50 Festive & Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes

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These 50 festive and healthy Thanksgiving recipes prove you can still enjoy delicious comfort food and seasonal, holiday flavors without the heavy ingredients that often come with traditional Thanksgiving dinner recipes. With everything from appetizers, sides, snacks, mains, desserts and even leftover recipe ideas, food can taste as good as it makes you feel!

These 50 healthy Thanksgiving recipes prove that we can still revel in delicious comfort food and seasonal, holiday flavors without the heavy, inflammatory ingredients that often come with traditional Thanksgiving dinner recipes. Swap in some of these festive and healthy Thanksgiving appetizers, sides, snacks, mains, desserts and even leftovers recipe ideas at your Thanksgiving table this year and see for yourself--food can taste as good as it makes you feel!

UPDATE: This post was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated to reflect new recipes and organization.

Thanksgiving just might be our favorite holiday of the year. Food, friends, family, football, wine–what's not to love?!

There's often a temptation with any holiday, but especially Thanksgiving, to go overboard and throw all our healthy eating to the wind. It's all too easy on Thanksgiving to mindlessly stuff ourselves silly, and then feel the icky side effects for hours–or days!–to come.

This year, avoid the sleepy, bloated, have-to-put-on-my-elastic-pants feeling by setting up your holiday table with these healthy yet satisfying and delicious Thanksgiving recipes!

We break it down into appetizers, soups + salads, snacks + breads, drinks + smoothies, sides, mains, desserts, vegan recipes, and even recipe ideas for how to use all those leftovers!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The 50 Best Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes

Crackers spread out next to a bowl of pumpkin dip.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Appetizers, Soups + Salads

A hand reaching for no bake pumpkin balls on a white plate.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Snacks + Bread

A pumpkin spice latte on a linen cloth next to a gold spoon, espresso beans, and a pumpkin.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Drinks + Smoothies

Sweet potato casserole being spooned out of a baking dish.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Sides

A roasted turkey on a platter garnished with flowers and champagne flutes in the background.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Mains

Apple crisp in blue and white bowls topped with ice cream on a table with pecans, apples, and gold spoons.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Desserts

Turkey Noodle Soup in a white bowl.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Leftovers

A white ramekin filled with vegan macaroni and cheese, being held over a large bowl.

Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes: Vegan

Creamy Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup in a white bowl
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4 from 1 vote

Squash Soup & More Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes

Servings: 6 servings
High in Vitamins A + C, this dairy-free, gluten-free butternut squash soup recipe is an easy winter dish, made with nourishing bone broth + delicious curry.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time40 mins

Equipment

  • blender (immersion or regular)

Ingredients

Instructions

  • In a large dutch oven, saute onion in olive oil until soft, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes, ginger, cinnamon and curry powder, toss to combine and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  • Add carrots, squash and sweet potatoes, tossing to combine. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Pour coconut milk and chicken broth over veggies and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low; cook for 25 minutes.
  • Uncover and blend soup using an immersion blender. If you don't have one, you can blend the soup in batches in a traditional blender. Serve and enjoy!
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Vegan
Keyword: curry, soup, whole 30, winter
Author: Olivia Johnson

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcal

What are your favorite healthy Thanksgiving recipes? Let us know in the comments below!

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20 thoughts on “50 Festive & Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes”

  1. Anne Davidson

    Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto is delicious but NOT healthy! I’d never put it on a list of “Healthy Dishes”!! Prosciutto is a processed food, not a natural food. Processed meats like ham, prosciutto and bacon have been proven to increase a person’s risk for several cancers SUBSTANTIALLY. Reliable studies. One study concluded that eating preserved meats is as bad for health as smoking cigarettes. Maybe overstated. I eat prosciutto occasionally. Love it. But a recipe with prosciutto as a major ingredient does not belong in a list of recipes trumpeted as “healthy.”

    Reply
    1. Kate Kordsmeier

      Hi Anne – I agree that processed meats are not usually healthy, but I do eat them in moderation, especially something like bacon that I get antibiotic-, nitrate- and hormone-free, uncured and sugar-free from Butcher Box. We all have different definitions of ‘healthy’ and I think asparagus wrapped in prosciutto is still a better option than a lot of other foods out there. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  7. Sarah Newman

    OH. MY. GOSH. I seriously think I have to make allthethings. Every single recipe looks AMAZING! Definitely doing the apple crisp for SURE!

    Reply

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