German Christmas Dinner Casserole
If there's one country that really knows how to celebrate Christmas, it's Germany. Between their quaint winter markets, gorgeous advent calendars, and delicious seasonal food, German Christmas traditions are all wonderful ways to spread some holiday cheer. Since the holidays are already fast approaching, we're taking a page out of Germany's cookbook and making a German Christmas dinner casserole. Traditional German ingredients, like potatoes, red cabbage, and duck get layered up and baked together to make a hearty, cozy casserole that absolutely screams Christmas. What a delicious way to kick off the holidays!
Yield: 1
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ingredients:
- 24 potato dumplings or 12 cups chilled mashed potatoes, divided
- 4 cups ready-made red cabbage, warmed
- 8 cooked duck legs
- 2 cups brown gravy
- 4 cups ready-made collard greens, warmed
- 1 cup cranberry sauce
- walnuts, croutons & brie cheese wheel shavings for the topping
- chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions:
1. Form 4 equally-sized "sheets" from the potato dumplings or chilled mashed potatoes, with each sheet being approximately the same size as your casserole dish. Place the first potato sheet in the casserole dish.
2. Spread the warm red cabbage over the first potato sheet and top with the second potato sheet.
3. Remove the cooked duck meat from the bones and combine the meat and half of the brown gravy. Spread this mixture over the second potato sheet and top with the third potato sheet.
4. Spread the warm collard greens over the third potato sheet and top with the fourth potato sheet. Add dollops of cranberry sauce on top of the final potato sheet and top with walnuts, croutons, and brie cheese wheel shavings. Transfer the casserole dish to a preheated oven and cook at 350°F for 1 hour. Garnish the casserole with chopped parsley and serve with the rest of the brown gravy.
All of the flavors of a traditional German Christmas dinner baked into one amazing casserole – it doesn't get any better than this. It's the perfect recipe to start off the most wonderful time of the year!