Christmas food around the world

Christmas food is often regional before it is national, so this guide stays close to what the references for each country describe and names the region when the source does.

Each country below links to its full guide, where you will find the traditions, gift customs and the list of references used. This page reproduces selected food descriptions from those records and is not an exhaustive culinary inventory.

Christmas Eve dinner is often simple, such as potato salad with sausages. Christmas Day brings roast goose or duck with red cabbage and dumplings. Stollen, Lebkuchen and Spekulatius are baked through Advent.

Main celebration: December 25 (with main celebration on December 24). Read the full country guide: Christmas in Germany.

Common dishes include fried carp, roast goose, Wiener Schnitzel and Bratwurst. Vanillekipferl, Lebkuchen and Linzer cookies are baked throughout Advent.

Main celebration: December 25 (main celebration on December 24). Read the full country guide: Christmas in Austria.

A traditional Christmas meal often includes potica (a rolled nut cake), roast meat such as pork or duck, sauerkraut, žganci and fresh bread. Mulled wine and homemade brandy are common at festive gatherings.

Main celebration: December 25. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Slovenia.

Lunch typically features roast turkey with stuffing, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts and gravy, followed by Christmas pudding with brandy butter. Mince pies and Christmas cake are eaten throughout the season.

Main celebration: December 25. Read the full country guide: Christmas in United Kingdom.

Common Christmas Day meals include roast turkey, ham or prime rib with sides such as mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cornbread. Cookies, eggnog and pies are popular throughout December.

Main celebration: December 25. Read the full country guide: Christmas in United States.

A bucket of fried chicken, popularised by a long-running marketing campaign, is one of the most common Christmas Eve meals. Many families also buy a soft sponge Christmas cake topped with strawberries and cream.

Main celebration: December 25 (not a public holiday). Read the full country guide: Christmas in Japan.

Pandoro and panettone are described by Italia.it as the typical Italian Christmas cakes, eaten from the north to the south of the country. Pandoro was first patented in Verona in 1884 by the pastry chef Domenico Melegatti, while panettone comes from Milan, where the modern recipe was perfected at the end of the 1800s.

Main celebration: December 25, with the Christmas festivities closing at Epiphany on January 6. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Italy.

France.fr's festive food overview lists oysters and other seafood as classic starters, poultry such as turkey with chestnuts, capon or stuffed goose as the main course, and the bûche de Noël as the traditional dessert, served either as a cake or as an iced version. Regional sweets include Alsatian Kouglof, Breton shortbread and gingerbread from the Vosges.

Main celebration: December 25, with Père Noël traditionally visiting on Christmas Eve. Read the full country guide: Christmas in France.

The julbord is the Swedish Christmas smorgasbord. Sweden.se lists Christmas ham, the small pork sausage prinskorv, the egg and sprat spread gubbröra, herring salad, pickled herring, home-made liver pâté, wort-flavoured rye bread and lutfisk among the classics. Saffron buns called lussekatter and gingerbread biscuits called pepparkakor are served through the season, often with glögg.

Main celebration: December 24, Christmas Eve, as the main celebration. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Sweden.

On December 24, surrounded by decorations and beside the Nacimiento and the Christmas tree, hosts offer pilgrims ponche, seasonal fruit, antojitos and other traditional foods. On Día de Reyes the Rosca de Reyes is served with a hot drink such as chocolate or atole.

Main celebration: December 25, with Las Posadas from December 16 to 24 and Día de Reyes on January 6. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Mexico.

Tradition calls for 12 meatless dishes, symbolising the 12 apostles or the 12 months of the year. Depending on the region these include barszcz with uszka or mushroom soup, cabbage with peas or mushrooms, pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms, fish, noodles with poppy seed and kutia.

Main celebration: December 25, with the main celebration at the Wigilia supper on December 24. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Poland.

An oven-baked ham served with mustard is a must for many, alongside an assortment of fish. Vegetarian courses include beetroot salad and oven-baked root dishes such as rutabaga, carrot and potato casseroles. Rice porridge is the traditional Christmas Eve breakfast, and sweet pastries such as prune jam tarts and spice cakes are seasonal favourites. Glögi, made from red wine or berry juice with spices such as cardamom and cinnamon and served with raisins and almonds, is the favoured hot drink.

Main celebration: December 24, Christmas Eve, as the main celebration. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Finland.

Norwegians typically have just one main dish on Christmas Eve. Visit Norway lists ribbe (pork ribs), pinnekjøtt (salt-cured lamb ribs), juletorsk (Christmas cod) and julekveite (Christmas halibut), and lutefisk, described as one of Norway's oldest Christmas traditions. Christmas cookies such as goro, krumkaker and berlinerkrans are sold in bakeries.

Main celebration: December 24 evening as the main celebration. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Norway.

Simbang Gabi is traditionally paired with puto bumbong and bibingka. For Noche Buena, families gather around the table when the clock strikes midnight on December 24, and the Department of Trade and Industry's annual Noche Buena price guide covers staples such as ham, queso de bola, cheese, fruit cocktail, sandwich spread, all-purpose cream and pasta or spaghetti sauce.

Main celebration: December 25, with the season often starting as early as September. Read the full country guide: Christmas in Philippines.

Each country food description is drawn from the references listed on that country's own guide, which include national tourism boards, government culture departments and comparable sources. The complete reference list for each country sits at the bottom of its guide in the Christmas in hub.