These healthy Thanksgiving sides are easy to make with real ingredients. You'll find roasted vegetables, mashed sweet potatoes, and other simple dishes that taste great without being heavy or overly sweet. Each recipe brings fresh flavor to your table and keeps the focus on wholesome, nourishing food.
Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes
These recipes are simple and reliable, perfect alongside turkey, ham, or seafood. From roasted vegetables to creamy potatoes and crisp salads with cheese, they bring classic holiday flavor to your table. Many dishes use real cream or butter for rich, traditional taste.
Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Pumpkin Pie Spice
These pumpkin pie spice whipped sweet potatoes are smooth, creamy, and full of warm fall flavor. Made with real sweet potatoes and fragrant spices, this easy side dish skips the marshmallow topping and lets you enjoy the natural sweetness of the potatoes.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Cheese
Brussels sprouts roast in the oven with bacon, Parmesan cheese, and a touch of balsamic for a savory-sweet mix that works for any Thanksgiving spread.
Roasted Purple Sweet Potatoes
Roasted purple sweet potatoes add beautiful unexpected color and a naturally sweet flavor to your holiday table. Tossed with butter and salt, they caramelize in the oven and pair well with turkey, ham, or a big salad.
Steamed Purple Sweet Potatoes
Steamed purple sweet potatoes are fat-free, mild, and naturally sweet. Steaming keeps their texture soft and moist, making them a clean, healthy side dish that's easy to prepare and full of color.
Steamed Red Potatoes
Steamed red potatoes are tender, buttery, and simple to make. They hold their shape well and taste great with a sprinkle of salt and fresh parsley.
Roasted Spaghetti Squash
Roasted spaghetti squash is a light, low-carb side that goes with almost anything. The spaghetti-like strands soften up in the oven and have a mild, slightly sweet flavor. Serve it with butter and salt or mix with sage and thyme for holiday flavor.
Buckwheat Stuffing
This buckwheat stuffing swaps out bread and delivers a nutty, wholesome side that's vegan, gluten-free and full of flavor. Roasted buckwheat (aka kasha), gluten-free farfalle pasta, onions, celery and poultry seasoning come together for a healthy dish everyone at the table can enjoy.
Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
These healthy mashed sweet potatoes use real ingredients like sweet potatoes, grass-fed butter, maple syrup, plus warm spices including cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. They come together in about 20 minutes.
Steamed broccoli and carrots
Steamed broccoli and carrots make a quick, healthy side dish that's ready in minutes. Steaming keeps the vegetables bright and light.
Shrimp and Broccoli
This steamed shrimp and broccoli recipe makes an easy, healthy dinner that's ready in just 10 minutes. Light, protein-packed shrimp and tender broccoli cook quickly for an easy side that will surely be a hit with your guests.
Seasoned Red Potatoes
Seasoned red potatoes get a simple yet flavorful boost with herbs, olive oil, and just the right amount of French fry seasoning. They're tender on the inside, lightly crisped on the outside, and make a great side.
Roasted Garlic
Instead of a bowl of butter for your rolls and biscuits, try a dish of roasted garlic. When roasted in this vintage-style terracotta baker, the cloves turn soft, mellow, and naturally sweet. You can roast it a day or two before the big day, then serve it warm or at room temperature. Spread it on bread, mix it into mashed potatoes, or stir it into gravy for a rich, earthy flavor that feels old-fashioned and special.
Roasted Vegetable Medley
This roasted vegetable medley brings together cauliflower florets, asparagus spears, and carrot slices. They're tossed with olive oil, fresh thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and roasted until tender and golden.
Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes
Sweet potatoes are cut into cubes, tossed with just oil, salt and pepper, then baked until golden and caramelized. They're simple, full of color, and a perfect healthy side for the holiday table.
Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
This roasted cauliflower with garlic is crisp on the edges, tender inside, and full of rich flavor from caramelized garlic and olive oil. It's simple, clean, and a healthy side that works for Thanksgiving or any dinner.
Roasted Tiny Red Potatoes
Roasted tiny red potatoes are soft on the inside and perfectly browned on the outside. A little butter, salt, and cracked pepper bring out their natural sweetness. This is a simple, classic Thanksgiving side dish.
