Christmas Dinner Party Menu & Tablescape

A Christmas Dinner Party starts with a simple tablescape and delicious menu. Host a holiday meal with these recipes and a nature-inspired Christmas tablescape. 

Host Christmas Dinner with these party ideas

Natural greenery adds a pop of color to this classic tablescape done in black and white.

If you’re hosting Christmas dinner you’ve come to the right place. I’m sharing a beautiful table setting to inspire you, plus a fantastic menu with recipes.

This Christmas table takes a more neutral approach with black and white and natural greenery. It’s a color combo that can be used and updated year after year. You can simply add to it with one accent color of your choice.

This dinner party plan is excellent for New Years Eve too! 

Christmas Dinner Menu

Hosting Christmas dinner can be daunting and that’s why I put together these easy ideas to follow. They are gorgeous enough to wow your family and friends, and the recipes are fantastic! You’ll find some of them linked to a separate post, but the ribeye roast with red wine barbecue sauce is below.

• This butternut squash and baby kale salad is seasonal and tastes amazing! It’s a great side dish or starter to serve with your holiday meal.
• A delicious Christmas dinner includes this Bone-In Ribeye Roast with red wine barbecue sauce (recipe below). Can I just tell you how good the sauce is!
• Add some surf to your turf with this lobster macaroni and cheese recipe.
• For dessert make my decadent chocolate chess pie. If you’re already having red wine with your beef then chocolate is a natural dessert pairing as well.

This holiday meal plan is perfect for Christmas day with the family, or for a special dinner party with friends. It would be a terrific plan for a New Years celebration at home too!

Christmas Table Setting

Here’s how to set a simple but stylish Christmas tablescape.

• A wide ribbon in black and white stripes stretches the full length of the table to add pizzazz to the greenery.
• As an alternative to a traditional floral centerpiece I created a natural table runner of greenery that surrounds candles in birch-looking holders. A mix of silver dollar eucalyptus from the store, and evergreen tree trimmings from the yard are overlapping and laid down the center of the table.
• To add interest I placed glittered pine cones, gold (spray painted) antlers, and decorative bird’s nests.
• The final detail is votive holders placed with a single white rose interspersed throughout the runner.
• The place settings are very simple but still layered with details. Paper place mats and cards from Red Stamp look lovely with classic white dishes and twig cutlery.
• Details added to each place setting are a single feather which reflects the nests in the centerpiece, and mini chalkboard tags as place cards.

Ribeye Roast with Red Wine Barbecue sauce

• 6 pounds Specially Selected USDA Choice Bone-In Ribeye Roast*
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• ¼ cup Iodized Salt
• 3 tablespoons Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Paprika
• 3 sprigs rosemary, minced
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 5 large russet potatoes, diced
• 750 milliliters Winking Owl Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce

Preheat oven to 500˚.

Pat roast dry with paper towels, rub surface with oil.

Combine salt, pepper, paprika and rosemary in a small bowl. Rub 7 tablespoons of salt mixture thoroughly over surface of roast. Place roast in a roasting pan and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, toss onions, celery, carrots and potatoes with remaining salt mixture. Remove roast from oven and reduce temperature to 350˚. Place vegetables around roast. Return to oven and cook for 2-2½ hours or until internal temperature reaches 130°. Remove roast and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, bring wine to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, continue cooking until reduced by half. Whisk in barbecue sauce, continue to cook until desired consistency.

*Recipes and post created in cooperation with Aldi stores.