Did you know your comfort foods do not need to be synonymous with unhealthy?

When it comes to comfort foods, we all know that our possible favorites are actually not that good for us in terms of how fatty they can be. And since some of these comfort foods are also the ones that we are going to be having seconds of, a lot of us are starting to think twice before eating them!

Despite this, you can get to eat your favorite comfort foods and have them be healthy if you know the good recipes and are committed to having the best of both worlds.

Sure, you will not get to enjoy the extra cheesy, extra bready ones in the same exact way, but you will be able to potentially enjoy all your favorite comfort foods way more often and without having to feel bad for doing so!

If you are ready to discover some of our favorite ways to turn your favorite comfort foods into healthier versions, make sure you keep reading!

What is your favorite comfort food? Is it on our list? If not, let us know about it in the comments, and we may make Part 2 with all your suggestions but healthier!

Shepherd’s pie with a twist

Shepherd’s pie is a delight! Between the creamy mashed potatoes, the occasional melted cheese on top, and the rich meat sauce, this dish is the epitome of comfort food.

However, we can all admit that it is a delicious yet quite caloric meal; it is full of fat, protein, and carbs, and while eating it from time to time is no problem, having it often can lead to health issues.

Those veggies in the meat sauce are not enough to offset the fatty meat and the amount of dairy in those mashed potatoes. And if you add a layer of cheese on top, you know just how unhealthy this delicious dish can get.

A good way to make this comfort food more healthy is to switch out some of the greasy and unhealthy elements with others. You can substitute the greasy meat with other veggies and lean meat if you want to have that meat component.

Making the meat sauce meat-free is, however, the best way to go about making this dish more healthy. You can replace it with the likes of chickpeas and lentils, which are full of flavor and delicious, or you can use mushrooms instead of meat and still have something with a similar texture.

You will still have the same tasty comfort food, but with a twist and more health, so you do not have to worry about how unhealthy it will be.

Hearty Beef Stew

However, if you are looking for comfort food that still has that meat element to it, there is nothing else as comforting as beef stew.

And while many will come by and say that it is not healthy, you can definitely make sure that his dish is nutritious and on the healthy side, while never leaving behind what makes it comforting.

This dish is generally very heavy on the potatoes and the beef, but you can choose a beef cut that is less fatty, skip some of the fat once you can, cut down on the number of potatoes, and add in some other vegetables to offset the starchy potatoes.

You will still have the meat and potatoes at the heart of this dish, but by adding the likes of anion, peas, and carrots (you can add any other vegetables you like to make it up to your liking), along with a mix of fresh herbs, you will have a healthy version of beef stew on hand.

This dish is also hearty and filling, so you will not need to eat a huge portion to feel satisfied, and you can easily use this as a healthy dinner option that will last you a few days!

To maximize the flavor, sear the meat before you add everything else, take it out of the pot, and sauté the onions and some garlic in the leftover sear on the pot before you add the other veggies and meat, leaving it to boil away on the stove

Believe us, this is the way to go with this dish!

Tomato soup

Nothing spells comfort food more when it comes to soups than chicken and tomato soup. This time we will turn our eyes to tomato soup, as it is the perfect addition to a rainy day with its creamy and sweet taste and amazing texture.

A lot of times, this comfort food is accompanied by a ton of cream, and the sweetness is given by a lot of added sugar.

Know that you can make this dish without having to make it so unhealthy with the added things that make it unhealthy, and you can easily skip on the cream and still have the soup be amazingly creamy.

You can start by roasting your ingredients in the oven before you blend them all together, and you can add more than your tomatoes and some peppers, which are the start of your soup.

You can add some cut-up onions, carrots, parsley root, and even some celery root to the mix. You can also add a couple of garlic cloves and then blend the whole thing together in a pot with a hand mixer and some vegetable or chicken stock, or even boiling water.

The result is a creamy, delicious, and full-of-nutrient soup that is comforting and flavorful without being unhealthy!

Quick Turkey Chili

Chilli is a great comfort meal, but it can also have a ton of red meat in it and a ton of fat that you may be trying to cut down on.

You can definitely go down the vegetarian route, like with the shepherd’s pie we discussed earlier, by replacing the meat with lentils or different kinds of beans, but you can also keep the meat but make use of ground turkey instead.

Using turkey instead of pork, beef, or a mix of them gives you the same filling type of chili while using a leaner protein that is easy to infuse with all the flavors. You will not be able to tell the difference.

A quick version of this turkey chili includes ground turkey, onions, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes, along with some kidney beans, black beans, corn, chicken stock, and your choice of seasonings, and you are set. You can easily make it in one pot, and you can use the spices you desire and the type of beans you want.

Chilli come together easily, and if you use these nutritious and healthy options, you will be able to enjoy this comfort food without worrying about any unhealthy factors!

Chicken stew

We have talked about beef stew, but if you want to make it even more healthy and nutritious, you can turn your attention to chicken stew! While comfort foods tend to focus on chicken soup, on cold nights, you need something more substantial and nourishing than everyone’s favorite noodle soup. That’s where chicken stew comes in.

You can make this mouth-watering stew with chicken thighs, which will bring in all the flavor factor, as the succulent and flavorful dark meat is a better option than breast, but a leaner and less fat cut than beef.

To this cut of meat, you can add the veggies of your choice for the stew and let them cook together with some herbs and even some mustard. In the end, you can thicken the sauce with some cornstarch slurry or flour, or you can leave it as is if you desire it.

A one-pot meal that will satisfy your craving and comfort you, you will see you come back to this healthy comfort food more often than you would expect!

If you are looking for more inspiration for some comfort food that is also healthy, we recommend you take a look at his cookbook on Amazon!

There are a lot of foods out there that can bring you comfort while also being healthy for you, and you can just swap out certain ingredients to make your favorites healthy at any point. Yet, did you know some amazing snacks are also going to be healthy? Read about our favorite snacks here!