The Christmas season is a wonderful time to serve a delicious and impressive seafood meal. Whether you're planning a Christmas Day fish dinner, a Feast of the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve Dinner, or looking for a seafood first course for your holiday table, I have the answer for all you seek!
Keep reading for 30 of my favorite Christmas seafood recipe options for all of your special occasions around the holiday season. The fish dishes are mostly main courses, along with a few fish-focused sides and appetizers and brunch options.
Let's start a new family tradition this year with a few of these seafood-focused delicious recipes for Christmas!
SHRIMP CANNELLONI
Tender shrimp in creamy sherry bechamel sauce served over pasta stuffed with the most delicious spinach ricotta filling. This is the perfect Italian recipe for your next holiday gathering or Sunday supper with the family. Add a Mediterranean Tossed Salad and crusty bread and your new annual Christmas dinner tradition is complete!
STUFFED CALAMARI
This amazing seafood dish is the perfect addition if you celebrate the Italian-American Christmas Eve tradition of Feast of the Seven Fishes. Surprisingly simple to make and unforgettably delicious, these stuffed calamari rolls simmer in a homemade tomato sauce for less than an hour. They are perfectly tender and served over parmesan polenta or pasta, this is a fresh seafood dish that will turn every head at the table!
ITALIAN SPICED MONKFISH
Spicy, savory and deeply satisfying, this flavorful baked monkfish recipe with a spicy pepper relish and garlic broccolini is a fabulous dinner party menu or date night for two at home during the holidays, especially when served over Creamy Parmesan Rice. This recipe includes step-by-step instructions for preparing the perfect monkfish fillet for baking.
EASY BAKED SCALLOPS WITH WHITE WINE, BASIL AND CITRUS
Fresh sea scallops are sophisticated and perfect for a special occasion meal around the holidays. This recipe offers a light and flavorful combination of flavors, including grapefruit zest, white wine, creme fraiche and crispy panko. Served with Garlic and Almond Green Beans, it's a festive recipe for your holiday dinner.
MISO MARINATED FISH
If you're looking for a flavor explosion for your festive season of peace and joy, this Miso Marinated White Fish offers the perfect balance of flavors. The delicious marinade is perfect over sea bass, but works just as well with different kinds of seafood like cod, halibut or salmon.
SHRIMP SCAMPI FETTUCCINE
This luscious pasta dish, full of butter and garlic, a pinch of spicy red pepper and a crispy panko topping, could be the delicious dish at the center of your holiday table. Inspired by my favorite meal on my trip to Rome this summer, this Italian classic is unforgettable.
SEARED ALASKAN HALIBUT WITH SWEET CORN
It's a full seafood feast, all on one platter! Pan seared halibut in a creamy corn broth with fresh herbs. Grab a crusty baguette and whip up a Mediterranean Tossed Salad and you have a dinner-party meal in a hurry.
BAKED TILAPIA WITH BEST EVER LEMON BUTTER SAUCE
Christmas fish dinner doesn't have to be complicated and time-consuming...it just has to be delicious. This baked tilapia with the best lemon butter sauce fits the bill! The flaky white fish is a lovely canvas for the silky lemon butter sauce, but it would be equally delicious over salmon, cod or halibut.
If you want to start your holiday with one of the best brunch seafood recipes on the planet, look no further than this sophisticated Smoked Salmon Quiche. It’s the pescatarian cousin of quiche lorraine, full of all the nutty gruyere, fresh chive and salty protein vibes we all crave. A lovely, savory start to your holiday morning.
SMOKED SALMON BREAKFAST FLATBREAD
Lemony cream cheese, fresh herbs, capers, soft boiled eggs - all of our favorite bagel toppings, on one, freshly-baked flatbread crust. This is a perfect dish for serving a crowd, and has Christmas Brunch brunch written all over it. Delicious with lox (cold-smoked salmon) or hot smoked salmon!
SEAFOOD TEA SANDWICHES
These gorgeous tea sandwiches make a lovely brunch spread to tide everyone over until Christmas Dinner is on the table. Bonus: all of these seafood sandwiches can be made ahead, freeing you up to focus on the main event!
SMOKY TUNA DIP
A holiday just isn’t fully festive without the pre-dinner snack table, and this smoky tuna dip is the perfect pescatarian star for your snack board. Saltine crackers are the traditional dipper for this savory dip, fresh veggies or crispy tortilla chips add even more crunch. For a special occasion, I like to use a buttery toasted bread bowl to hold the dip, with toast points.
SHRIMP BOIL STUFFED POTATOES
All of your favorite parts of a summertime seafood boil (shrimp! potatoes! corn!), plus some gooey cheese, served in a crispy, salty potato skin. Perfect when you want to relive those summertime shrimp boil parties during the holiday season or anytime of year.
SHRIMP WONTONS
If holiday dim sum is part of your Christmas tradition, bring the party home this year! These restaurant-style shrimp wontons bring big, juicy flavor, highlighted by fresh cilantro, scallions and deeply savory sesame oil. So simple to make, these dumplings are even easier to dip and eat with spicy soy sauce dipping sauce (recipe included!)
