The year-end holidays are a time for celebration and for special meals around festive tables – whether that means wonderfully raucous family gatherings, improvised potlucks with friends, or intimate candlelit dinners with a loved one.
The season also seems to call for extravagance – especially this year, after the travails of 2020 and 2021. If we’re lucky enough to be able to afford it, this is the time for smoked salmon, not tuna salad; prime rib, not burgers.
Through the years, certain high-end foods have come to be identified with the holidays – caviar and foie gras; whole roast birds (turkey, of course, but also capon or goose); elaborate desserts like the classic bûche de Noël or Yule log or dried-fruit-studded panettone or plum pudding. And if you’re of Italian heritage, baccala – salt cod – might also be on the menu, especially for Christmas Eve. (And for the day itself, here are 20 festive Christmas dinner ideas.)
Of course, luxury doesn’t come cheap. To compile a list of the most expensive holiday foods – out-of-the-ordinary items typically eaten during the Christmas season and through New Year’s Eve – 24/7 Tempo consulted the websites of a number of online merchants specializing in premium food products, including D’Artagnan, Fulton Fish Market, La Tienda, Snake River Farms, and Marky’s. As with all food products, prices may vary according to size, quality, source, etc., but the prices given here are typical as of late November 2022.
Click here to see the most expensive holiday foods you can buy
You can still have a good time with those who mean a lot to you without buying anything on this list, of course – but if you’re able, maybe a taste of something indulgent will help make your holiday a little brighter – and in any case, enjoying most of these foods will still cost a lot less than dining in one of the most expensive restaurants in America.
19. Panettone (2.2 lbs.)
> Typical price: $34
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18. Plum pudding (imported)
> Typical price: $35
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17. Pheasant (2-2.75 lbs.)
> Typical price: $40
16. Salt cod filet (3 lbs.)
> Typical price: $65
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15. Fresh black truffle (1 oz.)
> Typical price: $80
14. Gingerbread house (small)
> Typical price: $80
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13. Scottish smoked salmon (2-lb. side, sliced)
> Typical price: $90
12. Bûche de Noël (Yule log)
> Typical price: $90
11. Capon (8 lbs.)
> Typical price: $135
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10. Foie gras (whole raw lobe, 1.5-1.75 lbs.)
> Typical price: $150
9. Turducken (12-16 lbs.)
> Typical price: $155
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8. Country ham (bone-in, 13-16 lbs.)
> Typical price: $220
7. Heritage turkey (18-20 lbs.)
> Typical price: $249
6. Goose (8-10 lbs.)
> Typical price: $250
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5. Champagne (Dom Pérignon 2012, 750 ml)
> Typical price: $250
4. American black grade wagyu prime rib roast (5 lbs.)
> Typical price: $255
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3. Fresh white truffle (1 oz.)
> Typical price: $392
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2. Suckling pig (30-40 lbs.)
> Typical price: $400
1. American beluga caviar (1 oz.)
> Typical price: $830
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