Christmas in Guatemala smells of pine needles, burnt sugar and simmering fruit. From the Quema del Diablo on December 7 to the last posada on the 24th, the month builds toward one night, Nochebuena. At midnight, the fireworks go off, families hug, and then everyone sits down to tamales and a cup of hot ponche.
Below are the 11 foods and drinks that make a Guatemalan Christmas, from the red and black tamales at the center of the table to the fruit punch, the chocolate and the sweets that go around all month.
Just want the recipes? Our Guatemalan holiday dishes page collects them in one place.
Guatemalan Christmas Foods at a Glance
| Dish | What it is | When |
|---|---|---|
| Tamales colorados | Corn tamales with pork or chicken in red recado | Midnight, Dec 24 |
| Tamales negros | Sweeter tamales with chocolate, raisins and prunes | Midnight, Dec 24 |
| Ponche de frutas | Hot punch of pineapple, apple and dried fruit | All December |
| Chocolate caliente | Hot Guatemalan chocolate made with water or milk | Posadas and Christmas morning |
| Pavo relleno | Roast stuffed turkey | Christmas Eve dinner |
| Pierna de cerdo | Slow-roasted pork leg | Christmas Eve and New Year’s |
| Jamón horneado | Glazed baked ham | Christmas Eve dinner |
| Rompope | Egg liqueur from Salcajá | Holiday toasts |
| Caldo de frutas | Fermented fruit wine from Salcajá | Holiday toasts |
| Buñuelos en miel | Fried dough balls in spiced syrup | December and Holy Week |
| Apples and grapes | Seasonal fruit on every table | Nochebuena and New Year’s Eve |
How Guatemala Celebrates Christmas
The season opens on December 7 with the Quema del Diablo, the burning of the devil. At 6 p.m., families pile old rubbish, and sometimes a paper devil, in front of the house and set it alight, clearing out the bad before the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
From December 16 to 24, neighborhoods hold posadas, a nightly procession that carries figures of Mary and Joseph from house to house in search of shelter. The host family greets the procession with hot ponche, tamales, sweet bread and chocolate.
Nochebuena, on December 24, is the main event. Families go to Mass or gather at home, then wait for midnight. When the clock strikes twelve, the sky fills with fireworks, everyone hugs, and the tamales come out. Christmas Day itself is quieter: leftovers, visits and more ponche.
1. Tamales Colorados
The tamal is the heart of a Guatemalan Christmas, and the classic is the tamal colorado, the red tamal. A soft masa of corn (and sometimes rice) is topped with a spoonful of recado, a red sauce of tomato, dried chiles, toasted sesame and pumpkin seeds. A piece of pork or chicken, an olive, a strip of red pepper and a caper or two go on top, and the whole thing is wrapped in a plantain leaf and steamed.
Making tamales is a family project. The work starts a day or two before Christmas Eve, and a single batch can run to a hundred tamales so there are enough to share with neighbors. They are eaten at midnight with a piece of French bread and a cup of hot chocolate or ponche.
2. Tamales Negros
Tamales negros, black tamales, are the festive cousin of the red tamal. The recado is darker and sweeter, made with chocolate, raisins, prunes, almonds and spices such as cinnamon, and the masa itself is often sweetened. The meat is still pork or chicken, so the flavor lands somewhere between a mole and a dessert.
They take more work and cost more to make, so many families serve them only once a year, on Nochebuena. The most traditional versions come wrapped in a mashán leaf, a local leaf that gives a light herbal aroma.
3. Ponche de Frutas
Ponche de frutas is the smell of a Guatemalan December. It began as caliente de piña, a hot pineapple drink, and grew into a thick punch of pineapple, apple, papaya, raisins, prunes and dried peach, simmered with cinnamon, cloves and a little sugar. Some families add coconut, a sign of Garífuna influence on the Caribbean coast.
It is served hot, with a spoon for the fruit, at every posada and again at midnight on Christmas Eve. Adults often add a shot of rum or aguardiente. For a Mexican take on the same idea, see our ponche navideño.
