With Christmas fast approaching, it is time to start thinking about the slew of upcoming family dinners. Whether you're welcoming your loved ones into your home, or visiting family, it is always good to come ready with a delicious meal, and where better to prepare it than in the iconic French or Dutch Oven?
The Dutch Oven pot is ideal for slow-cooked stews, perfectly simmered soups, and can even be used to prepare decadent desserts or fresh bread. The French or Dutch Oven embodies family-style cooking, offering home chefs the ability to put together one-pot recipes with the minimum of fuss.
From preparing a classic lasagna, to one-pot spaghetti, and beef stew, this iconic piece of cookware creates the perfect environment for preparing family-style dinners. This multi-purpose pot offers superior heat retention, exposing ingredients to a consistent heat source, and can even double as serveware. Simply let it cool down and pack it neatly en route to the in-laws!
Here are 9 family-style Dutch Oven recipes perfect for this holiday season.
Minestrone Soup
Nothing opens up the appetite before a holiday meal quite like a hearty minestrone soup. While a traditional minestrone soup features beans, celery, carrots, and tomatoes among other vegetables, this recipe offers home cooks and professional chefs alike the ability to make it their own depending what is in season or simply put, what is in the fridge.
The French or Dutch Oven is the ideal piece of cookware for this recipe, simmering the minestrone soup to perfection. The Dutch Oven pot creates the perfect environment for all the vegetables, including the zucchinis, carrots, and cannellini beans, allowing them to baste in their own juices for a truly delicious dish.
This recipe takes just under two hours to prepare from start to finish and accommodate up to six servings at a time.
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No-Knead French Oven Bread
Skip the trip to the bakery this holiday season and get baking with your French or Dutch Oven. Our No-Knead French Oven Bread is the perfect bread recipe for any occasion and is a great way to showcase your baking skills to your friends and family.
The Round French Oven is recommended for this recipe, exposing the dough to a consistent heat source until it rises. The dough must be evenly distributed on the surface of the French or Dutch Oven, guaranteeing a delightfully crispy exterior and fluffy interior.
This recipe is relatively quick to put together, taking less than an hour to be ready, however, keep in mind that the dough must rest overnight. You can always try our Olive and Rosemary No Knead Bread if you’re looking to spice things up. Simply add Kalamata olives and chopped rosemary and your very own home-made olive bread is ready to go!
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Turkey Chilli
The holiday season is all about gathering around a delicious meal and creating long-lasting memories with loved ones. Our turkey chilli recipe is the perfect center-piece for your family get-together this holiday season and makes for a great meal to share.
Start by cooking the bell peppers, jalapenos, garlic, and onions until they are fully caramelized before introducing the turkey. The French or Dutch Oven will ensure the meat is exposed to a consistent heat source, cooking it evenly as the surrounding spices simmer to perfection.
The mixture of cumin, chilli powder, and cayenne pepper offers the dish the kick it needs, ensuring your chilli is not lacking in flavour. This recipe requires just five simple steps to be ready, serving six people in under an hour.
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Classic Lasagna
Would this list be complete without a classic lasagna recipe? We didn’t think so. This dish elevates comfort food to another level, featuring layers upon layers of cheese, and a perfectly simmered meat sauce.
The French or Dutch Oven is best suited for this recipe, simmering the meat sauce on low heat, all-while ensuring the sausages are cooked evenly. The Dutch Oven pot’s thick and high walls can perfectly accommodate the many layers of this dish, and lock in moisture as it slow-cooks.
This recipe is great to feed the whole family, serving between eight and 10 people in just under an hour. Our classic lasagna can easily be transformed into a vegan-friendly dish by simply swapping out the meat sauce.
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Pot-Roast Chicken
Our pot-roast chicken recipe is a great meal to feed the whole family, and embodies what holiday cooking is all about. This recipe is easy to put together with the French or Dutch Oven doing much of the work. The chicken cooks wonderfully atop the bed root vegetables, including the pearl onions and carrots, while the bacon is a thoughtful touch that is sure to add a savoury flavour to this dish.
