Seafood Recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Menus – Beragampengetahuan

Our easy seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus for those of you celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes or Christmas lunch in the sun, include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

Whether you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Admittedly, many of our seafood recipes are salmon recipes, as salmon is not only super-healthy, it’s easy to cook, and you don’t have to do much at all to smoked salmon, which is very versatile. You could, of course, swap the salmon out for your favourite fish in most of our recipes, especially the Cambodian ceviche-style appetiser, the fish soups and fish pastas.

Now before I share our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus, I have a favour to ask.

beragampengetahuan is reader-funded. If you’ve used and enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting beragampengetahuan by supporting our original, epic, first-of-its-kind Cambodian culinary history and cookbook on Patreon for as little as the price of a coffee a month.

You can also support our work by using links on the site to book accommodation, purchase travel insurance, or book a tour on Get Your Guide; or you could shop our beragampengetahuan online store (we have fun gifts for foodies designed with Terence’s images).

Or you could buy something on Amazon, such as these award-winning cookbooks, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, or gifts for Asian food lovers. Now let me share our easy seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus.

Seafood Recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Menus

Our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus include everything from fish soup and fish pasta to a salmon salad, pan-fried salmon fillets and a salmon tray bake.

Australian Style Prawn Cocktail Recipe

This classic prawn cocktail recipe tops my list of best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus. It makes my take on the retro appetiser popularised in the 1970s that will never go out of style.

Tiger prawns boiled quickly in their shells so they’re just done are peeled, tossed in a creamy tangy ‘seafood sauce’, and served on a bed of lettuce salad, dressed with the same sauce.

In Australia, prawn cocktails featured on our table on Christmas Day and other holiday meals when my parents indulged in a bounty of fresh seafood, at home or away, on road trips up the east coast, staying in beachside caravan parks.

Of all the seafood mum and dad prepared, which always included an abundance of oysters made three ways – natural, kilpatrick and mornay – the prawn cocktails we created, more generously sized than the restrained bowls at restaurants, were my favourite.

Classic Prawn Cocktail Recipe for the Retro Seventies Starter that Never Goes Out of Style

Cambodian Ceviche Style Raw Fish Salad Recipe

This traditional Khmer raw fish salad recipe for phlea trei makes a Cambodian ceviche usually made with a local firm white fish ‘cooked’ in citrus juice, and it’s another one of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus.

It’s an ancient Khmer dish that feels contemporary. As we use sashimi quality salmon for this dish, we’ve not marinated the salmon and allowed it to ‘cook’ in the citrus-based dressing as it traditionally is, however, the dish still has the same wonderful flavour profile and texture.

It’s a fantastic dish that, as impressive as it looks, is easy to make and comes together quickly. When served in Siem Reap restaurants it’s a visual feast for the eyes, the plates prettily strewn with edible flowers – the use of which is very traditional, not merely a contemporary flourish.

Traditional Khmer Raw Fish Salad Recipe for the Cambodian Style Ceviche Called Phlea Trei

Creamy Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe with Capers and Dill Pickles

This smoked salmon dip recipe is made with salty capers, zingy dill pickles, purple shallots, a pinch of paprika, and plenty of fresh perfumed dill and it beats a store-bought dip any day.

While it might cost you a bit more to make, nothing tops homemade and you’ll taste the difference in the fresh herbs and proper salmon. It’s utterly addictive.

I also add white pepper, garlic powder and sea salt, all of which you can adjust to your taste. You might also like to try my homemade olive tapenade and cheese straws recipes. I have more dip recipes for crackers and crudités here.

Creamy Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe with Salty Capers, Dill Pickles, Paprika and Fresh Dill

Fish Pot Pie Recipe for Mini Mashed Potato Salmon Pies

This classic fish pot pie recipe makes mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies baked in individual ramekins. Delicious as they are, these adorable salmon pot pies are also very versatile.

You could replace the salmon with a white fish, combine types of fish, add prawns or mussels or both, and add spices such as nutmeg to the creamy salmon.

Even better than a pie with pastry, particularly if you prefer to spend more time around the dining table with loved ones than in the kitchen, is a pot pie – a pie without pastry that’s baked in a small pot or ramekin.

These little salmon pot pies may look simple but beneath the crispy cheesy lid are layers of buttery mashed potatoes infused with fresh fragrant herbs that sandwich a layer of chunky salmon pieces simmered in a rich creamy sauce.

Fish Pot Pie Recipe for Mini Mashed Potato and Salmon Pot Pies with Crispy Melted Cheese

Bigoli con Salsa Recipe for a Classic Venetian Pasta Dish

This bigoli con salsa recipe from Venice, Italy, is made with wholewheat pasta with an anchovy and onion sauce, sprinkled liberally with parsley. It’s a classic Venetian pasta dish that is deceptively simple and decidedly delicious, and it’s another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

This bigoli con salsa recipe could not be simpler. But as Francesco, the owner of Antiche Carampane told us when we sought his advice on what we should make from Venice for our series The Dish, on the quintessential dishes of places: “It’s the salty seafood taste of the anchovies combined with the sweetness of the onions that make bigoli con salsa so special.”

After eating a sublime plate of the stuff at Vini da Gigio, we asked the waitress exactly what they put in their sauce. “Olive oil, anchovies, onion, parsley, and seasoning,” she said. That’s it. Brilliant. And for those who turn up their nose at anchovies, taste the dish first, you’ll be surprised at how subtle the anchovy taste is.

