Christmas
Budget Christmas dinner, easy Latin menus that stretch
Complete Christmas menus from Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela that cost less, are mostly made the day before and feed everyone.
The cheapest way to put on a Christmas dinner is to stop building it around one big roast. Latin Christmas cooking already knows how: a main where the meat is spread through a pot or bought on the bone, one hot side and one cold side made the day before, a dessert made days ahead and a drink brewed by the potful. Across our recipes the meat is almost always the bill. In a Venezuelan pernil, the slow-roasted pork leg, the meat is nearly all of it, and a Latin roast chicken with potatoes comes to about $3.09 a serving at US prices, two thirds of that the bird.
So these menus lean on pozole (a hearty hominy and pork or chicken soup), tamales, roast chicken and pork leg counted by the person, with rice, pasta and potato sides that cost little. They are also the easiest Christmas menus to cook: nearly everything is done ahead, and on the day you have an hour or two in the kitchen.
For the full traditional spread from each country, see our Latin Christmas recipes and the Mexican, Colombian and Venezuelan Christmas pages. For cheap cooking the rest of the year, there's our guide to budget Latin recipes.
A day-by-day plan for a budget Christmas dinner
Written for dinner on the evening of December 24, the way it's served in Latin homes; move everything a day later for Christmas Day. Keep only the lines for the dishes you're making. The timings come from each recipe.
- Early December. If tamales are on the menu, make them now. Steamed, cooled and frozen in their husks, they keep 3 to 4 months, and on the day they need about 30 minutes of steam straight from the freezer. Making 24 takes barely more effort than 12, so make the big batch.
- A week before. Write the shopping list from the per-person amounts further down, and buy everything that keeps: canned hominy, dried chiles, masa harina (in the Latin aisle of most US supermarkets), piloncillo or dark brown sugar, rice, pasta and raisins. If you're doing a pernil, order a bone-in fresh ham from the butcher. The piloncillo syrup for Mexican buñuelos can be made now.
- December 21 and 22. Fry the buñuelos (they keep up to 3 days in a tin) or Colombian hojuelas, which stay crisp about 5 days without syrup. If you're roasting a pernil, marinate it on the 22nd.
- December 23, the day before. The big cooking day. Simmer the pork and fry the sauce for red pozole, or poach the chicken and make the sauce for green; make the white spaghetti sauce (it keeps 2 days), the apple salad dressing, the whole macaroni salad with a third of its dressing held back in a jar, the vegetables for ensalada rusa, the mashed potatoes if you want them done, the natilla or quesillo, and the piloncillo syrup for champurrado or atole. For the punch, blanch and peel the tejocotes. A pasticho can be assembled tonight and refrigerated unbaked.
- December 24, morning and afternoon. Mix the apple salad in the morning. The pernil goes in the oven six and a half hours before dinner; an assembled pasticho goes straight from the fridge into the oven, 45 minutes covered and 15 uncovered.
- December 24, the last hour. With the day-before work done, red pozole takes 50 minutes and green 35. Start the Christmas rice 1 hour before dinner, the spaghetti needs about 10 minutes, and the punch about 60 on the stove: put it on before guests arrive and keep it hot without boiling.
- Christmas Day. Refrigerate everything as soon as dinner ends. The leftovers are the next day's meals: pernil sandwiches, reheated pozole brought back to a boil, or Colombian fried rice made with the cold rice from the 24th.
Four complete budget Christmas menus
Mexican menu for 10, no oven. A pot of red pozole, which makes 10 bowls; Mexican apple salad, a creamy, sweet salad for 10; buñuelos, crisp fried discs with cinnamon sugar, 16 from a batch; and a pot of Christmas punch, 20 mugs. On the day you only finish the pozole, toss the salad and heat the punch.
Roast chicken menu for 8. Two roast chickens with potatoes, a quarter chicken per person, seasoned the night before; ensalada rusa, a potato and beet salad whose vegetables are cooked the day before; and for dessert Colombian natilla, a set milk custard, made on the 23rd, with hojuelas fried days ahead.
Venezuelan menu for 10. If hallacas and pernil are beyond the budget, a pasticho, Venezuela's lasagna, gives 10 main-course servings from one pan. Add Venezuelan chicken salad made with a whole chicken, and a quesillo, a caramel flan, made the day before.
