Smart Swaps for Holiday Favorites

The holiday season is well known for time honored traditions, festive gatherings, and indulgent foods. It’s no surprise that many of our favorite holiday recipes are often high in saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars making it easy to overindulge. Over time, an eating pattern like this can take its toll on heart health. The good news is, with a few smart ingredient swaps, you can enjoy your favorite dishes and still make healthier choices.

Key Nutrition Facts:

Excess sodium in the bloodstream can draw water into your blood vessels and increase your blood pressure.
Diets high in saturated fats can raise LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Added sugars like white sugar, brown sugar, honey, and high fructose corn syrup are added to foods and drinks during processing.

How Can Substitutions Make a Recipe Healthier?

Limiting foods high in sugar, salt, and saturated fat lowers the risk of chronic disease and can help manage diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. By making a few simple swaps in your ingredients or cooking methods, you can boost fiber while lowering the amount of sugar, salt, and saturated fats in a recipe.

Smart Swaps for Holiday Recipes:

Saturated Fats

Ingredient	Healthy Swap
Whole egg	2 egg whites
Sour cream	Nonfat greek yogurt or low fat sour cream
Butter	Reduce by ⅓ in quick breads or cookies Use applesauce or fruit puree for part or all of the fat in a recipe
Sautee or stir fry	Olive oil, water, broth
Whole milk or cream	Skim or low fat milk
Cream cheese	Low fat or nonfat cream cheese

Sodium

Ingredient	Healthy Swap
Store bought spice blends	DIY low or no sodium herb & spice blend
Canned vegetables	Drain and rinse with water; fresh or frozen vegetables
Salt	Omit or reduce to ½ in recipes; use herbs & spices to enhance flavor
Broth	Low sodium broth

Sugar

Ingredient	Healthy Swap
Sugar	Reduce to ⅓ in desserts and baked goods
Sugar	Sugar substitute (ex: Stevia)
Sugar	Fruit puree or applesauce in baked goods
Canned fruit in syrup	Canned fruit in 100% juice; fresh or frozen fruit (no sugar added)

Fiber

Ingredient	Healthy Swap
White rice	Brown rice or quinoa
White bread	Whole grain or whole wheat bread
Pasta	Whole wheat pasta or other high fiber pasta
All purpose flour	Swap ½ for whole wheat flour
Sauces, breads, etc.	Add extra vegetables into meat sauces, soups, and chilis. Add extra fruit or vegetables to muffins, quick breads, and other recipes.

Examples of Holiday Recipes w/Smart Swaps:

This pear & walnut salad recipe swaps store bought salad dressing for a simple homemade dressing. While it does contain salt and honey, the amount split between 4 servings is very small.

Stuffed Snacking Peppers (6 servings)

Ingredients

Olive oil or cooking spray
1 lbs ground turkey
1 cup diced onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
12 mini snacking peppers
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 10 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes
8 oz Nonfat shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Drizzle olive oil in skillet (or use cooking spray) and cook ground turkey until it reaches 165°F. Add onions and garlic to the skillet and cook until onions are translucent. Remove from heat.
Add ground turkey mixture into a mixing bowl along with cooked brown rice, canned tomatoes, and shredded cheese. Mix until combined. Optional: Reserve some shredded cheese to sprinkle over the peppers after baking.
Cut snacking peppers in half and remove seeds. Line the peppers open side up into a large baking pan or casserole dish. Spoon the turkey mixture into the peppers.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 18-20 minutes or until peppers are tender. If you choose to reserve some cheese, uncover the dish and sprinkle cheese over peppers. Place in oven until cheese is melted.
Allow time to properly cool and enjoy!

More Recipes:

Things to Consider:

Test out swaps ahead of time. Sometimes swapping ingredients can lead to changes in flavor or texture of the food that you may not enjoy.
You may decide that you don’t want to completely eliminate ingredients like salt or sugar from your recipes. Try gradually reducing these ingredients and making healthy swaps until your taste buds adjust.
Focus on flavor by emphasizing herbs, spices, vinegars, and other ingredients rather than relying on salt and sugar.
If everyone isn’t on board for overhauling a time honored recipe, try making one or two healthy swaps rather than changing it completely.
Some of the swaps you choose could require more preparation ahead of time. Plan ahead and meal prep beforehand.
Work within your budget. Use produce that’s in season and stick to swaps that are affordable.

There are many benefits to using smart swaps for your favorite holiday recipes. You can create more nutrient dense meals that support your health goals and still contain the flavors of the season. Take a look at your recipes for the upcoming season and choose one or two swaps you can make this year. Test the recipe ahead of time and consider the flavors and benefits to your health. Remember, you can take these swaps beyond the holidays to support your health year round.

References:

American Heart Association. (n.d.). Get the scoop on sodium and salt. heart.org.
American Heart Association. (n.d.-b). Saturated fat. heart.org.
American Heart Association. (n.d.-c). Tips for cutting down on Sugar. heart.org.
Connell, P. by: C. (n.d.). Altering recipes for Better Health. Alabama Cooperative Extension System.