Recipe revival: A Germanic Christmas Day menu

By: Katie Spicer

November 30, 2025

671

A Germanic Christmas Day menu (Katie Spicer)

Enjoy a taste of Germany by incorporating these authentic German recipes into your holiday feasts!

Vorspeise (appetizer)

Grießklößchensuppe – A festive soup with clear beef broth and small semolina dumplings

Ingredients

140 g semolina flour

2 eggs

30 g butter (2 tbsp.)

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. parsley

5-6 cups chicken/bouillon or veggie broth, or vegetable soup

Instructions

Melt butter and mix with egg, butter, nutmeg, salt and parsley. Add the semolina and mix until it comes into a dough (avoid kneading). Let rest for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.

In pot, bring broth to a boil. Using a teaspoon, form oblong dumplings and drop into the boiling water. They can stick to the bottom so give them a stir to make sure they’re “swimming.”

Let cook for 10-15 minutes on low, then turn off the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Serve, garnishing with parsley.

Hauptgericht (main course)

Weihnachtsgans – Roast goose with a crispy skin and stuffed with onions, chestnuts and marjoram

Ingredients

1 tsp. (4.5 g) + 1 tbsp. (14 g) butter

3.5 oz. (100 g) peeled, roasted chestnuts, diced

1/4 tart apple, peeled and diced

1 shallot or small onion, diced

1 tsp. (1 g) dried marjoram leaves (or thyme)

1 large Canada goose breast, with skin

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 tbsp. (15 ml) goose/duck fat or vegetable oil

1 tsp. (1 g) dried thyme leaves

5 juniper berries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C, gas mark 6).

Melt 1 tsp. (4.5 g) butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced chestnuts, apples, shallot and marjoram. Add a small pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the apple and onion are soft. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

Pat the goose breast dry with paper towels. Turn the breast so it’s skin-side down. Make an incision lengthwise down the middle of the breast, being sure not to cut all of the way through. Now gently pull open the two sides and make an incision down each side of the original incision so that both sides open up like flaps. Don’t worry too much about getting this right, you basically just want to cut a pocket to pack with stuffing.

Season the inside of the breast generously with salt and pepper, then pack the stuffing into the open space. Pull the sides in so they close. Use kitchen or butcher’s twine to tie the breast back up into its original shape. You could also use toothpicks to put it back together, but they’re not quite as reliable as twine. Season the outside of the breast generously with salt and pepper.

Melt the goose fat or oil in a cast iron or steel skillet over medium high heat. Lay in the goose breast, skin-side down and apply pressure down the length of it with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds. This helps it from losing shape. Cook for 5 minutes, turning with tongs so that all sides get seared, but focusing mainly on the skin side. Moderate heat if needed so that nothing burns. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Take the skillet out of the oven (with an oven mitt or towel!) and add 1 tbsp. (14 g) butter, as well as the thyme and juniper berries to the pan. Once the butter melts, mix it with the aromatics and spoon it over the goose breast continually for a minute or two.

Let the breast rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve. This recipe is for a goose breast at medium doneness. For rarer breasts, reduce oven time to 5 minutes. I don’t recommend cooking wild goose breast all of the way through as it becomes chalky and livery tasting.

Rotkohl – Red cabbage braised with apples, red wine and spices

Ingredients

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 medium red onion, sliced

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped

1 large red cabbage cored and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

5 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. fine sea salt

6 whole cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat a large pot to medium with the butter. Add the onion and sauté until soft (about 7-10 minutes). Add the apple and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the cabbage and mix to combine.

Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, fine sea salt and cloves. Pour the mixture over the cabbage and mix to combine. Cover with a tight fitting lid and reduce heat to a simmer and cook until soft (about 60-90 minutes).

Remove the lid and cook until some of the excess liquid evaporates. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Kartoffelklöße – Fluffy potato dumplings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes

1 stick unsalted butter

2 cups fresh bread cubes

1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste

1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. snipped fresh chives, or to taste

Instructions

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool until easily handled.

While the potatoes are cooling, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add bread cubes; cook and stir until golden brown and crunchy, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer croutons to a bowl. Reserve browned butter in the pan.

Peel potatoes and place into a large bowl. Mash and season with nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper. Add eggs and mash until combined. Stir in flour just until incorporated; do not overmix.

Bring a pot of salted water to a simmer. Dampen your hands with water and scoop a spoonful of dough onto your palm. Shape dough into a circle, make a light indentation in the center, and place 2 or 3 croutons inside. Pull dough around croutons to seal and roll into a smooth ball. Repeat to make seven more dumplings.

Use a large spoon to lower dumplings, one at a time, into the simmering water. Cook until they float to the top, 1 to 2 minutes. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Flip dumplings and continue to cook until puffed and cooked through, about 10 minutes more.

Transfer dumplings to a serving plate and drizzle with reserved browned butter. Crumble remaining croutons over top and garnish with chives. Let dumplings firm up slightly before serving, about 10 minutes.

Nachspeise (dessert)

Christollen – Fruit bread with marzipan, candied fruits, nuts, and powdered sugar.

Ingredients

8 cups all-purpose flour

3 oz. compressed fresh yeast

1 pinch white sugar

1 tbsp. lukewarm milk

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup unsalted butter

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp. salt

1 3/4 cups chopped blanched almonds

1 1/4 cups raisins

6 tbsp. candied lemon peel

6 tbsp. chopped candied orange peel

2 tbsp. melted butter

2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

Gather ingredients. Place flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center, and crumble fresh yeast into it. Sprinkle in sugar and add 1 tbsp. milk. Cover and let rise at a warm place for 15 minutes.

Heat 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat until butter is melted.

Pour milk-butter mixture over yeast mixture and add 1 cup sugar, egg yolks and salt. Knead until a soft dough forms. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake in the preheated oven until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven. Brush hot stollen immediately with 2 tbsp. melted butter and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Vanillekipferl – Crescent-shaped vanilla almond cookies

Ingredients

Cookie dough

2 cups all-purpose flour, spoon and level

1 pinch of salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

3/4 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup finely ground almonds, or hazelnuts or walnuts

1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out or 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Sugar mixture

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 vanilla pod

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine flour, salt, cubed butter, powdered sugar, nuts and vanilla seeds. Mix at medium speed until a crumbly dough forms, about 1-2 minutes. If the dough is too crumbly add 1-2 tbsp. milk.

Use your hands to press the dough together and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for one hour in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll the chilled dough into a log approximately 1/2-inch thick. Cut the log into 1 1/2-inch pieces, form the pieces into small cylinders and taper the ends into dull points. Bend each one into a crescent shape. Place the Vanillekipferl on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake the Vanillekipferl one cookie sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes (depending on the size of the cookies) until the edges are golden. They should not brown.

Scrape out vanilla pod and combine with powdered sugar. This works great in a small food processor. Sift the mixture over the hot Vanillekipferl. Let them cool completely then give them a second dusting.