10 Healthy Dishes to Add to Your Thanksgiving Spread
| 2 min read
This week, families and friends gather around tables to indulge in delicious Thanksgiving feasts. While it’s great to indulge in traditional recipes—like Aunt Carol’s sausage stuffing or Grandma’s pumpkin pie—why not sub in some lighter dishes to help balance things out? Preparing a Thanksgiving dinner with a few dishes that are lower in fat and calories will still please the crowd but help everyone feel a little less stuffed. Here are a few healthy options to add to your Thanksgiving meals:
- Herby cheese spread: Share this appetizer with your guests while they wait for the main course. It tastes indulgent but is low in fat and calories.
- Herb-roasted turkey breast: Turkey is a naturally lean protein, and this recipe gives the meat lots of flavor with sage, thyme, rosemary, garlic and lemon.
- Low-fat turkey gravy: What’s turkey without gravy? Here is a tasty and low-fat gravy that pairs perfectly with everything.
- Green beans with parmesan and garlic: Serve this dish as a healthy alternative to green bean casserole. It’s also ready in about 20 minutes!
- Roasted carrots with farro, chickpeas and crème fraiche: This is a great “main” dish for vegetarians and a tasty side for meat-eaters.
- Glazed sweet potatoes: Make these cinnamon-and-pecan-topped potatoes instead of traditional candied yams.
- Mashed potatoes with white beans: A genius way to cut down on carbs in mashed potatoes: Mix in some white beans.
- Double cranberry sauce: Mix fresh and dried cranberries together to make a flavorful and healthy alternative to classic canned cranberry sauce.
- Roasted root vegetable salad: This is a salad your guest will gobble right up. It combines potatoes, beets and shallots and gets topped with pumpkin seeds and spices.
- Apple nachos: Still looking for a lighter dessert to add to the table? Not only is this recipe healthier than pie, it’s also much easier to make.
