29 Diabetes-Friendly Comfort Food Dinners That the Whole Family Will Love
These cozy meals are perfect for nights when everyone's craving classic comfort food. Fluffy mashed potatoes, braised beef, creamy casseroles and tender veggies star in these dishes that will surely please everyone at the dinner table. Plus, each serving focuses on complex carbs, like whole grains, and is low in saturated fat and sodium for delicious, diabetes-friendly dinner. Recipes like our Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup and Chicken Enchilada Skillet Casserole are satisfying, tasty meals that folks of all ages will love.
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Creamy White Chili with Cream Cheese
This rich, yet healthy, white chicken chili comes together in a flash thanks to quick-cooking chicken thighs and canned white beans. Mashing some of the beans acts as a fast thickener when your soups don't have a long time to simmer. Cream cheese adds the final bit of richness and a hint of sweet tang.
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Slow-Cooker Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips
The spice blend in this healthy beef stew recipe--cinnamon, allspice and cloves--may conjure images of apple pie, but the combo is a great fit in savory applications too. Serve over creamy polenta or buttered whole-wheat egg noodles.
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Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup
Got leftover cooked chicken or turkey? Cook up a pot of soup! This recipe is a healthier twist on a classic creamy turkey and wild rice soup that hails from Minnesota. Serve with a crisp romaine salad and whole-grain bread.
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Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan
This one-pan pasta that combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal is garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. I call it "Mom's Skillet Pasta" and she called it "Devon's Favorite Pasta." Either way it's a quick and easy weeknight dinner we created together and scribbled on a little recipe card more than a decade ago, and it remains in my weekly dinner rotation to this day. It's a simple dinner the whole family will love.
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Chicken Enchilada Skillet Casserole
This simplified take on cheesy chicken enchiladas only requires one pan for cooking and eliminates the need to stuff and roll corn tortillas. Charring the veggies in a cast-iron skillet adds depth of flavor. Don't worry if you don't have one, because you can use any oven-safe skillet instead.
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Loaded Black Bean Nacho Soup
Jazz up a can of black bean soup with your favorite nacho toppings, such as cheese, avocado and fresh tomatoes. A bit of smoked paprika adds a bold flavor kick, but you can swap in any warm spices you prefer, such as cumin or chili powder. Look for a soup that contains no more than 450 mg sodium per serving.
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Cheesy Chipotle-Cauliflower Mac
You'll barely notice the cauliflower in this comforting skillet pasta--it's pureed and mixed into the creamy cheese sauce.
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Fall Vegetable & Sausage Stew
Hot Italian sausage complements the sweet potatoes and greens, providing just the right amount of heat in this comforting soup. Simmering with rosemary sprigs infuses the soup with aromatic flavor without the extra work required to mince the leaves before cooking them.
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Shrimp-&-Grits-Stuffed Peppers
Shrimp and grits are stuffed inside bell peppers and baked in this healthy stuffed peppers recipe. Add the optional hot sauce if you want to give the filling some kick. Look for bell peppers--use any color--with even bottoms, so that they stand upright on their own when they're cooked.
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Four-Bean & Pumpkin Chili
This healthy vegetarian chili has a fragrant touch of cinnamon for added flavor. Let diners top it with whatever suits their taste.
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Skillet Chicken Potpie
A store-bought pie crust, frozen veggies and precooked chicken simplify the prep for this easy potpie. This healthy dinner recipe is comfort food at its best.
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Slow-Cooked Ranch Chicken and Vegetables
This creamy, veggie-packed chicken dinner comes together easily in your slow-cooker-and makes enough for another night's casserole (see associated recipe)!
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Hearty Chickpea & Spinach Stew
is satisfying stew comes together in a snap. Mashed chickpeas add body to the broth, and tomato paste adds a savory note without piling on the sodium. To simplify the prep, look for chopped fresh onion and shredded carrot or a soup starter mix in the produce section.
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Slow-Cooker Arroz con Pollo (Chicken & Rice)
This one-pot chicken dinner, inspired by the traditional dish of Spain and Latin America, comes together easily in the crock pot. The instant brown rice is added near the end, to keep it from overcooking.
