24 Classic Christmas Foods That I Ranked From Best-Ever to Worst

To me, a standing rib roast is like the Rolls-Royce of beef cuts. Just the sight of this photo literally makes my mouth water. If you're looking to impress, make this massive meat mountain your Christmas centerpiece. The tender, marbled beef surrounded by a rich, savory crust is pure luxury.

Get the Standing Rib Roast recipe.

Truth be told, I never met a tater I didn't like: roasted, boiled, scalloped, totted, hasselbacked, or fried into a crisp pancake. But there's something about mashed potatoes that really hits for the holidays. Maybe it's the creamy-soft, swoop-able texture that's just begging to cradle some gravy like a holy infant in a manger.

Get the Mashed Potatoes with Buttery Sliced Scallions recipe.

There's a reason why that coffee mega-chain rolls out its gingerbread latte for the holidays. The heady scent of those baking spices is synonymous with Christmas. You can have this flavor combo in the form of gingerbread cookies but the ultimate for me is a big slab of plush cake that has a double dose of ginger (ground and fresh).

I have a theory about why some people don't like gingerbread: They've only had bad versions made with musty, old spices that hadn't been replaced since The Sound of Music was released. They're one of the foods with a short shelf life so this is your PSA to throw away those jars older than three years!

Get the Gingerbread Bundt Cake recipe.

RELATED: 50 Best Gingerbread House Ideas

So crisp on the outside with a steaming, hollow interior. Give me a basket of warm popovers with good butter and an assortment of jams on Christmas morning then please leave me alone for an hour.

The British version, which is inexplicably called "Yorkshire pudding," is also fantastic — especially alongside some juicy prime rib.

Get the Good Housekeeping's Famous Popovers recipe.

If you love to see lasagna on a holiday table, come sit with Garfield and me. It's the best casserole and I secretly hope it'll be at every potluck. This baked pasta is traditionally served on Christmas Eve in northern Italy, where it's likely to be made with bechamel (instead the ricotta that's more popular in Italian-American versions).

Either way, the appeal of this comforting crowd-pleaser is undeniable. Pasta layered with a rich, meaty tomato sauce that's smothered in gooey cheese? Yes, please!

Get the Lasagna with Meat Sauce recipe.

Here's some basic egg math: Eating more than two hard-boiled eggs in one sitting seems crazy. But how many deviled eggs can you pop into your mouth at a party? That's a number approaching infinity.

Deviled eggs are tasty in and of themselves. They're also the perfect blank canvas for a wide range of toppings, from just a humble sprinkle of paprika to blow-your-rent-money caviar. My favorite garnish? Chopped spicy pickles.

Get the Best Deviled Eggs Ever recipe.

Everybody loves stuffing so why do we only eat it once or twice a year? It's one of life's unresolved conundrums.

If you think it's because you need a turkey for stuffing, then may I present non-gobbler options, like roast chicken or Cornish hens? This cozy, carby side is also amazing topped with fried eggs or stuffed into winter squash, zucchini boats or mushroom caps. Stuffing is the versatile, shape-shifting side we all need for Christmas.

Get the Apple-Chestnut Stuffing recipe.

Can we say, "iconic?" Something about a big pink ham, scored and dotted with cloves, slicked with a tangy-sweet glaze to compliment that delicious, salty pork...it totally gives Christmas main character energy.

Not to mention, ham has all the best sides to go with it: mac 'n' cheese, cornbread, biscuits and sweet potatoes, to name a few.

Get the Baked Ham with Root Beer Glaze recipe.

I remember when I was around eight years old, watching Julia Child make a bûche de noël on TV. My reaction was the embodiment of the 😮 (face with open mouth) emoji. Up till then, the most beautiful cake I'd seen was from Carvel. No shade to Fudgie the Whale, but this fancy French yule log absolutely blew that sea beast out of the water.

That's because a bûche de noël is not just a cake. It's a whole forest fantasy. Julia made spun sugar moss by flinging hot caramel on an oiled broomstick. The most charming detail, though? The adorable mushroom meringues she piped around the log.

Yes, you could make your own bûche de noël but, unless you're an exceptional pastry chef, it will probably end up looking like frosted brown lumps, to put it kindly. My advice is to buy one from a really good French bakery.

Get the Bûche de Noël (Yule Log Cake) recipe from Delish, if you must.

