builderall



Today, I come bearing a holiday treat in the form of a healthy feast.


Perhaps you're trying to think of some healthy recipe ideas for Christmas. Perhaps you just want to test out some festive recipes in the middle of the year.


Whatever your reasons, if you're looking for some amazing healthy recipe ideas, then you've come to the right place.


If you're hosting a Christmas party, then maybe you want to consider cooking all of the recipes listed here. If you're only looking for a couple of recipe ideas, then you can pick and choose from this page to your heart's content. I designed all of these recipes to have a 'Christmas-y' twist, which makes them absolutely perfect for the festive season!


Although these recipes are quite healthy, they all still taste phenomenal. In fact, I'm willing to bet that no one else will be able to guess that they're healthy. They'll be too busy being blown away by your amazing cooking skills to think about the 'health factor' of the food you cooked.


Additionally, all the dishes listed are either vegetarian or vegan.



Overview Of The Different Healthy Christmas Banquet Dishes


Chilli Oil Green Beans



These chilli oil green beans are simple, yet delicious. Perfect as both a standalone entrée or as a dish to accompany your main meals, you can't go wrong with these beans.


These beans aren't overly spicy, but they certainly do have a bit of a kick to them... Although, take that advice with a grain of salt, because my spice tolerance isn't all that high!


These beans also have quite a garlicky undertone, which only serves to further enhance their wonderful flavour.


This dish is also suitable for vegans and goes perfectly alongside my...



Crispy Christmas Potatoes


When baked to perfection, these crispy baked potatoes are an absolute Christmas miracle! They work in perfect harmony with the chilli oil green beans, or can also be brought out alongside the main dishes. WIth only olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper, these potatoes are super easy to prepare and taste phenomenal.


As is the theme with some of my other dishes on this page, the rosemary gives these potatoes a Christmas-y flavour that's extremely special.


You can see what these beautiful Christmas potatoes look like in the photo that can be found in the 'chilli oil green beans' section above.



Pumpkin and Feta Tart




This pumpkin and feta tart is the perfect dish to have as a main. The combination of egg and feta give this tart quite a light, fluffy consistency; whilst the pumpkin delivers an amazing base flavour. The addition of rosemary, garlic, onion, parsley and spinach serve to further enhance the flavour and give it a 'Christmas-y' kind of vibe.


Packed full of veggie goodness, this dish is also suitable for vegetarians.



Christmas Chocolate Bark




This Christmas chocolate bark could very well be my favourite recipe on this entire list. It's just absolutely phenomenal. If you like chocolate or rocky road, then you're going to absolutely adore this chocolate bark.


Thanks to the rice puffs, almonds and the thin chocolate, the texture is predominantly crunchy and light. However, the blueberries, cranberries and shredded coconut give it an interesting chewy texture that simply works perfectly!


Whilst it may not be as healthy as some of the other dishes here, it's certainly a much healthier alternative to most other desserts you'll find at a Christmas banquet (since it uses dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate).


This chocolate bark works great as a dessert.



Healthy Gluten-Free Raspberry Cheesecake




This healthy raspberry cheesecake tastes as good as it looks!


As it's a much healthier alternative and no added sugar, it's certainly not as sweet as regular cheesecake. However, it still tastes phenomenal and should be enough to satisfy most people's sugar cravings.


This healthy cheesecake has a smooth texture that's reminiscent of Crème brûlée, which makes it an absolute pleasure to eat. It also packs a subtle taste of berry that's by no means overwhelming. I personally used only raspberries, however, feel free to use whatever mix of berries you want in this cheesecake.


This healthy cheesecake is the perfect dessert for those at your Christmas event who don't want to compromise their weight loss journey or overload themselves with sweet, sugary desserts.



Christmas Bliss Balls




These Christmas bliss balls are a snowy delight.


They're both delicious and nutritious, and work perfectly as both a dessert or as an addition to a platter.


With a soft, smooth texture, these balls also work as the perfect snack. In fact, ever since I developed the recipe, I've been making them just to snack on throughout the day!


These lovely little bliss balls require a food processor to combine all the ingredients. You could probably get away with using a blender; but either way, to get a smooth texture, you need to make sure everything is finely broken up.


These bliss balls have no added sugar, and instead, are sweetened by rice malt syrup, which is a much healthier alternative.


Although this recipe uses cashews as the base, you can't really taste the cashews (in my opinion). Instead, you're left with the sweet taste of cranberries and coconut. The added vanilla essence also serves to further enhance the flavour of these bliss balls.


These bliss balls are also vegan friendly.


That's it for the healthy Christmas banquet dishes. You'll find the recipes for each of the aforementioned dishes below.


So without further ado, let's get into it!




