Healthy Thanksgiving Menu: 7 Easy Recipes for a Complete Dinner
Planning Thanksgiving dinner sounds easy until you realize you need a turkey, appetizers, side dishes, dessert, and somehow enough options to keep everyone at the table happy.
After plenty of trial and error with my own family, I’ve settled on a Thanksgiving menu that gives us the best of both worlds: plenty of lighter, wholesome recipes plus a couple of traditional favorites nobody wants me messing with.
This complete Thanksgiving menu includes two appetizers, three sides, roasted turkey, and pumpkin pie. Several of the recipes are Paleo or Whole30-friendly, and they’re all recipes my family has actually eaten and enjoyed!
I hope your family loves these comforting holiday foods as much as we do.
Thanksgiving Appetizers
Paleo Stuffed Mushrooms with Sausage
This Paleo stuffed mushroom recipe is one of MY personal favorites. They’re filled with sausage, apples, pecans, and dried cranberries, so you get savory, sweet, and a little crunch in every bite.
They’re also one of those appetizers that feels fancy enough for Thanksgiving without being difficult to make. Unfortunately for me, the rest of my family likes them too, so I’ve never managed to claim the leftovers for myself.
Why it works for Thanksgiving: You can prep much of the filling ahead of time, and the fall flavors fit perfectly with the rest of the meal.
Fruit Turkey
The Seghetti Fruit Turkey has been my children’s favorite Thanksgiving dish for years! Not only does it include their favorite fruits, but they also get to help out by making it themselves.
We usually make it using half a pear for the body and then mandarin oranges, halved grapes, apple slices, raspberries, and blueberries to make the feathers for the turkey.
You know what the best part about this recipe is, though? You don’t even have to follow my recipe. Just make it your own!
Your kid doesn’t like pears? Alright, use half of an apple, or a mango. Your child doesn’t like berries? That’s great too, just substitute a different fruit of your choice.
If you want to make it even healthier, you can even use veggies instead of fruits. This recipe is one that is completely up to you and your family’s discretion and tastes!
Thanksgiving Sides
Homemade Turkey Stuffing
You can make almost everything on a Thanksgiving menu healthier, but stuffing is where my family draws the line.
“How can you have Thanksgiving without stuffing?” In this family, you really can’t.
Sometimes I keep it simple and make a packaged stuffing according to the directions. But when I want the real deal, I make this delicious stuffing recipe that has been passed down. If you want to wow the fam, make stuffing from scratch. Otherwise, they’ll love it out of a bag and it will still taste delicious!
If you’re trying to keep most of your meal on the healthier side, I say this is one traditional dish that gets a free pass.
Sweet Potato Apple Cranberry Bake
Ok, this right here? My favorite. Yes, I said that the mushrooms were my favorite. This is my absolute favorite dish ever!
It combines baked sweet potatoes, Honeycrisp apples, fresh cranberries, walnuts, and cinnamon for a side dish that’s naturally sweet without needing added sugar.
Basically, it tastes a little like dessert wandered onto the Thanksgiving dinner table and decided to stay.
My kids love this one too, although they tend to pick out their favorite parts. One goes for the apples and cranberries while another tries to claim all the sweet potatoes. My advice? Make extra.
This is also a great option if you’re looking for a healthier Thanksgiving side that still feels cozy and festive.
My only wish is that I had a better name for it than sweet potato apple cranberry bake. It’s a long name for a dish that doesn’t last long in our house!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Pecans
Brussels sprouts can be a hard sell for some people, but adding bacon and pecans certainly doesn’t hurt their chances.
These roasted Brussels sprouts are cooked on a sheet pan with bacon and pecans, then finished with a balsamic drizzle. You get crispy edges, salty bacon, crunchy pecans, and just a little sweetness from the balsamic.
They also work well for Paleo or Whole30-style Thanksgiving menus, as long as you choose compliant ingredients.
If you have picky eaters, serve the balsamic on the side. And if you’re like me and believe Brussels sprouts should be borderline crispy, leave your portion in the oven for a few extra minutes.
No judgment here.
Thanksgiving Turkey
Of course, you really can’t have a Thanksgiving meal without the Thanksgiving turkey. I love to make this roasted turkey with apples, onions, rosemary, sage, cinnamon, and sparkling water. The fruit and herbs give it plenty of flavor without needing anything complicated.
I’ll also admit that turkey used to intimidate me a little. Nobody wants to spend hours roasting a giant bird only to carve into something resembling seasoned cardboard.
Thankfully, after a few learning experiences, this recipe turned out juicy and flavorful.
If roasting a turkey makes you nervous, read the full recipe because I included some of my own turkey mishaps too. Learn from my mistakes so you can hopefully skip that part of the Thanksgiving tradition.
Thanksgiving Dessert
Deciding on a Thanksgiving dessert is always so hard. How can you have just one when there’s so many good options? This year, we are having a dairy-free pumpkin pie – and I think I’ll use real pumpkin too.
We aren’t completely dairy-free in our house, but I like having recipes that cut back on dairy when it doesn’t change the flavor or texture. This pumpkin pie is one of those recipes.
It still has that classic creamy pumpkin filling and all the warm spices you expect from Thanksgiving pie, so nobody feels like they’re eating the “healthy substitute” dessert.
And because pie can be made ahead of time, that’s one less thing competing for oven space on Thanksgiving Day.
A Few Ways I Reduce Thanksgiving Food Waste
One thing I try to be mindful of during the holidays is food waste. Thanksgiving can involve a LOT of groceries, cooking, and packaging for one meal.
I try to buy realistic amounts of food, buy foods in flexible packaging, use ingredients across multiple dishes when possible, save leftovers for the next day, and freeze anything we aren’t likely to eat quickly.
Even small things help. Vegetable scraps can become stock, leftover turkey can turn into lunches or soup, and reusable containers make it easy to send extra food home with family.
It doesn’t have to be a perfectly zero-waste Thanksgiving. I just try to waste a little less when I can.
MEET AMANDA
Amanda is a mom of 4 living a mostly crunchy lifestyle outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband, 2 dogs, and a cat. As a former special education teacher who also has her personal training certification — Amanda really enjoys teaching others how to do things!
When she’s not working, Amanda enjoys DIY projects, exercising, photography, hiking, and long walks through Target.
