How to plan healthy holiday meals

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The holidays are here and so are the plans for menus to serve to guests.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are both hefty meal holidays, and families are preparing to budget for groceries. 

Wells Fargo found that Thanksgiving meals are forecasted to be 0.4% lower in 2026, giving families an extra coin to make meals count for their families. While some families are planning to follow traditional recipes, others are keeping healthy meals in mind.

“I think the holiday season can bring a lot of tendencies to choose foods that are higher in fat and higher in sugar,” said Dayna Carpenter, a registered dietitian with the Dietitian’s Office.

She said while some may be on their fitness journey, these kinds of holidays could bring guilt to the table.

“I always like to remind my patients that this is a season. This is one meal if we’re talking about a Thanksgiving meal or Christmas meal,” Carpenter said.

However, there’s still a way to remain healthy. Your plate arrangement can still meet your goals. 

“It should have a fiber, so coming from a fruit or vegetable. It should have carbohydrates, and it should have a protein source, which is very important,” she said. 

The United Health Foundation has ranked Kentucky at 40 for obesity rates. That’s 10 spots away from having the worst obesity rate in the US.

Carpenter said that even with traditional recipes, you can incorporate or practice making it healthy before the big holiday approaches.

“Challenging those recipes, do we have to add three cups of sugar to the apple pie? Can we add a cup and a half,” she said.

The American Institute for Cancer Research has several new recipes your family could try over the holidays.