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Home » All Recipes & Inspiration » A Lovely Roast Beast Christmas Dinner

A Lovely Roast Beast Christmas Dinner

Published: Dec 20, 2022 by Genevieve Morrison · This post may contain affiliate links

All the recipes you’ll need for a gorgeously festive, elegantly simple, traditional and original “roast beast” Christmas dinner from cocktails to dessert! This is a top round roast beef meal with cozy, yuletide sides, bright colors, easy appetizers, and a rich, seasonal dessert that takes only 15 minutes to make!

A beautifully set Christmas dinner table with baby's breath flowers in the place settings.

I was so excited to make a “roast beast” this year! How The Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my very favorite Christmas cartoons, and I always shed a tear when the Grinch carves the roast beast in the end. Gets me every time!

Here’s how I created the menu, and a few lovely, frosty winter decor tips too!

Top round roast beef in a tray with mushroom sauce being poured on with as spoon on a table.
A slice of roast beef with mushrooms sauce, salad and mashed potatoes on a plate.

First, I wanted to keep things fresh and simple for my table decor, so I went with some simple baby’s breath and rosemary in my napkins. Flower and herb place settings give a dinner table such an understated, rustic, elegant flair!

A plate with a napkin with baby's breath and rosemary.

I didn’t want to fuss about too much in the kitchen before guests arrived (as usual) so I quickly put together these cute little appetizers to set out by the front door for guests as they walked in.

They’re from my Easy Cute and Classy Christmas Appetizer collection. I just made 2: one that looks like a pretty Christmas wreath and another that looks like a little ornament.

5 festive appletizers that look like Christmas wreaths and ornaments on a wooden board.
Cute Christmas Wreath Appetizers
These cute Christmas wreath appetizers are made with only 5 ingredients and take just 20 minutes (or less) to make! With jalapeño, cream cheese, parsley and a few pink pepper corns, they’re simple, elegant and will make every holiday party guest smile!
See the Recipe
A jalapeño on a cracker with cheese, 2 pink peppercorns and parsley leaves on a marble tray with 4 others.

My friend Hallie from Jupiter’s Daughter (you should see her macrame!) brought over this gorgeous cheese plate! She always makes such regal cheese plates, so I just left it to her. I couldn’t fit the whole thing in one picture!

A beautiful cheese plate.

I decided the perfect cocktail for the evening would be my Sparkling Ginger Pear. I made the ginger-pear syrup (so easy!) earlier in the day, stored it in a cocktail shaker with a little St. Germain, and refrigerated it until guests arrived.

Then, all I had to do was add a little ice, give it a shake, pour it into coup glasses with a little prosecco, add a tasty candied ginger garnish, and done! I like adding old jewelry to my glasses as charms. I love this old porcelain flower earring! Wish I could find the other one!

4 cocktails on a tray, garnished with candied ginger, and glass charms.
A Sparkling Pear & Ginger Cocktail
This sparkling pear & ginger cocktail is such an elegantly refreshing Christmas party signature and a perfect replacement for a Christmas morning mimosa. It’s floral and fruity, delicately ginger spiced and twinkling with festive bubbles.
See the Recipe
A pear and ginger cocktail, garnished with sliced pears on a cocktail pin and a few baby's breath flowers.

For dinner, the roast beast was a top round beef roast with red wine mushroom sauce! The mushroom sauce is so easy to create a day ahead, then all you have to do is reheat it in the roast drippings!

I hate having to hurriedly create a gravy while a roast is sitting, and I’m trying to get the other sides reheated and plated. The sauce is even better when made a whole day ahead, so no need to fuss about!

Top round roast beef in a tray with mushroom sauce.
Top Round Roast Beef with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce
This top round roast beef recipe is encrusted with garlic and herbs, and served with a silky red wine mushroom sauce! Recipe time does not include sauce making time, which is 50 minutes.
See the Recipe
Top round roast beef in a tray with mushroom sauce.

For the sides, I made a precious Christmas wreath salad with homemade candied pecans! So simple to put together! I assembled it a whole 3 hours before the party. I just placed some cellophane on top and popped it back in the fridge! I also made an apple cider vinegar dressing to go with it on the side!

