Healthy Recipes for the Holiday Season

Cara Stewart, RD, LDN, member of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team, provides tips for making holiday recipes healthy.

Holiday recipes are time tested and family approved, but they also frequently contain many calories and unhealthy ingredients. With just a few minor changes, you can transform most of your family’s beloved holiday dishes and desserts into healthier and more nutritious alternatives.

Try these tips to make your family’s favorite foods healthy without losing the taste they love:

• Use two egg whites instead of one whole egg.
• Use evaporated skim milk or buttermilk instead of heavy cream.
• Thicken gravy, soup or sauce with pureed vegetables, mashed potatoes or cornstarch and cold water.
• Replace half the oil in a recipe with an equal amount of applesauce.
• Replace refined grains with whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, bulgur, barley or quinoa.
• Use leaner cuts of meat including skinless poultry, ground turkey breast, pork loin, beef round or flank steak.
• Replace some of the meat in a recipe with beans, tofu or soy-based proteins.
• Use creative toppings for casseroles, such as almonds instead of fried onions.

- Cara Stewart, RD, LDN