Our easy seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus for those of you celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes or a seafood-driven 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.
We’ve pulled together this collection of our best seafood recipes for those of you who celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the tradition of Southern Italy, which Italian-Americans evolved into the Feast of the Seven Fishes. And for our Australian readers who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer and feast on seafood for Christmas.
We’ve got loads of easy seafood recipes, especially prawn recipes and salmon recipes. Who doesn’t love prawns?! Or shrimps to our American readers. Prawns are deliciously addictive and versatile. Salmon is also sublime, super-healthy, easy to cook, and you don’t have to do much to smoked salmon. Of course, you could swap smoked salmon for smoked trout, which is more sustainable. And swap fresh salmon for your favourite fish for most of our recipes.
If you’re cooking with crustaceans, see our guide to how to cook crustaceans, including lobster, crayfish, crabs, prawns, and yabbies, with tips on how to kill crustaceans humanely.
Now before I share our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or by buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers. Now let’s tell you about our best seafood recipes.
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.
Cambodian Pomelo Salad with Prawns Recipe – Traditional Dish, Modern Presentation
This Cambodian pomelo salad with prawns recipe has been one of our favourite Cambodian dishes since we moved to Cambodia all those years ago and it’s a breeze to make. It’s another traditional dish that can be served in a more contemporary style for entertaining and that’s just what we did with this more modern presentation.
Salads are almost always a component of a Cambodian meal and this Cambodian pomelo salad with prawns recipe has the fresh, clean flavours you want to accompany a stir-fry, soup, stew or curry. Sometimes served with pork, this version uses large, fresh shrimps for protein.
This was another traditional dish, along with the classic Khmer fish amok (a steamed fish curry), sweet pork belly with boiled eggs and beef lok lak, that we took inspiration from when we developed our creative Cambodian canapes one New Year’s Eve in Siem Reap.
Cambodian Pomelo Salad with Prawns Recipe – Traditional Dish, Modern Presentation
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
Prawn Cocktail Brioche Buns Recipe for Shrimp Sliders
This quick and easy recipe for prawn cocktail brioche buns takes the classic prawn cocktail and assembles the retro appetiser on sweet brioche buns to create deliciously simple shrimp sliders. Peeled cooked prawns coated in a classic seafood sauce are arranged on a bed of mini cos leaves and garnished with fresh fragrant dill.
These fantastic prawn cocktail brioche buns – or shrimp sliders, for our American readers – make brilliant finger food for casual gatherings or great picnic hamper stuffers. Essentially, a prawn cocktail between two pieces of bread – sweet soft fluffy French bread – these petite prawn burgers make the retro 1970s appetiser for these frugal times that are mid 2020s.
Can’t source brioche buns? Use burger buns, soft sesame rolls, hot dog buns, Turkish bread, the thick Japanese-style thick white fluffy bread used to make a tamago sando (Japanese egg sandwich), or just plain white bread – when super fresh and soft it will do the job.
Prawn Cocktail Brioche Buns Recipe for Delicious Shrimp Sliders
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’s best Cambodian 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
Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones
One of our best shrimp recipes, this classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe makes coctel de camarones. It’s the perfect shrimp dish to make for a sultry summer weekend and should be washed down with icy Mexican cervezas or the spice-rimmed beer cocktails called micheladas.
This is the kind of prawn cocktails in tall old-fashioned glasses that you’ll be served in Mexico at marisquerias – restaurants, eateries and market stalls specialising in mariscos or seafood, from ceviche and seafood soups and stews to fried seafood and grilled fish.
In Mexico City’s markets, where I first became addicted to Mexican shrimp cocktails, they come in the sort of glasses that ice cream parlours served sundaes in back in the day – the glasses I blissfully scooped plump prawns out of coated in a spicy tomato sauce on our first trip to Mexico, vowing I’d live off those the entire six-week holiday.
Traditionally served chilled, this Mexican shrimp cocktail makes for a cooling appetiser to kick off a seafood feast, and is the best treat for a sweltering hot day. If the weather’s not warm where you are, it’s worth turning up the heat to pretend it is just to indulge in these.
Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones
Shrimp Dip Recipe for a Creamy Prawn Cocktail Inspired Dip
This speedy shrimp dip recipe makes a rich and creamy dip inspired by the retro prawn cocktail appetiser. Peeled cooked prawns are sliced into chunky pieces and stirred into a classic seafood sauce thickened with crème fraiche.
