The Healthiest (and Least Healthy) Thanksgiving Foods
We’re not about to get between you and Aunt Bee’s green-bean casserole or tell you what to eat on a national holiday devoted to gathering family (and not necessarily calorie-counting). But, if you're interested in opting for healthy choices this Thanksgiving, check out top nutritionists’ picks for 13 healthiest (and least healthy) foods to eat at the holiday buffet.
Getty Images1/15GOOD: Roasted Brussels sprouts
With 136 calories and 7 grams of fat per half-cup serving, these cruciferous veggies roasted in olive oil are filling (with 3.3 grams of fiber per cup), nutritious, and seriously tasty, says Kristin Kirkpatrick, R.D., wellness manager at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. Eat ‘em on a regular basis for a cancer-fighting punch.
Getty Images2/15NOT SO GOOD: Stuffing
Yah, just as you suspected. “The name says it all,” says Alexandra Caspero, R.D., author of Fresh Italian Cooking for the New Generation. Some are made with a few sticks of butter, which makes the fat content soar: One-half cup weighs in at 350 calories and 6 grams of fat, says Caspero. Nom nom…blurg.
Getty Images3/15GOOD: Mashed potatoes
Praise the Thanksgiving gods, mashed potatoes can be a decent choice when made with the right ingredients. If they have butter and whole milk, you’re looking at about 237 calories and 9 grams of fat per cup. But if you can get your loving mom to use non-fat milk and cauliflower for half of the potatoes, you’ll lose 100 calories and 8 grams of fat. “You won’t taste the swap,” promises Chris Mohr, Ph.D., R.D., co-founder of nutrition and performance firm Mohr Results in Louisville, Kentucky. Shocker: It’s even good for you. “The combo of ‘taters and cauli has a nice, hefty dose of fiber, Vitamin C, and other nutrients.”
Getty Images4/15NOT SO GOOD: Casseroles
“I’m going to make the healthiest casserole!” said no relative ever on Thanksgiving. “Anything called ‘casserole’ is almost sure to be synonymous with high calories and fat,” says Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet. Pile your plate with sweet potato casserole (379 calories, 10 grams fat per 8-ounce serving) and you’re taking in a heap o’ calories, fat, and sugar (22 grams). With plain old candied sweet potatoes, you may get fewer calories (320) and fat (1 gram) per serving—but there’s 56 grams of sugar.
Getty Images5/15GOOD: Turkey
Turkey might be the obvious the star on Thanksgiving, but it deserves the honor. White meat is just 153 calories and 1 gram of fat per four-ounce portion, without the skin. “The lean protein is a good source of iron, zinc and B vitamins,” adds Kayla Jaeckel, R.D., of Mount Sinai’s Diabetes Alliance in New York City. Turkey’s also packed with filling protein. Want the skin on? OK, then: Go with breast meat, which is lower in calories than dark meat (173 calories, 3.6 grams fat). And if possible, resist the gravy—it’s 121 calories, 5 grams of fat per cup. (We said: “If possible.”)
Getty Images6/15NOT SO GOOD: Creamed spinach
Some Thanksgiving tough love: It’s time to quit deluding yourself about this being a vegetable. The other ingredients pretty much kill it, says Caspero: Heavy cream, butter, and cheese add up to 200 calories and a whopping 20 grams of fat per cup.
Getty Images7/15GOOD: Kale salad
It’s definitely not the sexiest Thanksgiving food, but it’s good to start your meal with it (think: 150 calories and 6 grams of fat with 1 tablespoon of dressing). Says Caspero, “Kale-loading helps you feel satisfied because of all the fiber and protein—at minimal calories.” If there’s no kale handy, dark, leafy greens will do just fine.
Getty Images8/15NOT SO GOOD: Cornbread
One little cornbread muffin seems pretty innocent, right? News flash: It could pack 170 calories per 1.3 ounce and 5 grams of fat, notes Gans—and that’s without the slabs of butter you spread on it. Next!
Getty Images9/15GOOD: Roasted green beans
At 65 calories per cup and 5 grams of fat when tossed in olive oil, these are a good food deal. Choose the veggies themselves over their sinister offspring, the green-bean casserole, urges Jaeckel. The cream of mushroom soup, fried onions, cheese, sour cream, and butter in the casserole are not your six-pack’s friends.
Getty Images10/15NOT SO GOOD: Cranberry sauce
It’s your mom’s annual holiday tradition: Open a can of cranberry sauce (110 calories, 0 grams fat per ¼-cup serving), plop it in a bowl. The problem, says Kirkpatrick: “Sugar, sugar, and sugar.” As in, 22 grams. If you happen to live for the stuff, go for it; we’re not un-American. Just jiggle it on with a teaspoon, not a big old serving spoon.
Getty Images11/15GOOD: Pomegranates
They’re low-cal (70 calories per ½ cup), low-fat (1 gram fat) and a great source of fiber, notes Mohr. If you’re having friends over for Thanksgiving, put some on the table and it will look totally pro.
Getty Images12/15NOT SO GOOD: Pecan pie
At 503 calories and 27 grams of fat (not a typo!) per 1/8 of a nine-inch pie, pecan pie is the Thanksgiving food that can do the most damage, experts agree.
Getty Images13/15GOOD: Pumpkin pie
This pie falls under the category of “relatively good choice” since it sure beats pecan pie, with 323 calories and 13 grams of fat per 1/8 of a 9-inch pie.
Getty Images14/15NOT SO GOOD: Corn pudding
Corn pudding may be made with love—but with 300 calories and 12 grams of fat per cup, it’s also made with a lot of carbs and fat.
Getty Images15/15GOOD: Apple crisp
Coming in at 228 calories and 5 grams of fat per half-cup serving, it’s a dessert win. “Because apple crisp is topped with oats, not crust, it is much lower in fat than apple pie,” notes Jaeckel. “Store-bought and even homemade pie crust made with butter or shortening are full of saturated fat and oftentimes trans fat.”