For 20 or more. Two pots of pozole, red or green, or 40 tamales at 2 per guest; a big batch of Mexican macaroni salad made the day before; white spaghetti with the pasta cooked a day ahead; and two desserts made days in advance. The punch doubles to 40 mugs for barely more work.
Cheap Christmas mains that feed a crowd
Pot dishes stretch the furthest. Red pozole uses about 9 oz (250 g) of pork per person, spread through broth with 7 oz (200 g) of hominy, and the pork works out at about $2.06 a bowl. Green pozole is made with bone-in chicken legs, which stay juicier than breast, for about $1.51 a bowl for the chicken and produce. Green chicken tamales and rajas con queso tamales, with cheese and poblano strips, are counted at 2 per guest and 24 per 2.2 lb (1 kg) of fresh masa; in the chicken ones, boneless thighs cost less than breast in most stores and stay juicier.
If you want something from the oven, roast chicken is a quarter chicken and 9 oz (250 g) of potatoes per person, and a sale on whole birds moves the price more than anything else. Pernil is the roast that feeds the most people: with other dishes on the table, 14 oz (400 g) of bone-in leg per person is enough, and 7.7 lb (3.5 kg) feeds 8 with leftovers for sandwiches. Pasticho gives 10 servings from one pan; meat, cheese and ham are 87 % of its cost, so keep the Parmesan to 1 oz (30 g) and slice a block of Gouda yourself instead of buying deli slices.
If your Christmas needs a stuffed bird and you're 4 to 8 at the table, Mexican Christmas stuffed chicken, with a chorizo and bread stuffing, does the turkey's job: a 5¼ lb (2.4 kg) chicken serves 6, roasts in 2¼ to 2½ hours and thaws in a day and a half instead of the three days a 12 lb turkey takes. The pricey parts are the chorizo and almonds; pecans or half the nuts bring it down. For 10 or more, a turkey is the better buy for one oven session. From Colombia, stuffed pork loin is planned at about 7 oz (190 g) of raw pork per person, can be roasted whole on the 23rd and reheated in slices, and for a crowd two medium loins cost less than the same weight in small pieces.
SoupsPozole rojo, Mexican pork and hominy stew for a crowd
Pozole rojo is Mexico's red chile pork and hominy stew, ready in 150 minutes (80 hands-on) for 10 bowls from guajillo and ancho chiles. Canned vs dried hominy, US and UK swaps, scaling to 25, make-ahead plan and freezing.
SoupsPozole Verde Recipe, Green Chicken Pozole with Pepitas
Pozole verde is Mexican green pozole, chicken and hominy in a tomatillo and pumpkin seed broth, ready in 90 minutes for 6 bowls. Canned or dried hominy, US and UK swaps, a sauce that won't split, scaling for 15 and freezing.
LunchGreen Chicken Tamales (Tamales Verdes) for a Tamalada
Green chicken tamales with tomatillo salsa and masa whipped with lard until a pinch floats in ice water, 24 tamales in 3 hours, 90 minutes hands-on. Masa harina swap, steaming without a tamalera, a party plan for 40 and freezing.
LunchRajas con Queso Tamales, Cheese and Poblano Pepper Tamales
Rajas con queso tamales with charred poblano strips, tomato and melting Oaxaca cheese in masa whipped until it floats. 24 tamales in about 3 hours. Easy vegetarian swap, Monterey Jack option, steaming without a tamalera and freezing.
LunchLatin Roast Chicken, Whole Bird with a Mojo-Style Marinade
Latin roast chicken is a 4 lb (1.8 kg) bird rubbed under the skin with garlic, cumin and sour orange, then roasted at 400°F (200°C) to 165°F. Serves 4 with potatoes in the same pan, plus minutes per pound, carving and a plan for 20.
DinnerVenezuelan Pernil, Christmas Pork Leg with a 3-Day Plan
Venezuelan pernil is a bone-in pork leg marinated 24 hours and roasted almost 6 hours to 175-195°F (80-90°C), for 8 people. A 3-day plan to Christmas Eve, US and UK cuts, crisp skin, scaling to 20 and leftovers.
LunchVenezuelan Pasticho, the Lasagna with Béchamel, Ham and Cheese
Venezuelan pasticho is lasagna layered with meat sauce, a generous béchamel, ham and mild melting cheese, 10 servings in 160 minutes. No-boil noodle method, clean slicing, make-ahead, freezing, US and UK swaps.
