Where to find the best healthy Christmas recipes

A roundup of the best healthy Christmas recipes

Ah Christmas, it’s such a wonderful time of year, with all of the joy, kindness and giving. It can also be a nightmare for anyone who lives a healthy lifestyle!

So I’ve put together a list of where you can find the best “healthified” Christmas recipes of some of the most popular treats. By “healthified”, I mean that they’re traditional recipes using healthier ingredients. No refined flours or sweeteners and some of them are gluten free, for those who need to avoid gluten.

As you know, I believe in moderation and common sense and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with indulging sometimes. It’s all part of a balanced diet and it’s important to enjoy our celebrations without any feelings of guilt or anxiety attached to the food.

It’s all too easy for Christmas to become overwhelming though. It can be an entire month of celebrations, starting early in December and continuing on into January. So I think it’s nice to have some healthier options to balance out the not-so-healthy ones.

Best healthy Christmas recipes: appetisers

My Christmas Crostini: With a sweet potato base, these crostini are topped with a red onion, tomato & avocado salsa. 

They can be made ahead, kept in the fridge and then assembled as needed.

Sharing platters: Easy to put together, and it’s easy to make your own healthy dips. Guests are always impressed when you say you made the dips!

You can make these Greek yoghurt based dips, with beetroot, pumpkin or sweet potato, lemon juice and garlic.

Another favourite that only takes 5 minutes to whip up is my Greek style Tzatziki.

If you need a simple cracker recipe, try these Flax seed crackers.

Best healthy Christmas recipes: cakes & puddings

The Healthy Chef Gluten Free Christmas Cake: If you need to cater for family members with a gluten intolerance, try this Christmas cake recipe.

The Healthy Chef Christmas Pudding: I’m a huge custard fan and I always have pudding at Christmas so I can drown it in custard! This is a delicious sounding Christmas pudding and if you top it off with Teresa’s perfect custard it’ll be super yummo!

The Healthy Chef Mince Pies: Not my favourite, but we can’t forget about mince pies.

The Healthy Chef Gingerbread Men: If I make biscuits at Christmas, it’s pretty much always shortbread. You might notice that I haven’t included any healthified shortbread recipes here and that’s because I’ve never found any that taste like proper shortbread. Some things just can’t be healthified! These gingerbread men are a pretty good healthy version tho, I think.

Nadia Lim’s Gingerbread Decorations: These are a fun idea and the kids can get involved in decorating them too.

Best healthy Christmas recipes: desserts

My Strawberry Tarts: These strawberry tarts have my filling recipe and the pastry cases are from Bianca’s Little Lemon Tarts.

My Chocolate Truffles: These truffles are easy to make, just make sure you use good quality dark chocolate. You can make two or three different flavours and I think they’re another lovely home made gift.

The Merrymaker Sisters Healthier Trifle: I haven’t tried this recipe by the Merrymaker Sisters, so let me know what you think of it if you do! For me, nothing beats my mother’s trifle recipe. Now that she’s passed on, my sister makes it. It’s very rich and indulgent, but we only have it once a year, so I look forward to it.

Wholefoodsimply’s Vanilla Ice Cream: This is how real ice cream tastes! It’s easy to make, creamy and indulgent  ice cream with no additives that simply tastes amazing.

Wholefoodsimply’s Chocolate Bark: Another one of Bianca’s quick and easy recipes. This bark looks really pretty, so I think it’s a great home made gift.

Nadia Lim’s Christmas Snowballs: If you’re a Christmas snowball fan, then give this recipe of Nadia Lim’s a try.

Here’s cheers: wishing you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas!!

So that’s it! Let me know (via social media) if there’s a Christmas favourite of yours that I haven’t included on this list, or even if you’d like me to find a healthier version of something for you. I love researching and finding recipes, especially healthy ones.

And do let me know if you try my recipes. If you’re on Instagram, post your pics and tag me @wendyswaytohealth and #wendyswaytohealth.

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