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Christmas dinner doesn’t have to mean cooking an enormous turkey, making ten different side dishes, and spending the entire day in the kitchen. If you’re celebrating with just your immediate family this year, this Christmas Day meal plan for a small family will help you make the day feel special without making way too much food.
For a family of four, I like the idea of choosing a few favorite foods, keeping the recipes simple, and making just enough to enjoy for Christmas dinner with a few leftovers for the next day.
After all, Christmas Day is about so much more than the food. There are presents to open, Christmas music to play, family gatherings to enjoy, new toys to put together, and maybe even a Christmas movie to watch in your pajamas.
The best Christmas menu is one that gives you plenty of good food while still allowing you to enjoy the big day with your family.
Here is a simple Christmas Day meal plan that is perfect for a family of four.
One of the best ways to make the holiday season less stressful is to have a plan before the busy days arrive. If you love having your meals mapped out ahead of time, you might also like my Easy Two Week Rotating Meal Plan on a Budget. It’s a simple way to make everyday meal planning easier without coming up with a completely new menu every week.
A Simple Christmas Day Meal Plan for 4
Here’s our simple Christmas menu:
Christmas Breakfast: Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit
Christmas Lunch: Snack board with cheese, crackers, fruit, vegetables, and sausage rolls
Christmas Dinner:
- Slow cooker ham
- Roast potatoes
- Green beans
- Dinner rolls
- Cranberry sauce
- Simple Christmas dessert
This holiday meal gives you plenty of special food without requiring a huge grocery list or hours and hours of cooking.
And because we’re using the slow cooker for the main course, most of the work can be done ahead of time.
Christmas Dinner Grocery Shopping List for a Family of 4
Here’s a simple grocery list for the entire Christmas Day meal plan. Check your pantry first—you may already have quite a few of these ingredients on hand!
Christmas Breakfast
- 1 package cinnamon rolls
- 8 eggs
- 1 package bacon
- Fresh fruit
- Milk or orange juice
- Coffee, if needed
Christmas Lunch & Snack Board
- 1 block or package of cheese
- 1 box crackers
- Grapes or apple slices
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Pretzels
- Dip
- Sausage rolls, optional
Christmas Dinner
- 1 small ham (about 3–4 pounds)
- Brown sugar
- Honey, maple syrup, or your favorite ham glaze
- 2–3 pounds potatoes
- 1 pound fresh or frozen green beans
- 1 package dinner rolls
- 1 small can or jar cranberry sauce
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Rosemary or thyme, optional
If you like keeping your meal plan visible while you’re cooking, a magnetic meal planning pad for the refrigerator can be really useful. You can write down your Christmas menu, prep reminders, and anything you need to pick up before the big day.
Christmas Dessert
Choose just one easy dessert to keep your grocery bill and prep work simple:
- Christmas cookies
- Brownie mix
- Small pie
- Cheesecake
- Ice cream
Pantry Items to Check Before Shopping
Before heading to the grocery store, double-check your pantry for olive oil, butter, brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, and any seasonings you plan to use.
Money-Saving Tip: Don’t feel like you need to buy every traditional Christmas food just because it’s Christmas. When you’re feeding a small family, choosing one main dish, a couple of favorite sides, and one dessert is usually plenty. You’ll spend less and have much less food waste after the holiday.
Grab the Free Christmas Day Meal Plan Printable
Want to make Christmas dinner even easier? I put this entire Christmas Day meal plan for a small family into a simple one-page printable you can keep on the fridge or take with you to the grocery store.
The printable includes the full Christmas Day menu for a family of four, plus a convenient grocery shopping checklist so you can get everything you need in one trip.
Download the Free Christmas Day Meal Plan + Grocery List
Christmas Breakfast: Keep It Easy
Christmas morning is probably not the morning you want to spend standing over the stove making an elaborate breakfast.
Especially if you have young children!
Keep breakfast simple with:
- Cinnamon rolls
- Scrambled eggs
- Bacon
- Fresh fruit
- Coffee, milk, or juice
You can use refrigerated cinnamon rolls or make homemade cinnamon rolls ahead of time. A breakfast casserole prepared on Christmas Eve would also be a great option.
The goal is to serve something that feels a little more special than an ordinary weekday breakfast without creating a kitchen full of dishes before the day has even started.
If your family has a favorite Christmas morning tradition, stick with it. This is the best time of the year to enjoy those little traditions your children will remember.
Christmas Lunch: Make a Simple Snack Board
If you’re planning a bigger Christmas dinner, you probably don’t need a full lunch.
Instead, set out a simple snack board around lunchtime.
You could include:
- Cheese
- Crackers
- Grapes
- Apple slices
- Carrot sticks
- Cucumber slices
- Nuts
- Sausage rolls
- Pretzels
- Dip
Use whatever your family enjoys and whatever you already have.
This is also a great way to use little odds and ends from your refrigerator. If you had appetizers on Christmas Eve, add those leftovers to your snack board.
Everyone can grab something when they get hungry without you having to prepare another entire meal.
Christmas Dinner: Slow Cooker Ham
For a small family, I love ham as a Christmas dinner main course because you can easily buy a smaller ham and the leftovers are incredibly versatile.
Even better, you can make it in the slow cooker.
Look for a small spiral sliced ham or boneless ham that will comfortably feed your family with some leftover ham for the next day.
Add the ham to your slow cooker with a little brown sugar and your favorite glaze. Some people like adding pineapple juice, maple syrup, honey, or even a little bitter orange marmalade for a sweet citrus flavor.
Then let the slow cooker do most of the work while you enjoy Christmas Day.
Follow the cooking directions for the particular ham you purchase and make sure it reaches the appropriate internal temperature before serving.
Using your slow cooker also frees up valuable oven space for the roast potatoes and rolls.
One of my favorite ways to make Christmas dinner easier is to let the slow cooker handle the main dish. A large programmable slow cooker is especially helpful for holiday meals because you can get the ham started and then focus on enjoying Christmas morning with your family.
I love using my slow cooker for holiday meals because it keeps dinner simple and frees up valuable oven space. If you love easy slow cooker dinners too, check out my 10 Easy Slow Cooker Meals for Fall for more simple meals that require very little hands-on cooking.
Easy Roast Potatoes
Roast potatoes are one of those simple side dishes that feel perfect for a holiday meal.
Cut potatoes into small chunks, toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic, and roast until they are golden brown and crispy.
You can also add rosemary, thyme, paprika, or a sprinkle of fennel seeds if your family enjoys those flavors.
If you prefer mashed potatoes, those would work just as well. The point of this meal plan isn’t to create a complicated Christmas menu. Choose the foods your family will actually eat.
And make enough potatoes to have leftovers!
Leftover roast potatoes can become breakfast potatoes the next morning, while larger leftover baked potatoes can easily turn into jacket potatoes for lunch.
For crispy roast potatoes, I like using a large rimmed sheet pan so the potatoes have plenty of room to spread out instead of steaming. A good sheet pan is one of those inexpensive kitchen basics you’ll use all year for roasted vegetables, sheet pan dinners, cookies, and more.
Simple Green Beans
You don’t need three or four vegetable side dishes for a small Christmas dinner.
Pick one vegetable everyone likes.
For our meal, I would choose green beans.
You can sauté green beans with a little butter, garlic, salt, and pepper or simply steam them and add butter before serving.
If your family prefers roasted carrots, broccoli, corn, or a salad, use that instead.
When you’re cooking for a small family, one of the best ways to avoid food waste is to stop feeling like you have to prepare every traditional Christmas dish.
Make your family’s favorites and skip the rest.
If you’re preparing several side dishes at once, these glass baking dishes with lids are really handy. You can prep food ahead of time, refrigerate it, and then use the same dish for baking and serving. The lids also make storing Christmas dinner leftovers much easier.
Dinner Rolls
Warm dinner rolls make even a simple dinner feel special.
You can make homemade rolls if you enjoy baking, but store-bought rolls are perfectly fine, too.
If you’re making homemade rolls, prepare them ahead of time so you’re not mixing and kneading dough in the middle of Christmas Day.
Another option is a loaf of crusty bread or garlic bread. Use what your family loves and what fits your budget.
Cranberry Sauce
If your family loves cranberry sauce, add a small dish to the table.
Since we’re serving ham rather than turkey, you certainly don’t have to include it. But it adds that traditional Christmas dinner feeling without much extra work.
You can buy a can or make a small homemade batch.
