Deciding what to take to a Christmas potluck can be a challenge. Do you take green bean casserole or baked beans made from the same recipe you have already used many times? While your favorite casserole may be delicious, maybe you do not want to take the same dish you take to every other get-together. You can either go with tried and true dishes, or you can get creative. Your creative new dish may even become a new annual favorite.
Traditional Christmas Side Dishes
- Green bean casserole - This one has been popular at holiday get-togethers since the seventies. Toss a couple cans of green beans, a can of prepared mushroom soup, maybe some water chestnuts for texture, and some crumbled up fried onion sticks in the oven at 325 degrees for an hour and it's ready to go. This can be adapted for a crock-pot pretty simply; you just put everything except the fried onions in the crock-pot and set it on medium heat for about six hours. The fried onions go on right before serving if you are using a crock-pot.
- Baked beans - This one has been a standing favorite in some families even longer than green bean casserole. It is easy to prepare, too; a few cans of pork and beans, a hand-full of brown sugar, a squirt of mustard, and a squirt of ketchup mixed together in a casserole dish with fried bacon crumbled on top for about an hour in a 325 degree oven is all you have to do. Slow cookers also work great for baked beans in case you need to keep them hot for a while. Add the crumbled bacon right before serving if using a slow cooker or it will get soggy.
- Cheesy Potatoes - This variation on traditional scalloped potatoes is made in the crock pot or in a casserole dish in the oven. Put potato slices, your favorite cream soup, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon dried diced onion, 1/2 cup diced ham if desired, and a cup of milk in the crock-pot and let it cook on high for six to eight hours.
- Egg rolls - Egg rolls are a cross-over dish to take to a potluck, because they are both appetizer and side dish depending on when they are eaten. You can buy pre-made egg rolls and heat them when you reach your destination, or you can heat them at home if you have an insulated dish to keep them hot.
- Crockpot Kielbasa and sauerkraut - While this is a traditional New Year's Eve and New Years Day dish, Crockpot Kielbasa and Sauerkraut is easy to make, and easy to carry to a Christmas potluck.
- Lasagna - Lasagna makes a hearty dish, and it is easy to take if you have an insulated carrier for your baking dish; or if you can make it ahead and heat it when you reach your destination.