Apart from how delicious it is, one of the best things about it is that it’s made it ten minutes or less if you’ve got peeled cooked prawns. All you’re going to do is slice each prawn into three or four chunky pieces and stir them into a classic seafood sauce thickened with crème fraiche.
Serve this shrimp dip or prawn dip with crinkle cut crisps, Jatz crackers, homemade croutons, or round cucumber slices for scooping it up. It’s very much a retro 1970s style dip, so if you’re feeding a crowd serve it alongside other old-fashioned homemade dips such as this French onion dip.
Speedy Shrimp Dip Recipe for a Creamy Prawn Cocktail Inspired Dip
Devilled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Caviar Recipe
Our devilled eggs with smoked salmon and caviar recipe makes an elegant canapé or a treat to savour with a glass of bubbly, and it’s yet another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Traditionally served as part of a festive spread of zakuski or appetisers that were the prelude to a lavish family feast, they’re a particularly luxurious take on my zesty Russian devilled eggs recipe.
These retro hors d’oeuvres, which were popularised in the 1970s along with other Russian dishes, such as beef Stroganoff and chicken Kiev, have never gone out of style for me.
Devilled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Caviar Recipe for Elegant Cocktail Party Canapés
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
Blini with Smoked Salmon Recipe with Dill and Sour Cream
This Russian buckwheat pancakes recipe for blini with smoked salmon, dill, sour cream, and a ‘caviar’ of gherkin and radish.
These are cocktail size blini that are perfect for entertaining, more like pikelets than crepes, making them another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
My blini recipe calls for a ‘caviar’ of gherkin and radish that’s inspired by the Russian eggplant caviar salad called ikra. But yes, of course you could make these salmon blini with real caviar.
Russian Buckwheat Pancakes Recipe for Blini with Smoked Salmon, Dill and Sour Cream
Smoked Salmon Carpaccio Recipe for an Elegant Appetiser Made in Minutes
Our smoked salmon carpaccio recipe will make you a simple but gorgeous-looking starter that can be made in minutes, making it a fantastic choice if you prefer to spend more time with guests than in the kitchen, and it’s another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
You can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerating the dish, then pouring the dressing on just before serving. You can serve it sharing-style and lay it out on a table with a few other dishes, and allow guests to help themselves.
I recommend providing a basket of toasted baguette slices and dishes with additional capers, pickled shallots and fresh dill, and small jugs of dressing, so guests can customise their own carpaccio.
Easy Smoked Salmon Carpaccio Recipe for an Elegant Appetiser Made in Minutes
Chilled Cooked Prawns and Prawn Dipping Sauces for a Deliciously Simple Feast
A spread of chilled cooked prawns with various prawn dipping sauces has been a feature of our Christmas Day meals in Australia for as long as I can remember. As we have a summer Christmas, the day has long been marked by much seafood feasting for my family. I’ve tried to maintain the tradition for my mother.
And even after Christmas, if we were enjoying a summer holiday somewhere on the Australian coast, with a Fishermen’s Co-op nearby, we’d continue to tuck into fresh local seafood over the Christmas-New Year period, especially prawns. More of our best prawn recipes here.
This spread of chilled cooked prawns with prawn dipping sauces comes together quickly but should be leisurely enjoyed, guests peeling their own prawns and dunking them into dipping sauces or piling them onto warm buttered bread or toast. Provide lime or lemon wedges for squeezing on the prawns, finger bowls of water and napkins, and serve with glasses of Champers, chardonnay or chilled beers.
Prawns seem luxurious, but they’re actually very reasonably priced in Australia – and sustainable, healthy and incredibly delicious. Bonus: a feast of chilled cooked prawns is quick and easy to prep. Fishermen’s Co-ops in Australia sell raw and cooked prawns, so unless you’re making garlic prawns – or, say, the Venetian specialty gamberi alla busara, one of my favourite prawn dishes – buy fresh cooked prawns. All you have to do is prep the prawn dipping sauces and you’re set.