4. Chocolate Caliente
Guatemala has been drinking chocolate since Maya times, and December is its high season. Guatemalan chocolate comes in rough tablets flavored with cinnamon and sugar, and it is whisked into hot water or milk until it foams. At posadas it comes with sweet bread, and on Christmas morning it comes with leftover tamales.
The traditional companion is a crisp champurrada or a piece of pan dulce for dunking. If you want to make it at home, look for Guatemalan chocolate tablets on Amazon.
5. Pavo Relleno
Turkey, called chompipe or chunto in Guatemala, was domesticated in Mesoamerica long before it reached Europe, so its place on the Christmas table feels natural. Pavo relleno is roasted with a local adobo and stuffed with a mix that can include ground meat, raisins, prunes, olives and bread.
It is more common in Guatemala City than in the countryside, where tamales still rule. Many families serve both: tamales at midnight and turkey for a later dinner.
6. Pierna de Cerdo
A slow-roasted pierna de cerdo, pork leg, is the other big centerpiece. It is marinated overnight in orange juice, garlic, spices and sometimes beer, then roasted for hours until the meat falls apart. Slices go onto the plate or into French bread with a little of the pan juices.
Because it feeds a crowd, pierna comes back for New Year’s Eve, and leftovers turn into sandwiches for days.
7. Jamón Horneado
Jamón horneado, a baked ham with a sweet glaze of pineapple, brown sugar or honey and cloves, is especially popular in Guatemala City. Like the turkey, it reflects the influence of European and American Christmas tables on the capital, and it usually shares the platter with tamales rather than replacing them.
8. Rompope
Rompope is a creamy liqueur of egg yolks, milk, sugar and cinnamon, spiked with aguardiente or rum. Guatemala’s most famous rompope comes from Salcajá, a town in Quetzaltenango that has made it for generations and sells it in painted bottles. It is served cold in small glasses for holiday toasts. Mexico has its own version, rompope, which is very close.
9. Caldo de Frutas
Salcajá is also home to caldo de frutas, a fruit wine made by fermenting apples, peaches, pears, plums and other fruit in sealed barrels for months. It is strong, sweet and deep amber, and families save a bottle for Christmas and New Year’s. It is hard to find outside Guatemala, which makes it one of the most prized souvenirs to bring home.
10. Buñuelos en Miel
Guatemalan buñuelos are light balls of fried dough soaked in a warm syrup of panela, cinnamon and anise. They are sold at December fairs and made at home for the holidays, and they appear again during Holy Week. Find them and other sweets in our guide to Guatemalan desserts.
11. Apples and Grapes
Walk through a Guatemalan market in December and you’ll see pyramids of red apples and bunches of grapes. Imported fruit was once a luxury, so a bowl of apples and grapes on the table became a sign of a good Christmas. Grapes come back on New Year’s Eve, when many families eat twelve of them at midnight, one for each wish for the year ahead.
What About Fiambre?
Fiambre, the huge cold salad of cured meats, cheeses and pickled vegetables, is often mistaken for a Christmas dish. It belongs to November 1, Día de Todos los Santos, when families take it to the cemetery to share with their departed. It opens the holiday season, but it is not part of Nochebuena.
Guatemalan Christmas Food FAQ
What do Guatemalans eat on Christmas Eve?
Tamales, red and black, eaten at midnight after the fireworks, with hot ponche de frutas or chocolate. Many families add a roast turkey, pork leg or ham.
What is the difference between tamales colorados and tamales negros?
Tamales colorados have a red, savory recado of tomato and chiles. Tamales negros have a darker, sweeter recado with chocolate, raisins and prunes.
Is fiambre a Christmas dish?
No. Fiambre is made for Día de Todos los Santos on November 1.
What is the Quema del Diablo?
On December 7 at 6 p.m., Guatemalans burn rubbish, and often a paper devil, outside their homes to clear away the bad before the Immaculate Conception. It marks the start of the Christmas season.
More Guatemalan Food
Explore the rest of the country’s kitchen in our guide to Guatemalan food and our Guatemalan ingredients guide, or browse everything on the Guatemalan food hub. To see how the rest of the region celebrates, visit our Latin Christmas foods hub.
More Guatemalan Foods
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Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.