Discover practical tips for preparing a delicious, low-fat Thanksgiving dinner, from lightening up the turkey and stuffing to making healthier mashed potatoes and desserts.
Thanksgiving dinner can be one of the most fattening meals you eat all year. With a plate full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and dessert, you can easily exceed your calorie limit for the entire day in one sitting. So how can you trim some of the fat from your Thanksgiving holiday meal? Read on for some tips on how to prepare a low-fat Thanksgiving dinner:
- Turkey tips. Of course, the entire meal centers around the bird, but you can make it lower in fat by seasoning it with your favorite fresh herbs and spices and skipping the butter and oil on top. In addition, remove the skin from the turkey after you roast it and stick to eating the lower-fat white meat. Also, do not douse your turkey in high-fat gravy—you can make a lower-fat gravy using a small amount of turkey drippings, fat-free chicken broth, and sautéed vegetables.
- Stuffing. Stuffing does not have to be laden with butter or sausage. Instead, use whole-grain bread cubes and sautéed onions, celery, and apples. To give it some extra flavor, add some fat-free chicken broth instead of water. Cut the butter in your stuffing recipe in half—you will not miss that extra butter at all!
- Lower-fat potatoes. To make low-fat mashed potatoes, use just a small amount of butter and skim milk, and add extra flavor by using fat-free sour cream. You can also season your mashed potatoes by adding minced garlic or garlic powder. If a sweet potato casserole is more your thing, do not sabotage healthy sweet potatoes by adding butter, cream, and marshmallow topping. Instead, roast the sweet potatoes in their skins, then slice them open and top them with a light drizzle of butter and some brown sugar.
- Load up on the veggies. Make the vegetables the focus of your meal by grilling them and adding seasonings. Skip the fattening green bean casserole and instead make green beans with sautéed mushrooms and garlic.
- Low-fat desserts. Instead of making a fattening pie crust for your apple pie, make an oatmeal crumble topping for the apples. Spray a casserole dish with fat-free cooking spray. Pour one can of apple pie filling into the dish. Mix 2 tablespoons of butter, ½ cup of quick-cooking oatmeal, ¼ cup of whole wheat flour, ½ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts until crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture over the apple pie filling. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.
- Other tips. Do not fill up on heavy appetizers and fattening drinks before your meal. Instead, serve wine spritzers (white wine and club soda to taste) and a vegetable platter with some low-fat onion dip. To make the dip, mix one 16-ounce container of fat-free sour cream with a packet of onion soup mix (you can use ranch dressing mix if you prefer). Serve it with an assortment of broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, green peppers, and sliced cucumbers.
By using these tips, you should find that you will leave the Thanksgiving dinner table feeling good—instead of feeling like a stuffed turkey!
How to Prepare a Low-Fat Thanksgiving Dinner
Discover practical tips for preparing a delicious, low-fat Thanksgiving dinner, from lightening up the turkey and stuffing to making healthier mashed potatoes and desserts.
Thanksgiving dinner can be one of the most fattening meals you eat all year. With a plate full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and dessert, you can easily exceed your calorie limit for the entire day in one sitting. So how can you trim some of the fat from your Thanksgiving holiday meal? Read on for some tips on how to prepare a low-fat Thanksgiving dinner:
- Turkey tips. Of course, the entire meal centers around the bird, but you can make it lower in fat by seasoning it with your favorite fresh herbs and spices and skipping the butter and oil on top. In addition, remove the skin from the turkey after you roast it and stick to eating the lower-fat white meat. Also, do not douse your turkey in high-fat gravy—you can make a lower-fat gravy using a small amount of turkey drippings, fat-free chicken broth, and sauteed vegetables.
- Stuffing. Stuffing does not have to be laden with butter or sausage. Instead, use whole-grain bread cubes and sauteed onions, celery, and apples. To give it some extra flavor, add some fat-free chicken broth instead of water. Cut the butter in your stuffing recipe in half—you will not miss that extra butter at all!
- Lower-fat potatoes. To make low-fat mashed potatoes, use just a small amount of butter and skim milk, and add extra flavor by using fat-free sour cream. You can also season your mashed potatoes by adding minced garlic or garlic powder. If a sweet potato casserole is more your thing, do not sabotage healthy sweet potatoes by adding butter, cream, and marshmallow topping. Instead, roast the sweet potatoes in their skins, then slice them open and top them with a light drizzle of butter and some brown sugar.
- Load up on the veggies. Make the vegetables the focus of your meal by grilling them and adding seasonings. Skip the fattening green bean casserole and instead make green beans with sauteed mushrooms and garlic.
- Low-fat desserts. Instead of making a fattening pie crust for your apple pie, make an oatmeal crumble topping for the apples. Spray a casserole dish with fat-free cooking spray. Pour one can of apple pie filling into the dish. Mix 2 tablespoons of butter, ½ cup of quick-cooking oatmeal, ¼ cup of whole wheat flour, ½ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts until crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture over the apple pie filling. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.
- Other tips. Do not fill up on heavy appetizers and fattening drinks before your meal. Instead, serve wine spritzers (white wine and club soda to taste) and a vegetable platter with some low-fat onion dip. To make the dip, mix one 16-ounce container of fat-free sour cream with a packet of onion soup mix (you can use ranch dressing mix if you prefer). Serve it with an assortment of broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, green peppers, and sliced cucumbers.
By using these tips, you should find that you will leave the Thanksgiving dinner table feeling good—instead of feeling like a stuffed turkey!
How to Prepare a Low-Fat Thanksgiving Dinner
By Howtodotips
Discover practical tips for preparing a delicious, low-fat Thanksgiving dinner, from lightening up the turkey and stuffing to making healthier mashed potatoes and desserts.