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Join us for the 2023 Holiday Bucket List!

The Holiday Bucket List is back again this year!

Holiday bucket list in a frame with a holiday tree.

We are entering an incredibly tradition-rich, nostalgic, and charming time of year – in my family, most of that is based around the much-anticipated build up to Christmas.

It’s everything from familiar holiday music to the warm cozy glow of candles, and the faces of people we love and babies in Christmas jammies (*wipes away a tear*). And maybe best of all, the house is filled with the warm smells of classic recipes that make their appearance just a few times each year.

These are the comforting, inviting, and absolutely crowd-pleasing favorites I come back to year after year.

I’d love for you to join me!


Info For This Holiday Bucket List


What Is The Holiday Bucket List?

The Pinch of Yum Holiday Bucket List is a list of 10 of my favorite recipes that I consider must-makes for the holidays!

In addition to just being a fun collection of recipes, it’s also a fun little game where we offer the chance to win prizes for any of the recipes.


How To Enter The Giveaways

There are two ways to enter for each recipe giveaway.

#1: Share a photo on Instagram and send us a screenshot.

Image of a phone sending an email with a picture of cookies.

For an Instagram entry:

  • Make the recipe.
  • Share your photo or video on Instagram (stories or feed).
  • Email us a screenshot of the share!

Send your screenshot to [email protected] and put the name of the recipe in the subject line. That’s it!

The idea with this is that you’re making the recipe (the goal of this whole fun little game) so you have to actually share your own photo or video of the recipe. A share of the reel or the Pinch of Yum photo won’t count. We want to see that you made it!


#2: Leave a comment and rating on the recipe.

Photo of someone leaving a recipe comment on a phone.

For a comment entry:

  • Make the recipe.
  • Leave a comment on the recipe with a star rating!

That’s it!

As much as I’d love to just ask the whole internet to go leave a bunch of 5 star ratings on all these recipes (yes! please! ha!), we ask that you do not leave a rating if you did not make the recipe. If you’re chosen as a winner from the comments, we will ask you to provide a picture of the recipe so that we can verify that you made the recipe!


Other Things to Know

  • You can enter both ways for each recipe (2 total entries per recipe)!
  • If you’ve already left a comment with a rating on the recipe in the past, you don’t need to leave a second comment. Just take a screenshot of your comment and send it to [email protected] and it will count as your entry for this year! (You’d still need to provide a photo of the recipe if you were selected as the winner.)

Entry Deadlines

We will be accepting entries from December 2nd – December 19th. Submissions will close on December 19th at 11:59 pm CST.

Winners will chosen on December 20 and contacted that same day.


What Are The Recipes and Prizes?

Here is the full list of all 10 Holiday Bucket List recipes, and the prizes for each!

1: Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

Le Creuset prize with shepherd's pie.

2: Date Night Rigatoni

Brightland prize with Date Night Rigatoni.

Note: Brightland prize not eligible for Canadian residents.


3: Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Maple Glaze

Moccamaster prize with Gingerbread Cookies.

4: Rosemary Pom Spritzer (The Merry Mocktail)

Ogee prize with Merry Mocktail.

5: Swedish Pancakes

ABLE tote bag with Swedish Pancakes.

6: Thai Yellow Chicken Curry with Potatoes

Made In knife with yellow curry.

7: The Best Swedish Meatballs

Nuuly prize with Swedish Meatballs.

Note: Nuuly prize not eligible for Canadian residents.


8: The Very Best Chocolate Cookies

Caraway prize with chocolate cookies.

9: Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Delta gift card with chicken pot pie.

10: No Knead Bread

Sorel prize with No Knead Bread.

You can find the printable Holiday Bucket List here!


Other Important Details

What if I want to make dietary modifications to a recipe?

No problem! Make your subs and swaps. Send us the photo like usual, and if you leave a review it’s super helpful if you note what you changed about the recipe (used tofu instead of chicken, for example) in case others might want to do the same.

Can I share my recipe photo multiple times for more entries?

No, just one share / screenshot email per person will be counted.

How old do I have to be to participate?

To be entered to win a prize, you will need to be 18 years or older.

Do I need to live in the U.S. to win?

Due to shipping restrictions for the prizes, you must reside in the U.S. or Canada (see note below).

Note for Canadian residents: the Brightland Olive Oil and Nuuly prizes are not eligible for shipping to Canada.

How will winners be chosen?

For each recipe, we combine both the screenshot/email entries and the comment/rating entries into one pool. From there, we pick a random number and find the winning entry.

Can I win multiple prizes?

You can enter them all! One prize per winner is allowed.

If your name is selected for a prize, a member of our team will contact you through the email address used for your entry.

Where do I find the Holiday Bucket List recipes?

All of the recipes are linked in this section of this post!


I’m so excited for this season and so excited to get some of these tried-and-true recipes rolling in my kitchen (and in yours)!

I will be making these recipes on Instagram throughout the next 3 weeks as we run this Holiday Bucket List challenge, so be sure to check stories, reels, and highlights on Instagram to see the recipes up close and personal in my kitchen! You can follow along here.

And as you’re making the recipes, if you have questions, drop a comment on the recipe post or email our team at [email protected]! We’d love to help.

Happy holiday season to you and yours! We’ll be back after December 20th to announce winners!


Looking For More Holiday Recipe Ideas?

Check out our full collection of holiday recipes!

Filed Under: Blog News Bucket List

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20 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Might be a dumb question…but is there any easy way to search and find your comment from last year? I’ve been sitting here trying to scroll down but there’s like a thousand and I just caaaaaannt anymore lol

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This was so good and yummy on a rainy day. I loved the heartiness of the mushrooms.

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Can’t wait to try a few of these yummy recipes! Swedish pancakes have been on my list for a while, and the chicken pot-pie/shepherds pie my boys will love!!

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I made this recipe and my hubby was so in love with it, he decided he wanted to learn how to make it! So now when I’m working on our weekly meal plan, this is one of his go-to recipes. We usually substitute the heavy cream with half and half and it’s just as delicious!

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Oooh I’m so excited! Definitely going to add the cookies to my holiday baking list 🙂

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I don’t think so because you’re just taking a screenshot of it and emailing it to them.

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Do we send a separate email of the comment screenshot and instagram screenshot? Or one email with both is fine? Thanks!

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I used oat milk and oat/coconut cream. Was a bit soupy but still delicious. Needed an extra 10 minutes to cook the biscuits, perhaps because of the more liquid texture of the filling. 4.5 stars

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    If we don’t have Instagram can we just send you a picture of our recipes or can we just not participate?

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Love this recipe! I’ve made it a couple times before, and this time I cut the mushrooms in half and added a pound of ground beef because I found I would be hungry again pretty quickly with no meat. Loved it! I grated parmesan over the top of the mashed potatoes before popping it in the oven, and that was lovely.

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I completely understand and share your feelings! This time of year truly has a special kind of magic and it seems your family traditions have woven a particularly charming tapestry of memories.