Food & Entertaining

Healthy Roast Dinners DO Exist

I haven’t lied to make you click on this post; I promise. The title is true. Healthy roast dinners DO exist. Traditional roast dinners can contain a lot of fattening foods and combinations that aren’t that great for us. However, there IS a roast dinner out there for the health conscious. Here are some tips I like to use when I fancy a roast dinner made in the healthiest way possible:

Healthy Roast Dinners DO Exist

Buy Lean, High Quality Meat

The meat used on roast dinners can sometimes be very fatty, which isn’t great for our health. Providing you go out of your way to buy a lean, high quality cut of meat, you should be fine. You could have chicken, turkey, or even roast beef! The way you cook your meat can have an affect on the healthiness too. Grilling meat takes away a lot of the fat, but then it wouldn’t technically be a ‘roast dinner’.

Swap Your Potatoes

Regular roast dinners are traditionally served with roast potatoes and maybe some mash. These are made from white potato, which isn’t as good for us as sweet potato. Try some sweet potato mash on your dinner instead to see what you think. You could even roast some sweet potato chunks. If you don’t like sweet potato, then you could try having just a couple of boiled new potatoes on your dinner instead. These are cooked in a healthier way than roast potatoes, and you won’t want to eat as many of them as you could if they were mashed!

Load Up On Veggies

Vegetables are the healthiest and most nutritious part of a roast dinner. Load up on as many of these as you like. Include carrots, broccoli, cauliflower (probably best if you skip the cheese), peas, sweetcorn, and anything else you like. Go crazy!

Go Easy on The Gravy

Gravy isn’t the most slimming of sauces, but I wouldn’t make you have your roast dinner without it. Simply go easy on the stuff, and make sure you aren’t drowning everything in it. You could even try experimenting with some clean gravy recipes to see if you can come up with a healthier alternative.

Need Something Sweet?

Traditionally, a roast dinner is followed with something sweet. Many of us crave something sweet after a hearty meal! We’re programmed to do so, as it signals the end of eating. However, a big slab of cake or a bowl of ice cream isn’t necessarily going to do us any favours. There are plenty of clean treats you can have afterwards, all of which you can make yourself. Some are easier than others. You could go for some 0% fat Greek yoghurt with a bit of honey, fruit, and nuts for something quick and easy. You could even bake some gluten free brownies, but make sure you go easy on them! Whatever you do, don’t have a diet soda with your roast dinner. Find out why here.

I hope you enjoy your healthy roast dinner as much as I do!