It's January and if you're anything like me, you're thinking it's time to get back on track! But at the same time, it's January. And in many parts of the world (mine included) that means it's also cold... real cold! Naturally, all I really want when it's cold outside is to be eating comfort food inside. So if you're feeling the same, that's where these lighter and healthier versions of comfort food come in! You can eat healthy and light and have your comfort food too!
This collection of healthy comfort foods has Main Dishes, Snacks, Sides and Desserts (without artificial sweeteners) to satisfy any comfort craving, including all your favorites! You'll find recipes for lighter and Weight Watchers friendly versions of Shepherd's Pie, Pizza, Butter Chicken, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Eggs Benedict, Chocolate Belgian Waffles, Chocolate Mug Cake, Cheesecake and more, all in one place - right here! So snuggle down and dig in - guilt-free!
Main Dishes
Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Shepherd's Pie is the ultimate comfort food! This healthy and Weight Watchers Friendly Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie is made with ground turkey, parsnips, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes. You can use leftover mashed potatoes or instant mashed potatoes!
Check out this recipe
Weight Watchers Pizza (with 2 ingredient WW Pizza Dough)
You don't have to give up pizza to lose weight or stay on track! This Weight Watchers Pizza Recipe, with just 2 ingredients in this pizza dough, has no rising time and is low in WW points! It's so crispy and delicious that you would never even know it's a Weight Watchers pizza!
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📋 Healthy Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole Recipe
This healthier version of Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole has all the creaminess of a million dollar casserole, minus the calories! It's easy to make, a great way to enjoy spaghetti in a different form and you can also use up leftover spaghetti noodles!
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Healthy & Light Butter Chicken
The original Butter Chicken is high calorie and loaded with fat. I've swapped out lighter alternative to create a delicious, low-fat and Healthy Butter Chicken. It's also gluten-free, easy to make and is Weight Watchers Friendly
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Big Mac Salad
If you crave Big Macs, this Big Mac Salad recipe is a the perfect way to get your Big Mac fix in a healthy way, completely satisfying that craving. It's an economical and filling meal the whole family will enjoy and it's Weight Watchers friendly!
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Turkey Sloppy Joes
These 5 ingredient Turkey Sloppy Joes are quick, easy, and Weight Watchers Friendly! It's also a kid-friendly and a quick, easy weeknight meal that's perfect for those busy activity filled evenings!
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Slow Cooker Beef on a Bun
This Slow Cooker Beef on a Bun is healthy, light and easy to make with bbq sauce, using an economical cut of meat (round roast, chuck roast, or sirloin roast). Pile it high with broccoli slaw and i's perfect for any weekend dinner, potluck or feeding a crowd!
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📋 Open Faced Tuna Melt Recipe (no mayo)
These quick and easy Open Faced Tuna Melts are made with cream cheese, no mayo, a little kick from the jalapenos and are the perfect last minute dinner or lunch. You can make them ahead and reheat, so they're also perfect for the lunch bag! They are also Weight Watchers friendly.
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Egg Roll in a Bowl
Satisfy your egg roll craving with this healthy, easy and satisfying Egg Roll in a Bowl! It's a filling Weight Watchers friendly one-pot meal made with ground turkey or ground chicken, veggies, broccoli slaw and green onions.
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📋 Chicken Souvlaki Wrap Recipe
This Greek Chicken Souvlaki Wrap is very easy to make with only a few pantry ingredients, requires no marinating time and tastes like you ordered from a restaurant! You can cook it on the stove top or on the grill, eat it as a souvlaki wrap with pita bread, on a bed of rice or on it's own, dipped in tzatziki sauce. It's also Weight Watchers friendly!
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Old Fashioned Dairy-free and Gluten-free Meatloaf
This classic meatloaf recipe is lighter than the typical. It's made with extra lean ground beef and without eggs, milk or bread crumbs. It is dairy-free, gluten-free, easy and can be made ahead and frozen for a quick weeknight meal. It's also Weight Watchers friendly!
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📋 Old Fashioned Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe (with whiskey)
Make this amazing Old Fashioned Slow Cooker Beef Stew with all the tips I gathered from the pros at the Bar U Ranch Chuckwagon Stew Cook-off! This hearty beef stew is made with whiskey, potatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. It's also gluten-free, dairy-free and Weight Watchers friendly!
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🌭Banh Mi Turkey Hot Dog Recipe
This Banh Mi Turkey Hot Dog is a gourmet hot dog that's loaded with fresh vegetables and herbs. It's also the perfect way to get your Banh Mi sandwich (Vietnamese sub) fix in a quick, economical, healthy and Weight Watchers friendly way!
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Healthy Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
This is a lightened up version of Healthy Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta with fresh lemon, broccoli and peas, proving that you don't have to give up pasta to meet your healthy goals. And it's still super creamy and Weight Watchers friendly!
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📋 Pork and Beef Stovetop Chili Recipe
This quick and easy homemade stove top chili uses both ground pork and ground beef for an incredible depth of flavor. But fresh dill is the magic ingredient! Seasoning mix and canned tomatoes make for a fast dinner and the perfect chili for feeding a crowd in a hurry. It's also Weight Watchers friendly. Double, triple or quadruple this recipe if you are feeding a larger group!
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📋 Leftover Turkey Enchilada Recipe
These healthy Leftover Turkey Enchiladas are bursting with fresh veggies and Mexican flavors, quick and easy to make (no special enchilada sauce needed) and Weight Watchers friendly!
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📋 Easy Italian Wedding soup recipe (with frozen meatballs)
This Easy Italian Wedding Soup recipe, made with frozen meatballs, is quick, easy healthy and Weight Watchers friendly!
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🥗 Mason Jar Chicken Taco Salad Recipe
This healthy and easy NO COOK Chicken Taco salad in a jar is quick to put together and uses canned chicken breast so it requires no cooking. It's Weight Watchers friendly and the perfect, on-the-go ready to eat lunchbox meal for adults and kids!
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📋 Healthy Fish Tacos (with Broccoli Slaw) Recipe
This healthy fish taco recipe uses milk to eliminate that fishy taste from sole and other saltwater fish. Paired with a creamy broccoli slaw, fresh lime, cilantro and salsa, this taco is the perfect healthy and WW friendly meal! Fresh and delicious, it also saves you money by using inexpensive frozen fish.
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🍝 Secret Ingredient Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
This quick and easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce, made with lean ground beef and canned tomatoes has a rich and meaty sauce with a secret ingredient that is delicious, healthy and economical! It's also Weight Watchers friendly.
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📋 Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
This Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup is a healthy, light and easy to make with simple ingredients and no pre-cooking! Just dump everything in the crockpot and walk away!
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🥪Slow Cooker Chicken Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches
Slow Cooker Chicken Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches are easy to make in the slow cooker, healthy, loaded with fresh veggies, full of flavor and Weight Watchers friendly. This banh mi chicken recipe is a great way to get your banh mi sandwich fix!
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📋 Healthy Creamy Corn Chowder Recipe
This Healthy Creamy Corn Chowder soup has a creamy texture, is made without dairy, it's gluten-free, light and healthy, yet hearty enough for a meal. It's also Weight Watchers friendly!
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📋 Mediterranean Pasta Toss Recipe
Make this quick and easy healthy Mediterranean pasta dish with Mediterranean flavors like spinach and feta cheese in under 30 minutes! It's the perfect weeknight meal! This Greek Pasta recipe was also featured in Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious Magazine.
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Loaded Perogy Soup
This Loaded Pierogi Soup is a delicious and healthy and Weight Watchers friendly Ukrainian soup with all the flavors of loaded pierogies! Bacon, potatoes, cheddar cheese, cabbage, fried onions and sour cream are combined to create a creamy blended soup that's hearty enough for a meal!
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📋 Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew Recipe
This easy Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew is a hearty stew that uses pantry ingredients you already have on hand and condensed cream of chicken soup to make it creamy. It's not only delicious, it's quick to put together and the crock-pot does the cooking for you! It's also Weight Watchers Friendly.
Check out this recipe
Breakfast
Healthy Eggs Benedict
These Healthy Eggs Benedict with a low-fat Hollandaise sauce, are not only delicious, they are quick and easy to make in a muffin tin, light, low carb and Weight Watchers friendly.
