34 Festive And Impressive Holiday Recipes That Look Fancy (But Are Incredibly Easy To Make) (2024)

This festive and adorable party app is as easy as skewering your favorite antipasto (like salami, mozzarella, or cherry tomatoes) and assembling them in a wreath formation.

Recipe: Holiday Antipasto Wreath

Recipe:Baked Gruyère in Pastry with Rosemary and Garlic

It's cute as heck, it's festive, and there's zero cooking required. Just slice mozzarella and ripe tomatoes, assemble on a serving platter, drizzle it all with olive oil or balsamic, and serve with sliced bread on the side.

Recipe: Candy Cane Caprese Board

These shareable appetizers begin with store-bought puff pastry dough. The dough is cut into little squares; topped with sweet caramelized onions, buttery mushrooms, and Gruyère cheese; and then baked in the oven.

Recipe: Gruyere, Mushroom, and Caramelized Onion Bites

Serve these as a party app or pair them with mashed potatoes for a crowd-pleasing main.

Recipe: Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs

Grab a box of Bisquick baking mix, some ground sausage, and cheddar cheese and you're halfway to this simple, yet tasty finger food.

Recipe: Bisquick Sausage Balls

For this true drop-and-go recipe, just toss all the ingredients — frozen spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, scallions, shredded cheese — into your Instant Pot and wait for this creamy party dip to cook itself.

Recipe: Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip

Instead of grating potatoes by hand, take the lazy (yet delicious) route and start with frozen tater tots to make these crispy potato pancakes.

Recipe: Shortcut Tater Tot Latkes

Pick up a fully cooked spiral-cut ham from your local market. This recipe is all about the glaze, which is made with brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, and ginger. Brush the glaze onto the ham and into the slow cooker it goes.

Recipe: Crock-Pot Ham

This creamy and tangy chicken recipe comes together in a single baking dish. Chicken thighs are baked in a cranberry marinade made with fresh cranberries, olive oil, maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, white wine, and rosemary.

Recipe: Cranberry Rosemary One-Pan Chicken

Pork tenderloin is marinated in a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, and spices, then roasted on a sheet pan with veggies until cooked through. The recipe calls for potatoes and carrots, but you can use just about any vegetable you like best.

Recipe: Sheet Pan Roast Pork Tenderloin With Vegetables

This baked pasta dish is made with any tubular pasta, onion, garlic, and a mixture of Italian sausage and ground beef. Top it all with marinara sauce and a duo of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Recipe: Classic Baked Mostaccioli

This baked pasta is sort of like mac 'n' cheese, except, thanks to tangy, creamy goat cheese and sweet caramelized onions, it's been upgraded for a special occasion.

Recipe: Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pasta Bake

These three-ingredient cookies are made by sandwiching peanut butter between two Ritz crackers and dipping the whole thing into melted chocolate.

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cracker Cookies

These homemade peppermint patties taste worlds better than the store-bought kind, and you only need five ingredients to make them. Form little patties out of condensed milk, confectioners' sugar, salt, and peppermint extract; dip them in melted chocolate; and let them sit until the chocolate sets.

Recipe: 5-Ingredient Peppermint Patties

This festive winter dessert begins with store-bought gingerbread cake mix. It's topped with a sweet and tangy frosting made with cream cheese, crushed gingerbread cookies, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar.

Recipe: Gingerbread Poke Cake

These cranberry cheesecakes can be made up to two days in advance and stored in the fridge. And just wait until you've tried this gingersnap crust...

Recipe: No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecakes

Dessert tastes better when it's boozy, and these bubbly raspberry sorbet mimosa floats are no exception.

Recipe: Rosé Raspberry Sorbet Mimosas