Deluxe Christmas dinner on a budget – the easy no-fuss way

Advertisement. This post is made in collaboration with Lidl.

December is almost here and I am beyond excited for it this year, I have already decorated the house, DIY’ed my own decorations, started testing new Christmas recipes and made a list of all the Christmas movies I want to watch.

One thing that puts a bit of a damper on my Christmas joy though is the thought of hosting Christmas dinners and making sure everything goes perfectly. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing I love more than spending time with family and friends around Christmas, but it can be bit overwhelming to host and while I am very used to cooking, then traditional Christmas dinners are completely much out of my comfort zone. Also, as I have mentioned before, I am on a bit of tight budget these days, so the cost of these kinds of dinners can be stressfull as well.

This is why it couldn’t have come at a better time when I was approached by Lidl with an offer to try out their range of Deluxe products that are available in their stores around Christmas time every year. They are luxurious high quality products that are perfect for those of us who are on a tight budget, but do not want to compromise on quality.

With a gift voucher in hand I went down to my local store to check out their selection of Deluxe products and I was very happy to find that they not only carry the more traditional Christmas foods, but also a large selection of more modern products that are much more up my alley than having to stress out in the kitchen with a whole roast, gravy and all that – don’t get me wrong I LOVE traditional Christmas meals, but I like to leave that up to my parents aka. “the real grownups” ;)

It was incredibly hard to decide on which products I wanted to try, so I might have gone a bit overboard, but I really love how these luxurious and modern tapas style Christmas platters turned out – deluxe and little over-the -top, but still very affordable and I actually managed to stay not only on budget, but a bit under! And because the only thing that required (a minimal) effort in the kitchen was the mini butter pastries below, then I was able to just relax and enjoy they company without having to stress in the kitchen all day – something that is very much appreciated around the busy time of Christmas!

The Deluxe products are available in Lidl every year around Christmas time, some products are only available in a limited amount of time, so make sure to check their website to find out when the different Deluxe products will be available. 

Christmas dinner platters w. cold cuts, cheeses and much more

In my family we have always loved a good tapas inspired meal, so when I saw the huge selection of Deluxe meats and cheeses then I just knew that I had to make some over-the-top Christmas platters with a colorful fruity twist ala. A Million Miles.

Also, I just want to add that there was a lot more in each package than shown in the styled photos, but because I went for so many different products, then I didn’t want to risk any food waste, so I started with adding only a little of each to the platters and then simply brought in more as needed.

For the platters I used:
Deluxe mini butter pastries (recipe below)
Deluxe Bresaola
Deluxe Proscioutto
Deluxe cured beef
Deluxe Danish gravad rainbow trout
Deluxe cheese selection
Deluxe cream cheese with tomato and onion
Greek Antipasto platter
Deluxe oil-vinegar dressing
2 kinds of pesto
Red and yellow bell peppers
Cherry tomatoes
Rosemary
Persimmon
Pomegranate
Figs
Grapes
Baguettes and 2 kinds of crisp bread

Mini butter pastries w. shrimp, lemon and dill

Ingredients:
Deluxe Mini butter pastries
75 grams of shrimp
1 deciliter (about 0.4 cup) skyr or greek yoghurt
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small handful dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Bake the mini butter pastries in a preheated oven at 165 c / 330 f for about 10 minutes. While the pastries are in the oven you can prepare the filling. Add the skyr to a bowl along with the lemon juice, dill, salt + pepper and mix everything well. When the pastries are ready add the skyr mixture along with the shrimp and a bit of dill as garnish.

Dessert · Chocolate extravaganza w. truffles, chocolate covered dried fruit, almond clusters and more

For the dessert I went for the easy and beyond delicious solution of serving a selection of the most indulgent and over-the-top chocolate treats – I must admit that this was pretty much just an excuse for me to taste all the Deluxe goodness I stumbled upon in the store and just had to give a try ;) I also served a selection of fruit, nuts and dried fruit + hot chocolate so my sister could get her hot cocoa fix and try the chocolate stirrers.

The only thing I regret about my dessert choice is that I did not go even more overboard and pick up some of the different ice cream desserts and sorbets from the Deluxe line as well, they looked SO good and they were so pretty too – you know how I appreciate my photogenic foods ;)

For the dessert I used:
Deluxe Crème Brûlée tartlets
Deluxe Canache Pralinés
Deluxe Cream truffles
Deluxe Oranges truffles
Deluxe Almond trilogy
Deluxe Candied papaya covered in white chocolate
Deluxe Dried apricots in milk chocolate
Deluxe Chocolate stirrers
Fresh fruit: pomegranate, nectarines, grapes, figs and persimmon
Trailmix
Medjool dates
Squares of dark chocolate