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Pork Paprikash with Cauliflower "Rice"
Cut carbs and calories by using cauliflower "rice" instead of regular rice in this 30-minute pork paprikash recipe.
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Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce
Instead of opening a jar of sauce, try this easy spaghetti with meat sauce on a weeknight. Serve with steamed broccoli and garlic bread. The recipe makes enough for 8 servings. If you're serving only four for dinner, cook 8 ounces of spaghetti and freeze the leftover sauce.
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Chipotle Ranch Chicken Casserole
Simplify weeknight dinnertime by transforming leftover slow-cooked chicken (see associated recipe, below) into an easy, cheesy casserole.
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Chicken & Mushroom Shepherd's Pie
The creamy chicken filling is spiked with sherry and the potatoes are mashed with olive oil in this healthy shepherd's pie recipe. To make individual pies, use six 10-ounce ramekins. Serve with a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and crusty bread.
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Fork-Tender Pot Roast
For a meal that's ready when you get home after a long day, try this flavorful and hearty pot roast.
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Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
Use your Instant Pot as a pressure cooker for this easy beef bourguignon recipe. If desired, serve this stew with whole-wheat egg noodles to soak up the delicious sauce.
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Homemade Chicken Ramen Noodle Bowls
Transform canned chicken noodle soup into quick ramen bowls by adding fresh ginger, crunchy vegetables, herbs and a jammy soft-boiled egg. Look for a low-sodium soup that has 450 mg sodium or less per serving.
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White Turkey Chili
This healthy white turkey chili recipe is gorgeous, with flecks of green from zucchini, oregano and green chiles. To keep the saturated fat low, we use one pound of ground turkey and add whole-grain bulgur to boost the volume and fiber in this chili recipe. After all the ingredients are added to the pot, we like to slowly simmer our chili for close to an hour to develop the best flavor, but if you're in a hurry, reduce the liquid by half and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
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Chilean Lentil Stew with Salsa Verde
This healthy vegetarian recipe is hearty and satisfying. Don't skip the parsley relish (salsa verde)--it's easy to make and lends a tangy accent that balances the flavors of the lentil stew. We prefer French green lentils for this stew, as they don't fall apart while cooking; however, regular brown lentils (found in most supermarkets) will also work.
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Mushroom-Cauliflower Risotto
Easy homemade cauliflower rice stands in for regular rice in this healthy vegetable-based risotto, lowering both the calories and carbs in this traditionally starchy dish. To make this a vegetarian meal, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
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Chicken Potpie with Cauliflower Topping
You won't miss the crust on this chicken potpie-we promise! We cut the carbs by swapping in a riced-cauliflower-and-panko topping for a thin and crispy top layer that's more nutritious than pie crust (but every bit as satisfying).
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Old-Fashioned Meatloaf
Mushrooms, garlic and oats sneak some extra nutrients into this hearty and easy meatloaf. Serve with sweet potatoes and your favorite green vegetables for a super-satisfying comfort food dinner.
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Irish Pork Roast with Roasted Root Vegetables
In this easy one-pan dinner, boneless pork loin roast is cooked over a bed of carrots and parsnips for an all-in-one dish that makes an impressive centerpiece for a holiday meal or Sunday dinner. Choose free-range heritage pork if you can--its flavor really shines with no more seasoning than a bit of thyme and a little sea salt. If you'd like, dress up the meal with a traditional Irish apple condiment--Ploughmans chutney or Bramley applesauce, which you can find in specialty stores and online.
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Jambalaya Stuffed Peppers
In this healthy stuffed peppers recipe, a delicious jambalaya filling of chicken and Cajun spices gets baked inside of bell peppers. Traditional jambalaya is made with green bell peppers, but you can use green, yellow, or orange peppers (or a mix) for this dish. Look for bell peppers with even bottoms, so that they stand upright on their own.
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Chicken, Potato, and Gravy Bowls
Tender potatoes and flavorful chicken are topped with a delicious gravy in this meal-in-a bowl.