12 Holiday Foods Florida Families Argue About Every Year

In some Miami homes, the Thanksgiving turkey gets the mojo treatment, just like a roast pig.

Florida tables mix a lot of traditions, so everybody has an opinion about what belongs on them.

Here are the holiday foods Florida families argue about every year.

1. Lechón Asado

Lechón asado, a whole roast pig, is served at Nochebuena dinners, the Cuban American Christmas Eve feast.

At one Miami couple’s yearly Nochebuena, the centerpiece was a 14- to 16-pound pig roasting inside a caja china, WLRN reported in 2014.

Another Miami family roasted its pig in a pit, with banana leaves over it to hold in moisture and smoke, barbecue writer Steven Raichlen wrote in December 2025.

That family turned the pig over after about two hours, then added coals for another hour and a half.

If you’re invited to a pit roast like that, you’ll want to plan on about three and a half hours before the pig is done.

2. Mojo Turkey

Mojo turkey takes the holiday bird and treats it like lechón.

In the Miami Thanksgivings Carlos Frías recalls, the cooks seasoned the turkey like lechón, with mojo, onions and island spices.

Pork still led the meal in his house, and turkey came second.

Some families cooked their turkey in the same caja china roasting box they’d use for pigs.

Many families argue over whether pork or turkey belongs at the center of the table.

If you’re a guest, you can skip the argument and take a plate of both.

Pass the mojo.

3. Moros y Cristianos

Moros y cristianos is a Cuban staple of soupy black beans ladled over white rice.

If you’re serving it, you ladle the beans over the rice at the table.

At one Miami family’s Nochebuena, it was one of three classic Cuban sides served with the pig, along with yuca con mojo and fried plantains.

The Miami couple with the caja china served cumin-scented black beans, glistening rice and yucca at their Nochebuena.

Thanksgiving gets rice too.

Frías’s family replaced cornbread and mac and cheese with yuca and rice dishes like arroz congris or arroz mojo.

4. Pasteles

Pasteles are a holiday food known as the Puerto Rican tamale.

You stuff pork filling into a batter of grated root vegetables, wrap each bundle in a banana leaf and tie it with string.

There are two ways to make the batter, with a plantain base or a yuca base.

If you’re making pasteles, you’ll want to start at least a day ahead.

Shopping and prepping the ingredients come before the cooking, according to a 2016 story from Edible Northeast Florida.

5. Pen Patat

Pen patat is a Haitian sweet potato pudding that turned up as a side at one Haitian family’s Miami Thanksgiving.

It shared the table with American staples like turkey, cornbread, collard greens and mac and cheese.

If you only know sweet potatoes as a casserole, pen patat shows you another way to serve them.

6. Oyster Dressing

Oyster dressing puts oysters in the bread mixture that goes with the holiday turkey.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension office in Bay County publishes a recipe.

In Florida, many families add fresh seafood to their holiday meals.

It calls for 12 ounces of Florida oysters plus celery, onion, parsley and bread cubes.

The dressing goes well with turkey, so you can serve it beside the bird.

You bake it in a greased casserole dish for 30 minutes.

7. Stone Crab Claws

Stone crab claws are cooked soon after harvest, then chilled and served cold.

The harvest season runs from mid-October into spring, so claws are in season for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A 2020 CBS Miami report says stone crab prices rise around major holidays such as Christmas.

If you’re pricing claws for your Christmas platter, you may pay more than you would in a slower week.

If they’re out of your budget, the Bay County post lists shrimp and other shellfish among the seafood to buy for holiday meals.

8. Ham and Pineapple

A UF/IFAS Extension agent in Polk County points to Florida pineapple as something to serve with ham.

Ham often shares the holiday dinner with turkey.

Some families debate whether fruit belongs on a ham.

If you’re in the no-pineapple camp, you can set the fruit in a bowl and let guests decide.

9. Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows had a place on one Argentine family’s Thanksgiving table in Miami.

If you top yours with marshmallows, you’re following that Miami family’s lead.

That family’s Thanksgiving featured a full asado of steaks, chorizo and chimichurri, Axios reported in 2022.

UF/IFAS lists sweet potatoes among the Thanksgiving foods that grew in Florida.

That means the casserole on your table can start with a sweet potato grown in Florida.

10. Buñuelos

Buñuelos are fried fritters that WLRN likened to a doughnut at one Miami couple’s yearly Nochebuena.

At that Nochebuena, they were made with yuca flour instead of wheat flour.

A Miami New Times list of Latin American Christmas foods describes buñuelos as a traditional Christmas dish served with natillas and sprinkled with cinnamon.

If you’re frying buñuelos, you can swap in yuca flour for the wheat flour.

11. Soup Joumou

Soup joumou is a Haitian pumpkin soup served on New Year’s Day.

The tradition is said to date back to January 1, 1804, the day Haiti declared independence.

In Miami’s Little Haiti, a produce stand sells the cabbage, carrots, turnips, scotch bonnet peppers and green or yellow squash for the pot.

If you’re shopping for the soup, you’ll want squash that is a fleshy orange inside so it purees well.

The City of North Miami held a Soup Joumou celebration at the Joe Celestin Community Center in January 2026.

12. Turrón

Two types of turrón, a nougat-like candy, sat among the desserts at one Miami couple's Nochebuena.