'Chilli Oil Green Beans' Recipe


Ingredients



Method


  1. Steam the green beans until just cooked. Set aside.
  2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil.
  3. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, chilli, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Add the beans to the frying pan and toss to coat.
  5. Add the beans to a serving plate and sprinkle over the almonds and cranberries.
  6. Enjoy!



'Crispy Christmas Potatoes' Recipe



Ingredients



Method


  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Peel the potatoes and chop into quarters.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the potatoes. Boil for 15 minutes or until soft.
  3. Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake to rough up the edges of the potatoes.
  4. Put the potatoes in a bowl and add the oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Toss until all potatoes are coated.
  5. Spread the potatoes out onto a baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper.
  6. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden on the outside and fluffy in the middle.
  7. Enjoy!



'Pumpkin and Feta Tart' Recipe


?

Ingredients



Method


  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
  2. Add the pumpkin to a baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper. Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper to the pumpkin and bake for 30-40 minutes.
  3. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary and parsley. Fry until the onion has softened. Add the spinach and cook until wilted.
  4. Add one of the sheets of pastry to the bottom of a quiche dish. Cut the OTHER sheet of pastry into strips, and then add the strips around the edges of the dish. Firmly press the strips so that they blend into the sheet of pastry that's sitting on the bottom of the dish.
  5. Once the pumpkin has cooked, scatter it over the base of the pastry. Scatter over the onion and spinach mix, and then the feta.
  6. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Pour over the top of everything (the pumpkin, feta, onion, spinach etc.).
  7. Decrease the temperature of the oven to 170 degrees C. Add the tart and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until the eggs are fully cooked and the pastry is golden.
  8. Enjoy!



'Christmas Chocolate Bark' Recipe



Ingredients



Method


  1. Line a tray with baking paper, and set aside.
  2. In a microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate and microwave until melted (go slowly, as you don't want to burn the chocolate).
  3. Meanwhile, add the remaining ingredients to a bowl (saving a little bit of each to decorate the top with).
  4. Once the chocolate has melted, pour it into the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix well to fully coat the other ingredients.
  5. Spread the mixture over the prepared tray and sprinkle over the remaining ingredients (that you saved in step 3).
  6. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set. Then, break into desired sizes and serve.
  7. Enjoy!



'Healthy Gluten-Free Raspberry Cheesecake' Recipe



Ingredients


Base


Raspberry Sauce


Filling


Method


  1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
  2. Line a springform cake tin with baking paper and grease the edges. Add the almond meal, coconut and butter to a bowl and stir until combined. Press down into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes, or until slightly golden. Allow to cool.
  3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, add the raspberries, vanilla and rice malt syrup. Cook on low heat until the raspberries have formed a sauce.
  4. In a bowl, add the cream cheese, yoghurt, egg, vanilla and rice malt syrup. Stir until all combined (but DO NOT overwork the mixture).
  5. Add half the cream cheese filling on top of the cooked base, and then pour over half of the raspberry sauce. Add the rest of the cream cheese filling, and then pour the remaining raspberry sauce over the top and use a skewer to draw swirl patterns (this is optional, but makes the top look aesthetic).
  6. Bake in the oven for 30-25 minutes.
  7. Allow to cool, and then place in the fridge for 2-4 hours before serving (this step helps the cheesecake become more firm).
  8. Enjoy!



'Christmas Bliss Balls' Recipe



Ingredients



Method


  1. Add all ingredients (except for the 1/4 cup of coconut) into a food processor and blend until the mixture starts to stick together.
  2. Scatter the 1/4 cup of desiccated coconut over a plate and set aside
  3. Roll the mixture (from the food processor) into balls
  4. Then roll the balls over the plate of dedicated coconut that we set aside in step 2 (this should coat the outside of the balls in coconut)
  5. Set in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving
  6. Enjoy!

*Note: Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you would prefer the bliss balls to be a little firmer, you can also store them in the freezer.*




Healthy Christmas Feast Summary & Conclusion


Complete with entrées, mains and desserts, the 6 recipes above will help you to turn your Christmas banquet into an absolute healthy hit.


And although the dishes I've listed are quite healthy, they all taste amazing. This means that your friends and family will be able to thoroughly enjoy eating all of them without feeling any guilt whatsoever! I don't know about you, but that sounds like the perfect Christmas feast to me!


If you enjoyed any of the recipes listed here, and are looking for some more great dessert recipe ideas for your Christmas banquets, check out this healthy sticky date pudding recipe as well as this gingerbread bliss ball recipe. And if you're looking for another main or entrée idea, you need to check out this sweet potato and feta roll recipe!


As always, if you try out any of these Christmas recipes, let me know what you think by reaching out via email or social media. All the best.