These recipes are so tasty, you could pick out your whole Thanksgiving menu from this mix alone. Whether you’re looking for hearty main dishes, cozy sides or fall-flavored desserts, these recipes are ideal additions to your holiday lineup. Each recipe focuses on fiber-rich complex carbs, like whole grains, and sticks to heart-healthy levels of saturated fat and sodium for a diabetes-friendly dish. And you’ll also find ingredients like winter squash, green beans, carrots and spices that deliver protective anti-inflammatory benefits. Recipes like our Roasted Garlic-Butter Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Squash & Lentil Kale Salad will fit right in with any Thanksgiving feast and contribute to a health-conscious and delicious holiday season.
Roasted Garlic-Butter Sweet Potatoes
Ali Redmond
Roasting a whole head of garlic brings out its sweetness and mellows its pungency, creating a smooth, caramelized paste that blends beautifully with melted butter. When tossed with perfectly roasted sweet potatoes, the result is a delicious side dish that’s easy to prepare and pairs with almost everything. You can even add a sprinkle of fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme to elevate the flavor profile.
2-Bite Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are a festive dessert for any gathering, especially Thanksgiving. Feel free to sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top to amp up the warm, cozy flavors. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own with a mix of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Use leftover pumpkin puree in muffins, soup and more.
Roasted Squash & Lentil Kale Salad
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Christina Brockman
This squash lentil salad packs 14 grams of fiber and features plenty of kale, a powerful prebiotic that helps set the stage for a healthy gut. This salad can be assembled in a Mason jar so you can prep it the night before for a healthy, grab-and-go lunch the next day.
Green Beans Amandine
Photographer: Jacob Fox, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
These green beans with almonds get an update thanks to a rich browned butter and white wine sauce. Haricots verts are French-style green beans that are slender and delicate. You can usually find bags of them in the produce section. The packaged beans are often trimmed, which saves time. You can sub traditional green beans; steam those about 2 minutes longer in Step 1.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Classic chocolate chip cookies get a fall update by mixing in pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Not only are they even more flavorful than regular chocolate chip cookies, but they’re also oh-so-soft and cake-like. Use chocolate chunks for big gooey bites of chocolate or opt for mini chocolate chips to ensure a bit of chocolate in each bite.
Roasted Vegetables with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette
Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
A zesty vinaigrette makes these roasted Brussels sprouts, fennel, carrots and beets pop. If you can’t find small carrots, halve larger ones crosswise then quarter lengthwise. Serve these roasted vegetables as a side dish to your favorite main.
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
The classic Thanksgiving side of creamy mashed potatoes brings comforting goodness to the table. Cooking a few garlic cloves alongside the potatoes makes this recipe extra flavorful, and just the right amount of browned butter and buttermilk keeps things creamy while still diabetes-friendly.
Persian-Style Butternut Squash Soup
A drizzle of maple syrup and warm spices like cinnamon, cumin and coriander take this hearty soup to the next level. With the natural sweetness and fiber-rich qualities of butternut squash and sweet potato, you can savor each spoonful while keeping your blood sugar stable.
Herb-Roasted Turkey
In just 30 minutes of no-fuss prep time, this roasted turkey will be a savored centerpiece to your Thanksgiving meal. By skipping a brine and instead using a fragrant blend of herbs, you can reduce the amount of salt used without sacrificing flavor.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Goat Cheese & Pomegranate
This gorgeous warm salad with nutty roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet-tart pomegranate seeds and creamy goat cheese is perfect for any winter meal—from a weeknight dinner to Thanksgiving dinner or any other holiday celebration.
Honey-Glazed Roasted Delicata Squash
Gorgeous to look at and full of flavor, thanks to the combination of a light honey glaze and the caramelization that happens when roasted, this delicata squash is packed with anti-inflammatory properties. And with 12 servings per recipe, it’s great for serving a crowd.
Wilted Kale with Warm Shallot Dressing
If sautéed spinach is one of your favorite veggie sides, you’ll love this riff with kale topped with a warm shallot dressing. This tangy and delicious recipe goes well with any main, plus it’s packed with anti-inflammatory nutrients, like vitamin K and folate from the kale.
Roasted Honeynut Squash
Honeynut squash looks just like mini butternut squash, but on the inside, you’ll find even sweeter, deeper orange flesh. And with 4 grams of fiber per serving, this smaller squash makes for a perfectly portioned, satisfying side.
Cranberry Crumble Bars
If you’re looking for a delicious sweet treat to keep your blood sugar in check, look no further. These cranberry-orange bars are packed with delicious autumn flavors and made with just a little added sugar to balance the tartness of the cranberries. And since they freeze well, making a batch ahead means you can always have them on hand when company calls.
Spiced Pumpkin Cookies
Nothing feels more fall-forward than these pumpkin-flavored cookies with cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. The combination of those warm spices, plus the natural sweetness from the canned pumpkin and raisins, means just a little brown sugar and molasses is needed to reach the right level of sweetness without too much added sugar.
Melting Potatoes with Garlic, Prosciutto & Sage
Photographer: Carson Downing, Food stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
As the name implies, these buttery potatoes will literally melt in your mouth. Leaving the skin on your potatoes gives them a great crispy texture, plus a boost of fiber! The combination of sage, marjoram and prosciutto is so delicious that we’re sure this dish will become your new go-to Thanksgiving side.
Spatchcock Turkey with Sage & Thyme
Looking for a way to evenly cook a whole turkey with a crispy skin while keeping it juicy? Spatchcocking it, also known as butterflying it, helps you achieve just that. Packed with flavorful herbs and satisfying protein, this turkey is equally mouthwatering and nutritious.
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions
Photographer: Fred Hardy II, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This delicious side dish combines the earthy goodness of Brussels sprouts with savory bacon and onions. Adding a little bacon to your veggies in place of some of the salt makes them irresistibly delicious. And yes! You can definitely enjoy bacon if you have diabetes; just be mindful of the portions and remember that a little bit goes a long way, flavor-wise
Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
Marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole is a classic, though typically added-sugar-heavy, Thanksgiving side dish. In this diabetes-friendly version, we really let the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes shine through, and add flavor with cinnamon, vanilla extract and pecans, so only a little brown sugar and marshmallow topping is needed. Though sweet potatoes are higher in carbs than other vegetables, their fiber content helps keep your blood sugar stable.
Slow-Cooker Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions
Oven space is limited on Thanksgiving Day, which is why this recipe for slow-cooker green bean casserole is a must-make. This comforting dish has all the flavors you love in a traditional green bean casserole, and since the creamy sauce is homemade rather than from a can of cream of mushroom soup, it’s more diabetes-friendly, as creamy canned soup, while delicious, tends to be high in sodium and saturated fat.
Cinnamon Streusel Fresh Apple Bars
What better way to enjoy your morning coffee on Thanksgiving Day than with these cinnamon-flavored apple bars? They offer a balanced blend of fiber-rich apples and nutty whole-wheat flour that pairs perfectly with the comforting flavor of cinnamon.
Oven-Roasted Squash with Garlic & Parsley
This recipe is surprisingly delicious for how simple it is, proving that you don’t need lots of fancy ingredients to make a delicious dish. Roasting winter squash brings out its natural sweetness without adding sugar or syrup.
Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing
This vibrant and crunchy green salad is a fresh addition to hearty mains. Plus, it features high-fiber spinach, heart-healthy pecans and a light maple dressing for an absolute delight!