CRAWFISH BISQUEWITH CRISPY CRAWFISH MINI-CAKES
Crawfish Bisque is an ideal seafood first coarse to serve before Christmas Dinner. This creamy soup is rich and savory, full of complex, cajun flavors and textures. Instead of the long traditional process of cleaning and stuffing crawfish shell heads, we make a rich stuffing and shape it into mini-cakes, to float like tasty little islands in our river of bisque.
SHRIMP-STUFFED HUNGARIAN WAX PEPPERS WITH SMOKY ROMESCO
These savory roasted peppers are full of a juicy shrimp stuffing and nestled in a rich and smoky romesco sauce. As delicious as they are tasty, this seafood dish will be a regular holiday event for you!
SAUTÉED CALAMARI TOAST
This tender calamari dish is sautéed with garlic oil, feta cheese and red chilis, then tossed with arugula for the most flavorful pescatarian bruschetta or toast topping for your holiday party. The incredible flavor combinations work well as an appetizer or a main course for your event.
SHRIMP AND GRITS DRESSING
Your favorite holiday side dish meets your favorite beachside vacation dinner.if you’re looking for a new holiday tradition or side this year, take this savory shrimp and grits dressing to the party! You’ll be the talk of the town, in the best way possible.
GREEN CAULIFLOWER WITH ANCHOVIES AND PINE NUTS
Your Christmas fish dishes should definitely include a savory sides dish like this Roasted Green Cauliflower dish. Toasty green cauliflower shoots tossed in olive oil, garlic, anchovies and pine nuts – it will be the star of your holiday meal, and the veggie dish your guests can't stop talking about.
CRAB AND SHRIMP STUFFED SALMON
Stuffing fresh salmon fillets with a simple but super flavorful shrimp and crab cakes mixture is just how I want to spend my holiday season. This recipe is a fantastic way to use a small amount of shrimp and crab to elevate a simple salmon dish to a restaurant-quality meal in under an hour. This masterpiece is especially delicious served withparmesan cream sauce.
Grouper is the perfect fish for this simple but sophisticated baked fish in parchment. Creamy sliced potatoes serve as the foundation of the dish, topped with the flaky grouper, and a briny, citrusy olive tapenade. It's an all-in-one holiday fish dinner that will be unforgettable.
LANGOSTINO LOBSTER RISOTTO
This creamy risotto is a special occasion masterpiece, but it’s weirdly simple and worth the stirring time for any seafood lover hosting Christmas Dinner this year. The asparagus and lime zest add fresh zest and flavor to this ultra rich and creamy dish of carbs. You'll get requests to make this one all year round.
BAKED COLOSSAL SHRIMP
It’s the easiest showstopper seafood dish on either side of the Atlantic. Easy Baked Colossal Shrimp in lemon garlic butter sauce gives you that beachside vibe with an upscale presentation. Serve with a crispy-skinned baked potato and salad, along withgarlic butter seafood boil sauce.
CRISPY FLOUNDER PICCATA
This easy Flounder Piccata is the most satisfying, golden crusted fish recipe doused in a buttery, lemony magic sauce. Serve this flounder piccata for your holiday meal over parmesan polenta or garlic mashed potatoes and just wait for the applause from your guests.
This easy parmesan baked cod with almonds is amazingly tasty and ridiculously simple. Whether you serve it as a second main dish next to the turkey, or as the star of the show, this is a dish your whole family will rave about any time of year.
ARGENTINE RED SHRIMP WITH PISTACHIO CHIMICHURRI
One of the very best ways to cook shrimp any time of year is a simple grilling (outside, or on a grill pan indoors) which really showcases their fresh, sweet flavor. Serve these amazing sea treasures alongside a savory chimichurri with fresh herbs and pistachios, and this meal is unforgettable.
LOBSTER RAVIOLIWITH CREAMY ITALIAN PINK SAUCE
Creating an easy and impressive pescatarian option for your holiday dinner is as easy as cruising by the refrigerated section of your local grocery store, grabbing some quality lobster ravioli, whipping up the best lobster ravioli pink sauce in 10 minutes, and having dinner on the table with time to spare. This one is a winner on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day!
KING CRAB LEGS WITH LEMON BUTTER SAUCE
Nothing impresses at the holidays like a pile of steaming, perfectly cooked king crab legs. And if you want to enjoy king crab legs without getting a second mortgage on your house, pick up a bag or two frozen from the supermarket, and make this out-of-this-world crab leg recipe with the show-stopping lemon garlic butter sauce.
If shellfish is taking the starring role in your holiday menu, these mussels are ready for the big stage. Floating in creamy wine sauce, studded with caramelized fennel, shallots and garlic, and garnished with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, the sweetest mussels you’ll ever see or taste are just a few minutes away.
GREEK GRILLED OCTOPUS
Octopus is a one of the simplest and most impressive seafood dishes to serve for an appetizer or as a main dish at your holiday meal. If you don't want to fire up the grill, throw it on your grill pan while you whip up the 5-minute vinaigrette. This easy Greek style octopus is fast and simple and brings all the flavors of the Mediterranean to your doorstep, no passport required.
Looking for even more delicious holiday seafood? Check out my most recent post on recipes for a Feast of the Seven Fishes Holiday Celebration!
What special dish are you planning to make for your Christmas fish dinner this holiday season? Tell me about your new holiday tradition menu in the comment section below!
Happy Christmas to all who celebrate, and here's to a joy-filled new year to us all.
