Is Thanksgiving a bigger deal (food wise) than Christmas?
August 8, 2025
I always seem to see Americans talking about thanksgiving dinner etc much more than Christmas dinner. So is Thanksgiving a bigger deal food wise than Christmas?
42 comments
100% yes! The holiday literally revolves around food and getting into arguments with your family members
in my experience, yes. thanksgiving is a feast and christmas is more focused on the gifts
Christmas dinner has more variability in traditions. For some it’s a bigger deal, for others it isn’t, for others it’s thanksgiving meal 2.0. Growing up ours was thanksgiving 2.0 + a ham.
I’d say so.
Thanskgiving is *about* the meal. Christmas just…has a meal.
For people who celebrate both, I’d say they are comparable, with Thanksgiving having a slight edge, it will vary by household though.
For Thanksgiving, the meal is THE main tradition, for Christmas it is one of several, so the Thanksgiving meal tends to capture more attention.
Thanksgiving is our biggest food holiday
Generally, yes. People make a bigger deal about Thanksgiving dinner. Like everything, it’s not the case for everyone.
Well considering not all Americans celebrate Christmas…
I think so. Even though I basically make the same sides except on thanksgiving I do turkey and spiral ham and Christmas I do a roast.
For my family is always was. Thanksgiving is specifically about food, Christmas is about a lot of other things, with food thrown in for good measure.
We never really had a big Christmas dinner anyway, we’d have food, but it would kind of be like grazing a buffet table all day.
It’s not even close. Most families I know don’t have any traditional Christmas dinner but everyone family I know has the traditional Thanksgiving meals
I would say Thanksgiving and July 4 are our biggest food holidays
Food wise, yes. The focus for most Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving is the food. Christmas food tends to be overshadowed by other major traditions like gift-giving.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is all the food without the fuss. It’s ALL about the food.
Yes Christmas is a much bigger deal in general but there’s not that much emphasis on Christmas dinner or even super specific traditions around it that everyone would be familiar with.
Yeah Thanksgiving is the number one food holiday
For a lot of families it is.
IME, yes. Not everyone celebrates Christmas and there are so many more things going on than the meal. For Thanksgiving it’s the meal. Christmas is almost a Thanksgiving meal *lite*.
Usually yes. Thanksgiving is all about family and friends and getting together so the focus is on eating. Christmas can feature a nice Christmas dinner, or like my family would do, have a nice Christmas eve dinner with pies and desserts then Christmas day is about presents and all. Then by Christmas night we’re worn out and would get some Chinese take out.
Absolutely. It’s a day about traditional food, family and friends. At least, it should be.
Yes. Christmas has a lot of traditions built around it. For Thanksgiving, food *is* the tradition.
Yes
Thanksgiving is ALL about the food.
Yes, definitely. Thanksgiving is all about the giant feast.
For many families, yes. For my Italian-American catholic family, Christmas Eve dinner is just as big food-wise. The table spread is huge.
Yes because the meal is more standardized and it’s literally the center point of the holiday. The entire day revolves around this massive dinner which is most likely turkey with a ton of side dishes. Christmas dinner varies. Some people do the turkey thing, but ham, and roast beef are also popular options. Also there’s a million other Christmas traditions with presents and movies and decorations that kind of spread the celebration out, so the food takes more of a supporting role.
Absolutely. As far as I’m concerned Christmas is very much not a food holiday. My family doesn’t have a specific Christmas only food and the ones they do make (like ham) are foods I’m not very fond of.
Oh yeah, for sure! At least in my family.
One million percent yes.
100%
Thanksgiving morning you wake up thinking about cooking and eating. Christmas has food, but Thanksgiving is **about** the food.
My family does celebrate Christmas but we usually have Chinese food takeout.
