Food Holidays & Occasions Christmas How to Host a Traditional German Christmas Dinner By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 21, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee These delicious holiday recipes represent typical German Christmas food. Treat guests to a traditional German Christmas dinner with classic dishes like roasted goose legs, braised red cabbage. and dumplings, and don't forget the mulled wine and platter of gorgeous, festive cookies. 01 of 15 Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Bacon Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee This sweet-and-sour, traditional Bavarian braised red cabbage is always served with goose, duck, or pork. To make it, the cabbage is gently braised with tart apple, smoky bacon, orange zest, and spices. Get the Recipe 02 of 15 Pretzel and Mustard Dumplings © Greg DuPree Dumplings made of day-old pretzels and bound with egg are common in Germany; they're a delicious way to use up stale bread and are great to serve alongside roasted goose to soak up extra gravy on the plate. The mustard is not traditional, but it pairs excellently with the pretzel rolls used here. If you can't source pretzel rolls, any plain bread rolls will do. Get the Recipe 03 of 15 Mulled Wine Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele This drink from Walkers restaurant in Cape Neddick, Maine, is gently infused with nutmeg, vanilla, and star anise, then lightly sweetened with honey and maple syrup. The result is a spiced, not-too-sweet mulled wine you’ll want to sip all winter long. Get the Recipe 04 of 15 Roasted Goose Legs with Sour Cherry Glaze and Gravy Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee Food & Wine editor Melanie Hansche reimagines the traditions of her hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany, in this recipe for sour cherry–glazed roasted goose legs. In Bavaria, it's not Christmas without roast goose, but roasting individual legs makes it a more manageable endeavor. Get the Recipe 05 of 15 Brown Butter-Cardamom Spitzbuben Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Christine Keely German for "cheeky boys," these Bavarian cookies will be the star of your holiday cookie platter. Brown butter and cardamom make this simple cookie into a fragrant treat. Take the time to freshly grind the cardamom — its robust, citrusy flavor is worth it. You can use round or fluted cutters to cut out the cookies with any shape for the center. Get the Recipe 06 of 15 Rustic Apple Tart Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Shell Royster This is the flakiest, easiest, best pie crust we've ever tested. Master chef Jacques Pépin has created a virtually fail-safe recipe that's completely hassle-free: You don't even need to chill the dough before you roll it out. Get the Recipe 07 of 15 Fresh Cheese Spaetzle © Lucy Schaeffer Former F&W senior test kitchen editor Grace Parisi had to perfect her spaetzle-making skills to prevent her German au pair from becoming homesick. Germans typically use quark when making spaetzle, but Parisi's au pair told her that the type available in the United States isn't curdy enough. So Parisi uses small-curd cottage cheese in the spaetzle and makes the chive sauce with tangy quark. Get the Recipe 08 of 15 Warm Potato Salad with Pancetta and Brown Butter Dressing © Tina Rupp Here, brown butter is whisked into a tangy, mustardy dressing for creamy fingerling potatoes. The potato salad can be served warm or at room temperature. Get the Recipe 09 of 15 Lentil Soup with Smoked Sausage © Elizabeth Drago, Food Stylist Vivian Lui For a special version of this hearty stew, use imported Vertes du Puy lentils, which have a rich, earthy flavor. A firm whole-grain bread would be ideal alongside. Get the Recipe 10 of 15 Sautéed German Sausages with Bacon and Apple Sauerkraut © QUENTIN BACON In Germany's Pfalz region, cooks braise sauerkraut with onions, apples, seasonings, a touch of sugar, and a little of the region's Riesling wine, creating an ideal accompaniment for juicy weisswurst or bratwurst. Get the Recipe 11 of 15 Hausfreunde © Nicole Franzen This classic German recipe calls for dipping buttery almond-apricot sandwich cookies in bittersweet chocolate. The phenomenal results are well worth the effort. Get the Recipe 12 of 15 Haselnussmakronen (Raspberry-Hazelnut Macaroons) © Nicole Franzen These German raspberry-hazelnut macaroons require just five ingredients and are extremely no-fuss. Says Berlin-based blogger Luisa Weiss, "You just throw the dough together, heat up some jam, and you're almost there." Get the Recipe 13 of 15 Lebkuchen © Rick Poon Lebkuchen are traditional, delicately spiced German molasses-ginger cookies. This recipe from mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler was passed down from his great-grandmother to his grandmother to his uncle. Get the Recipe 14 of 15 Classic Cheese Fondue © Rob Howard Chef Ryan Hardy makes his luxurious fondue with two kinds of Swiss cheese (Emmentaler and Gruyère) and two kinds of spirits (white wine and Kirsch), all traditional ingredients. Some of the dipping items are also classic, like cubes of crusty bread and pickles. Get the Recipe 15 of 15 Basler Leckerli © Nicole Franzen These spiced cookie bars are an essential part of a German Christmas. They're an excellent make-ahead sweet; in fact, they get more tender and flavorful the longer they sit. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit