Healthy Comfort Food Swaps

By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD 

There’s nothing like a plate of comfort food to help you get through the cold winter days and escape the stress of the pandemic. If you’re spending more time at home, you may even find yourself reaching for sweet treats and hearty meals more often than usual.  

Taking comfort in your favorite foods is normal, but it can be a hard habit to break if you want to lose weight or eat healthier. Many of the classic comfort foods, like pizza, pasta, cookies, and ice cream, are high in calories, unhealthy fats, sodium, or added sugar. 

But the good news is that you can tweak these dishes, or swap them with other foods, to improve their nutritional profile while maintaining the comfort factor. Here are our best healthy comfort food swaps. 

1. Load up on veggie toppings, and choose a thin, whole wheat crust for pizza. 

Pizza is actually one of the easiest foods to bulk up with healthy ingredients. Instead of salty, processed meats and extra cheese, choose non-starchy veggies like bell peppers, broccoli, onions, or mushrooms for your toppings. Ask the restaurant to go light on the cheese and order thin crust if possible. If you’re making a pizza at home, use a homemade, whole wheat crust or sub 100% whole wheat pita bread as the base. 

2. Make a noodle and cheese swap in your lasagna (and add more veggies)! 

Lasagna is one of the BEST comfort foods, but it’s usually loaded with cheese and meat. For a healthier lasagna, try swapping whole wheat noodles for regular, increase the non-starchy veggies you add to the dish, and skip the meat (or use chopped mushrooms in place of half of the amount). You can also use low-fat cottage cheese in place of ricotta to decrease the amount of fat in the recipe while boosting the protein content. 

3. Turn tacos into a salad, or use healthier fix-ins. 

If tacos are your favorite comfort food, you can boost their nutrition by using lean ground turkey in place of beef or even subbing black beans for half of the meat. Instead of sour cream, try plain Greek yogurt (mix it with salsa for more flavor!). Be sure to add shredded lettuce, mashed avocado, and chopped tomatoes for more veggies. And if you don’t mind losing the shells, you can make the tacos even healthier by serving the fillings over lettuce instead. 

4. Turn bananas into ice cream. 

Don’t knock it until you try it! With the help of a blender and a few seasonings, frozen bananas can be turned into a smooth “nice cream” that mimics the texture of the real thing. Satisfy your comfort food craving for ice cream with a bowl of one of these nice cream recipes. 

Note from Healthy For Life Meals: With our meal plans, you can enjoy healthy versions of comfort food every week, like our Italian Cheese and Veggie Pizza, Sausage Ragu, and Sloppy Joe on a Baked Potato. Check out our menus and get started today!