Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes Your Family Will Love

It’s the biggest eating day of the year, full of classic dishes like mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and of course, turkey. By changing up just a few recipes for Thanksgiving, you can keep your traditional menu while also making things a bit healthier and — trust us — even tastier.

The trick is to tweak Thanksgiving recipes to include more of the good stuff (fresh veggies, fruits, and healthy grains) and less of the bad stuff (sugar- and sauce-laden casserole dishes). 

Healthy Holiday Meal Ideas

Before we get into specific Thanksgiving recipes, let’s talk about other swaps you can make before the meal is even served.

What drinks will you have on hand? Just a few years ago, you could count on a fridge filled with soda at holiday get-togethers. The big choice was often between a Coke or a Sprite. These days, however, many people opt for bottled water or sparkling water such as Topo-Chico, LaCroix, or Polar Seltzer. You can see the same trend in alcoholic beverages with lower-calorie drinks like White Claw and High Noon.

Appetizers are another good opportunity to eliminate empty calories. Instead of crackers, chips, sausages, and heavy dips, put out a charcuterie board of fresh veggies, nuts, cheeses, olives, and fruits. 

Turkey, the Star of Healthy Holiday Meals

The good news is that turkey is a pretty healthy food, but it can also turn out dry and flavorless if not prepared and cooked properly. Check out the following tips to make your turkey both healthy and flavorful.

• Instead of rubbing butter on the outside of your turkey, create a rub with olive oil and fresh herbs, such as thyme, sage, rosemary, and oregano.
• The USDA advises cooking your stuffing separately to make sure it reaches a safe internal temperature. To keep whole turkeys moist, stuff the inside with oranges, lemons, limes, or grapefruit instead.
• Roast your turkey on a bed of root vegetables to add moisture and flavor. Check out this Ina Garten recipe to see how it’s done.

Healthy Recipes for Thanksgiving

Traditional Thanksgiving recipes include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, and green bean casserole. Here you’ll find ways to make all of them healthier — and more delicious.

• Stuffing. Add in ingredients that elevate your stuffing beyond just white bread and sausage. Try this cranberry apple farro stuffing or, if you prefer a bread-based stuffing, this apple sausage stuffing, which uses lower-fat chicken sausage instead of pork. Here’s a nice vegetarian stuffing by Love and Lemons. 
• Mashed Potatoes. If your goal is to reduce fat, try these garlic mashed potatoes. If your goal is to reduce carbs, try these keto mashed “potatoes,” which are actually made with rutabaga. This healthy mashed potato recipe, which incorporates both cauliflower and Greek yogurt is a middle ground between the two.
• Cranberry Sauce. Ditch that can of jellied cranberry sauce, which is filled with high fructose corn syrup. Instead, cook fresh cranberries in a saucepan with water until they pop, then add in a touch of natural sweetness with honey or a splash of orange juice. Here’s a nice cranberry sauce recipe to get you started. 
• Sweet Potato Casserole. There’s no doubt that sweet potatoes are good for you — until you douse them in brown sugar before topping them with marshmallows. This much healthier version uses a pecan crumble topping instead of marshmallows and is more savory than sweet.  
• Green Bean Casserole. The traditional version of green bean casserole can be made in five minutes with three cans: green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and crispy fried onions. This version embraces the same flavors but with real food from the produce aisle. It’s creamy, crunchy – and fresh!

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Monroe Village is an all-inclusive continuing care retirement community in New Jersey focused on a healthy lifestyle. With events and amenities offered through LivWell, our holistic wellness program, you can boost your health while being a part of an active community. Our heated indoor pool, fitness center, walking paths, and healthy onsite dining options make it easy to reach your goals while enjoying everyday life. Contact us today to learn more.