Healthy Recipes for a Fun Christmas Dinner

Christmas is all about celebrating. And every celebration is incomplete without food.

However, for those of us who are health-conscious, maintaining a healthy and nutritious diet can turn out to be a real challenge during the festive holidays.

I mean, you can’t be the only one sulking on the dinner table with a glass of sparkling wine while the others indulge in your favourite dishes, right?

So, for those of you who want to keep your Christmas dinner healthy, here are a few recipes that you can try out!

Sugar Cookies (Per Servings – 97 calories)

No sir, there’s no need to panic. And yes, you read that right. We are talking about baking healthy sugar cookies.

Are you wondering how?

Let’s decode the recipe below!

Ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour – 2 cups

Egg – 1

White Whole-Wheat Flour – 2/3 cups

Lemon Zest

Baking Powder – 1 ½ teaspoon

Vanilla Extract – 2 ½ teaspoon

Salt – ¼ teaspoon

Granulated Sugar – ½ cup + 1 tablespoon

Lemon extract – ½ teaspoon

Corn/Canola Oil – 1/3 cups

Honey – 1 tablespoon + ¼ cup

Soft Unsalted Butter – 4 tablespoon

Directions:

1. Grab a medium-sized bowl and pour in whole-wheat and all-purpose flour.
2. Add salt and baking powder to the bowl and start whisking.
3. In a mixing bowl transfer butter, lemon zest, oil, egg, granulated sugar, honey and lemon extract to beat it using an electric mixer with the lowest setting.
4. Once everything has blended well, turn up the mixer to its medium setting and slowly pour in the flour mixture.
5. After the dough has been made, place it in the middle of two parchment papers to roll it.
6. Take the dough and put it on top of a baking sheet.
7. Place it in the freezer for around 30 minutes after placing the dough on a baking sheet.
8. Take out the top sheet and use your favourite cookie cutters to make as many shapes as you want.
9. Bake them for 6-10 minutes until brown.

After 6-10 minutes, take out the cookies and enjoy! You can also decorate the cookies with your favourite toppings.

Rosemary & Lemon Chicken with Broccoli (Per Servings – 289 Calories)

Who doesn’t love an easy healthy chicken recipe for Christmas dinner? Here is one that you can follow to bring about a healthy rendition to your Christmas meal.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast – 4 (with bones and skin)

Broccoli – 2 bunches

Chopped Parsley – 2 tablespoon

Kosher Salt – as per taste

Black Pepper – as per taste

Chopped Garlic Clove – 1 pcs

Chopped Rosemary – 1 ½ tablespoon

Dijon Mustard – 2 teaspoon

Thinly Sliced Lemon – 1 pcs

Olive Oil – 3 tablespoon

Red Pepper – ½ teaspoon

Diced Red Onion – 1 pcs

Directions:

1. Turn on your oven and preheat at 425 degrees F.
2. Take a bowl and mix Dijon, salt, black pepper, oil, garlic, parsley and rosemary.
3. Stuff the rosemary mixture and sliced lemons under the chicken skin.
4. Pour and rub the rest of the rosemary mixture on the chicken.
5. Set the timer for 20-23 minutes and bake it on top of a baking sheet.
6. Bring another bowl and toss lemon slices, oil, broccoli, onion and red pepper.
7. Bring out chicken breasts from the oven and place the veggies around it.
8. Set timer again at 14 minutes max and place a thermometer on the thickest part of the chicken.
9. Take out the chicken once the thermometer reads 165 degrees F.

Serve it right away to enjoy it smoking hot.

Cabbage Stir Fry (Per Serving – 118)

Want to plate something plain, colourful and yummy alongside your other dishes? Try out the recipe for our festive red cabbage stir fry:

Ingredients:

Red Cabbage – ½ pcs

Shredded Kale – 200g

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Juiced and Zested Orange – ½ pcs

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Cranberry Sauce – 2 tablespoon

Red Wine – 50 ml

Directions:

1. Strip the red cabbage.
2. Take a pan and add oil.
3. Pour in the kale and cabbage.
4. For 3-4 minutes, stir the ingredients in the pan.
5. Add remaining ingredients into the pan.
6. Stir for 4 more minutes.
7. Take it off heat.

Serve it as a side dish to your main course for dinner.

Roasted Potatoes (Per Serving – 347 calories)

Every Christmas meal is incomplete without a dish made out of potatoes.

Ingredients:

Potatoes – 2kg

Goose Fat – 4 tablespoon

Chopped Rosemary – 4 sprigs

Peeled Garlic Cloves – 4 pcs

Directions:

1. Wash and peel potatoes.
2. Boil cold water in a pot and add salt.
3. Wait for 15 minutes after simmering the diced potatoes into the boiling water.
4. Once 15 minutes have passed, strain it to dry off the water.
5. Place the potatoes on top of a tray and put it in the fridge to cool.
6. Decant goose fat into a roasting pot.
7. Submerge the potatoes in the fat and preheat the oven at 180 or 160 C fan.
8. Place the potatoes in the oven and wait for 40 minutes.
9. Take out the potatoes and turn them over for the other side before putting them into the oven for another 20 minutes.
10. Before the last 5 minutes, place the garlic and rosemary beside the potatoes.

Serve it once the potatoes and crunchy and golden in colour.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Per Serving – 109 calories)

Who doesn’t love Brussels sprout for Christmas dinner? Try out our recipe to roast your Brussels sprouts perfectly.

Ingredients:

Brussels sprouts – 1 ½ pound

Olive oil – 3 tablespoon

Kosher salt – ¾ teaspoon

Black pepper – ½ teaspoon

Directions:

1. Before tossing in the sprouts in the oven, preheat at 400 degrees F.
2. Prep the Brussels sprouts by cutting off edges and yellow leaves.
3. Take a bowl and mix the sprouts with oil, salt and pepper.
4. Place it in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Take it out once they have turned slightly brown and crispy. Serve hot with your mains!

Ready For a Fun, Healthy and No-Compromise Christmas Dinner Yet?

These are some of the healthy recipes that you can create for your Christmas dinner this year with your family and friends. You can also try making all of these items to make a proper Christmas meal without missing out on much.

Photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash