Chrissy Teigen Talks Holiday Hosting, Tips for Keeping Her Little Ones (and Herself) Occupied on a Plane, and More

The "Cravings" cookbook author is all about the holidays — whether she and her family are feasting at home or visiting a festive city to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

Chrissy Teigen thrives on entertaining at home with her family. The multi-tasking mom, who shares four children with husband and multiple Grammy Award winner John Legend, loves whipping up what she describes as “fun and easy meals,” throughout the year and especially during the holidays. 

“You prep so much, and it can be so overwhelming, so you want to create things that are really delicious and simple, so you don’t become faint,” she said in a recent interview with Travel + Leisure.

And one of Teigen’s favorite culinary concoctions at holiday time? A charcuterie board.

“Making a charcuterie board is so relaxing; it’s like a craft to me and I love crafting,” the three-time cookbook author told T+L. “The more rustic the better too. I love having the jams and the chutneys and buying a big honeycomb that I break up with my hands. I start on the inside and work my way out, I go on YouTube and TikTok and look at different ways to fold the meats and lay out the cheeses."

One of the cheeses she’s been using for many years is Boursin, which is why she's partnered with the brand for its "No Occasion Required" partnership.

“I’ve always loved and used it, and it was in my first cookbook,” she said.

“Our whole collaboration revolves around the fact that during the holidays it's easy to get caught up, but there are so many in between moments that are really special and meaningful and beautiful, especially with a big family like mine,” Teigen added. “We have John's family fly in, and I googled and bought every single board game because one of our best in between moments is just a fun game night with the entire family.”

Chrissy Teigen

Which city pleasantly surprised you with the food scene?

Bali. [The food] is so incredibly flavorful. We love a ton of spice, bitter, sweet, salty — everything. I found the food in Indonesia to be so thoughtful and flavorful. We took so many different cooking classes there, just because I was so inspired by the ingredients. 
Go-to plane snack? 

Beef jerky. And I can never turn down a plane meal, even if I'm totally full. I love Pop Corners cheddar chips and Goldfish. But beef jerky is probably my number one — a good spicy piece of thick cut jerky is great.

Favorite meal to make after coming home from a long trip? 

I love a really simple bowl of spaghetti with marinara sauce or a cacio e pepe. But honestly, when I come home and just have a hot bowl of al dente spaghetti with red sauce, with some fresh basil and grated Parmesan, there really isn’t much that's better to me than something that simple – piping hot and perfect.

Product you can't travel without?

Aquaphor is my everything. It's like my cure because I always have different oil burns from cooking or something on my knuckles which I have right now, or super dry lips. I also like to line my nostrils with it. Even when I put on a great serum, I seal it in with a little Aquaphor. I find that everything is better if I have my Aquaphor.

Best way to keep kids occupied on a plane? 

An iPad for the older kids. They are on their iPads or playing games and there's no rules. If everyone's quiet, I'm happy. The babies right now aren't that into screens, thank God. I saw this little trick on TikTok, where people get colorful painter's tape, and you just take different pieces of tape, and you put it on the window and on the seat in front of you and they take that tape off for hours on a flight. They just pull it and play with it in their hands - it's the best thing I've ever learned for little ones. And I do my paint by numbers on an airplane, because I need to be occupied, too.

Watching sports together is another cherished holiday activity in the Teigen-Legend household.

“My nephews on John's side play college football, so there's always really good games going and his family gets so into it.”

Not to mention, game time is also the best time for Teigen to serve up her two new Boursin-inspired recipes. 

“It’s such a great flavor profile so I made a really nice, pounded chicken breast with a miso marinara sauce and the crumbly Rosemary and Black Garlic Boursin on top,” she said. “The flavor is just so beautiful, especially on a bed of arugula.”

Her other recipe is a decadent cheese dip that “when it comes out of the oven it's still bubbling and has this crispy top and hot honey that's drizzled all over. It's just such an easy, fun dip to make and to put out in the middle of your cheese board with all those little crispy baguettes and toasts.”

And Teigen can’t wait to present her epicurean delicacy on Thanksgiving. 

“It's my most favorite day of the year. We actually have a quarterly Thanksgiving, because I love it so much.”

And no surprise, she goes all out with the side dishes.

“We’ll have 15 sides, I’m a side queen,” she said. “We’ll have a really traditional green bean casserole with cream of mushroom condensed soup and crispy onions. John's granny's collard greens are always a must for us, my mom's scalloped potatoes, and I’m big into stuffing.”

Teigen has also made plenty of homemade gravy, but she appreciates a good workaround.

“I love Popeye's and KFC gravy so much, and I've learned through so many years of being stressed out about Thanksgiving or the holidays that if you love the flavor of something, and you really can't do it better than the one you love, or the one you grew up on. just bring it in,” she said. “I used to put so much pressure on myself to be perfect, and to do everything perfectly. But the holidays are so much about family and not running around the kitchen, so I like to keep things as fun and simple as possible.”

Her other favorite "cheat" is a theme park classic.

“We are getting 20 smoked turkey legs from Disneyland," she revealed. "Anyone that's had those before knows that they taste like ham, they’re crazy to me. Turkey does not get better than that. We'll just lean up against the dumpster and pick at turkey legs when we’re at Disneyland. That’s one of my favorite moments always, so, that's my cheat for turkey this year.”

While Teigen treasures holiday family gatherings, she also looks forward to slipping away.

“We love to get out of town and be cold for the holidays,” she said. “I grew up in Seattle and I’m used to some snow, some ice, some sleet, so we get out of Los Angeles because it can be piercingly hot.” 

And festive destinations are definitely a priority.

“I just love that extra Christmas feeling. Sometimes we go to New York and see The Rockettes. This year we're going to be in London and cooking up a storm. I want to do a very traditional Sunday roast. London's going to be a beautiful adventure, because we get to snuggle up and be by a fire or go shopping, go to Harrods, or take a double-decker bus.”