Every Thanksgiving I make a pecan-crusted sweet potato casserole, and it's not the most healthy potluck item. It has a lot of sugar, butter, and eggs (among other things). Of course, as I'm making this I have to test it and it's delicious so I test it multiple times and am pretty stuffed by the time I'm done baking. So when the actual Thanksgiving dinner or potluck starts I want healthier foods.
I look at the table and the healthiest thing I can find is a bland store-bought vegetable casserole. I'm not about that, and you probably aren't either. So when the fall potlucks start, consider bringing any of these 16 healthy potluck recipes to stay on top of your health and eating habits.
1. Quinoa With Roasted Beets and Pear Salad
This fall salad features a lot of unique fruits and vegetables like beets and quinoa. Not only does it make for a colorful dish, but it also has less than 10 ingredients. This recipe serves four as a side dish, but can easily be doubled for a larger crowd.
2. Lemon Garlic Roasted Broccoli Salad
This broccoli salad is great because it's packed with fruits and veggies that are good for anyone looking for alternative sources of protein. Any vegan and vegetarian would enjoy taking a bite out of this salad. This salad serves four as a side dish but can be made for a crowd if you double the ingredients.
3. 3-Ingredient Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
This butternut squash soup is a great starter meal that takes less than an hour to make. The three ingredients are butternut squash, onion, and garlic, which is great for anyone on a budget. This recipe serves eight as a small soup, but with so few ingredients you can easily make more.
4. Simple Carrot Soup
I don't know about you, but I love carrots. I'm that person who ate only like three foods as a child and one of those was carrots (the other two were sugar and peanut butter, don't judge).
For that reason, I love this carrot soup. It's simple and uses 12 carrots, which is great (and a lot) for a healthy potluck. If you want to spice things up and get more complicated, then try this vegan carrot soup instead. The simple carrot soup serves 6-8 people.
5. Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Turkey is essential to any fall potluck, even if you don't like it. With a dish this important, Food Network is the place to go. This herb roasted turkey breast recipe is a little more complicated than the other recipes on this list, so I'd recruit the best cook in the group for this dish.
#SpoonTip: If you're feeling up to the challenge but don't know the basics, Greatist has a great guide that explains how to cook the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.
6. Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheese
This healthy potluck recipe is a fun twist on the classic (and pretty filling) mac n' cheese. It has the healthy benefits of butternut squash and the amazing flavors of mac n' cheese. Bring this butternut squash mac and cheese to your next potluck and your friends will love you (even more)! This recipe serves eight people comfortably.
7. Healthy Twice Baked Sweet Potato
Want more greens on your sweet potato? This twice baked sweet potato is the way to go. It has kale, Greek yogurt, and other ingredients.
Want an almost healthy sweet potato? Try this sweet potato pecan casserole. Both recipes take a little more time and effort but they're worth it. This recipe serves three if you give each person a whole sweet potato.
8. Roasted Veggies
In my search for healthy potluck recipes, I found roasted cauliflower, roasted rainbow carrots, roasted Sriracha Brussels sprouts, and honey and curry roasted acorn squash. All of these recipes have very similar ingredients and are really easy to make. Just season the vegetables, bake, and go. You can make this dish for a crowd as small or as large as you want
9. Spaghetti Squash Pasta With Chunky Tomato Sauce
If that picture doesn't convince you, I don't think anything will. Spaghetti is always an easy and simple food to bring to a potluck, but it's not really that healthy. Using spaghetti squash and making your own tomato sauce really helps make this "pasta" recipe healthy and nutritious. It serves four as a side dish, but if you double the ingredients with the same cooking time you can make twice as much food.
10. Green Bean Casserole With Crispy Shallots
Another friendsgiving staple is the green bean casserole. Don't be that guy who runs to Walmart two hours before the potluck to reheat a pre-made casserole. Make this recipe and show everyone you can cook edible food! This green bean casserole serves eight.
Want something simpler? Try this cheesy green bean pasta casserole.
11. Gluten-Free Stuffing
All my gluten-free friends should be able to experience the same joy that I do while stuffing my face with stuffing. Here's a gluten-free stuffing that's a little complicated to make, but that serves a lot of people (about eight).
If you can and want to eat gluten, here is an herb and apple stuffing.
12. Garlic and Onion Mashed Cauliflower
The salty and starchy flavor of potatoes now comes in a healthier package! It's called cauliflower, kids. Broccoli's cousin makes for a great mashed potato replacement, especially when you add garlic and onion like this recipe does.
This mashed cauliflower is great because just about anyone can make this recipe. It's literally only four ingredients and involves light sautéing, boiling, and mashing veggies. The mashed cauliflower serves 3-6.
13. Vegan Gravy
You can't have mashed potatoes without gravy (and anyone who disagrees is a liar or has never tried it). This vegan gravy takes a little extra effort but your friends will love it. The recipe makes 2 1/2 cups of gravy, which is plenty to share with a group.
Need a little more meat? Here's a turkey gravy recipe that's simpler but less healthy.
14. 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins
These pumpkin spice muffins have only three ingredients and take 20 minutes to make. I seriously doubt anyone can mess this up (but my roommate has a knack for that, so supervise your questionable cooks for best results). The muffins are very simple to make and serve a lot of people (about 15). Though this recipe contains added sugars in the cake mix, this is a much healthier muffin than most recipes.
15. Healthy Crustless Pumpkin Pie
This crustless pumpkin pie has a few more ingredients than the pumpkin spice muffins and is much healthier. It's only 420 calories for the whole pie! It's like the Halo Top of pies. Technically this can serve about six people, but if you put that in front of me, it'll be a serving for one.
16. Apple Pear Crumble
The apple pear crumble replaces a lot of unhealthy parts of a regular apple pie with healthy sweeteners and oils like agave syrup and coconut oil. With this healthy potluck recipe you don't sacrifice flavor for health. I personally can't eat most desserts without ice cream, which is why I would have this with Halo Top or Breyers Delights.
These healthy potluck recipes will be great for your next get together. If you pair these healthier recipes with traditional dishes, enjoy everything in moderation and have a good time. It's the holidays, after all!