Natural Standard Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes

Natural Standard wishes all a happy Thanksgiving with several healthy recipes as alternatives to traditionally high calorie dishes.

Herb-rubbed turkey au jus: This low sodium, heart healthy turkey recipe uses honey and apple juice to make a delicious au jus, a healthy alternative to traditional gravy.

Wild rice stuffing: Unlike traditional stuffing, this heart healthy recipe is low in fat, calories and cholesterol. The easy preparation features apples, cranberries, almonds and mushrooms, and may be stuffed in a turkey or served as a side.

Mashed cauliflower: This mashed cauliflower recipe is a delicious and healthy alternative traditionally high calorie, high carb mashed potatoes.

Orange scented green beans with toasted almonds: Try this low calorie alternative to traditionally high fat green bean casserole. This easy recipe features just a few basic ingredients, and can be cooked in 15 minutes, start to finish.

Turkey gravy: Sage and thyme give this gravy recipe flavor without adding sodium, and skim milk keeps the fat content low.

Apple crisp: Rather than a traditionally high fat apple pie, try this low calorie, low cholesterol crisp. This easy recipe takes only 15 minutes to prepare.

For more healthy Thanksgiving recipes, please visit Natural Standard's Recipe Database.

Comments

[Sara Berg]

This is great. It is so easy to over-indulge during the holidays. Great to have the option to still eat traditional foods, but not have to feel so guilty about it.

[AM]

Thanksgiving meals are usually loaded with carbohydrates, fat, and salt. While it's great to see people attempting to be healthy during this time of year, it's important to remember that healthy eating can't be a one-time thing! I also highly encourage 5k run/walks that happen every thanksgiving. Make it part of a new tradition in your family. It's a great way to encourage healthy living into your family life!

[af]

I think this is a great way to promote health during the holidays. It’s nice to know that a delicious dish can also be healthy, especially because it’s likely that you’ll be eating quite a bit during this time of year. I hope to see some postings about healthy recipes for this winter holiday season as well. A webpage that I found (www.eatingwell.com) lists healthy holiday recipes, from main dishes, to side dishes, to desserts.

[tb]

It is very exciting to see such delicious looking recipes available on the Natural Standard website! Thanksgiving is generally a very unhealthy time of the year, so it is wonderful to see more healthy alternatives available. I am looking forward to trying the Apple Crisp recipe, as it looks like a great alternative to lard-heavy apple pie. Thanks for posting, and I am looking forward to seeing the next healthy recipe posting!!

[nicole]

These recipes are fairly multi-functional and they look pretty simple. I've made mashed cauliflower before and it did not turn out very well. Maybe this one will work out better. Im excited to try the apple crisp!

[zq]

I just love that Natural Standard is posting healthy alternatives to some of my favorite recipes! Thanksgiving dinner is usually one of the most unhealthy meals I cook all year, with gravy covering everything and very buttery pie crusts and potatoes. I have never tried masked cauliflower, but it seems like a great alternative to carb and butter rich mashed potatoes. I will have to give it a trial run at home this week! Thanks for the great healthy ideas!

[ML]

These recipes sound great! I am having a thanksgiving part 2 with some friends. I’m excited to try some of these recipes. I have never used apple juice and honey for the turkey gravy. It sounds like it would be a good balance of sweet and savory. I have never used rice for stuffing, it sounds like a yummy alternative to bread. I have made mashed cauliflower before it is a light alternative to mashed potatoes.

[kj]

I didnt get to try these for thanksgiving but I will definitely keep Natural Standard in mind for upcoming thanksgivings! Im always looking for healthy alternatives to holiday foods. Can't wait for the christmas recipes!

[ac]

These recipes sound great. It’s always hard during the holidays for many because of all the delicious food that is definitely not good for you. These are great alternatives to try not only now, but year round too.

[nb]

Thanksgiving dinner is usually highly enjoyable, but it is usually not so friendly to our waistlines. A slice of apple pie alone can run upwards 600 calories, and that's before even a heaping spoonful of buttery mashed potatoes drenched with gravy. I indulged in pumpkin pie with extra servings of turkey and ham this year, but I'll be sure to try some of these alternatives for next Thanksgiving.

[kn]

Natural Standard’s recipe database has become one of my favorite resources for healthy and tasty recipes. I can hardly ever tell that there is less fat or sodium, etc. in the dishes, and most are seasoned with herbs and spices that bring another dimension of flavor to the table! Plus, it is always interesting to be able to learn more about the potential benefits of the herbs/spices by linking them to informational monographs through the database. This is perfect timing for Thanksgiving… I think I will try the wild rice stuffing as an alternative to my usual butter- and sodium-laden recipe this year!