Question: What's a better Christmas app than little cocktail franks swaddled like baby Jesus in pastry? Answer: When they're shaped into an edible wreath, like the one pictured. You bring out a platter of pigs in blankets at a party and grown adults lose their minds with excitement. (I'm referring to myself here.)

Get the Pigs in a Blanket Wreath recipe.

If you're not down with eggnog because of the raw huevos, then say, "hola" to its eggless Puerto Rican cousin, coquito. It's creamy and sweet from coconut and condensed milk. With cinnamon and nutmeg, the spice is right with the rum.

Get the Coquito recipe.

Soft, pillowy Parker House rolls fresh out of the oven are on my Christmas wish list every year. They're not the star of Christmas dinner but I would nominate these darling buns for the best supporting roll (pun intended).

Dinner rolls come in clutch for sopping up gravy or making sandwiches with slices of holiday ham. If the rest of the meal is lagging behind, nobody will complain if you set these fluffy buddies out with some good softened butter.

Get the Honey Butter Parker House Rolls recipe.

Call it "grazing" or "girl dinner." To me, it's "all my favorite foods on one board." There are cured meats, cheese, bread and pickled bites, like olives and cornichons. If you're unsure where I am at a Christmas party, find me parked next to the charcuterie board, filching slices of prosciutto with one hand and holding a wine glass with the other.

RELATED: How to Make the Best Charcuterie Board

My husband grew up in Tucson and when we would visit his mother for Christmas, her Mexican-American neighbors would gift us with homemade tamales. Without question, these parcels of stuffed masa are a far superior Christmas present than the fruitcake my family would be burdened with. (Yes, fruitcake is coming up on the list but — spoiler alert — not anytime soon.)

Get the Tamales recipe from Delish.

Cozy and rich, a steaming mug of hot chocolate is a must during the holidays. It's fueled many a Christmas tree decorating sesh and Christmas movie marathon. (And, yes, Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie. That is a hill I will die on.)

If you're serving hot chocolate for the festive season, you might as well give it an upgrade or three:

1. Make it from scratch. It'll taste much better than the boxed stuff.
2. Spike it for the grown-ups. Bourbon and rye are good choices. Or, for something extra special, add a slug of amaro or green Chartreuse (an herbal liqueur made from a secret recipe by Carthusian monks in the French Alps as an "elixir for long life.")
3. Make or buy homemade marshmallows.

Get the Spiked Hot Chocolate recipe.

RELATED: 8 Best Hot Chocolate Mixes

Hot and fragrant with citrus and baking spices, mulled wine is like winter sangria — a great way to give your mediocre red wine a delicious glow-up. Imagine coming inside from skiing and sipping mugs of this warming wine punch.

Just be warned that there are some ho-ho-horrible bottled versions out there. Luckily, mulled wine is super easy to make at home.

Get the Mulled Wine recipe from Delish.

I love cookies but not all cookies are created equal. For example, biscotti are as hard as a rock and don't taste nearly good enough to risk breaking your teeth. I'd also say Christmas sugar cookies, while decorated beautifully, are the last ones I reach for in a gift tin. Why? They're slathered with royal icing, which is pretty much entirely confectioners' sugar. That's on top of a cookie base, which as the name suggests, is already very sweet. I feel a toothache coming on just thinking about it.

Ugh, not this again. I barely choked down all the turkey leftovers from a month ago — I don't need to see this bird for another year. I'll tolerate turkey for Thanksgiving because it's "traditional" but I'll be damned if I serve it again for Christmas. In my opinion, there are far better-tasting centerpieces out there: roast beef, ham, duck, lasagna, just to name a few.

I never understood why you would take perfectly good chocolate and ruin it with something that tastes like toothpaste. Yet that's what peppermint bark is like to me. Chocolate and mint are two great flavors that taste terrible together.

While we're on this topic, might as well tar the whole category of mint and chocolate with the same (tooth)brush: peppermint hot cocoa, mint chip ice cream and those thin minty after-dinner chocolates. Like Ben and Jen, this duo needs to stay separated.

The boxes of panettone look so pretty and festive at the supermarket but what's inside is a holiday horror: the dryest cake known to man, studded with raisins (a.k.a. the worst dried fruit ever) and bits of candied fruit called citron that are so waxy, I actually thought they were candle blobs when I first tried panettone.

The only way to save this sawdust sweet is to drown it in custard and convert it to French toast.