Comfort foods made healthier
Comfort foods are often associated with warmth, tradition and sensory satisfaction — but they don’t have to be heavy and full of extra calories to be delicious.
With a few simple ingredient swaps, you can lighten up favorite dishes while keeping the familiar flavors and textures that make them so, well, comforting.
Try adding more vegetables, choosing leaner sources of protein, incorporating whole grains and using heart-healthy fats in place of saturated fats.
Small changes — reducing sodium and using herbs, spices, citrus and other flavorful ingredients — can also boost the nutritional value of a meal without sacrificing taste.
“This month’s recipes are made for a leisurely evening at home,” says Jessica VanRoo, executive chef at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, part of UCI Health. “They have the deep flavors of something that simmered all afternoon yet come together in about an hour using one pan or baking sheet.”
Chicken pot pie with whole grain herb biscuits
The concept of savory meat-and-pastry pies can be traced to ancient Greece, Rome and medieval England. English settlers brought them to North America, where they became a comfort food classic.
This chicken pot pie pairs a familiar creamy, savory filling of tender chicken, peas, carrots and celery with a flaky, golden pastry but uses more nourishing ingredients.
Chicken thighs provide high-quality protein to support muscle maintenance and repair. They also stay juicy when cooked in the oven or on the stove.
“While they have slightly more fat than breast meat, most of it is the heart-healthy unsaturated kind,” says VanRoo.
The cannellini bean is the star ingredient in this recipe — thickening the sauce and giving it a creamy taste without adding milk or other dairy fat. They also provide healthy plant protein and a good amount of fiber.
“Some of this fiber is soluble, which works like a sponge in your digestive system and can help lower LDL cholesterol over time,” VanRoo adds.
Beans also are full of essential minerals, especially iron, which your body absorbs better when you eat vitamin C at the same meal. This recipe uses lemon juice, spinach and parsley at the end to help with absorption.
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Mushrooms add a rich, savory flavor, allowing you to use less salt. They also provide potassium and B vitamins that may help lower cholesterol and support heart health.
The leeks and garlic in this recipe are part of the onion family and they have a type of fiber that gut bacteria love. Feeding these good bacteria helps keep your gut lining healthy.
When it comes to the pastry, using whole grain flour includes all three parts of the wheat kernel: the outer bran, the nutrient-rich germ and the starchy center. In contrast, white flour has only the starchy center. Most of the fiber is in the bran while the germ contains B vitamins and minerals like magnesium.
This recipe calls for white whole wheat flour, which comes from a lighter wheat. “It tastes milder than regular whole wheat flour,” says VanRoo. “It also makes a softer biscuit that most people can’t tell apart from one made with white flour.”
Using Greek yogurt in the biscuits replaces most of the butter and all the buttermilk you’d find in a traditional recipe, she adds. It also adds protein and keeps the biscuits tender.
“The winning combination of fiber-rich whole grains, beans, vegetables and protein makes this a satisfying, well-rounded meal that is sure to please the whole family,” VanRoo says.
Sheet pan mini meatloaves with rosemary potatoes and Brussels sprouts
Meatloaf may be the quintessential American comfort food. It gained its iconic status during the Great Depression and World War II, when families relied on it to stretch small amounts of meat by using breadcrumbs or oats as fillers. This recipe provides a more balanced combination of lean protein, fiber and nutrient-rich vegetables.
Lean ground beef supplies high-quality protein and is a great source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12. One serving contains over half your daily zinc requirement and nearly all your daily vitamin B12, both of which are important for healthy nerves and blood cells.
Once again, mushrooms make a familiar dish healthier.
“Mushrooms cut the saturated fat and calories in each loaf and add some potassium,” says VanRoo. “Studies on mushroom and beef blends show that people like the flavor just as much as all-beef versions.”
In this recipe, rolled oats replace breadcrumbs as the binder. Oats absorb juices from the mushrooms, which help keep the meatloaves moist and add a soluble fiber called beta-glucan.
“In your digestive system, beta-glucan forms a soft gel that traps some cholesterol and helps remove it from your body,” she says. “Eating oat fiber regularly may help lower LDL cholesterol over time.”
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Topping the meatloaves with tomato paste and balsamic vinegar instead of ketchup and brown sugar makes the glaze almost sugar-free. Because tomato paste is made from concentrated tomatoes, it is full of lycopene, the red pigment linked to heart health.
“Your body absorbs lycopene more easily from cooked tomatoes eaten with a bit of fat, so a tomato glaze baked on meatloaf and served with olive-oil-roasted vegetables works well,” Vanroo says.
Pairing the meatloaves with sides of Brussels sprouts, red onion and rosemary potatoes increases the meal’s variety of nutrients, including vitamin C, potassium, folate and other antioxidants that support immune function and overall health.
Brussels sprouts are cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cabbage. Their natural sulfur compounds give them a slightly bitter taste and support enzymes that help the body process harmful chemicals, carcinogens and metabolic waste.
“Eating sprouts raw or lightly cooked keeps most of these compounds intact, while roasting brings out a nutty sweetness that often changes the minds of people who think they don’t like Brussels sprouts,” says VanRoo.
Potatoes often have a bad reputation, she adds, but a baby potato with the skin on is a good source of potassium, fiber and vitamin C.
“Potatoes that have been cooked and cooled also develop some resistant starch, which acts like fiber and feeds the good bacteria in your gut.”
Altogether, the lean protein, whole-grain oats, vegetables and olive oil in this recipe create a satisfying meal that fits well into a balanced diet. And, it also can be a family affair.
“This is a perfect meal for little ones to help,” says VanRoo. “Imagine their delight when they each get to eat a mini meatloaf that their hands helped shape.”