Easy Things to Make/Bring to Christmas Eve Dinner

Nothing is more humbling during the Holidays than being sat at the kid’s table in your twenties. However, something funny about a newly minted adult having a full-blown conversation about the new Spider-Man with a ten-year-old. But most of us would rather sit at the adult table. So if you want to make it to the adult table, it’s time to start doing adult things like bringing food to your holiday dinners. This isn’t a class party where you get to sign up to bring paper plates. You can do better. Here are a few easy things to bring to Christmas Eve dinner. 

Easy Things to Make/Bring to Christmas Eve Dinner

Things to Make

Suppose you are feeling brave enough to make something, then all power to you. This option is for those who want to go the extra step, especially when no one expects you to bring something to dinner. (Or you’re just an overachiever). Plus, it’s always a good time when you apply yourself and learn something new.     

• Roasted Brussel Sprouts – Pretty sure Brussel sprouts are one of the top five most hated vegetables, and I’m not sure why. Well-made Brussel sprouts are easily top tier in the vegetable world. And if I’m completely honest, Brussel sprouts are the easiest thing to make. You cut them in half, season them, put them in the oven, and walk away until done. If you can toast bread, I promise you can roast Brussel sprouts.  
• Any fancy salad – I am not a huge fan of salads during big potluck-like meals. If you put out eight different dishes and salad, no shot, I’m wasting my plate real estate on leaves. But just because I’m not a fan doesn’t mean that everyone else isn’t. My family loves a good salad. You know the ones with goat cheese, walnuts, strawberries, and some weird balsamic vinaigrette spin-off. Here is a perfect example of the type of bourgeois salad I’ve mentioned.   
• Coquito – Hot take, Eggnog is the most disgusting drink ever made. How anyone can stomach that abomination is beyond me, especially when Coquito exists. Meaning “little coconut,” Coquito is the best Christmas drink out there. Coquito is the perfect go-to alcoholic drink for a Christmas party that is sure to get you a compliment or two, made up of condensed milk, coconut milk, rum, vanilla, and cinnamon. And if you see a recipe that adds eggs, find a new one. 

Things to Bring

Look, I get it; not everyone can cook. I had a friend in college who burnt the outside of a pancake while the inside was still raw. How she did that will remain a mystery to me, but it just shows that some of us need to buy instead of make. And there is no shame in that, but if you are going to buy something to bring to dinner, maybe splurge on it. Again, nothing crazy, but maybe you can do better than what’s on sale at the grocery store.  

• Pie – Another hot take from me, but I don’t like pie. I’m not a huge fruit with dessert kind of person. It’s too much for me, but people love pie. And if you can get your hands on a well-made fancy pie from a mom-and-pop shop bakery, then you will not be the star of dinner. (After the person who cooked all the food, that is.) Don’t limit yourself to just pies. Any holiday dessert will do. (Pro tip: grab some ice cream to go along with your pie, brownie, or whatever else you picked up.)  
• Wine/Beer – When in doubt, bring alcohol. You should probably skip the cheap vodka, though. Your best bet is to get the host’s favorite beer or wine. (Or both). However, if you have a fun family that likes to party, bring the liquor and blast. And if you want to be the savior of the night, keep an extra bottle in the car that you bring out after all the other alcohol is out. An emergency bottle of tequila will always come in clutch. Trust me.   

Sitting at the Adult Table

Let’s be completely honest, sitting at the adult table is overrated. Do you want to listen to your family members talk about politics across the dinner table? I don’t. I would rather talk to a five-year-old about whatever weird obsession they have at the moment. Talk my ear off about all the cool dinosaurs you’re learning about, please. Anything over the weird tension that can arise at the adult table when people don’t know when to shut the hell up. (Don’t be that person.) 

And if you need a good Christmas playlist for dinner, look no further.