Definitely, The whole point of American Thanksgiving is food. Americans celebrate Christmas in a more wishy-washy way, we love the gifts and stuff, can’t totally decide on the food — it varies a lot by family, some go big on the Eve, some the day, some not at all. American Christmas is not at all about the food, especially compared to some of our Euro counterparts like Italy or England (although some Americans of that heritage still follow Old World Traditions). Also our tv is most in reruns, we don’t do xmas episodes on the actual day much. T-day thougn, is the exact day, and also the same food, the football and parades are bonuses. And the leftovers, of course (I do love a Wawa Gobbler hoagie).
I hate Thanksgiving, so Christmas for me
Another thing is that many Americans don’t celebrate Christmas, but we all celebrate Thanksgiving.
We usually go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner on Christmas.
I also want to add that there are many people in the US who don’t celebrate Christmas, so there’s also the fact that Jewish people, Muslim people, Buddhist people, etc. may celebrate Thanksgiving but not do anything out of the ordinary for Christmas at all. Christmas is not an American holiday — it’s a culturally Christian holiday that people from a certain background celebrate. Because that background is the majority, it often gets assumed that it’s universal when it’s not.
My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, so by default, yes.
Christmas traditions vary a lot by region and by ethnic ancestry. For some people Christmas includes a big meal, for others it doesn’t (and many Americans simply don’t celebrate Christmas at all.)
Thanksgiving is pretty universally a big feast with a lot of focus on food.
Part of it is everyone can celebrate Thanksgiving, even if they don’t have the traditional dinner.
Christmas is a Christian holiday. About 70% of the US is Christian. About 7% are non-Christian religions (ex Jews, Buddhists, Muslims) and the 30% are unaffiliated which can be anything ex. Atheists, none of the above, etc. Some may feel comfortable celebrating Christmas,.other not or only in a secular way.
Which is one of the reasons Thanksgiving is celebrated more than Christmas.
I’d say so. More people celebrate Thanksgiving than Christmas.
Thanksgiving is a one day feast. Christmas is more of a season with lots of food, parties, get togethers and it goes on for weeks. Basically starts after Thanksgiving and goes until New Year’s. Most people usually have a Christmas Dinner which is more elaborate than usual but with the whole month long of celebrations and presents, shopping and for many religious activities, it is a little different.
42 comments
100% yes! The holiday literally revolves around food and getting into arguments with your family members
in my experience, yes. thanksgiving is a feast and christmas is more focused on the gifts
Christmas dinner has more variability in traditions. For some it’s a bigger deal, for others it isn’t, for others it’s thanksgiving meal 2.0. Growing up ours was thanksgiving 2.0 + a ham.
I’d say so.
Thanskgiving is *about* the meal. Christmas just…has a meal.
For people who celebrate both, I’d say they are comparable, with Thanksgiving having a slight edge, it will vary by household though.
For Thanksgiving, the meal is THE main tradition, for Christmas it is one of several, so the Thanksgiving meal tends to capture more attention.
Thanksgiving is our biggest food holiday
Generally, yes. People make a bigger deal about Thanksgiving dinner. Like everything, it’s not the case for everyone.
Well considering not all Americans celebrate Christmas…
I think so. Even though I basically make the same sides except on thanksgiving I do turkey and spiral ham and Christmas I do a roast.
For my family is always was. Thanksgiving is specifically about food, Christmas is about a lot of other things, with food thrown in for good measure.
We never really had a big Christmas dinner anyway, we’d have food, but it would kind of be like grazing a buffet table all day.
It’s not even close. Most families I know don’t have any traditional Christmas dinner but everyone family I know has the traditional Thanksgiving meals
I would say Thanksgiving and July 4 are our biggest food holidays
Food wise, yes. The focus for most Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving is the food. Christmas food tends to be overshadowed by other major traditions like gift-giving.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is all the food without the fuss. It’s ALL about the food.
Yes Christmas is a much bigger deal in general but there’s not that much emphasis on Christmas dinner or even super specific traditions around it that everyone would be familiar with.
Yeah Thanksgiving is the number one food holiday
For a lot of families it is.
IME, yes. Not everyone celebrates Christmas and there are so many more things going on than the meal. For Thanksgiving it’s the meal. Christmas is almost a Thanksgiving meal *lite*.
Usually yes. Thanksgiving is all about family and friends and getting together so the focus is on eating. Christmas can feature a nice Christmas dinner, or like my family would do, have a nice Christmas eve dinner with pies and desserts then Christmas day is about presents and all. Then by Christmas night we’re worn out and would get some Chinese take out.
Absolutely. It’s a day about traditional food, family and friends. At least, it should be.
Yes. Christmas has a lot of traditions built around it. For Thanksgiving, food *is* the tradition.
Yes
Thanksgiving is ALL about the food.
Yes, definitely. Thanksgiving is all about the giant feast.
For many families, yes. For my Italian-American catholic family, Christmas Eve dinner is just as big food-wise. The table spread is huge.
Yes because the meal is more standardized and it’s literally the center point of the holiday. The entire day revolves around this massive dinner which is most likely turkey with a ton of side dishes. Christmas dinner varies. Some people do the turkey thing, but ham, and roast beef are also popular options. Also there’s a million other Christmas traditions with presents and movies and decorations that kind of spread the celebration out, so the food takes more of a supporting role.
Absolutely. As far as I’m concerned Christmas is very much not a food holiday. My family doesn’t have a specific Christmas only food and the ones they do make (like ham) are foods I’m not very fond of.
Oh yeah, for sure! At least in my family.
One million percent yes.
100%
Thanksgiving morning you wake up thinking about cooking and eating. Christmas has food, but Thanksgiving is **about** the food.
My family does celebrate Christmas but we usually have Chinese food takeout.
Definitely, The whole point of American Thanksgiving is food. Americans celebrate Christmas in a more wishy-washy way, we love the gifts and stuff, can’t totally decide on the food — it varies a lot by family, some go big on the Eve, some the day, some not at all. American Christmas is not at all about the food, especially compared to some of our Euro counterparts like Italy or England (although some Americans of that heritage still follow Old World Traditions). Also our tv is most in reruns, we don’t do xmas episodes on the actual day much. T-day thougn, is the exact day, and also the same food, the football and parades are bonuses. And the leftovers, of course (I do love a Wawa Gobbler hoagie).
I hate Thanksgiving, so Christmas for me
Another thing is that many Americans don’t celebrate Christmas, but we all celebrate Thanksgiving.
We usually go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner on Christmas.
I also want to add that there are many people in the US who don’t celebrate Christmas, so there’s also the fact that Jewish people, Muslim people, Buddhist people, etc. may celebrate Thanksgiving but not do anything out of the ordinary for Christmas at all. Christmas is not an American holiday — it’s a culturally Christian holiday that people from a certain background celebrate. Because that background is the majority, it often gets assumed that it’s universal when it’s not.
My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, so by default, yes.
Christmas traditions vary a lot by region and by ethnic ancestry. For some people Christmas includes a big meal, for others it doesn’t (and many Americans simply don’t celebrate Christmas at all.)
Thanksgiving is pretty universally a big feast with a lot of focus on food.
Part of it is everyone can celebrate Thanksgiving, even if they don’t have the traditional dinner.
Christmas is a Christian holiday. About 70% of the US is Christian. About 7% are non-Christian religions (ex Jews, Buddhists, Muslims) and the 30% are unaffiliated which can be anything ex. Atheists, none of the above, etc. Some may feel comfortable celebrating Christmas,.other not or only in a secular way.
Which is one of the reasons Thanksgiving is celebrated more than Christmas.
I’d say so. More people celebrate Thanksgiving than Christmas.
Thanksgiving is a one day feast. Christmas is more of a season with lots of food, parties, get togethers and it goes on for weeks. Basically starts after Thanksgiving and goes until New Year’s. Most people usually have a Christmas Dinner which is more elaborate than usual but with the whole month long of celebrations and presents, shopping and for many religious activities, it is a little different.
Not in my house.
We’re Italian American
Every holiday is a food extravaganza.