Holidays & Entertaining Christmas Christmas Recipes Plan Your Feast of the Seven Fishes Menu with These Seafood Recipes Here's what you need to know about this Christmas Eve tradition along with simple recipes to make for a holiday seafood feast. By Sheryl Geerts Sheryl Geerts Website Sheryl Geerts is an editor and author who has nearly three decades of writing and editing experience. She enjoys writing about garden, food, and home topics. Her bylines have appeared in Better Homes and Gardens, Allrecipes, Martha Stewart Living, and several other publications. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on December 2, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Blaine Moats The Feast of the Seven Fishes is the most celebrated Italian-American meal of the year. It’s served on Christmas Eve and traditionally features at least seven different seafood dishes from appetizers to main courses. The tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve comes from the Roman Catholic custom of not eating meat on the eve of certain holidays. As far as what the number seven symbolizes, there’s not a consensus, but some say it symbolizes the seven sacraments of the Catholic church. There are also no hard and fast rules for celebrating this tradition. The type of fish or number of courses served is up to you. You don’t even need to be Italian to host your own holiday seafood feast, you just need a menu that includes fish. Here are some traditional recipes as well as some quick and easy recipes to help you plan your own Feast of the Seven Fishes menu. 01 of 15 Fast or Slow Seafood Cioppino Jason Donnelly Keep meal prep simple with this easy fish stew that’s made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker. This ultimate comfort food is full of tomatoes and your favorite firm white fish, shrimp, crab meat and clam juice. It packs in the proteins and can easily be prepared so you have time to prep the rest of your holiday meal. View Recipe 02 of 15 Spaghetti with Clams Karla Conrad If you love linguine with clams, you’ll love this seafood pasta. The flavor of the clams themselves really shine through. The simple sauce of olive oil, shallots, white wine, crushed red pepper, and broth is easy to make so you’ll be finished with meal prep in no time. View Recipe 03 of 15 Mixed Seafood Paella Blaine Moats It’s the holidays, so impress your guests with this seafood paella recipe that’s loaded with clams, mussels, and squid. In just one hour, this quick and easy seafood recipe will give you a feast with saffron-flavored rice cooked with seafood, and vegetables. View Recipe 04 of 15 Seared Scallops and Baby Spinach with Spiced Pomegranate Glaze Scott Little Turn up the elegance of your holiday meal with quick-cooking scallops. The red, sweet pomegranate glaze and the green, sautéed spinach provides a festive holiday touch. Test Kitchen Tip: Look for sea scallops at the fish counter which are larger and easier to grill than bay scallops. View Recipe 05 of 15 Bucatini with Shrimp and Spicy Cherry Tomato Pan Sauce Create this flavorful meal of bucatini noodles and shrimp in just 30 minutes. It’s easy to cook shrimp to tender perfection in this skillet recipe that is flavored with garlic, crushed red pepper, tomatoes, and a full cup of basil. Top it with feta cheese for an added salty richness. View Recipe 06 of 15 Lemony Mussels with Cherry Tomatoes and Potatoes Blaine Moats Kick up the flavor of mussels with this impressive shellfish recipe that’s easy to cook at home. You’ll love how fancy this seafood dinner looks with the mussels, tomatoes, and potatoes braising in a citrus and white wine sauce. You can prep this recipe in 15 minutes and choose to cook it fast in the pressure cooker or slow in your slow cooker. View Recipe 07 of 15 Salmon Kabobs with Cucumber-Feta Salsa Add some grilled salmon to your holiday menu with this healthy Mediterranean dinner recipe. The flavorful salmon kabobs are marinated in a white balsamic vinaigrette dressing and infused with lemon juice as they grill. Top it all off with a refreshing cucumber salsa that’s made with feta, mint, and dill. View Recipe 08 of 15 Lobster Mac and Cheese Casserole Jason Donnelly Bring comfort food to your holiday table with this baked mac and cheese casserole that incorporates lobster meat from an entire lobster tail. This is one of those mac and cheese recipes that is all about gooey perfection and uses one of the quickest ways to prepare lobster meat for the table. View Recipe 09 of 15 Striped Bass in Tomato Broth Blaine Moats If you’re looking for a classic Italian recipe that delivers a fish dinner in less than 30 minutes, this healthy fish soup recipe is for you. White wine, tomatoes, shallots, and thyme combine to make a light and coastal-flavored broth to poach the firm texture and sweet taste of bass. If you can’t find bass in your fish market, mahi mahi, or cod are good substitutes for this Feast of the Seven Fishes soup. View Recipe 10 of 15 Pesto Orecchiette with Spinach and Smoked Salmon Brie Passano Impress your holiday guests with this fancy-looking seafood pasta dish that gets its smoky flavor from a handful of flaked salmon. With only 20 minutes and one pot, you can make this entire meal. If you want to make your own pesto from scratch, you’ll find step-by-step instructions here. View Recipe 11 of 15 Broiled Swordfish with Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce Andy Lyons Here's your guide to making swordfish at home—it’s not as hard as you may think. It’s as simple as broiling the swordfish steaks, roasting tomatoes withonion and garlic, and combining the tomato mixture with rosemary and a dash ofheavy cream to make the full-bodied tomato sauce. View Recipe 12 of 15 Air-Fried Salmon with Horseradish Rub Caitlin Bensel If you want to keep your Christmas Eve meal super simple, make this air-fried salmon recipe. A blend of horseradish, parsley, capers, and extra-virgin olive oil gives the salmon its wonderful flavor that will make for an impressive dinner to serve guests. Using an air fryer makes this healthier prepped meal ready to serve in 30 minutes. View Recipe 13 of 15 Air-Fryer Panko Coconut Shrimp Carson Downing Need an easy appetizer for your holiday spread? Serve up these crispy air-fried shrimp. Cooking the shellfish dish in an air fryer means that this high-protein, high-flavor shrimp recipe will be prepared with ease. Serve with chili sauce for dipping to balance the lightly sweet coconut elements. View Recipe 14 of 15 Flounder Grenobloise Carson Downing Looking to add flounder to your Feast of the Seven Fishes table? This easy recipe can be made in just 20 minutes. Flounder’s firm texture and mild, sweet taste is a winning combination for this skillet recipe that cooks up fast in white wine, pickling liquid, and capers. View Recipe 15 of 15 Easy Boiled Lobster Blaine Moats This recipe makes it easy to master how to cook lobster. You’ll only need 30 minutes to make fresh lobster for your holiday gathering. We’ll even show you how to serve lobster meat with clarified butter and a Beurre Blanc sauce. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit