6 Tiny Tweaks To Make Your Thanksgiving Recipes Just A Little Bit Healthier

By all means, eat your heart out!

Thanksgiving Day is no time to start planning a hard-core diet regimen. The food is delicious, the company is swell and it's the one day out of the year, it seems, Americans feel entirely privileged to lose all sense of logic when it comes to how much they eat. The proof is in the numbers: The average American ingests about 3,000 calories and 229 grams of fat in one Turkey Day meal, according to the Calorie Control Council. Basically, we eat more during one single meal than we're advised to eat in an entire day.

We're not here to shame you or advise that you skimp on the dishes you look forward to enjoying all year long. These tips will just help to slightly lighten up that classic Thanksgiving grub, without anyone really noticing a difference.

Swap Greek Yogurt For Butter
Running To The Kitchen
You won't feel like anything is missing from your beloved mashed potatoes when Greek yogurt is involved: It'll add a tart, creamy texture and a bit of protein, to boot.

Get the Roasted Garlic Greek Yogurt Smashed Potatoes recipe from Running To The Kitchen
Swap Parsnips For Potatoes
Vanilla And Spice
Mashed potatoes are a T-gives staple for many, but if you happen to be indifferent about the spud, you might try mashing up a different type of vegetable into a creamy side. Parsnips are a bit lower in calories, but they're certainly not your only swap option. Check out this masterful recipe index of every vegetable you can mash that isn't a potato.

Get the Beet-Parsnip Mash With Almond Parmesan recipe from Vanilla And Spice
Swap Stuffing Muffins For Stuffing
Feasting At Home
This is more of a mind trick than a recipe swap: Bake your favorite stuffing into a muffin tin and voila -- perfect portions are made for you and your guests. Studies have shown that the brain is more mindful of portion size and registers fullness faster when you consume food in tangible servings. You'll be able to comprehend the fact that you placed three equally-sized muffins on your plate more easily than three arbitrary scoopfuls of stuffing from a serving bowl. Plus, these are freaking cute.

Get the Thanksgiving Stuffing Muffins recipe from Feasting At Home
Swap Real Mushrooms For Canned Cream Of Mushroom
The Lean Green bean
Not sure whether anyone really likes green bean casserole or if it's just tradition, but if you swap the canned cream of mushroom soup for Greek yogurt (hey again) and some real 'shrooms, you'll have a less fatty version. More room for pie, y'all!

Get the Healthy Green Bean Casserole recipe from The Lean Green Bean
Swap A Little Less Sugar For Sugar
Primal Palate
Canned cranberry sauce -- and even the recipe that comes on the back of a bag of real cranberries -- calls for a lot of sugar. But cranberries are naturally sweet (and tart!) and don't really require much messin' with to result in a tasty relish. Experiment by cutting the sugar in your usual recipe (you can always add more) or try this lower-sugar version from Primal Palate.

Get the Tart Cranberry Sauce recipe from Primal Palate
Swap No Crust For Crust
Amy's Healthy Baking
Everybody knows the best part about the pumpkin pie is its filling. So don't even bother with crust this year, and cut down on the calories and fat while you're at it.

Get the Crustless Pumpkin Pie recipe from Amy's Healthy Baking
Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dishes
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