Turkish Christmas Party Food Ideas • Turkey's For Life

The festive season is upon us and we’ve got a list of Christmas party food ideas for you!

A poinsettia plant with lots of red flowers. — It’s not Christmas without a poinsettia on the table

This is the time of year where many of us love to have gatherings where friends can come round for drinks and nibbles.

So we’ve brought together a few Christmas buffet ideas that may well be a talking point amongst your friends and family.

Some are well-known Turkish recipes.

Some are decidedly international recipes.

And many of them will also satisfy friends who are looking for vegetarian and vegan dishes.

But all will come together to make a great Christmas buffet food table.

Festivities In Turkey

Where have our Christmas party food ideas come from?

Well, in many parts of western Turkey, at least, December is the time when Turkish people and foreigners alike will decorate their trees.

And dig out any other festive decorations that have been hidden away since the previous year.

In Fethiye, the Çalış Christmas Fair at the beginning of December attracts thousands of shoppers, both Turkish and international.

And we’re all there for our festive decorations and other treats.

A closeup of red baubles on a Christmas tree. — In Turkey, trees and decorations are put up for New Year

Christmas & New Year

In our house, we are doing all this in preparation for the main event on 25th December.

For our Turkish friends, they are doing this in preparation for the main event, New Year’s Eve.

Various local restaurants around Fethiye will advertise their Christmas menus.

They’ll also advertise their Yılbaşı Menüsü – the New Year’s Eve menu.

This New Year’s Eve menu is often a set menu with a fixed price.

And, amongst other courses, features an array of meze dishes for the table.

We’ve taken inspiration from the meze selection on these types of menu.

And added some dishes that we would have on offer for friends, too.

Make Your Party Food Ahead Of Time

The great thing is, most of the dishes can be made ahead of time.

Turkish food lends itself really well to sharing with guests so this means you can spend more time enjoying yourself with guests rather than rushing around in the kitchen.

Many are also dishes that go well with other foods such as şiş kebabs and cold meats – yes, turkey included.

And, of course, you can just add piles of fresh crusty bread to the table, too!

Christmas & New Year’s Eve Food Ideas

So, if you’re having a get together over the festive season and are looking for some Christmas party food ideas, here’s our list of suggestions…

We're kicking proceedings off with a famous Turkish soup.

This can be served as part of a festive sit down meal or, if you're having guests around for a party, let them serve themselves in a cup.

a bowl of soup viewed from above. The soup is orange coloured and topped with red chilli flakes and green dried mint.

Red Lentil Soup Recipe – A Turkish Favourite

Soup might not seem an obvious Christmas party food but it's a popular Turkish New Year's Eve food.

If you've got lots of guests who are going to be standing or sitting around outside, warm them up with some soup in a cup!

A bowl of spicy red lentil soup is a Turkish classic and a favourite for many.

If you have vegetarians and vegans coming to your festive, this is a soup that everyone can enjoy.

Soup is easy to make ahead, so it saves you work on the night with your Christmas buffet.

Now let's move onto some traditional meze plates – dips and spreads.

Some are traditionally Turkish whilst others, like the pate and chutney, might be more traditionally British but they're made with Turkish ingredients.

A shallow terracotta bowl with a yoghurt dip containing grated carrots. A spoon is laid on its side in the bowl.

Garlic Yoghurt With Carrots – Sarımsaklı Yoğurtlu Havuç Salatası

Every festive buffet table needs dips.

In Turkey, whether it's New Year's Eve food or a gathering at other times of year, there will be more than one yoghurt-based salad or dip on the table.

We've chosen garlic yoghurt with carrots because it's loved by many.

You can also make it feel more like Christmas party food by adding crumbled walnuts over the top, which is a traditional addition here in Turkey.

A close up of a circular blue plate with a red pepper paste, topped with broken walnuts and torn parsley leaves. Two flatbreads are in the background.

Muhammara Recipe – A Tasty Red Pepper & Walnut Dip

Add muhammara to your Christmas buffet and get your guests talking. Guaranteed to pique the curiosity.

Nuts are synonymous with Christmas and this recipe is packed with them!

Muhammara is rich and flavoursome, making it ideal Christmas party food.

Homemade Smoked Trout Pate – Füme Alabalık Ezmesi

Let's move onto seafood for Christmas buffet ideas.

We know pate isn't Turkish but ezme (as in the famous Antep ezmesi) is. Ezme is any food that has been smashed and blended together to make a paste.

Swap the smoked trout for mackerel if you like for this füme alabalık ezmesi.

Winter Chutney Recipe – A Feast Of Seasonal Produce

We know chutney isn't Turkish – but it's a perfect accompaniment to the cheeses on your Christmas cheese board.

Add some Turkish cheeses to the collection.

Quick & Easy Chicken Liver Pate Recipe

And so the same applies for chicken liver pate – tavuk ciğeri ezmesi. Increasingly popular in Turkey.

For us, pate is perfect food for a Christmas party.

A terracotta bowl filled with hummus and topped with a sprinkling of chill flakes

A Tasty & Simple Hummus Recipe

There are few people who don't like hummus.

If you want to go that extra mile with your Christmas party food, this article also contains an option for hot hummus with pastırma.

It's a winner!

An open jar of labneh balls photographed from above. The balls are coated in seeds.

Homemade Labneh Balls

Make your own labneh balls and get creative by rolling them in different spicy, herby coatings for your guests to enjoy.

This is a perfect, easy make ahead food that will look great on any Christmas party table.

A blue plate with mixed pickled vegetables on it. Green tomato, carrot, cucumber and aubergine.