A homemade cranberry sauce can be as simple as cranberries, sugar, water, and a little orange or lemon juice.
Not sure what else to serve with your Christmas dinner? Take a look at my 65 Quick & Easy Side Dish Ideas for lots of simple options. You can choose one or two favorites your family will actually eat instead of making a huge table full of side dishes.
Easy Christmas Dessert
Dessert is another area where I would keep things really simple.
Christmas is already filled with cookies, candy, and treats, so you don’t necessarily need to make an elaborate dessert.
Try:
- Christmas cookies
- Brownies topped with peppermint pieces
- Apple pie
- Chocolate pie
- Cheesecake
- Ice cream with Christmas sprinkles
- A small Christmas cake
You could even make dessert together as a family earlier in the Christmas season and freeze it until the big day.
If you made Christmas cookies to deliver with your Christmas cards, save a few in the freezer for your Christmas Day dessert tray.
If Christmas cookies or homemade treats are part of your holiday traditions, a set of Christmas cookie cutters is an inexpensive kitchen item you can bring out year after year. This could also be a fun activity to do with the kids while you’re preparing for Christmas Day.
Grab the Free Christmas Day Meal Plan Printable
Want to make Christmas dinner even easier? I put this entire Christmas Day meal plan for a small family into a simple one-page printable you can keep on the fridge or take with you to the grocery store.
The printable includes the full Christmas Day menu for a family of four, plus a convenient grocery shopping checklist so you can get everything you need in one trip.
Download the Free Christmas Day Meal Plan + Grocery List
Christmas Day Cooking Timeline
One of the easiest ways to make your Christmas Day meal plan less stressful is to do as much as possible ahead of time.
A Few Days Before Christmas
Finish your grocery shopping and make sure you have everything you need.
Check your pantry for basics like butter, sugar, seasonings, oil, and flour before heading to the store.
If you’re making homemade dessert, rolls, or cranberry sauce, this is also a good time to prepare them.
Christmas Eve
Do as much prep work as you can.
Wash and cut your vegetables, prepare breakfast ingredients, make dessert, and get your serving dishes ready.
If you have a few beautiful decorations for your Christmas table, set those out on Christmas Eve, too.
That way, you wake up with fewer things on your to-do list.
A digital meat thermometer is one kitchen tool I like to keep close by when cooking meat for a holiday meal. It takes the guesswork out of checking your main dish and is useful throughout the year for chicken, pork, beef, and other family dinners.
Christmas Morning
Make your easy Christmas breakfast and enjoy your morning.
Once breakfast is cleaned up, put the ham in the slow cooker based on the cooking time required for the size you’re using.
Then go enjoy Christmas!
About an Hour Before Dinner
Start your roast potatoes and prepare your green beans.
Warm your rolls shortly before serving and put the cranberry sauce on the table.
That’s it!
You don’t need to spend the entire day cooking to have a wonderful Christmas dinner.
If you really want to make the busy Christmas season easier, try putting a few dinners in the freezer before the holiday rush begins. My Casserole Freezer Cooking Plan walks you through preparing more than 10 freezer meals in about two hours, so you have easy dinners ready when you need them.
What to Do With Christmas Dinner Leftovers
One of my favorite parts of a holiday meal is having food already prepared for the next day.
But when you’re cooking for a small family, you don’t want so many leftovers that you’re eating the same meal for an entire week.
Try to prepare enough for Christmas dinner plus one or two additional meals.
Don’t forget about containers for all those Christmas leftovers! I like having a set of glass food storage containers on hand so I can portion leftovers into lunches or store ingredients for another meal. They’re also great for everyday meal prep long after the Christmas season is over.
Easy Boxing Day or Next-Day Lunch
Use leftover ham to make sandwiches with your favorite cheese and mustard.
Serve the sandwiches with leftover vegetables, fruit, or chips.
You could also chop the ham and add it to scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Leftover Ham Dinner
Turn leftover ham into:
- Ham and potato soup
- Ham and cheese sliders
- Ham fried rice
- Ham and bean soup
- Ham and cheese omelets
- Homemade pizza
- A simple pasta dish
If you serve turkey instead of ham, use leftover turkey for sandwiches, soup, casseroles, or turkey pot pie.
This is also a good opportunity to use up extra ingredients before the new year.