Bigoli con Salsa Recipe – How to Make This Classic Venetian Pasta Dish

Spaghetti con Vongole e Bottarga Recipe from Sardinia

This spaghetti con vongole e bottarga recipe was taught to us by locals in Teulada, Sardinia, when we were on the island during that year-long grand tour of the world that launched beragampengetahuan. Terence made it for the same people a couple of nights later for a dinner party – and they liked it!

When we checked into our colourful casa we found that our hosts Antonio and Christina had left us a Sardinian cookbook and a packet of powder that looked like turmeric, telling us that, as we liked to cook, this was the local specialty. It turned out it wasn’t a powder, it was bottarga – salted, pressed, dried, and ground grey mullet roe. For seafood lovers its aroma is amazing and it’s very moreish.

The classic, simple, fisherman’s version of this dish consists of spaghetti, olive oil (home-pressed, of course!) and a little chilli, and the bottarga is left in a bowl on the table, so each person can vary the amount they sprinkle on their plate depending on individual taste. It’s easily another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Spaghetti con Vongole e Bottarga Recipe Made in Teulada on the Island of Sardinia, Italy

Riblja Čorba Fish Soup Recipe from Montenegro

This recipe for riblja corba, a fish soup from the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. is one of my favourite fish soup recipes and another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Riblja corba is a wonderful fish soup that you’ll see on many menus in the historic city of Kotor. Not surprisingly, as Kotor is intrinsically linked to the sea, as are its people. Riblja corba was created as a way for fishermen to use the small fish that nobody bought.

Fishermen’s soups have a long tradition in Montenegro, so it was fitting that we learnt to make this fish soup recipe from a chef cum boat captain with a seafaring heritage, chef Rino Janovic of restaurant Cesarica in the Old Town of Kotor.

Riblja Čorba, a Fish Soup Recipe from Kotor, Montenegro

Russian Fish Soup Recipe for Ukha Made with Salmon

This Russian fish soup recipe for ukha is my take on a family recipe based on a centuries-old traditional Russian soup said to be a favourite of emperors and peasants alike.

It’s an easy soup recipe, made with fresh salmon fillets, spices, vegetables, and dill, making it another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Historically it was a fisherman’s soup, made with several types of fish, such as perch, pike, trout, and/or salmon, so feel free to add other fish to this soup, although salmon keeps me sated. Serve with plenty of fresh fragrant dill, sour cream and dark rye bread.

Russian Fish Soup Recipe for Ukha – A Traditional Fish Soup Made with Salmon

Salmon Tray Bake Recipe for Crispy Salmon with Vegetables

This easy salmon tray bake recipe makes crispy skinned salmon fillets baked so that the skin crackles but the flesh remains moist, with roasted spring vegetables that are just-done so that they’re still fresh and crunchy.

Sprinkled with spring onions and fresh fragrant dill and served with lemon slices, it makes the lightest of fish roasts, perfect for a southern hemisphere Christmas Day lunch in the sun.

I add veggies such as asparagus, beans and peas near the end of cooking so that they’re just-done and still taste fresh and crunchy, almost like a warm salad.

I’ve popped some lemon slices on the tray but they’re not all that practical, so provide an additional bowl of lemon quarters for your guests to squeeze onto the salmon.

Easy Salmon Tray Bake Recipe for Crispy Skinned Salmon with Spring Vegetables

Vietnamese Clay Pot Caramelised Fish Recipe

This easy Vietnamese caramelised fish recipe with fresh turmeric, fragrant dill and peanuts is another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as comes together quickly, despite the fact you need to pound a marinade and paste in a mortar and pestle. It’s great exercise for the arms, trust me!

Called ‘Vietnamese clay pot fish with fresh dill’ at Hoi An’s Red Bridge Cooking School where we first learnt to make it – because it’s traditionally cooked in a clay pot – the dish tastes like a combination of two Vietnamese specialties, chả cá lã vọng from the North and cá kho tộ from the South.

Our cooking instructor recommended it be made with either salmon, mackerel, salmon, snapper, sea bass, basa, or catfish – I’ve eaten it with trout in Sapa – but we make this dish with salmon because it’s absolutely delicious and is enormously popular here and readily available.

I also adore it because salmon and dill are a perfect match. While you could certainly use salmon steaks, I prefer smaller pieces of salmon as they better absorb the turmeric marinade better, and work well with steamed rice or noodles.

Easy Vietnamese Clay Pot Caramelised Fish Recipe with Fresh Turmeric, Fragrant Dill and Peanuts

Pan-Fried Salmon Fillets with Colcannon Recipe

This salmon fillet with colcannon recipe has been a favourite since we first tasted the dish at restaurant Banc in Sydney some years ago. The crispy skinned salmon fillet was cooked to perfection, the colcannon creamy and rich, and while the red wine sauce seemed an unusual choice, its acidity worked well with a mouthful of the other ingredients.

If you love Terence’s creamy mashed potatoes recipe as much as I do, then you’re going to adore this colcannon recipe. If you’re not familiar with colcannon, it’s a classic Irish mashed potato dish with kale or cabbage and spring onions, and can entertain other ingredients, such as bacon or pancetta.

We also provide tips for cooking salmon. A lot of people get nervous cooking salmon, but it’s actually one of the simplest fish to cook. The most difficult part is carefully scoring the skin. Tip: use your sharpest knife. More tips to frying salmon and getting a perfect crispy salmon skin in the post.

Salmon Fillet with Colcannon Recipe and How to Get a Perfect Crispy Salmon Skin

Please do let us know if you make any of our easy seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus, as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.

Related Posts You Might Like