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Chocolate Belgian Waffles
If you love chocolate, you can still enjoy it and stay on track with these scrumptious Belgian Chocolate Waffles! They are a delicious and simple brunch or breakfast idea! They can be made ahead, frozen and popped into the toaster for a quick breakfast! These chocolate waffles are also Weight Watchers friendly!
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📋 Healthy Bananas Foster Overnight Oats Recipe
Get your Bananas Foster fix the healthy way with these easy to make Weight Watchers friendly Healthy Bananas Foster Overnight Oats!
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IHOP Harvest Grain & Nut Pancakes
This light and fluffy copycat version of IHOP's famous Harvest Grain and Nut pancakes is also Weight Watchers friendly!
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📋 Mediterranean Breakfast Burrito Recipe
These easy and healthy vegetarian breakfast burritos are full of protein, Mediterranean flavors, make- ahead, freezable and a great brunch or breakfast potluck idea! They are also Weight Watchers friendly.
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📋 Pumpkin Pie Sheet Pan Pancakes Recipe
These Pumpkin Pie Sheet Pan Pancakes are like a healthy pumpkin pie in pancake form! They are quick and easy to make and perfect for a fall breakfast or brunch! They are a healthy pumpkin pancake that's also Weight Watchers friendly.
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Appetizers & Snacks
📋 Healthy Spinach Artichoke Dip (with Greek yogurt) Recipe
This Healthy Spinach and Artichoke Dip is a lightened up copycat version of Joey's restaurant made on the stovetop. Using frozen spinach, low-fat parmesan and Monterey jack cheese, non-fat Greek yogurt and sour cream (no cream cheese and no mayo), it's a delicious Weight Watchers friendly dip at a fraction of the calories.
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📋 Buffalo Chicken Zucchini Pizza Recipe
This healthy zucchini pizza recipe, with spicy buffalo chicken added to the mix, is the perfect healthier game day snack that's low carb and Weight Watchers friendly.
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📋 Weight Watchers Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
This Healthy Weight Watchers Buffalo Chicken dip is easy because it's made with canned chicken breast. It's also quick and simple to make on your stovetop!
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Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
These Healthy Carrot Muffins taste like carrot cake, but are Weight Watchers friendly. They are made with healthy ingredients like grated carrots, Greek yogurt and walnuts, make-ahead and great for an on-the-go breakfast, snack or throwing in the lunch bag.
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Healthy Pizza Pops
A healthy homemade pizza pop (pizza pocket) stuffed with Mediterranean flavors like black olive, feta cheese and spinach. It's WW friendly and a healthy snack or lunch (hot or cold) for the lunch box!
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📋 Healthy Red Velvet Cookie Recipe
This natural and Healthy Red Velvet cookie incorporates natural ingredients like beets (no red dye), real butter and whole wheat flour. It makes a great lunch box snack or dessert!
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Healthy Blueberry Cornbread
This Healthy Blueberry Cornbread just became weight watchers friendly cornbread, in this lightened up version of this delicious classic. Made with applesauce, it's better than the original (and that's according to my kids!) Great for a lunch box or for a morning snack/breakfast or dessert!
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Chocolate Cereal Clusters
These NO BAKE Healthy Chocolate Cereal Clusters are a quick, easy and portable Weight Watchers snack or dessert, made with just 5 wholesome ingredients.
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Sides & Sauces
📋 Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe
This Everything Bagel Cloud Bread is like an everything bagel but without the calories or WW points. It's a light and fluffy, quick and easy to make Weight Watchers bread. It also makes a great side to soup, salad or eaten straight up on its own!
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Lazy Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls
These Lazy Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls taste exactly like regular meat and rice cabbage rolls, but in cabbage roll casserole form and without all the work. They are also light, healthy and Weight Watchers friendly!
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🌽 Healthy Mexican Street Corn Recipe
This recipe is a healthier and lighter version of the classic Grilled Mexican Street corn loaded with a light creamy chili lime sauce, low-fat feta cheese, cilantro and crushed red pepper (ingredients that are easy to find.) It's a delicious summer recipe that not only takes corn on the cob to an entirely new level, it's Weight Watchers friendly, gluten-free, fast and easy to make!
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📋 Easy Healthy Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
This light and easy Healthy Tzatziki Sauce is quick to make with both pantry and fresh ingredients. It's also low-fat and Weight Watchers friendly. It goes perfectly with Greek style potatoes, souvlaki, vegetable, crackers or on it's own with pita bread!