Planning ahead for your leftovers can also help you save money and avoid food waste after Christmas. I have 10 Tips for How to Use Up Leftovers with simple ideas for turning the food you already have into another meal instead of letting it get forgotten in the refrigerator.
Other Main Course Ideas for a Small Family
Ham certainly isn’t the only option for a small Christmas dinner.
You could also make:
Roast chicken: A whole chicken is inexpensive, easy to prepare, and a great size for a family of four.
Turkey breast: If Christmas wouldn’t feel like Christmas without turkey, cook a turkey breast instead of an entire bird.
Beef roast: A small roast can feel extra special without requiring a complicated recipe.
Salmon: If your family prefers seafood, baked salmon makes a surprisingly simple holiday main course. You could even make salmon en croûte if you want something a little more impressive.
Don’t feel like your Christmas meal has to look exactly like anyone else’s. Your family’s favorite meal may be completely different.
A Few More Easy Christmas Meal Ideas
If you don’t want a traditional Christmas dinner at all, that’s perfectly fine.
You could have lasagna with garlic bread, homemade pizza, a taco bar, baked potato bar, or even a pot of soup with crusty bread.
A cozy lentil soup could be a great option for a very simple Christmas Eve dinner, leaving the more traditional meal for Christmas Day.
The holiday season already comes with plenty to do. Simple recipes can make this time of year much more enjoyable.
Once Christmas is over, you may be more than ready to get back to simple, everyday dinners! My free 5-Day Dinner Rescue Kit gives you five easy dinner ideas along with a grocery list to help take the guesswork out of dinner for the next few days.
Keep Your Christmas Meal Plan Simple
It can be tempting to think Christmas dinner needs to include every special food you’ve ever associated with the holiday.
But when you’re feeding a small family, that can quickly turn into too much food, too much money, and too much time in the kitchen.
Instead, choose one main course, two or three favorite side dishes, and an easy dessert.
That’s plenty.
If this is your first time cooking Christmas dinner for your own little family, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to recreate a huge family gathering.
And if you made far too much food last year, use that experience to make a smaller plan this time.
Some of the sweetest Christmas memories happen around a very simple table.
If the hardest part of dinner is simply figuring out what to make every night, I can help with that, too. My Stress Free Dinners: 30 Day Meal Plan gives you an entire month of simple, family-friendly dinner ideas so you can spend less time wondering, “What’s for dinner?” and more time enjoying your evenings with your family.
Get the Stress Free Dinners 30 Day Meal Plan
Grab the Free Christmas Day Meal Plan Printable
Want to make Christmas dinner even easier? I put this entire Christmas Day meal plan for a small family into a simple one-page printable you can keep on the fridge or take with you to the grocery store.
The printable includes the full Christmas Day menu for a family of four, plus a convenient grocery shopping checklist so you can get everything you need in one trip.
Download the Free Christmas Day Meal Plan + Grocery List
Enjoy a Simple Christmas Day With Your Family
Christmas can be one of the busiest times of the year, but your Christmas Day meal doesn’t have to add to the stress.
A simple Christmas Day meal plan for a small family gives you the special Christmas dinner you’re looking forward to while still leaving plenty of time for everything else that makes the day meaningful.
Keep breakfast easy, set out a snack-style lunch, let your slow cooker handle the main course, and choose just a few side dishes your family genuinely loves.
Then get out of the kitchen and enjoy the day.
Because the best part of Christmas isn’t making the biggest meal possible. It’s slowing down, enjoying good food, and spending the day with the people you love.
A Few Helpful Christmas Dinner Supplies
You certainly don’t need any special equipment to make a delicious Christmas dinner, but a few basic kitchen tools can make preparing your holiday meal much easier.
Here are a few helpful items to have on hand:
- Glass baking dishes with lids – useful for preparing, serving, and storing side dishes.
- Programmable slow cooker – perfect for cooking the Christmas ham while keeping your oven free.
- Large rimmed sheet pans – great for roast potatoes and vegetables.
- Digital meat thermometer – an easy way to check meat while it’s cooking.
- Glass food storage containers – perfect for organizing Christmas leftovers.
- Christmas cookie cutters – a fun addition if you’re making cookies for dessert.
These are all practical kitchen items you can continue using for family meals throughout the year, so you don’t have to buy a bunch of Christmas-specific supplies just to make one holiday meal.
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