The Oval French Oven is typically recommended for this recipe, offering the chicken the perfect shape to cook to perfection. This iconic piece of cookware will ensure the chicken absorbs all the rich flavours of the surrounding vegetables and bacon for a truly succulent dish thanks to its tight-fitting lid and self-basting cycle.
Our pot-roast chicken recipe takes just under two hours to prepare, and can serve between four and six people at a time.
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One-Pot Spaghetti
Our one-pot spaghetti is equally hearty as it is delicious and will quickly establish itself as a staple in your household, during the holidays and beyond. This recipe incorporates a number of fresh vegetables, including radishes, green beans, artichoke hearts, and cherry tomatoes, offering a green component to an otherwise traditional pasta dish.
The French or Dutch Oven is perfect for one-pot pasta recipes, letting them simmer in the sauce until they are ready to be served. The Dutch Oven pot’s tight-fitting lid and thick enamelled cast iron walls ensure moisture and flavour is locked in, delivering a truly flavourful sauce to compliment the pasta to perfection. This recipe takes just under an hour to prepare, serving between four and six people. If you’re expecting more guests, simply adjust the portions accordingly and enjoy!
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Beef Stew
Our beef stew with gremolata recipe is sure to become a holiday favorite, offering your friends and family a truly tender and delicious end product. This recipe is extremely simple to put together, while the fresh gremolata will add some much-needed freshness to every bite.
The French or Dutch Oven is the ideal piece of cookware for slow-cooked stews, creating a perfect environment for the beef to absorb all the rich flavours of the surrounding vegetables.
This recipe takes just over two hours to prepare, but is well worth the wait, serving between four and six people. In any case, the French or Dutch Oven will do much of the work for you, allowing you to spend quality time with your loved ones as it slow-cooks on low to medium heat.
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Pan-Fried Noodles and Shrimp
Our pan-fried noodles recipe is ideal for the seafood lover in your family and is a great way to inject spice into your holiday cooking this year. The combination of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar offers an Asian twist to this recipe and injects a diverse flavour profile.
Begin by cooking the shrimp in garlic and sliced red chilli in a Round French Oven until they are juicy and tender. The French or Dutch Oven is versatile enough to be used for preparing the entire meal, from cooking the pasta, to sauteing the vegetables, and frying the shrimps.
Our pan-fried noodles recipe takes just under an hour to prepare and could make for a delicious side dish for your holiday feast.
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Cinnamon Buns
Looking for a delicious, home-made dessert to prepare for your family this holiday season? Look no further than our French Oven cinnamon buns recipe. Featuring ingredients commonly found in your pantry, including flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon, this dessert requires very little pre-meal preparation.
The French or Dutch Oven will help maintain the cinnamon buns soft interior and crunchy exterior by exposing them to a consistent heat source and cooking them evenly. Once the dough is rolled and appropriately kneaded, bake the cinnamon rolls for approximately 30 minutes until they are perfectly browned.
This recipe is ready in just over an hour and is good for four to six servings, making it a holiday staple for French Oven cooking.
See the RecipeDutch Oven vs. French Oven
The French and Dutch Oven share many similarities, however, with one key difference. The former elevated the original Dutch Oven design from the 18th century, replacing the pure cast iron with enamelled cast iron. This change saw a notable improvement in heat retention and overall durability. Today, Le Creuset’s enamelled cast iron French Ovens represent the industry standard and have been around since 1925. It is also commonly referred to as a cocotte.
Host a magical family dinner this holiday season
The holiday season is a great time to gather around a delicious meal and spend quality time with your loved ones. The French or Dutch Oven is a must-have piece of cookware over the Christmas break, simplifying your cooking and helping you diversify your skillet with this easy-to-ease multipurpose pot.
Whether you’re looking to make a classic lasagna, bake a fresh loaf of bread, or simmer a hearty minestrone soup, the French or Dutch Oven is versatile enough to be used for these recipes, accommodating for the various cooking techniques needed. This iconic piece of cookware even makes for a great Christmas gift!
These were just nine of our favourite family-style French or Dutch Oven recipes for this holiday season. For more inspiration, visit our featured recipes and step up your cooking game this holiday season with some of our favourite meals.
