Recipes

58 Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes So You Don’t Fall Asleep at the Table

Balance out your dinner menu with these healthyish dishes. 
Image may contain Plant Food Vegetable and Produce
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

From sticky glazed sweet potatoes to roast-y caramelized cabbage, these healthy Thanksgiving recipes fit in perfectly with all their fall flavors and textures. Because in our book, there’s only one rule on Thanksgiving: The food should be delicious. And trust us, your table needs more green beans topped with crispy shallots and gluten-free wild rice dressing. This list goes beyond appetizers and veggies too. Celiac friends coming over? This decadent coconut pie is coincidentally gluten-free without compromising flavor. (Same with the turkey!) Read on for more of our fave healthy Thanksgiving recipes that’ll make any holiday dinner a memorable one.

  • Image may contain Plant Food Produce Vegetable Bean Green Bean Meal and Dish
    Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Sophie Leng
    1/58

    Green Beans and Mushrooms With Crispy Shallots

    When Thanksgiving demands green bean casserole but your jam-packed oven has other plans, opt for this buttery stovetop version.

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  • Bitter Greens With Cranberry Dressing recipe
    Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop styling by Sophie Leng
    2/58

    Bitter Greens With Cranberry Dressing

    Your Thanksgiving spread doesn’t just need a salad—it needs THIS salad with a bright, tart-sweet cranberry dressing.

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  • Kale Salad With Pecan Vinaigrette recipe
    Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop styling by Sophie Leng
    3/58

    Kale Salad With Pecan Vinaigrette

    A Thanksgiving salad should have enough flavor and heft to hold its own, and be sturdy enough to dress ahead of time—this one checks all those boxes.

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  • Asian Pear Salad With PeanutLime Dressing
    Photograph by Jenny Huang, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Martha Bernabe
    4/58

    Asian Pear Salad With Peanut-Lime Dressing

    This sweet-tart salad gets its satisfying crisp-crunchy texture from floral Asian pears and nutty raw cauliflower.

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  • Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Gochujang Brown Butter
    Photograph by Jenny Huang, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Martha Bernabe
    5/58

    Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Gochujang Brown Butter

    Crispy Brussels sprouts + sweet-spicy gochujang + nutty brown butter = the side dish you can’t say no to.

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  • Sweet Potato Tian recipe
    Photograph by Jenny Huang, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Martha Bernabe
    6/58

    Sweet Potato Tian

    Thin rounds baked until tender and crispy-edged in a warming five-spice brown butter sauce might just be our new favorite way to serve sweet potatoes.

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  • Brussels Sprouts With Cranberry Mostarda
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime
    7/58

    Brussels Sprouts With Cranberry Mostarda

    Cranberry mostarda isn’t as sweet as cranberry sauce, it’s got some fire from mustard seeds—and you’ll want it on allll the roasted vegetables this winter.

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  • This image may contain Food Dish Meal Platter and Lunch
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    8/58

    Squash and Radicchio Salad With Pecans

    This squash-centric salad has an irresistible pecan dressing and hardy radicchio that refuses to wilt.

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  • Coconut Creamed Greens
    Photo by Marcus Nilsson, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    11/58

    Coconut Creamed Greens

    These greens are impossible to stop eating. A sauce of coconut milk, a hot chile, and spices create a full range of bitter, sweet, and tingling flavors.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Bowl Fruit and Citrus Fruit
    Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    12/58

    Stir-Fried Brussels Sprouts

    With this brussels sprouts recipe, get straight to the good stuff: those sweet, bright green, tender-crisp leaves.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Vegetable Cauliflower Dish and Meal
    Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    13/58

    Radicchio Salad With Sour Cream Ranch

    With salty, sweet, and creamy components, this recipe is more than just a salad: It's a fully realized side dish.

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  • Image may contain Plant and Food
    Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    14/58

    Shaved Carrots With Charred Dates

    Tangy, crunchy carrots meet soft and sweet blackened dates for literally everything you want in one bite.

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Mehreen Karim was formerly the Recipe Production Assistant at Bon Appétit, where she built recipes and stories for bonappetit.com. She also developed recipes and wrote stories to help readers discover unlikely food combinations (caramelized dates and asparagus) and cooking hacks (how to grill chicken without a grill) to inspire home ... Read More
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