)
2. Paleo Happy Hour’s – Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Forget chestnuts roasting on an open fire; everything is better with bacon, no exceptions! These bacon-wrapped water chestnuts make great hor d’oeuvres and are a nice blend of salty and sweet. (Thanks to first time contributor Cassandra for allowing us to use the photo from her blog, Fed & Fit.)
3. Brussel Sprout Salad with Dijon Mustard Dressing Recipe
Brussel sprouts are a positive contribution of something ‘green’ for the Christmas table (admit it – besides the tree and cookie frosting, there’s not much more green of the natural variety at Christmas!) This is a simple salad with nuts, raisins and a tasty dressing.
4. Sweet and Savory Sausage Stuffed Squash
Another great fusion of sweet and savory flavors, this sausage stuffed acorn squash is a creative and original way to impress your guests alongside that fabulous ham and turkey!!
Paleo Christmas Recipes – Sweet Potato Side Dishes
1. Sweet Potato Gratin
With almond flour, coconut butter and coconut milk in the mix here, these delicious Sweet Potatoes include some of my favorite Paleo friendly foodstuffs. The thyme and sage add subtle herbal flavors to this creamy mix of yum. (Photo credit to Rach from Meatified. Thanks!)
2. Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Apple
These beautiful hasselbacks (check the photo if you don’t know what I’m talking about!) come alongside a yummy and Paleo-friendly apple chutney recipe that gets mixed into the slitted sweet potatoes and harmonizes perfectly with the help of cinnamon, walnuts and apple chunks. It’s a sweet side-dish with the best flavors of winter!
3. Fig, Cranberry and Walnut Sausage Stuffing
This bread-free stuffing gets it typical texture from the sausage but is also helped by the sweetness of fruits and the crunch of healthy walnuts.
Paleo Christmas Entrée/Main Recipes
1. Primal Baklava Salmon
I wasn’t aware until recently of the Feast of Seven Fishes, that is, the Italian-American tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve! Here is a delicious dish using salmon to honor that tradition (or start a new one!)
2. Chicken Shrimp Paella
Here’s another fishy dish (that also uses chicken) for Christmas Eve or the big day! It is a Spanish-inspired paella that isn’t shy to mix chicken, chorizo and shrimp all in one. A pinch of saffron is the special secret to the color and subtle flavor boost.
Paleo Christmas Pies and Cakes
1. Paleo Sweet Potato Meringue Pie
I originally thought this was savory but it turns out it’s just an awesome meringue-topped pie made with a sweet potato filling! The crust uses arrowroot and coconut flour and the filling is a yummy orange-and-spice-infused sweet potato mash. NOTE: There are some f-bombs in the instructions for this recipe.
2. Blueberry Cream Pie
This blueberry cream pie doesn’t leave room for confusion; it’s definitely sweet. Gelatin makes this filling firm and consistent. Just be careful when diluting the gelatin in hot water – it deactivates above 60ºC!
3. Clean Eating Christmas Cake Recipe
In Latin countries, bread with dried fruit baked into it is the classic Christmas treat, and here’s a great example. Spices and nuts also make this yummy bread pudding flavorful while olive oil balances out all the sweetness and leaves it moist.
4. Paleo Banana Upside Down Cake Recipe
This upside down cake (with its good looks hidden in the crust underneath and revealed upon flipping) is a beautiful banana and coconut-flavored piece of heaven!
5. Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Walnut Crumble Topping (with Butter)
A gorgeous walnut crumble tops this coffee cake, but note that the recipe includes butter (usually considered Paleo-friendly) and calls for sour cream or Greek yogurt (usually considered only Primal-friendly). Alternatively you can use coconut cream.
Paleo Christmas Cookie Recipes
These cookie recipes are suitable for holiday gift boxes and end-of-the-year parties that will be in order well before Santa arrives!
1. Paleo Gingerbread Cookies
Using almond flour and a yummy mix of winter spices, Mike makes this yummy Paleo gingerbread cookies egg-free! (Thanks to Mike for letting us use the photo from him blog, The Iron You.)
2. Christmas Cookie Cut Outs
These frosted cookies can be made it whatever shape you like. They use a Paleo-friendly sweetener that I had never heard of, but it’s a new option that I’m eager to discover.
3. Star Cookies
What beautiful star cookies! Simple and elegant, they would be the perfect topping on the tree if I weren’t planning to eat them all up.
More Paleo Christmas Dessert Recipes
1. Paleo Peppermint Bark
This surprisingly simple Christmas treat looks darn tasty!! Remember to heed the tip of using a double boiler to melt that chocolate as burnt chocolate is not so tasty. Alternatively you can microwave the chocolate to melt it but make sure to take it out to stir every 10-20 seconds until ready. (Thanks to Adriana for another great from her blog Living Healthy with Chocolate.)
2. Bring Us A Figgy Pudding (Paleo)
This recipe is on the elaborate side (compared to the first two in this section) but if your goal is to keep it Paleo-version classic, don’t skip out on this awesome Paleo figgy pudding recipe. You can sing about it afterwards.
3. Easy Raw Fudge – Vegan and Paleo
Shame on me for not realizing that fudge is a typical American Christmas treat! (It is, I looked it up.) Megan, The Detoxinista gives us this simple, low-ingredient count, no-cook recipe. Too easy!
4. Paleo Christmas Trifle Recipe
A trifle is a layered dessert cup that includes custard, fruit, sponge cake, and often jelly and whipped cream. Irena makes this fancy Paleo version, as well as providing some ideas for other trifle varieties. This makes me want to have another party just to celebrate this awesome dessert!
5. Egg Nog Gelatin Pudding Paleo Low-Carb,Gluten-Free and Grain-Free
How Christmasy, an eggnog pudding dessert! As I mentioned before though, be careful when you dilute your gelatin in hot water. It’s a necessary step but if the heat exceeds 60ºC the gelatin will deactivate and your pudding won’t solidify.
6. No Bake Mini Pumpkin Bites (Grain-Free and Dairy-Free)
These pumpkin treats are too yummy (and bite-sized) to stop at one! The crust is made from hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and dates while the filling uses pumpkin puree and a great mix of spices (cinnamon, clove, ginger powder and all spice). It’s all topped off with a decadent chocolate drizzle. The best part? No bake!
7. Christmas Pudding Recipe
If you’re looking for a traditional Christmas pudding recipe complete with brandy, then look no further!
8. Chocolate Orange Truffles
These truffles are easy to make to in advance – bring them out as a snack for guests or pack them into a box and give as a homemade gift.
9. Gingerbread Recipe
Christmas wouldn’t be complete without some gingerbread, so check out this recipe for a deliciously Paleo dessert.
What To Do With Christmas Leftovers?
Monica May offers some ideas here including a protein pancake and a smoothie.
Image: Copyright (c) Alan Cleaver cc