A Recipe For Turkish Pickles (Turşu) & Why You Should Be Eating Them…

Pickles with everything from your leftover cold meats to your cheese board.

Perfect Christmas party food. In Turkey, turşu is not just New Year's Eve food. It's a staple.

Pickles are also eaten in some bars with a glass of beer. Give your guests a treat!

Also, check out our recipe for pickled red cabbage if mixed pickles are not your thing.

Salads and side dishes for your Christmas party table that are definitely full of Turkish flavour!

A glass oval bowl of finally chopped salad. Red onion, tomato, fresh green herbs and tomato is visible. The photo is taken from above.

Gavurdağı Salad – A Tomato & Walnut Salad Packed With Zing

Gavurdaği salad is a salad from the southeast of Turkey.

It's made our Christmas party food list because it pairs perfectly with grilled and cold meats.

If you're adding şiş kebabs to your Christmas buffet, this salad is their best friend.

It's also full of festive colour. And, again, the walnuts are very present.

Let's also not forget that other festive ingredient. Gavurdağı salatası is also a celebration of the pomegranate!

And Turkish people traditionally eat pomegranates on New Year's Eve.

An above shot of roasted cauliflower florets topped with pomegranate and chopped fresh coriander. This is sitting on a bed of tahini sauce.

Roasted Cauliflower With Tahini Sauce & Pomegranate

This is a fabulous – and filling – vegetarian dish that just looks so festive and makes use of seasonal ingredients; cauliflower and pomegranate.

Serve as part of your party table as a meze or side or enjoy as a festive snack while watching a film.

Check out this recipe

Brussels Sprouts With Sucuk and Chestnuts

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts With Chestnuts & Sucuk – How We Learned To Love Our Seasonal Nemesis

It's Christmas, of course we're having Brussels sprouts – Brüksel lahanası.

Give them a flavour of Turkey by sautéing them with sucuk and seasonal chestnuts.

A great side dish for your Christmas buffet or New Year's Eve food table.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts sliced in half and drizzled with yoghurt. On a white plate.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Two Ways – With A Turkish Twist

If sautéed Brussels are not your thing, try them roasted instead.

Two recipes for you, here; one vegetarian and one vegan.

Both recipes will give your Christmas buffet table a flavour of Turkey.

And now for some festive finger food.

Börek is perfect finger food, as are shish kebabs and these twice baked potatoes!

Twice Baked Potatoes – A Perfect Weekend Treat

Kumpir (baked potato) is a famous Turkish street food. This twice baked potato is perfect Christmas party food.

Use small potatoes so people can have them as finger food.

Make them ahead of time. Then heat and crisp up in the oven when your guests arrive.

Four deep fried crispy cheese rolls on a blue plate.

How To Make Sigara Böreği (Turkish Cheese Rolls)

Look no further than Turkish cheese rolls for Christmas buffet ideas. Perfect finger food! And quick to cook, so you can serve them hot and crispy.

Sigara böreği is a regular on the Turkish New Year's Eve food table.

Turkish seafood börek triangles. The filling is visible in the end pastry.

Seafood Filo Triangles – Turkish Pastry Pockets Filled With Flavours Of The Ocean

Christmas party food can never involve too much yufka (filo).

Prepare these seafood filo triangles – muska böreği – ahead so they can just go out on the buffet table when your guests arrive.

Four cooked chicken skewers served with griddled onion, green peppers, tomato and mushroom.

Chicken Shish Kebab Recipe – Authentically Turkish

How about some authentic Turkish chicken shish kebabs on your Christmas party food table?

You can make the kebabs ahead of time – they will keep for three days, cooked (or 2 days, uncooked) in the fridge.

Make up lots for your guests and serve hot or cold as finger food.

Many of the dips and salads listed above make perfect accompaniments for shish kebabs.

Check out this recipe

Let's move onto some festive desserts, both traditionally Turkish and, of course, the old faithful traditional British offering.

Mince Pie Recipe – Because It’s Not Christmas Without Them

And again, you can't have a buffet table filled with Christmas party food and not have homemade mince pies there.

Not Turkish – but it is Christmas.

For a flavour of Turkey, experiment with yufka – filo pastry – cases to make a 'festive fruity börek.'

Two apple tart squares topped with sliced apples and caster sugar.

Quick & Easy Puff Pastry Apple Tart Recipe – Elmalı Milföy Tart

There are lots of Turkish desserts featuring apples; especially where börek (pastry) is involved. We've included a tip in the article for how to make your apple tarts even more festive.

Check out this recipe

A slice of revani sponge cake topped with raspberries and broken pistachio nuts. Raspberries are also on the side.

Revani Recipe – A Semolina Cake Drenched In Zesty Syrup

Not everyone likes a mince pie. So here's a Turkish alternative for guests looking for something sweet; revani.

Ideal Christmas party food because we have festive citrus flavours.

And, again, the nuts make an appearance in the form of pistachio, hazelnuts and/or walnuts.

And we can't have Christmas and New Year without the famous festive drink!

(Fethiye) Mulled Wine Recipe – Christmas In A Cup

Christmas or New Year's Eve parties need a recipe for mulled wine – or sıcak şarap as it's called here in Turkey.

Give your warming comfort drink a bit of a festive kick with some extra rum or brandy.

As with our list of Turkish aubergine recipes, this list will grow and evolve in the future.

We have a few recipe ideas for our festive Turkish buffet table for this year that we haven’t made, yet.

We’re looking forward to experimenting and making this list bigger and better!

Afiyet Olsun!