A salad that looks like a Christmas wreath on a table.
Christmas Wreath Salad with Candied Pecans
This easy, festive Christmas salad recipe is both beautiful and delicious! With cherry tomato “ornaments,” mozzarella pearl “snowballs,” delightful candied pecans and “Christmas light” pomegranate seeds, this salad wreath will get your whole family into the holly jolly holiday spirit! 
See the Recipe
A flamboyantly garnished salad on a table in the shape of a wreath with a few scattered Christmas decorations.

I needed another side to catch all that gorgeous mushroom sauce, so I whipped up my baked mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and herbed goat cheese! Another recipe I made the day before so I didn’t have to worry about it before the party. I just spooned it all into a pyrex, brushed it with egg, and let it get nice and crispy in the oven while I sliced the beast!

A bowl of baked mashed potatoes.
Baked Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese
These roasted garlic mashed potatoes are baked to perfection! Heavenly soft and fluffy on the inside, perfectly crispy on the outside – this extra special potato side-dish will deliciously complete a cozy dinner party spread, or be one of the tastiest stars of your Thanksgiving or Christmas menus! 
See the Recipe
A bowl of baked mashed potatoes on a table with a lace tablecloth.

I wanted one more veggie dish, so I whipped up my French green beans with shallots and sesame ginger sauce. The recipe calls for pan sautéing, but I decided to just bake them instead, while the potatoes were reheating. I made the sesame sauce the day before, baked them at 425 F., and simply mixed the sauce in when they were done!

A large plate of sesame ginger beans.
French Green Beans with Shallots and Sesame Ginger Sauce
These blistered French green beans with shallots and sesame ginger sauce make a perfectly elevated Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish! 
See the Recipe
A bowl of french green beans with cooked shallots.

Finally, for dessert, I made these whimsical, frosty gingerbread cookies with lemon glaze and ginger sugar to go with my chai-spiced eggnog panna cotta! I love those little cookies! They’re semi-soft and the glaze is like winter sunshine!

5 glazed, sugared gingerbread cookies on marble with glass ornaments.
Gingerbread Cookies with Lemon Glaze
These easy, beautiful gingerbread cookies have an enchanting lemon glaze with ginger sugar that’s so easy to make, and really gives them an icy, Christmas magic! This recipe also include 20 minutes cooling time.
See the Recipe
A glazed, sugared Christmas cookie on marble beside glass ornaments.
6 chai-spiced eggnog panna cottas with raisins on a serving tray in front of a Christmas tree.
Chai Spiced Eggnog Panna Cotta
This masala chai spiced eggnog Panna Cotta is topped with rum-soaked raisins, it’s creamy, it’s elegant, and so easy to make! With only 5 ingredients, you’ll delight your holiday guests with this traditionally original holiday dessert! 
See the Recipe
3 chai-spiced eggnog panna cottas with raisins on a serving tray.

The eggnog panna cotta was the most popular recipe of the night, I think. Spiced with masala chai and topped with rum-soaked raisins, it’s creamy and dreamy and takes just 15 minutes to make! (Well, and 4 hours to set), but like almost everything else, I made it a whole day ahead so I just set it and forgot it!

The rum-soaked raisins on a chai-spiced eggnog panna cotta with a spoon.

After a few more cocktails, full-belly laughs, and a Christmas carol or two, my husband tucked me into bed like Cindy-Lou Who.

Enjoy your holidays everyone, and I hope you enjoy these recipes for your Christmas dinner this year!

“Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand.” – Dr. Seuss.

A woman's hand holding a cocktail garnished with candied ginger.

For more inspiration, subscribe to my newsletter, follow me on Instagram, on Pinterest, tiktok and Facebook! And if you ever make any of my tasty drinks or treats, take a picture and tag me. I want to see!

A book cover with a title that says “Elegant Appetizers,” beside a title that says “Don’t forget your free ebook! Subscribe.”
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Top Round Roast Beef with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce »
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Comments

  1. Cheryl

    December 21, 2022 at 3:11 pm

    I love, love, love your dinners. So lovely. Thank you for the great recipes, can’t wait to give them a try!

    Reply
    • Genevieve Morrison

      December 21, 2022 at 3:16 pm

      Thank you, Cheryl!!

      Reply

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My name is Genevieve, and I'm just trying to be a little fancier today than I was yesterday. Sharing recipes for the creative host or hostess that are simple, elegant and colorful too!

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