Popular Australian Christmas Food Ideas

Every country features its holiday traditions. While Australia shares some American traditions, Australians live in the Land Down Under. This means it’s hot in December, so their Christmas menu reflects the summery weather.

How do Australians celebrate Christmas?

Families and close friends get together on Christmas day. For Australians, their big holiday meal is the Christmas lunch. Some families prepare a Christmas ham and rich plum pudding, while others prefer to celebrate outside and cook prawns on the barbecue.

What is popular Christmas food in Australia?

Australians celebrate the holidays in several ways, including hosting a barbecue on Christmas day and grilling up giant prawns, burgers, and seafood. Other families sit down to a meal of cold glazed ham. Dessert is very important on Christmas Day in Australia and may include traditional desserts, such as pavlova, trifles, and white Christmas bars.

20 Australian Christmas food ideas

These 20 dishes are some of the most popular dishes served on Christmas Day. They include traditional main dishes, side dishes, and delectable desserts.

1. Pavlova topped with fruit

Pavlova is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Pavlova is made from a fluffy meringue, homemade whipped cream, and seasonal fruit, such as mangos or passion fruit.

2. Classic Christmas trifle

The Christmas trifle is another favorite Australian dessert. It features layers of sherry-soaked sponge cake, fresh berries with jelly, and creamy mascarpone custard.

3. Australian Christmas pudding

Australian Christmas pudding is creamy and cool and is perfect for the hot weather. It is made from sweet dark cherries that are candied, four different kinds of chocolate, including cocoa powder and powdered gelatin.

4. Christmas ham

The Christmas ham is often the main event. Some families glaze the ham with honey or maple syrup. Others use pineapple juice. The ham is often served with baked apples or cranberry sauce.

5. Cold ham and turkey

Many Australians cook the Christmas ham or turkey a few days earlier, so they’re not around a hot oven on Christmas day. This way, the meat is served sliced cold, and everyone makes sandwiches.

6. Australian cocktails

Australians love having cocktails at Christmas. They prefer cool and refreshing drinks like white Christmas sangria made with white wine, raspberries, apples, and soda water. They also love toasting with champagne or drinking beers at the holiday barbecue.

 7. Smoked oysters

 Oysters are the perfect luxurious holiday splurge. Smoke some oysters on the grill and rub a garlic and chili vinegar sauce on them.

8. BBQ prawns

Prawns are a staple at an Australian barbecue. They can be prepared in many ways, including brushing them with melted butter, garlic, and chili pepper for a kick.

9. Cheesy au gratin potatoes

Au gratin potatoes are a staple on Christmas Day in Australia—the cheesier, the better. This dish is rich, satisfying, and filled with cheesy goodness. They use russet or yellow potatoes, heavy cream, and an Italian blend cheese to achieve a hearty richness.

10. BBQ seafood with lemon garlic butter

This seafood platter features signature prawns and scallops. They’re prepared in a lemon-garlic sauce and thrown on the grill.

11. Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding

While many Australians eat the traditional Christmas ham or BBQ prawns, some love a beef rib roast with the trimmings. The Yorkshire pudding is prepared out of sifted flour, milk, eggs, and thyme leaves. After it’s thickened, cook it in a muffin tin filled with hot lard.

12. Duck fat roast potatoes

Cooking waxy potatoes like Nicola or Dutch cream potatoes in duck fat adds extra flavor and crispiness. The potatoes are par-boiled to activate the starch before they’re cooked in the oven.

13. Old fashioned white Christmas

Since they can’t get a white snowy Christmas in Australia, they make a white Christmas dessert. It’s prepared with Rice Krispies, melted butter, mixed tried fruit, shredded coconut, and icing sugar.

14. Mangos and cherries

During these warmer months, cherries and mangos are in season, so Australians always include them on their Christmas menu. Sometimes, an elaborate fruit platter becomes everyone’s favorite appetizer.

15. Potato salad

At an Australian Christmas, there is often potato salad since it compliments BBQ and cold meats. It’s not like American potato salad, though. It’s made out of homemade mayonnaise, sour cream, and bacon.

16. Prawn mango avocado summer salad

Mangos and prawns are both popular in Australia, so what’s better than a refreshing salad with mangos, prawns, arugula, and avocados.

17. Plum pudding cake pops

To make preparing these cake pops easier, purchase a chocolate mud cake and crumble it in a bowl. Add melted chocolate and hazelnuts to form your pudding pops.

18. Classic rum balls

These fragrant rum balls are infused with dark rum and rolled in toasted coconut for a traditional holiday treat.

19. Gingerbread

Gingerbread is a universal tradition, and Australians enjoy baking and decorating gingerbread people as part of their cookie pastimes. They also enjoy making gingerbread houses with their families.

20. Fruit mince pies

Fruit mince pies are traditional at Christmas. They include dried mixed fruit, Granny Smith apples, and almonds. It’s fun to cut out cookie-cutter shapes for the top of the tart shell dough.

Final thoughts on Australian Christmas food ideas

Many Australians prefer eating cold ham and turkey instead of a warm formal dinner due to the hot climate. Some celebrate in their backyard with BBQ prawns and beer. The traditional Australian desserts, such as pavlova and the Christmas trifle, are also a huge part of Australian Christmas food. If you’d like to try making any of these Australian favorites, you can find the ingredients via Instacart.

Grab it now on Instacart:

Prawns Wild Caught Jumbo (1 per lb)

Cherries (1 lb)

Chincoteague Shell Oysters (6 ct)

Northern Chef 41/50 Ez-Peel Raw Prawns (32 oz)

Extra Large Wilde Prawns (1 00)

MANGOS Red Mango (1 each)

Arugula (8 oz container)

Instacart

Author

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.