Tips for Cooking a Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner

cooking a healthy Thanksgiving dinner

cooking a healthy Thanksgiving dinnerTips for Cooking a Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner

When you are cooking a Thanksgiving Dinner for your loved ones but you are trying to watch your figure, there is a way to get your healthy Thanksgiving Dinner. That way you can have your pie and eat it too. Just swapping out some ingredients for healthier alternatives alone will save you calories. Additionally, you can swap out high calorie courses for lower calorie courses.

The Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Main Course: A Few Suggestions

For the main course, the meats, of Thanksgiving you want to make sure your turkey is baked. If you so choose to make a honey ham, do not use the glaze they include. Instead mix 16 ounces of light brown sugar with 1 cup of raw organic honey in a pot and simmer on low heat until fully dissolved. Halfway through the ham baking process pour the glaze over the ham and continue to bake. Make sure that even with the ham having a healthier glaze you do not go overboard.

You can certainly break with tradition and create a delicious and nutritious plant-based main course for yourself and all of your guests this year. After all, there are so many benefits that come with reducing or eliminating animal products from your diet, and why not use the holiday of gratitude to start?

There are a lot of tasty, vegan, and healthy Thanksgiving dinner ideas that you can find online, so you don’t have to sacrifice flavor or satisfaction. And, if you want to keep things really simple, you can even opt to use one of the many vegan roasts that are available in the freezer aisle. For example, according to The Spruce Eats, you can try one of the following easy-to-make, filling, and tasty options:

  • Tofurkey Roast
  • Gardein Stuffed Turkey or Holiday Roast
  • Field Roast Harvest Celebration
  • Vegetarian Plus Vegan Whole Turkey (which is actually shaped to look just like a turkey!)

Every Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Has Tasty Sides, Too!

The next thing to incorporate into your menu is a salad side with an oil based dressing to allow you to absorb the nutrients and vitamins from the rest of your meal. If you so choose to have corn as a side use fresh or frozen, do not use canned corn. Try to have as many fruits and vegetables as sides and appetizers as you can.

A holiday favorite is this healthy green bean casserole. You will need:

  • 2 ½ pounds of green beans-trimmed
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • ¾ tablespoons of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon of pepper
  • 2 ½ cups of low fat or skim milk
  • ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
  2. Toss green beans in a big bowl with 1 tablespoon of oil, mix until green beans are covered well. Spread green beans over 2 baking pans, evenly layered, roast for about 20 minutes until slightly browned.
  3. In the meantime heat another tablespoon of oil in a pan cook the onion. Cook 5 to 8 minutes then add flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk, stir well, continue cooking for about 4 minutes until sauce thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.
  4. When the green beans are done remove from oven. Preheat the broiler.
  5. Put half the beans in a 2 quart broiler safe pan, spread half the sauce over the beans. Next layer the rest of the beans on top of that, then add the rest of the sauce over that.
  6. Sprinkle cheese over the dish, place the dish under the broiler. Let cook until the cheese bubbles and browns. Remove from broiler.

Other sides for a healthy Thanksgiving dinner include:

  • Mashed sweet potatoes
  • Homemade cranberry sauce
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts
  • Roasted butternut squash
  • Quinoa salad

Just Because You’re Having a Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Have Dessert!

Lastly is your deserts. You want to consume them in moderation? Sure, but if you had a chance to make them lower in calories wouldn’t you want to? You can have this healthy pumpkin pie, and know you are doing something great for your body. All part of a well balanced, healthy Thanksgiving dinner!

You will need:

  • 1 can of pumpkin puree (15 oz)
  • 1 can of full fat coconut milk (13.5 oz)
  • ¼ cup of rolled oats
  • 2 tbsp of ground flax
  • ⅓ cup of coconut sugar
  • 2 tbsp of extra brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pre made graham crust
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl.
  3. Blend well until smooth, pour into crust.
  4. Place in the oven for 27 minutes.
  5. Allot time to cool, then refrigerate for hour.

Like your main course, dessert is another opportunity to try your hand at some vegan recipes to add more plant-based options to your healthy Thanksgiving dinner. Here are a few of the many vegan dessert ideas that you can make right at home, and that your guests are sure to love. No one will even miss the eggs and dairy!

  • Apple spice cake
  • Apple pie
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Sweet potato pie
  • Carrot cake
  • Coffee cake
  • Cheesecake
  • Truffle pops
  • Scones
  • Doughnuts
  • Cookies
  • Cupcakes
  • Ice cream
  • Brownies
  • Cinnamon rolls

Also, keep in mind that you do not need to go crazy looking for healthy Thanksgiving dinner recipes that are specifically vegan, as you can alter your favorite dessert recipes to make them plant-based rather easily. For example, if you have a recipe that calls for milk, you just use non-dairy milk, like almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk, as a few examples. If there are eggs in your recipe, you can use egg replacer powder that you can buy in stores. It’s that simple!

Find the Right Balance Between Flavor and Nutrition

Thanksgiving can be healthy and delicious; it just requires some modifications. Now even when you go a little overboard you do not have to stress too much. You can also eat happily knowing you used things that will give you more nutrients, and other amazing health benefits. Plus you will be surprised to find that the healthy Thanksgiving dinner tends be tastier and easier to make in the long run.

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