DinnerMexican Christmas Stuffed Chicken with Chorizo Stuffing
Mexican Christmas stuffed chicken, a 5¼ lb roaster filled with chorizo, bolillo and apple stuffing and roasted at 350°F (180°C) to 165°F (74°C). Serves 6, with roasting times by weight, a make-ahead plan and US and UK swaps.
DinnerColombian Stuffed Pork Loin, a Christmas Eve Roast
Colombian stuffed pork loin for Christmas Eve, butterflied and rolled around bacon, prunes and mozzarella, then roasted at 350°F (180°C). How to roll-cut and tie it, the 165°F rule for stuffing, pan sauce, make-ahead plan, serves 8.
Cheap make-ahead Christmas sides
One hot side and one cold side are enough; a third only adds to the shopping. The cheapest hot sides are rice, pasta and potatoes. Mexican Christmas rice with raisins and pecans gives 8 side servings from 2 cups of rice and can be cooked the day before. Mexican white spaghetti, in a creamy sauce, needs 2 oz (50 g) of dry pasta per person, or 1½ oz (40 g) if there's also rice or mash, and the sauce keeps 2 days in the fridge. Mashed potatoes drop to 5 oz (150 g) per person on a full table, can be made the day before and freeze for about 3 months.
In the cold salads, the cost is the dairy, the ham and the mayo, not the potatoes or pasta. The Mexican apple salad comes to about $1.80 a serving, and the canned media crema and condensed milk are the biggest part of it. In the macaroni salad the ham costs more than twice the pasta, and in ensalada rusa mayo is the biggest single cost. The Venezuelan chicken salad uses a whole chicken, which costs barely more than breast and leaves a pot of broth; next to other dishes, one batch serves a dozen or more.
DinnerMexican Christmas Rice with Pecans and Raisins
Mexican Christmas rice is a buttery, savoury side dish of white rice cooked in stock with raisins and toasted pecans, served with the holiday roast. Makes 8 in 55 minutes, with amounts for up to 20 and a plan for cooking it ahead.
DinnerMexican White Spaghetti (Espagueti Blanco) for Christmas
Mexican white spaghetti is pasta in a blended sauce of crema, cream cheese and butter, the creamy side next to the holiday ham or turkey. How much sauce keeps it loose, how to make it ahead for 20 and how to reheat it without it drying out.
DinnerCreamy Mashed Potatoes, Made Ahead for a Latin Christmas
Creamy mashed potatoes made with floury russets or Maris Pipers, started in cold salted water and mashed by hand so they never turn gluey. How much to make for 6, 12 or 20, how to make them the day before Nochebuena and reheat them soft.
DessertsMexican Apple Salad (Ensalada de Manzana) for Christmas
Mexican apple salad with media crema, condensed milk, pineapple, pecans and raisins, ready in 90 minutes for 10 servings. Which apples to buy, how to stop browning, how far ahead to make it, a less sweet version and amounts for 20 and 30.
SaladsMexican Macaroni Salad (Ensalada de Coditos) for a Crowd
Mexican macaroni salad with crema, mayo, ham, corn and pickled jalapeño, ready in 100 minutes (an hour of chilling) for 10. How much dressing to hold back so it never dries out, amounts for 20 and 40, food-safety times and swaps.
SaladsEnsalada Rusa, Latin American Potato Salad for a Crowd
Ensalada rusa, the Latin American potato salad with carrots, peas, egg, beet and store-bought mayo, ready in 2 hours for 10. When to dice the potatoes, the 8-minute doneness check, US and UK swaps, amounts for 20 and party safety.
SaladsVenezuelan Chicken Salad, Ensalada de Gallina for Christmas
Venezuelan chicken salad, or ensalada de gallina, is shredded hen with firm potato, carrot, peas and apple in mayo, ready in 200 minutes for 8. Hen vs chicken, US and UK swaps, buffet safety and a December 23 make-ahead plan.
Cheap Christmas desserts to make ahead
Colombian natilla is milk, panela (unrefined cane sugar) and cornstarch, made the day before and cut into 10 servings. Venezuelan quesillo is also a day-ahead dessert: it keeps 4 days in the fridge and tastes better on day two. Mexican buñuelos cost about 13 cents each for the dough and cinnamon sugar, can be fried up to 3 days ahead, and you need one per guest when there are other desserts.