Chilled Cooked Prawns and Prawn Dipping Sauces for a Deliciously Simple Feast
Russian Salmon Potato Salad Recipe with Soft-Boiled Eggs, Gherkins, Capers and Dill
My Russian salmon potato salad recipe with soft-boiled eggs, capers, gherkins and dill makes a filling salad that you can eat year-round and easily another of our best seafood recipes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
If you’re celebrating Christmas in winter, you can serve it with warm potatoes and seared salmon straight from the pan, while it can be refrigerated for warm weather meals, if you’re in the southern hemisphere spending Christmas Day in the sunshine.
Pan-sear the salmon to your liking. We like our salmon just done if we’re eating this immediately but I’d recommend cooking it right through if you’re making it ahead and even refrigerating it for the next day.
You can add dollops of caviar for a special meal and replace the fresh salmon with smoked salmon. For the soft-boiled eggs, Terence has an excellent guide to boiling perfect eggs every time.
Russian Salmon Potato Salad Recipe with Soft-Boiled Eggs, Gherkins, Capers and Dill
Smoked Salmon Pasta Recipe for Spaghetti with Smoked Salmon, Dill Pickles, Capers and Fresh Dill
Our best smoked salmon pasta recipe makes spaghetti with smoked salmon, dill pickles, capers and fresh dill. Sour cream and lemon juice make this a pasta that’s quintessentially Eastern European.
It’s versatile – add more sour cream for a creamier texture or dollops of caviar – and comes together quickly, in less than half an hour. Use the best quality smoked salmon you can afford. But also buy sustainable salmon, especially if you’re in Australia, where Tasmanian salmon farms have destroyed what was once a pristine environment.
The best capers are sourced from the Mediterranean and I love these capers from Pantelleria, which are considered some of the finest. I’ve used extra virgin olive oil from Valencia but if we were in Australia we’d probably use gorgeous Australian virgin olive oil.
We have a recipe for homemade dill pickles or gherkins, however, you can certainly use store-bought.
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 pasta 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 Grantourismo. Terence made it for the same people a couple of nights later for a dinner party – and they liked it!
When we checked into the colourful casa that was our home away from home in Teulada 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
Creamy Shrimp Pasta Recipe for Prawn Spaghetti with Parsley and Sumac
This creamy shrimp pasta recipe makes a quick and easy prawn spaghetti with parsley and sumac that comes together in 15-20 minutes. This shrimp spaghetti recipe is also super versatile. Add fish or clams, canned seafood such as smoked mussels, and use smoky or sweet paprika or chilli flakes.
Use fresh or frozen shrimp or prawns. I’ve made it with both. I prefer fresh prawns but I know not everyone is a fan of peeling and deveining prawns and it will add 5-10 minutes to your prep, depending on how experienced a prawn-peeler you are.
My mum adores creamy pastas, but this is also fantastic just with extra virgin olive oil. I’ve used sumac for its earthy citrus flavours and paprika for warmth, but chilli flakes add more spice, and parsley gives the dish freshness. Serve with a simple salad, crusty bread and a bottle of white.
Creamy Shrimp Pasta Recipe for Prawn Spaghetti with Parsley and Sumac
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.
Easy Creamy Salmon Soup Recipe for Karelian Lohikeitto
This easy salmon soup recipe for Karelian lohikeitto makes a rich and creamy salmon soup packed with vegetables. It has a gentle warmth due to allspice and a freshness of flavour and fragrance thanks to dill, the beloved herb of Russian, Nordic and Baltic cuisines. Can’t source salmon or you’re not a fan? Replace it with your favourite fish and you have kalakeitto or fish soup. Serve with sour cream and slices of sourdough or black rye bread for dunking.
If you want a quick, easy, yet rich and creamy salmon soup that’s versatile, try this salmon soup recipe for Karelian lohikeitto or Karelskiy rybnyy sup in Russian. It’s one of my favourite salmon recipes, and another of my family recipes my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother made. Serve it in big bowls as a filling, comforting lunch or dinner as my baboushka did, reduce the size for starters, or pour it into small cups with dollops of caviar for a festive appetiser.
Baboushka served soup for lunch nearly every day; almost always it was borscht, occasionally shchi, every now and again rassolnik — because my grandfather was a creature of habit, happy to eat the same thing day in, day out. Baba, however, was an accomplished cook, who was also creative, and relished experimenting. If she’d had her way, she would have made a different soup every day, and this creamy salmon soup would have been one of those.
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.
