What People Eat at Christmas in Italy: a hourney through the cuisines traditions

In Italy, Christmas is not just a religious holiday but also a moment of togetherness, a time to spend with family. And of course, everything revolves around the real star of the festive season: food. Recipes are passed down from generation to generation and often intertwine with those of other regions. In many families, the Christmas menu becomes a mosaic that tells stories of travels, migrations, marriages, and bonds.

The most widespread tradition remains the “double appointment”: the Christmas Eve dinner — strictly meatless — and the Christmas Day lunch, dominated by meat. But every region, every city, and often every family, fiercely guards its own version of Christmas.

Appetizers

From North to South, appetizers open the festivities. In Piedmont, you’ll find vitello tonnato and Russian salad, which later spread across the country and became a typical Christmas dish. Marche is represented by olive all’ascolana, small, crispy olives that have won over the whole nation. From Veneto come octopus and potatoes or seafood salads, traditions that have merged with those of the South. Sardinian families often serve seafood starters or small bites from the pastoral tradition, but especially roasted vegetables and simple dishes, the legacy of an essential cuisine. In Campania, especially on the 24th, the iconic side dish-starter insalata di rinforzo cannot be missing. This is followed by fried cod and anchovies as a preview of the fish-based first courses. Vol-au-vent with fondue are a classic on Aosta Valley tables, soft and rich thanks to fontina cheese. If Campania opens with insalata di rinforzo, in Sicily the equivalent role is played by caponata, a sweet-and-sour dish with eggplant, capers, and olives.

Different origins, same goal: start the meal with bold, recognizable, deeply rooted flavors.

First Courses

If there is one place where Italian geography reveals itself instantly, it’s in Christmas first courses. In Emilia-Romagna, tortellini in broth reign supreme; in Piedmont and Liguria, families serve agnolotti, plin with roast gravy, and natalini in broth. Sardinian tables feature culurgiones, while Lombardy never skips its classic lasagne al ragù. In Campania, spaghetti with clams dominate — the symbol of a seafood Christmas Eve. It’s a culinary journey that crosses Italy from Trentino to Sicily, through pasta shapes, fillings, broths, and sauces that change province by province, proving that Christmas in Italy is a map you can taste.

Main Courses

When it comes to main dishes, the North–South contrast is clear: meat in the North, fish in the South. In Piedmont, brasato al Barolo and bollito misto dominate; in Lombardy, stuffed capon; in Aosta Valley, cheese fondue with polenta.

Main courses strongly reflect local roots. In the North, meat rules: stuffed capon, braised beef in Barolo, mixed boiled meats, polenta with stews or sausages. In Central Italy, you’ll find Tuscan roasted pork loin and Roman lamb, while in the South fish remains the star of Christmas Eve: fried cod, prawns, polpo alla luciana in Campania, baked sea bass in Sicily, and stockfish with potatoes in parts of Calabria.

On Christmas Day, meat returns in full force: from Sardinian suckling pig to Roman abbacchio, and the lasagne and ragù meats typical of the Campania tradition.

Desserts

Panettone and pandoro are the classics on every Italian Christmas table, but each region adds its own signature sweet. In Trentino-Alto Adige, there’s Zelten, a rich, spiced fruitcake. In Campania, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day end with struffoli, rococò, and mostaccioli. In Puglia, you’ll inevitably find cartellate, crisp pastry spirals dipped in honey or vincotto. On the islands, Sicilian buccellati and nougat close the meal, while Sardinia ends festivities with gâteau sardo, a traditional almond-based dessert.

Times Change, but Christmas Doesn’t

Every Italian family has its own Christmas, but everyone recognizes the smells coming from the kitchen, the dishes that return year after year, and the recipes passed down through generations.

The world is constantly changing — technology advances rapidly, leaders change, new ones rise, the climate worsens, animals disappear. But when you go home for Christmas, time seems to stop, and culinary memory becomes the past and present of our country.

Main photo: happy age