Very DOWN UNDER AIP Christmas Recipes (2024)

Oy, COVID. Along with everything else, 2020 means that Christmas won’t be the same as it usually is for so many.

This year, I won’t be heading home to New Zealand for Christmas. Nor will my Mum and Dad be coming to us in Sydney. And I know that we are not alone in being separated this year.

Usually, my sister, Becky, and I come up with a shared list of what we want to have ready for the Christmas table. We divvy up the jobs (thank goodness for sisters!). Bx is often very Australian about our starters and does amazing things with shellfish – prawns and scallops grilled on the barbie. But then, we go a smidge more traditional with ham and turkey and all the (summer) trimmings with some fancy-schmancy salads. My Dad gets his favourite duck fat roasted potatoes, too.

When we were growing up, Mum was famous for her Zuppe Inglese dessert number, a kind of Italian cake trifle (very similar to this one!) It’s one of my sister’s favourites and I usually experiment with a grain-free, dairy-free version of Mum’s Frankham-family Christmas dessert. It’s become one of our family traditions, and not quite AIP enough or exact enough to share. (If you’re wondering, I adapt heavily from the wonderful Jenni Hulet’s ‘My Paleo Patisserie: An Artisan Approach to Grain Free Baking‘).

The nice thing about when my parents come to us for Christmas is that Mum doesn’t have to worry herself with all the preparations and craziness that comes from having us all descend on her. And, to be fair, our combined food challenges must add to the stress of all that this entails – gluten-free this, dairy-free that, no nightshades for this one, no shellfish for him…

Sadly, not this year. This year will be a very quiet affair.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t cook for David and me. I think we all deserve a little Christmas cheer after the year we’ve had!

My Mum aces Christmas. Really. She’s really good at it. REALLY good.

Kind of big shoes to fill.

And then there’s the fact that Christmas is kind of stressful at the best of times. Doing ALL THE THINGS!

So, I’m working on not over-cooking things too much. Not whipping myself into a tizzy.

And, part of this not stuff is going with things that I already know meet my dietary needs and taste great!

Enter my down under AIP Christmas recipes…

…and because it’s Christmas, we’re starting with the sweets!

One of the things my Mum is really famous for is her Christmas fruit-mince pies (or, tarts, depending on where you grew up). They are so, so good!

I have friends from school and university who still ask me about them!

But, Mum’s recipe calls for a whole bunch of un-AIP ingredients. Things like alcohol and nuts and forbidden spices and extra sugar! So, I fiddled and jiggled with the recipe until my“I Can’tBelieveit’sAIP” Christmas Minceversion of Mum’s Christmas mince was born.

It’s good (even if I do say so myself!)

Small admission – this stuff is like crack. I have been known to take a spoon to the fridge for a sneaky spoonful (or five)

You makeVERY Merry AIP Christmas Mince Pies, of course!

These little beauties – my Very Merry AIP Christmas Mince Piesare good enough to make you forget that you’re on an elimination diet!

When I eat them, I’m immediately transported back to my childhood in New Zealand… And when I mentioned to my sister last weekend that I was making Christmas mince for tarts, her eyes lit up!

I really. really recommend these babies if you’re after something special. They make great gifts for your AIP mates, too (if you can bear to part with any!)

And, for those of you celebrating Christmas in the heat like me – if you’ve got some of that tutti-fruity Christmas mince leftover, why not create a very Down Under Ice Cream Christmas Pudding?

I reckon wee individual puddings would work a treat, too.

It’s the perfect sweet numberfor those of us in warmer climates (or, for those of you who wish you were…!)

The best thing about this baby is that you can whip it up and pop it in the freezer a few days before you need it. That means more time to enjoy sitting around the table with friends and family.

Alternatively, you could whip up this Christmas Mince Apple Crumble Tart. This is the magical result of combining the comfort of an apple crumble with the festive cheer of Christmas mince. And, it looks and tastes quite impressive.

For those of you who can’t be arsed faffing around with the fiddliness that is AIP pastry,. you could equally simplify this baby by leaving out the pastry and simply making a Christmas mince and apple crumble (minus the tart). Just be sure to oil the base of your crumble dish before you pop it in the oven.

Either way, serve with whipped coconut cream or coconut milk ice cream. Yum! ice cream

Down in this neck of the woods where Christmas falls in the summer-time and a leg of ham is a ubiquitous addition to the Christmas table, finding ways to play with all that ham is part and parcel of the festive experience. We start the ham offerings with my VERY MERRY Raspberry Glazed Ham.

It’s so good!

So often, ham glazes call for mustard or alcohol or spices that are not part of the elimination phase of the AIP. This sneaky little raspberry number has a completely optional addition to give your glaze a bit of oomph if you’re after some more heat.

This year, I finally shared my Easy Christmas Kraut recipe. To be honest, it’s been on my ‘to do’ list for a while and I’m already getting lots of lovely feedback from AIPers who are adding it to their holiday table.

This little lacto-fermented number is both festive AND good for you. Who would’ve thunk it? It marries beautifully with ham!

If you’ve never tried fermenting your veggies before, now’s a great time, not least because my Chrissie kraut is a little sweeter than you’ll usually find. It’s the festive spices and fruity additions that make it so.

WE DON’T WANT TO WASTE THAT FABULOUS HAM BONE LEFTOVER FROM CHRISTMAS. IT’S FULL OF GRASS-FED, HAPPY PORKY GOODNESS!

Nup. Make full use of your ham bone by making a big batch of ‘Everything But the Kitchen Sink’ Ham Bone Broth and Vegetable Soup.

I promise it will warm ALL your co*ckles!

The first step in maximising every skerrick of goodness possible from your ham bone (after you’ve carved off all the lovely ham, of course!) is to make yourself a good, nutrient-dense bone broth.

Then you whip a chock-full of goodness soup. This one is a nutrient-dense power-house of a soup and it’s full of flavour. The only downside for me is that I usually only have one hambone…I could eat this again and again!