For nibbling through the evening, hojuelas, thin orange-scented fritters, at 3 or 4 per person: a 1.1 lb (500 g) batch of flour makes about 75, at roughly 21 cents a serving of five. Mexican sweet tamales, pink, cinnamon and raisin, make 24 at about 58 cents each and double as Christmas breakfast; two thirds of that is the husks, and the bag covers more than one batch. In every fried sweet the real expense is the oil, so strain it and reuse it.
DessertsColombian Natilla, the Eggless Christmas Custard
Colombian natilla, the firm eggless Christmas custard of milk, cornstarch, panela and cinnamon, made for 10 people. Fifteen minutes of work plus 4 hours chilled, how much cornstarch per quart and why it will not set.
DessertsVenezuelan Quesillo, the Caramel Flan with Tiny Holes
Venezuelan quesillo is a caramel custard of 5 whole eggs and a can of sweetened condensed milk, baked in a water bath. Why the tiny holes are the point, the oven heat that makes them and how to unmold it without breaking it.
DessertsMexican Buñuelos Recipe, Crispy with Piloncillo Syrup
Mexican buñuelos are paper-thin wheat discs fried at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 45 seconds a side, 16 in 110 minutes. How to stretch without tearing, why they turn hard or greasy, piloncillo syrup and how many for a party.
DessertsColombian Hojuelas, Crisp Christmas Fried Dough
Colombian hojuelas are thin orange-scented fried dough, rolled to 2 mm (1/16 in) and fried at 350°F (175°C) so they blister and snap. One batch gives 75 pieces in 85 minutes, with panela syrup or powdered sugar and a party plan.
DessertsMexican Sweet Tamales (Tamales de Dulce), Pink and Fluffy
Mexican sweet tamales, pink tamales de dulce with raisins, made with 250 g of sugar and 300 g of fat per kilo of masa and whipped until it floats. Makes 24 in 160 minutes, with coloring options, steaming time, freezing and cost.
Holiday drinks by the potful
One pot of Mexican Christmas punch, a hot fruit punch with cinnamon and tamarind, makes 20 mugs, and doubling it to 40 is barely more work; the alcohol goes in mug by mug, so kids drink from the same pot. Champurrado, a thick chocolate drink, comes to about $0.37 a mug, and atole, its milder cinnamon cousin, about 31 cents a cup. In both the corn masa that thickens them costs almost nothing; the chocolate and the milk are the bill. Both reach 20 cups with the syrup made the day before.
For a cold toast, Venezuelan ponche crema, a rum eggnog, makes 20 servings, and the rum is the biggest line on the bill, so an inexpensive one is fine. From the same pot you can bottle an alcohol-free batch for the kids.
DrinksMexican Christmas Punch, Ponche Navideño with Tejocotes
Mexican Christmas punch (ponche navideño) is a hot fruit punch of tejocotes, guava, sugarcane and hibiscus, simmered in order of firmness. Ready in 90 minutes for 20 cups, with 40-cup amounts, spiked ratios, swaps and keep-warm tips.
DrinksMexican Champurrado, Thick Chocolate Masa Drink for a Crowd
Mexican champurrado is hot chocolate thickened with nixtamalized corn masa and sweetened with piloncillo, the drink served with tamales at posadas. Ready in 35 minutes for 6 mugs, with a 20-mug batch and US and UK swaps.
DrinksMexican atole recipe, masa harina or cornstarch, 4 flavors
Mexican atole made with masa harina, piloncillo, cinnamon and vanilla, at 60 g of masa per liter so it coats a spoon without lumps. 35 minutes for 6 cups, plus a cornstarch version, three fruit flavors and a 20-cup party batch.
DrinksVenezuelan Ponche Crema, the Rum Eggnog Cooked to 160°F
Venezuelan ponche crema is a thick rum eggnog of condensed and evaporated milk cooked to 160°F (71°C), ready in 40 minutes for two 750 ml bottles. Its alcohol content, a kid-safe version, how long it keeps in the fridge and gifting.
Easy Christmas dinner, all made the day before
If you're short on time rather than money, choose dishes that only need reheating on the day. Venezuelan asado negro, beef braised in a dark caramel sauce, is best made the day before and then only needs slicing and warming. It isn't cheap, about $5.18 a serving with the beef nearly the whole bill, but it lets you sit down with your guests. Frozen tamales go straight into the steamer, pozole is finished in 35 or 50 minutes, and an assembled pasticho goes into the oven straight from the fridge.
No-oven menu: green pozole, macaroni salad, natilla and Christmas punch. Everything is made on the 23rd except the last simmer of the pozole and heating the punch.
How much to make per person, and leftovers
To have enough without overbuying, plan one main and at most one second main. With several dishes on the table: 9 oz (250 g) of meat per person in pozole, 2 tamales, a quarter chicken, 14 oz (400 g) of bone-in pork leg or 10.5 oz (300 g) boneless, 2 oz (50 g) of dry pasta and 5 oz (150 g) of potatoes. For comparison, a whole turkey calls for 1 to 1¼ lb (450 to 550 g) per person, because the weight includes the bone.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours. Cold, day-old rice is exactly what Colombian fried rice needs: freshly cooked rice clumps in the pan. Pozole freezes 2 to 3 months in two-bowl containers, and steamed tamales 3 to 4 months.
If you made Venezuelan hallacas, the leftover dough and filling become Christmas bollos, corn parcels in banana leaf for breakfast on Christmas morning. Tied raw, they go straight into the freezer and boil for an hour without thawing.
LunchColombian Fried Rice (Arroz Chino), Takeout-Style at Home
Colombian fried rice is dark, soy-and-Worcestershire arroz chino loaded with pork, chicken, shrimp and hot dogs, served with fries. 55 minutes for 6 plates with day-old rice, a 12-inch skillet plan, US and UK swaps and costs.
BreakfastVenezuelan Christmas Bollos, Hallaca Leftovers in a Leaf
Venezuelan Christmas bollos turn leftover hallaca dough and filling into small leaf-wrapped corn parcels, boiled for 30 minutes. How much filling per pound of dough, how to wrap and tie them, the yield, and freezing them raw.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cheap Christmas dinner idea?
A pot dish that stretches, like red pozole or a batch of tamales, or roast chicken instead of a big roast; a rice or pasta side and a cold salad made the day before; natilla or buñuelos for dessert; and a pot of Christmas punch. The meat is what costs, so pick dishes that spread it out and buy cuts on the bone.
What can I serve instead of turkey for Christmas dinner on a budget?
Turkey asks for the most meat per person, 1 to 1¼ lb (450 to 550 g) of whole raw bird. Dishes that spread the meat go further: pozole uses about 9 oz (250 g) per person with broth and hominy, tamales are counted at 2 per guest, and roast chicken at a quarter bird with potatoes. If you want a centerpiece roast, a bone-in pernil at 14 oz (400 g) per person leaves leftovers for Christmas Day, and for 4 to 8 people a 5¼ lb (2.4 kg) stuffed chicken serves 6.
What can I make the day before Christmas dinner?
Almost everything: the pork and sauce for pozole, an assembled pasticho, the white spaghetti sauce, Christmas rice, mashed potatoes, macaroni salad, the apple salad dressing, the vegetables for ensalada rusa, natilla, quesillo, ponche crema and the champurrado syrup. Leave for the day the roasting, the final simmer of the pozole, cooking the pasta and tossing the apple salad.
How do I make Christmas dinner without an oven?
Make green or red pozole the main, or steam tamales, add cold macaroni salad and apple salad, natilla or quesillo made the day before, and punch on the stove. Nothing needs the oven, and on the day you only heat and mix.
How do I stretch Christmas dinner for a big crowd?
Choose batch dishes: two pots of pozole for 20 to 25, tamales at 2 per guest, cold salads in big batches and a 40-mug pot of punch, which is barely more work than 20. Plan buffet portions, smaller than a recipe's servings: Venezuelan chicken salad for 8 serves a dozen or more next to other dishes.
Where do I find Latin Christmas ingredients cheaply in the US or UK?
Masa harina is in the Latin aisle of most US supermarkets, and piloncillo is sold as cones in the Hispanic aisle; dark brown sugar, or dark muscovado in the UK, stands in for it. A bone-in fresh ham for pernil is usually ordered from the butcher. Each recipe lists the swaps and what they change.