Your Ultimate Guide to the 64 Best (and Worst) Holiday Foods

By Alison Mango
Updated January 27, 2021
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Prevent your pants from getting tighter this holiday season with these smarter food choices.
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Best and worst holiday foods

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A glass of eggnog here, a slice of pecan pie there, and salty, fatty foods everywhere: The holidays are not an easy time to maintain a healthy diet. That's why the average person puts on a pound between Thanksgiving and New Year's—and then never loses it. To create the ultimate healthy holiday food guide, we tapped three expert nutritionists: Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD and Health's contributing nutrition editor; Marisa Moore, RDN, an Atlanta-based nutritionist; and Vandana Sheth, RDN, nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. With their input, we've determined the best and worst picks across 32 categories. Happy holidays!

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Worst breakfast: Skipping it altogether

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Missing your morning meal slow down your metabolism, and can also trigger overeating later in the day. That means when you encounter the holiday cookie tray at the office or the buffet table at an evening soiree, you're more likely to stuff yourself with treats.

RELATED: 20 Best Foods for Breakfast

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Best breakfast: A healthy mix of protein and carbs

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Whip yourself up an a.m. entrée that contains roughly 20 grams of lean protein, as well as a whole grain, a fresh fruit or veggie, and a dose of healthy fats. A spinach omelet with avocado and fresh fruit is one perfect option: The protein from the eggs, the fiber from the produce, and fat from the avocado will work together to keep you full until your next meal—and help you steer clear of the Christmas cookie tray.

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Worst dip: Spinach-artichoke dip

Spinach artichoke dip is one of those comfort food staples we just can’t resist. Whether hanging out with friends at the bar, or settling in to watch a game at home, the cheesy spread is pretty much always irresistible.

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Best dip: Greek yogurt dip

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Nonfat Greek yogurt is a healthy substitute for many creamy dip bases. Replace sour cream or cheese with the yogurt and you will still achieve that smooth consistency and tangy flavor. Serve with veggies and you'll have a low-cal appetizer.

RELATED: 4 Things You Can Make With Greek Yogurt

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Worst cold appetizer: Chips and salsa

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Though salsa actually is pretty good for you—you get some nutrients from the tomatoes—the chips are nothing more than empty calories. And those calories add up fast: One serving of tortilla chips costs you 300 calories.

RELATED: The Best Healthy Salsa Recipes

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Best cold appetizer: Veggies with hummus

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Wherever you can, substitute carb-dense foods with water-rich vegetables. In addition to the nutrients that the vegetables provide, the hummus provides a dose of healthy fats and fiber.

RELATED: 20 Little Ways to Drop the Pounds and Keep Them Off

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Worst hot appetizer: Pigs in a blanket

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Serving these as an appetizer can create the perfect opportunity for you to overeat. Since they are tiny, it's easy to pop one in your mouth every time you walk by the serving platter. Just two can cost you 200 calories.

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Best hot appetizer: Broth-based soup

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Here's a fun app your guests won't expect: broth-based or bean soup in small cups. Slurping soup before your main meal may help you jumpstart your new year's weight loss resolution. In one Penn State study, people ate 20% fewer calories after they'd started their meal with broth-based soup.

RELATED: Try This Recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup With Spinach

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Worst cheese appetizer: Cheese, salami, and crackers

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In many homes, a cheese and meat platter is left out for family to enjoy throughout the holiday. But when you're left with a big spread of food—salty, fatty ones at that—it's more difficult to tell how much you've already eaten, making it easy to overeat.

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Best cheese appetizer: Grapes, goat cheese, pistachios

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Moore recommends making small, bite size appetizers that have a lot of flavor. One of her favorites is using in-season red or black grapes and coating them in goat cheese with a sprinkling of pistachios. The grapes provide sweetness, with the goat cheese and pistachios supplying heart-healthy fats and protein.

RELATED: What Can You Make with Goat Cheese?

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Worst salad: Any that seems low on veggies

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An appetizer or side salad should really contain just veggies—you'll probably be getting plenty of protein and fat from your entrée. Toppings add unnecessary calories to the meal, so skip on ingredients such as croutons, cheese, and nuts.

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Best: Garden salad

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Use ingredients with a high water content such as asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers. This way, you will get healthy nutrients from the vegetables while not overdoing it before the meal.

RELATED: 12 Foods That Control Your Appetite

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Worst salad dressing: Bottled dressing

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Store-bought salad dressings tend to be full of sugar, preservatives, and artificial ingredients, and a couple spoonfuls can quickly turn a healthy side into a diet disaster. And no, fat-free and low-calorie dressings aren't a good alternative. They're often flavored with artificial sweetener, and your body actually absorbs nutrients more effectively when they're eaten with a little bit of healthy fat, like olive oil.

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Best salad dressing: Homemade dressing

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Make your own dressing using heart-healthy olive oil as the base and natural ingredients as flavorings. In this video, Health food director Beth Lipton shows you how easy it is to make your own delicious salad dressing from scratch .

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Worst party carb: Cheese straws

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This party snack staple may seem innocent, but get this: just one straw packs a third of your daily saturated fat. Plus, cheese straws are usually made with white flour, which will spike your blood sugar and leave you grabbing more snacks after it plummets a short while later.

RELATED: Best Snacks For Weight Loss

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Best party carb: Popcorn

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Your best bet for a salty snack is plain popcorn. This healthy, antioxidant-rich snack is low in calories, high in belly-filling fiber, and packed with polyphenols. Plus, popcorn is a whole grain, and whole grains have been linked to a lower risk of diabetes and heart disease.

RELATED: Try This Guilt-Free Snack—Honey-and-Chili Glazed Almonds

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Worst popcorn snack: Popcorn ball

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Yes, popcorn can be healthy, but not when you coat it in sugar, corn syrup, and salt and then roll it into a ball. Adding those ingredients completely cancels out any of the health benefits of popcorn.

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Best: Spiced popcorn

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Impress your guests by boosting popcorn's flavor with no extra calories. The key: spices, such as cayenne pepper, cinnamon, paprika, and garlic. Here are a few easy recipes to get you started.

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Worst mashed potatoes: Mashed white potatoes

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Potatoes themselves are healthy; at around 100 calories per spud, they pack even more vitamin C than an orange as well as fiber and other nutrients. The mashed potatoes on a typical holiday table, however, are another story. Mixing in heavy cream, butter, and sour cream adds unwanted saturated fat and calories. Consider substituting Greek yogurt in place of cream and mayonnaise, or swap the potatoes for cauliflower.

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Best mashed potatoes: Mashed sweet potatoes

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Getting a creamy consistency in your mashed potatoes is much easier when you use sweet potatoes, meaning you won't have to add extra ingredients for that wholesome texture. Plus, the vibrant orange color means you are getting tons of nutrients, including vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and iron.

RELATED: 25 Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes

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Worst sweet potato dish: Candied with marshmallows

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Why add extra sugar to a food that is already perfectly sweet? The addition of a maple glaze and marshmallows just adds unnecessary sugar and calories to your meal.

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Best sweet potato dish: Baked sweet potato

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Naturally sweet and with a day's worth of vitamin A, sweet potatoes are delicious when baked. They start to caramelize in the oven, leaving a glaze similar to maple syrup—so you won't be missing anything! You could also try this recipe for oven-roasted sweet potato wedges .

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Worst bread: Croissant

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They may feel light and fluffy, but this buttery pastry actually packs calories and fat, with about 230 calories in one medium croissant.

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Best bread: Whole-grain roll

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Our expert nutritionists recommend doing away with rolls altogether—many people overlook them on a packed holiday table anyway, and you may as well save yourself the prep time. But if you have to, go for a whole-grain roll so that you'll get the added nutrients and fiber—just be sure to skip the butter.

RELATED: 18 Health Benefits of Whole Grains

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Worst spread: Butter

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While it's tempting to slather butter on a fresh-from-the-oven roll, one tablespoon packs 100 calories and 7 grams of saturated fat. And before you reach for a stick of margarine, read the label carefully. Many margarines still contain artery-clogging trans fats (especially the stick kinds) and nearly as much saturated fat as butter. Check the ingredients list: If "partially hydrogenated oils" appears on it, then the product still has trans-fat in it, even if the label claims it's trans-fat-free.

RELATED: Butter vs. Margarine: How to Choose

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Best spread: Sweet potato spread

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This tangy sweet potato spread with Greek yogurt and curry will make you wonder why you ever buttered your bread. With just five ingredients, it is so easy to make.

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Worst stuffing: Boxed stuffing

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Take a quick peek at the back of the stuffing box and you'll see a long ingredients list littered with hard-to-pronounce ingredients. Since they usually consist of boiled hunks of bread with melted butter stirred in at the end, these boxed mixes are also major carb and calorie bombs.

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Best stuffing: Homemade stuffing

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Make your own stuffing and use whole grain bread—or even polenta—as the base. Load your stuffing with veggies, which will take up valuable real estate leaving less room for the less-healthy ingredients.

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Worst carrot dish: Maple-glazed carrots

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Much like classic sweet potato dishes, taking a sweet vegetable and making it sweeter just adds unnecessary calories. You don't need to glaze the carrots to get a great tasting side dish.

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