12 Great Christmas Cookbooks

Christmas food isn’t just about roast turkey and mince pies! There are so many different recipes to try so why not make Christmas this year a special one where you can ‘wow’ your guests with a range of magnificent festive food creations!

The Christmas cookbooks below come in various formats including hardback, paperback and Kindle. Click the links to see all the options available to you.

Christmas With Gordon

Christmas With Gordon
In Christmas With Gordon, chef Gordon Ramsay gives the reader 75 delicious recipes for all occasions over the festive period, including five Christmas feasts using turkey, goose, beef, ham or sea bass, and along with this you will find accompanying recipes that go perfectly with the main course.

In his typical straight forward way, Gordon also advises the reader on ordering, shopping, preparation and timing. There is a great Party Food chapter, and handy recipes for breakfast, brunch, lunch and supper, as well as tasty treats for those with a sweet-tooth! There is advice on wines and party drinks, cheese and other festive ingredients, making “Christmas With Gordon” a great guide to Christmas eating.

Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection

Mary Berry's Christmas Collection
Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection combines traditional festive dishes with a great selection of new and exciting recipes to add interest to your Christmas feasts.

Within the pages of this Christmas recipe book you will find many excellent meals, and to make your entertaining easier and stress-free, Mary has included some great handy hints. If you’re holding a family Christmas dinner, a Boxing Day crowd or a quiet New Year meal, Mary Berry is here to help! Included in ‘Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection’ is a useful Christmas Day countdown, sample menus, shopping lists and handy tips on preparing for the celebrations and for cleverly using and saving what food is left (if any). This is a must-have recipe book for the festive period.

Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities

Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities
In Nigella Christmas, Nigella offers a no-nonsense approach and inspirational way to approach your Christmas cooking. By using sensible advice and easy-to-follow recipes, this Christmas recipe book is sure to bring festive joy to your household.

From party food ideas, delicious cake and pudding recipes to the main celebratory meal, Nigella has you covered. Included are sections on cocktails and canapés, soups, salads and sauces, easy dinner ideas and stress-free suppers, traditional Christmas dinners as well as alternatives such as goose, beef, pork or vegetarian, plus Christmas baking and sweet treats and recipes to make Boxing Day special.

With attractive photography, well written recipes and a beautiful design, you will treasure this book and look forward to using it each year. It also makes a fab Christmas present for friends or family.

Delia’s Happy Christmas

Delia's Happy Christmas
It could well be said that Delia’s Happy Christmas is the ultimate guide to Christmas cooking!

In this Christmas recipe book you will find 150 festive recipes including all your favourite traditional dishes and, of course, Delia’s Classic Christmas Cake recipe that has been in print for over 40 years. Naturally there is Delia’s foolproof recipe for a Roast Turkey dinner and all the trimmings and a traditional Christmas Pudding as well as ideas for parties, boxing-day suppers, vegetarian feasts and what to do with leftovers.

Organisation is the key to success so Delia also provides us with helpful menu plans, food shopping lists and her very own special Christmas calendar. If you’re unorganised there is also a chapter named ‘Last-Minute Christmas’ for the unprepared!

Illustrated with glorious full-colour photography, there’s no mistaking that everyone needs Delia at Christmas!

The Hairy Bikers’ 12 Days of Christmas

The Hairy Bikers' 12 Days of Christmas
If you’re looking for a more relaxed Christmas cookbook then take a look at Si and Dave’s offering of The Hairy Bikers’ 12 Days of Christmas. With their unending enthusiasm for great food and everything festive, this is an excellent Christmas recipe book for you to own and enjoy. In this book you will discover many popular festive dishes plus new and inventive Christmas recipes that the guys love to cook for their own family and friends.

The Hairy Bikers offer you some great recipes for the main meal on Christmas Day as well as giving you many tasty dishes for the rest of the festive period. Don’t miss out on their choice of delicious cocktails to tame your in-laws, clever recipes for any leftovers and super snacks to nibble on in front of the telly. Si and Dave even tell you how to make your own Christmas crackers – perfect for keeping the kids distracted for a while. Make ‘The Hairy Bikers’ 12 Days of Christmas’ the handy and tasty companion to your all of your festive celebrations this year.

Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook
Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook is full of classic recipes for the big day and beyond, as well as lots of tasty recipes for parties and exciting ways to make use of leftovers.

Chapters include Meat, The Wonderful World of Potatoes, Vegetarian Mains and Scrumptious Veggie Sides, Cute Edible Gifts and Festive Puddings, so you’re guaranteed to have many delicious festive feasts, without any stress.

You will discover many tasty alternatives to the standard Christmas dinner and in this cookbook there are recipes for pâtés and soups, roast turkey, goose and venison, nut roasts, roast and mashed potatoes, vegetables, gravies, sauces, stuffing, and risotto. For the dessert there is Christmas pudding, trifles, pavlova, chocolate logs, Christmas cake, mince pies, gingerbread, baked camembert, smoked salmon bilinis, hot buttered rum and lots more besides!