Roasted Sweet Potato Arugula Salad with Feta
Skip the sweet potato casserole this year and go lighter with this fresh salad. Peppery arugula, roasted sweet potatoes, and crumbled feta come together with sliced almonds for a little crunch. It's bright, simple, and perfect for your holiday table.
Roasted Acorn Squash
This roasted acorn squash recipe uses butter, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. The squash is tender and delicious and perfect for your holiday table.
Boiled Cauliflower
Boiled cauliflower is tender, mild, and ready in minutes. Cooking it in salted water keeps the flavor simple and clean. Serve it with butter, salt, and a parsley garnish for the easiest healthy side dish. Your clean eating guests will definitely appreciate this!
Garlicky Parmesan Green Beans
These garlic parmesan green beans are so good and quick to make. Steam the beans until just tender, sauté garlic in butter, then toss everything with grated Parmesan and a bit of lemon zest. It's a fresh take on the classic green bean casserole.
Kale Chips
These kale chips with Parmesan turn fresh kale into a crunchy, savory side. Just toss the leaves with olive oil, salt and Parmesan, bake until crisp, and you've got a light, full-of-fiber addition for your table. You can make these up to 2 days in advance.
Steamed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potato chunks steam in minutes. They're tender and taste great! Serve them with turkey, stuffing, and your favorite trimmings for an easy Thanksgiving dish everyone will enjoy.
Roasted Fairytale Eggplant
Roasted fairytale eggplants turn soft and rich with a golden finish. A quick toss in butter, salt, and herbs brings out their natural sweetness. They make a beautiful side dish and taste great warm or at room temperature.
Key West Dishes For Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving in the Keys feels a little different. The weather is warm, the palm trees sway, and the day moves slower. We're grateful for local seafood, fresh fruit, and the chance to share a meal surrounded by sunshine instead of snow.
If you are planning your Thanksgiving menu, consider adding seafood or tropical flavors. These dishes will bring a taste of the Keys to your holiday table.
Here are some of my favorite dishes using Key West seafood.
Stone Crabs with Mustard Sauce
Fresh Florida stone crab claws are a holiday favorite in the Keys. Served chilled with homemade mustard sauce, they're sweet, meaty, and full of flavor. Crack them open and dip into the sauce for a true taste of the season.
Spanish Rice With Peas
This Spanish rice with peas is my Cuban mom's recipe. It's made with rice, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, and sweet green peas. It's simple, comforting, and full of flavor.
Cajun Dirty Rice
Straight from Louisiana, dirty rice is a Cajun classic built on simple ingredients and big flavor. Traditionally made to stretch what you've got, this dish combines ground meat, rice, and vegetables with rich seasoning for a delicious rich side that brings a little Southern comfort to your table.
Peel and Eat Shrimp
Everyone loves shrimp, but I can't stress enough how much we LOVE Key West Pinks! They're sweet, firm, and never mushy, and did I mention that sweet flavor?
Whether you season them with Tony Lazarus's Southernmost Seasoning (a local favorite you can find at Publix or Amazon) or classic Old Bay, these shrimp are a home run every time.
Seared Tuna
This seared yellowfin tuna is a little island-luxury for your Thanksgiving table. If you find fresh blackfin tuna at the fish market, grab it! Crusted in black and white sesame seeds, its rare in the center and has a crisp, nutty exterior. Served with a creamy sesame-ginger dipping sauce, it brings fresh seafood elegance to the feast.
Crispy Grouper Cheeks
If I had a choice between grouper cheeks and turkey, the cheeks would win every time! Good thing we can have both! While you wouldn't necessarily pair the two, and grouper cheeks aren't easy to find in bulk, they're a real treat when you can get them. Tender, sweet, and buttery, they're one of the best bites of fish you'll ever have.
Boiled Spiny Lobsters
If you're lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving morning out on the water, bring home a few spiny lobsters and call it a day. Boil them in salted water until the shells turn bright red and the meat is tender and sweet. Serve with melted butter, homemade cocktail sauce, and lemon wedges for a true Florida Keys Thanksgiving feast.
For more Florida Keys seafood recipes, visit Fish Recipes For Thanksgiving.
Sending warm wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving! xo
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