December 18, 2021
Cooking during the holidays can be challenging. When you’re juggling personal obligations, different eating habits and maintaining your sanity, the last thing you want to think about is what holiday recipes you’re going to make for the holiday meal!
Luckily, there’s no need to stress anymore with some of my favorite fast and easy holiday recipes. These delicious dishes are all crowd-pleasers that your family will love.
Note about these holiday recipes: I recommend using grass-fed dairy and goat milk, replacing table salt with sea salt or kosher salt, and swapping canola and vegetable oil with coconut oil or ghee.
Without further ado, here are 27 of my favorite holiday recipes.
27 Fast and Easy Holiday Recipes
Side Dishes
This light holiday side is a snap to make, and you’ll feel great serving it to guests. Crisp apples, firm pears and juicy grapes are tossed in a homemade yogurt-based dressing. The result is a zesty salad with some of fall’s best fruits.
Photo: Autumn Fruit Salad With Cinnamon Greek Yogurt Dressing / Kitchen Treaty
Fresh, roasted green beans are topped with sweet caramelized shallots in this easy recipe. You won’t believe how much flavor just four ingredients will impart on this side. Make extra — there won’t be leftovers!
When protein-packed quinoa is combined with caramelized butternut squash and golden-brown Brussels sprouts, the result is this nutritious side dish. It’s healthy, comes together quickly and tastes amazing — what more do you need? Skip the brown sugar, and opt for coconut sugar or maple syrup instead.
Photo: Quinoa With Caramelized Butternut Squash and Roasted Brussels Sprouts / Iowa Girl Eats
Load up on greens at the dinner table with this elegant, easy recipe. This garlicky asparagus requires just three ingredients and minutes to prepare.
Photo: Garlic Asparagus / Dr. Axe
It’s time to add pomegranates into your life. Rich in antioxidants, this fruit deserves a place at your holiday table, and this super simple recipe is the perfect way to do it. With only a handful of ingredients, this is a recipe that tastes just as good as it looks!
If you’re not a squash convert, this easy salad might turn you into one. Nutty wild rice and an easy maple syrup dressing are combined with fresh herbs and roasted squash for a beautifully colored, delicious dish.
Photo: Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Salad / Heartbeet Kitchen
A good-for-you mac and cheese recipe? This cauliflower-based version skips the noodles and focuses on wholesome ingredients like goat milk cottage cheese and cheddar. The result is a cheesy baked dish of deliciousness. Trust me — no one will miss the pasta!
Photo: Cauliflower Mac and Cheese / Dr. Axe
This healthy recipe gives new meaning to “loaded potato.” Roasted sweet potatoes are stuffed with vitamin-rich kale, mushrooms and chickpeas and drizzled with a homemade lemon-honey tahini dressing that’s lip-smacking good. These make an excellent side dish or a light main dish.
Photo: Kale, Mushroom, and Chickpea-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes / Dishing Up the Dirt
These gluten-free meatballs make a wonderful starter or side. They’re packed with flavor and bake in just 12 minutes. Serve as-is or with your family’s favorite dipping sauce — your kids will love these!
Photo: Gluten-Free Baked Meatballs / Dr. Axe
Who needs mashed potatoes when cauliflower tastes just as good? This easy side has all the flavors you love about mashed potatoes, but it’s full of fiber and nutrients. Add a little garlic or your favorite herbs — it’s easy to customize!
There are no canned soups or processed ingredients in this healthy take on the classic Thanksgiving dish! Instead, you get a casserole loaded with fresh green beans and mushrooms, crispy oven-roasted onions, and a whole lot of tastiness. Opt for beef or turkey bacon (or omit entirely to keep this vegetarian).
Photo: Paleo Green Bean Casserole / Fed + Fit
This cauliflower casserole is the perfect addition to your holiday table. It’s easy to make, and while it has a creamy, decadent texture, it’s good for you, too!
There’s no bread in this yummy stuffing, but you won’t miss it at all. Chicken or turkey sausage stands in perfectly for pork, and with raisins, apples and cranberries all making guest appearances, this stuffing just might become a new favorite.
Photo: Paleo Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Stuffing / Paleo Newbie
Your favorite veggies turn into a tasty side dish when in this super simple healthy recipe. Sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and parsnips (and any other root vegetable you love!) are tossed in a salty-sweet seasoning and roasted. If you have veggie haters, this dish will change their minds.
Photo: Roasted Fall Vegetables/ Dashing Dish
This savory pie is similar to a quiche, but it’s full of nutritious ingredients. Speed up preparation time by using your favorite pre-made crust. This one’s a keeper!
This Paleo-friendly sweet potato casserole has the flavors you’re craving with clean ingredients. It’s naturally sweetened with vanilla and coconut milk. The pecan oat topping is good enough to eat solo, but trust me, you’ll love it even more with a bite of sweet potatoes.
Photo: Dr. Axe
A sweet potato hash served inside a squash? That’s right! This grain-free stuffing gets packed into a perfectly roasted squash. The result is a hash that tastes great whether you follow a Paleo diet or not!
Healthy Entrees
One of the easiest, tastiest recipes you’ll make this holiday season, this garlic lamb roast comes together easily. Place it in the crockpot in the morning, and you’ll have an amazing roast in six to eight hours with no work required. Just don’t blame me if your family can’t stay out of the kitchen while this is cooking — the smell is amazing!
Whether you’re enjoying a smaller holiday meal or just don’t want to roast an entire turkey, sticking to just turkey breasts is a simple way to get meat on the table in much less time. Scale up depending on how many people are at the dinner table.
Photo: Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast / Oh Sweet Basil
If dark meat is more up your alley, you’ll love this turkey thigh recipe. Instead of cooking up the entire bird, you’ll get thighs that are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, as a result of being roasted in broth.
These wild rice bowls are heaped with fresh kale, sautéed chicken, crunchy almonds and topped with sweet cranberries and apple. If your family’s skipping the bird this year, these bowls are a great alternative. No one’s going hungry with these! Sprinkle with fresh goat cheese if possible.
Photo: Kale and Wild Rice Bowls With Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette / Iowa Girl Eats
Fiber-filled lentils mean you’ll be satisfied for hours with this veggie-friendly main dish loaf. Make an extra loaf, and keep it in the freezer for busy nights.
Photo: Lentil and Rice Loaf / Straight Up Food
Desserts
Who knew that simply baking pears with cinnamon and walnuts could produce such a stunning dessert? It’s easy to make and tastes great to eat. You’ll love this one.
Photo: Baked Pears With Walnuts and Honey / Skinnytaste.com
Few things are better than freshly roasted nuts dipped into melted dark chocolate. A few pieces of these nut clusters will end your holiday meal on a high note. Sweet and salty combine for a dessert you’ll love.
Photo: Dark Chocolate Nut Clusters / Skinny Ms.
This yummy, fluffy bread is the perfect after-dinner companion to a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. Your family will love the pumpkin flavor, and you’ll love that it’s baked with all-natural ingredients. Everyone wins!
Photo: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread / Dr. Axe
A hint of pumpkin flavor combines with coconut and cozy spices like nutmeg, allspice and cloves for a no-bake cookie that’s a breeze to make. A cookie that doesn’t take up precious oven space? Sign me up!
Photo: No-Bake Pumpkin Cookies / Plaid & Paleo
Warm, soothing and oh so good, this grain-free cobbler will have you coming back for seconds and thirds. Not only is it delicious, but with almond flour, coconut flour, ghee and chia seeds, it is nutritious, too!