Recipes Holidays + Events Thanksgiving 20 Healthy Thanksgiving Sides By Food & Wine Editors Updated on November 22, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: David Malosh Thanksgiving dinner isn't typically about wellness, and that's okay. But with a few easy swaps and modifications, it can also still be a balanced meal. These easy Thanksgiving side dishes, from roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta to green Thanksgiving salads, are all healthy while still being delicious. Related: Amazon’s Secret Outlet Dropped 4,000+ Kitchen Sales Before Black Friday, but These Are the 15 Best 01 of 20 Beet-and-Apple Salad David Malosh For his salad, George Mendes uses fresh horseradish and Gegenbauer cider vinegar, a rare Austrian import. This version calls for jarred horseradish and supermarket apple-cider vinegar. Get the Recipe 02 of 20 Sweet Potato Spoon Bread Spoon bread, a cross between corn bread and soufflé, is a Southern classic. Robert Stehling likes to add cooked spinach or fresh corn and chopped and sautéed bacon or ham to his plain sweet potato version. Get the Recipe 03 of 20 Broccoli, Shiitake and Red Onion Roast © Sabra Krock It's not hard to eat your broccoli when it's roasted to be crisp-tender and studded with umami shiitake mushrooms. The finishing touch is a splash of balsamic vinegar. Get the Recipe 04 of 20 Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta © Petrina Tinslay Bacon and brussel sprouts are a classic combination. Take that dish up a notch by using the slightly more delicate notes in pancetta, an Italian salumi made of salt-cured pork. Get the Recipe 05 of 20 Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter © Lucy Schaeffer Rather than going the marshmallow-topped route, take sweet potatoes in a savory direction by boiling them and mashing with apple butter. Get the Recipe 06 of 20 Leek Salad with Persimmons and Almonds Here, Hugh Acheson creates a salad based on butter-braised leeks, a French favorite. Get the Recipe 07 of 20 Chunky Cranberry Sauce David Malosh Gary Vaynerchuk prefers "real cranberry sauce" with chunks of whole fruit over the smooth canned-and-jellied kind. Get the Recipe 08 of 20 Gingered Green Beans © Petrina Tinslay Scott Conant makes his crisp-tender beans with ground ginger, since freshly grated ginger invariably creates unappealing little chunks. Get the Recipe 09 of 20 Tricolor Roasted Carrots and Parsnips © TINA RUPP This gorgeous, lightly sweet salad is terrific with roasted chicken and great for a buffet. Get the Recipe 10 of 20 Potato-Leek Focaccia This perfect savory focaccia is delicious with or without a light brushing of white truffle oil. Get the Recipe 11 of 20 Kale & Apple Salad with Pancetta and Candied Pecans Kale is a marvelous green for salads because it's hearty enough to handle hefty ingredients like nuts and meat, plus it doesn't wilt as it sits on the table. When chef Ryan Hardy makes this kale salad for Thanksgiving dinner at Montagna at the Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado, he deep-fries the pecans, but it's quicker (and less messy) to toast them in the oven. Get the Recipe 12 of 20 Mashed Winter Squash with Indian Spices Fragrant Indian spices — coriander, turmeric, and black mustard seeds — are a wonderful accent for creamy mashed butternut squash. The squash can be roughly smashed until chunky or thoroughly mashed until smooth. Get the Recipe 13 of 20 Maple-Ginger-Roasted Vegetables with Pecans © Frances Janisch When roasting winter vegetables, Melissa Rubel Jacobson says be sure to chop them about the same size, so they cook at the same rate. And toss them at least once while they're in the oven, so they brown evenly. Get the Recipe 14 of 20 Ginger-Roasted Winter Squash For winter squash that is crispy on the outside and moist within, Melissa Perello halves each one, roasts it until soft, then cuts it into wedges and roasts it some more. Get the Recipe 15 of 20 Squash Gratin with Poblanos & Cream At Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne's Tavern in Los Angeles, chef Julie Robles makes this vegetarian gratin in individual dishes with a topping of candied pepitas (pumpkin seeds). This version is for one big gratin garnished with plain toasted pumpkin seeds. Get the Recipe 16 of 20 Roasted Cauliflower with Green Olives and Pine Nuts © Fredrika Stjärne Roasting cauliflower caramelizes the florets, making them supersweet. Tossed with crunchy pine nuts and salty olives and capers, this dish is perfect with roasted chicken or steamed fish. Get the Recipe 17 of 20 Cranberry, Ginger and Orange Chutney © Con Poulos This chunky cranberry chutney is super-fresh-tasting because the cranberries are simmered briefly and the orange sections are added near the end of cooking. Get the Recipe 18 of 20 Roasted Beets and Charred Green Beans Eva Kolenko Chef Kristen Kish's beets and haricot verts salad offers acid, char, and crunch. It's a well-balanced addition to any heavy Thanksgiving meal feast. Get the Recipe 19 of 20 Brussels Sprouts and Arugula Salad with Buttermilk Dressing Johhny Miller Make like F&W Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple and do something new with Brussels sprouts this year. Get the Recipe 20 of 20 Braised Greens with Crispy Garlic and Miso David Malosh Greens are good for you, sure, and the addition of umami-salty miso makes them a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving plate. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit