Easy holiday recipes

The holidays can be full of entertaining and good cheer: but also kind of stressful! As you know, at A Couple Cooks we’re committed to keeping cooking pretty simple (like our cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking). So we have many easy holiday recipes to help make the holidays doable. All our recipes are created with a healthy flair, so most in this list are healthy holiday recipes too. 

Christmas cookie recipes

Many Christmas cookie recipes are straight up flour and sugar bombs! Instead, we try to make lighter Christmas cookie recipes with an eye toward nutrients. Here are a few of our healthy Christmas cookie recipes (or, healthier!): 

• Chai spice snowball cookies: made with almond flour and naturally gluten free
• Healthy buckeyes: featuring Medjool dates as a natural sweetener
• Soft gingerbread cutout cookies: made with apple sauce and almond butter
  (try our Elf-themed version!)
• Peppermint meringues: super light low calorie cookies
• Dark chocolate bark: made with quinoa and dried cherries

Healthy holiday recipes

Christmas cookie recipes aren’t exactly considered healthy even if they’re healthier, so most of our healthy holiday recipes are main dishes and side dishes! Holiday entertaining includes everything from an intimate Christmas Eve dinner to a healthier appetizer party. Here are some of our favorite healthy holiday recipes: 

• Our family eats this Tomato Artichoke Lentil Stew every Christmas Eve: it’s become a tradition!
• Need a holiday side salad? This Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Pomegranate is festive and full of nutrients
• This Baked Goat Cheese with Tomatoes is always a crowd pleasing appetizer, perfect for holiday parties
• Wouldn’t these Norwegian Vegetarian Meatballs be perfect for Christmas Eve with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce?

Vegan holiday recipes

Many times holiday recipes are full of meat, cheese, and dairy: so what about trying some healthy vegan holiday recipes? Turns out, vegan holiday recipes can be just as delicious–or even more so! Here are some of our favorite vegan holiday recipes: 

• This Vegan Pot Pie with Savory Sage Crust would be a stunning Christmas main dish
• We make our All-Natural Hot Cocoa Recipe using almond or soy milk
• Another stunning holiday salad: Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate & Apple