The Christmas Chronicles

The Christmas Chronicles
More than a cookbook, The Christmas Chronicles speaks of the passion that Nigel Slater has for winter. With recipes, decorations, tales and suppers, Nigel expertly guides you through the neccesary preparations for Christmas and the New Year, plus all else you may need to enjoy the winter months.

Directing you from the start of November all the way through to the end of January, this book has chapters on everything from Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year to Epiphany. Nigel gives the reader over 100 recipes that are perfect for the winter months, including the festive period. Traditional and loved Christmas classics such as goose and turkey, mincemeat and Christmas cake are here, and you can also find recipes to make the cold months feel warmer and bright flavours to welcome the new year.

Chock full of feasts, folktales, myths and memoir, all told in Nigel’s welcoming style, The Christmas Chronicles is the perfect book for the winter solstice.

Tanya’s Christmas: Make, Bake and Celebrate

Tanya's Christmas: Make, Bake and Celebrate
More than simply a Christmas cookbook, Tanya’s Christmas: Make, Bake and Celebrate is a celebration of Christmas crammed with festive recipes and craft projects.

In this festive book, Tanya Burr offers the reader her knowledge of everything needed to make the most of Christmas. Besides some classic Christmas recipes such as roast turkey with all the trimmings and baked festive treats, she aims to guide you on how to choose the perfect gift, decorate your home, host a memorable party, and she also offers her own hair and make-up tips.

Written as a countdown to Christmas Day and the New Year, this book has over 50 delightful recipes and inspiring craft projects. ‘Tanya’s Christmas’ is a celebration of the season that makes a wonderful gift – or simply buy it for yourself!

Gizzi’s Season’s Eatings: Feasts & Celebrations from Halloween to Happy New Year

Gizzi's Season's Eatings: Feasts & Celebrations from Halloween to Happy New Year
Nobody enjoys a gathering more than Gizzi Erksine, and in Gizzi’s Season’s Eatings, her winter book offering, she shows you how to create tasty, crowd-pleasing food for your family and friends. Whatever the occasion, you will find something to make for the ones you love.

With chapters including Halloween, Bonfire Night, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, you will find recipes for Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and New Year’s brunch. For Halloween she creates a frightful feast and for Guy Fawkes night you’ll love to make her sausage casserole. Other recipes include Boxing Day turkey mole enchiladas, Thanksgiving clambake and dense chocolate Christmas cake.

New York Christmas: Recipes and Stories

New York Christmas: Recipes and Stories
Written by authors Lisa Nieschlag and Lars Wentrup, New York Christmas is a combination of recipes and stories. In it you can live the dream of a White Christmas in New York where coloured lights decorate the buildings, Jingle Bells rings out from every street corner and festive cuisine tempts you to indulge.

If you’ve ever dreamed of strolling down a wintry Fifth Avenue, ice-skating around the Christmas tree in front of the Rockerfeller Center, or enjoying a delicious slice of pumpkin pie in a bustling New York cafe, you will love this book. Inside you will discover 50 uniquely American recipes from Maple Glazed Ham and Savoury Bagels to Blueberry Brownies and an unforgettable Cheesecake, all interwoven with a collection of lovely Christmas stories from the Big Apple. You will also be thrilled to find three special Christmas-themed tales that are so well-known in the US that they have now become part of popular Christmas folklore in the USA.

Scandinavian Christmas

Scandinavian Christmas
In Scandinavia the whole of Christmastime, from the first Sunday in Advent to New Year’s Day, is celebrated by festivals – both traditional contemporary – and you will discover all the pleasure of it in Scandinavian Christmas by Trine Hahnemann. Bakers will love to hear that the first week of December is baking week when enough baked goods have to be made to last the whole Christmas period. From brunches, cocktail and tea parties, to lunches and dinners, the Scandinavians cook a mixture of traditional and modern recipes. Duck and pork are most common on Christmas Eve, whilst fish, ham and seasonal vegetables are served on Christmas Day. Sweets, biscuits, puddings and other tasty foods are plentiful – all accompanied by gluwein and fruity cocktails.

This lovely book, complete with beautiful photography, contains 70 Christmas recipes as well as tips on how to decorate your homes and celebrate Christmas the Scandinavian way.

Good Food: 101 Christmas Dishes

Good Food: 101 Christmas Dishes
Full of inspirational ideas, excellent menus and superb recipes, the Good Food: 101 Christmas Dishes cookbook will find festive foodies jumping for joy as the discover everything they need to make Christmas magical.

This Christmas recipe book is split into six sections: Edible Gifts, Christmas Cakes and Other Bakes, Party Drinks and Nibbles, The Christmas Feast and all the Trimmings, Entertaining Starters and Centrepieces, and Festive Finales. The recipes are varied, and most are simple and quick and could be made by anyone. Each recipe is accompanied by its own picture which is essential for any good cookbook.

From canapés to Christmas cake, the BBC Good Food Magazine will guide you on every step of journey through Christmas cooking with mouthwatering, simple recipes that won’t keep you in the kitchen for hours on end.