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📋 Healthy Hollandaise Sauce (low-fat) Recipe
This Healthy Hollandaise sauce is an easy, quick (5 minute) blender Hollandaise that's also Weight Watchers friendly! It's a lighter and low-fat Hollandaise sauce that's perfect on eggs benedict, vegetables and meat.
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Desserts
Healthy and Light Carrot Cake
This Healthy & Light Carrot Cake is low-fat and full of wholesome ingredients like shredded carrots, prunes, pineapple. walnuts and applesauce. It's Weight Watchers friendly and the low-fat cream cheese makes for a lighter icing. But it's so delicious you'll never know healthy or light!
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📋Weight Watchers Apple Crisp Recipe
This Weight Watchers Apple Crisp is a great way to use up lots of apples! It's light and healthy, made without artificial sweeteners!
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Pina Colada Angel Food Cake
This Weight Watchers friendly Pina Cola Cake Angel Food Cake is made with a cake mix and only 4 ingredients and is ideal for any occasion. It makes a great celebration cake, a Sunday night dinner cake and it's perfect for bringing along to a potluck or for a summer backyard BBQ!
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Healthy Brownies
These Healthy Applesauce and Spinach brownies not only have bonus hidden veggies, they are low-fat and Weight Watchers friendly! The best part is that no one would ever suspect how good they are for you!
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📋 Crustless Pumpkin Pie Recipe
This Crustless Pumpkin Pie is Weight Watchers friendly, quick and easy to make and totally satisfying- you won't even miss the crust. Not only is it low WW points, it's low carb and gluten-free and has no artificial sweeteners/sugar substitutes!
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White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Dessert
This Weight Watchers friendly White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Dessert uses fat-free sour cream, frozen raspberries and white chocolate pudding but tastes exactly like white chocolate raspberry cheesecake!
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Microwave Chocolate Banana Mug Cake
his Microwave Chocolate Banana Mug Cake is a low calorie chocolate mug cake that is flourless, gluten-free, healthy and Weight Watchers Friendly! It takes under 2 minutes to make and will totally satisfy any chocolate craving!
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Coconut Lime Nice Cream
This Banana Nice Cream (with coconut and lime) is an easy, vegan and healthy no churn ice cream substitute made with bananas and coconut milk. Topped with toasted coconut and lime zest for the perfect balance of sweetness. It's a great way to use up your overripe bananas and it's Weight Watchers friendly.
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Raspberry Bliss Frozen Yogurt Bark
This healthy and Weight Watchers friendly Raspberry Bliss Frozen Yogurt Bark is a great way to get your frozen dessert fix in a healthy way. It's made with 0 % Greek yogurt, frozen raspberries and pantry items like mini chocolate chips, toffee bits, unsweetened coconut and low sugar raspberry jam so it's quick and easy to make!
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Skinny Pumpkin Cheesecake
A light and delicious Weight Watchers friendly, low-fat pumpkin cheesecake is made with pumpkin puree and a chocolatey oreo cookie crust. It's rich and creamy like a cheesecake should be, so you'd never suspect it's low-fat or WW friendly.
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🥧Old-Fashioned Healthy Banana Cream Pie Recipe
This Healthy Banana Cream Pie with a graham cracker crust is a no bake, lighter and healthier version of an old-fashioned banana cream pie with a homemade pudding. It's also Weight Watchers friendly!
Check out this recipe
🦺Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
So if you're looking for healthy comfort food recipes, you'll love these ones!
Joss
It looks like healthy comforts foods are the way to go this year! I also crave comfort food in the winter, but want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, so this list is very helpful.
Bernice
This a great recipe collection Terri. I'm not ready to give up my comfort food in January and I've always thought it's a stupid time to try out new health kicks. I'd rather make an effort year round, or at least when I'm not trapped inside. Anyway I see some of my favourites in your round up so I'll be trying them out soon. Can't hurt, right?
nancy
i love all your round up and guides!
Julia
What a fantastic round up of delicious comfort dinners. Saving this to help get us through dinner ideas on those chilly days.
Sean
LOADS of great comfort food ideas here - but I have to say (and this is probably that January weather talking), the soups and the chili are really calling my name. I mean, perogy soup?! Where have you been all my life?