19 Holiday Roasts That Will Be the Star of Your Table

December 04, 2020

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These holiday roast recipes will be the centerpiece of your holiday table. Whether it’s beef, pork or ham, these impressive roasts are delicious and flavorful. Plus, you can easily use any leftover protein in sandwiches or salads. Recipes like Garlic-Rosemary Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce and Pork Loin Roast with Pepper Jelly Glaze are bold, stunning and tasty.

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Instant Pot Garlic & Rosemary Roast Pork Loin

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It's remarkable that a pork roast can be so good so quickly! The gravy is rich and flavorful and the meat is moist and perfectly cooked--using an Instant Pot is a real game changer for pork loin roast.

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Garlic-Rosemary Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce

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The eye of round is a lean, boneless cut of beef that's less expensive than a tenderloin or rib roast but just as delicious. It's best served medium-rare--when cooked to higher temperatures it can become tough. Topping it with a finger-licking-good horseradish sauce makes this roast beef holiday-worthy.

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Irish Pork Roast with Roasted Root Vegetables

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In this easy one-pan dinner, boneless pork loin roast is cooked over a bed of carrots and parsnips for an all-in-one dish that makes an impressive centerpiece for a holiday meal or Sunday dinner. Choose free-range heritage pork if you can--its flavor really shines with no more seasoning than a bit of thyme and a little sea salt. If you'd like, dress up the meal with a traditional Irish apple condiment--Ploughmans chutney or Bramley applesauce, which you can find in specialty stores and online.

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Marmalade-Horseradish-Rosemary Glazed Ham

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Orange marmalade, whole-grain mustard, and horseradish are combined with fresh rosemary to make a sensational glaze for this delicious ham. It's a perfect main dish for a holiday gathering or family reunion.

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Braised Brisket with Carrots & Prunes

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Inspired by tzimmes, a vegetable stew featuring dried fruit and commonly served for the Jewish New Year, we added carrots and prunes to this braised brisket for a sweet-and-savory flavor.

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Pork Loin Roast with Pepper Jelly Glaze

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Chef Frank Brigtsen, of Brigtsen’s restaurant in New Orleans, makes homemade pepper jelly to glaze thick pork chops for Réveillon. He recommends two ways to simplify for the home cook: go for store-bought jelly and, instead of chops, a pork loin roast.

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Perfect Prime Rib

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Cooking prime rib can be intimidating--it's such a big piece of meat and you're usually making it for a special occasion, like Christmas or a formal dinner, so you want to get it just right. But it needn't be stressful: This easy prime rib recipe calls for just a handful of ingredients and lays out how to cook prime rib so it's juicy, tender and full of flavor, without a lot of fuss. Cooking the prime rib low and slow safeguards the meat from cooking unevenly. See the Tips section below for more advice on making the perfect prime rib. And if you have leftovers, they make a killer sandwich!

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Fresh Ham with Red Pepper Glaze

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For this fresh roast ham recipe, look for meat that hasn't been cured or smoked. Many markets stock fresh hams, but you may need to special-order one to be sure. Ask your butcher to remove the skin and leave a layer of fat to self-baste the ham as it roasts.

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Mustard-Maple Pork Roast

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Maple syrup, orange peel, and mustard add captivating flavor to the glaze for this succulent pork roast. Potatoes and carrots roast in the pan alongside the pork and round out the meal.

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Beef Rib Roast with Mushrooms & Fennel

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The edible wild mushrooms you can find depend on where you live. They add woodsy and earthy flavors, but cultivated cremini and white buttons are delicious here too. Well-stocked supermarkets often have cultivated "wild" varieties like hen of the woods, matsutake, yellowfoot and hedgehog--all great in this recipe.

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Stuffed Pork Loin with Wild Rice

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A clever knife technique is the key to this stuffed tenderloin, which gets rolled up with a sweet-savory combo of wild rice, apples and cranberries.

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Chili-Glazed Pork Roast

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A simple brown sugar and spice rub gives this pork dinner an intense flavor. The sugar caramelizes during roasting to create a delicious glaze.

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Mushroom & Thyme Roasted Beef Tenderloin

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The beef tenderloin in this main dish recipe really benefits from a long soak in the mushroom- and thyme-flavored marinade. Roasted in the oven alongside onions, carrots, and more mushrooms, this meal is a definite crowd-pleaser.

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Cranberry-Rosemary Stuffed Pork Loin

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This cranberry-rosemary stuffed pork tenderloin recipe looks gorgeous with the cranberry- and rosemary-flecked stuffing bursting from the juicy browned pork loin. Don't be scared by the task of double butterflying a pork loin--the process is fairly simple.

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Pork Tenderloin "Rosa di Parma"

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It's not unusual to find a Parmigiano-Reggiano-stuffed roasted pork tenderloin like this served at special family celebrations in the Italian province of Parma, but it's often made with beef. This version doubles down on the pork by stuffing it with prosciutto along with the cheese. You can certainly use Italian prosciutto, but consider cured American hams like La Quercia's Tamworth Prosciutto.

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Peppercorn-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

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This super-simple recipe covers beef tenderloin in a blend of cracked black, white and green peppercorns. Though it takes moments to prepare, since it's beef tenderloin it's perfect for a special occasion. Look for peppercorns in the bulk spice section so you can buy just what you need. The recipe will also work with black ones only.

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Pork Tenderloin with Brown Gravy and Mushrooms

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It's true! You can fit meat and gravy into your diabetic meal plan. Each serving of this pork recipe has only 4 grams of carb and 2 grams of fat.

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Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Honey-Almond Green Beans

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Pork tenderloin just got even better with the addition of a crispy layer of bacon.

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Herbed Beef Tenderloin

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Fresh parsley, rosemary, and thyme make a flavorful mustard rub for the tender roast beef in this dinner recipe.

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