Healthy Comfort Food Recipes

Find healthy, delicious comfort food recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Slow-Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Rating: Unrated
2
This slow-cooker Beef Stroganoff recipe brings together tender beef and fresh mushrooms served over hot noodles with a creamy sauce.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

American Goulash

Rating: Unrated
7
American goulash, also known as old-fashioned goulash, is the perfect economical family meal. The pasta cooks right in the sauce, so this satisfying dish can cook in just one pot.
By Carolyn Casner

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

Rating: Unrated
7
This one-pan chicken-and-broccoli recipe comes out of the oven all browned, cheesy and bubbling like a casserole, but is really prepared more like a skillet meal on the stovetop. Serve with a crunchy green salad.
By Robin Bashinsky

Lemon-Garlic Chicken Penne with Pesto and Spinach

Fresh pesto brilliantly compliments the lemon and garlic flavors of this juicy chicken dinner.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Cornbread-Topped Chili Casserole

Rating: Unrated
4
In this healthy casserole recipe--sometimes called tamale pie--the cornbread gets crusty at the edges, thanks to a cast-iron skillet. For the best texture, use yellow cornmeal with a medium grind. Serve with lime wedges for a little extra tang.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Baked Penne Florentine

Rating: Unrated
2
This comforting and flavorful vegetarian dish is packed with protein.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Ground Beef & Pasta Skillet

Rating: Unrated
9
Sneak extra vegetables into your child's day (and yours too!) with this easy one-skillet pasta recipe. Finely chop mushrooms to resemble the texture of ground beef and stir them into a classic meat sauce for an extra-healthy twist on a dinnertime favorite.
By Carolyn Casner

One-Pan Chicken Parmesan Pasta

Rating: Unrated
17
This chicken Parmesan pasta uses the one-pot pasta method to cook your noodles, chicken and sauce all in one skillet for a fast and easy dinner with minimal cleanup. Finish the dish under the broiler to achieve a delicious melted cheese crust.
By Hilary Meyer

Creamy Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms One-Pot Pasta

Rating: Unrated
19
You'll only have to dirty one pot in this easy pasta recipe that cooks chicken and vegetables right along with the noodles. Plus, by using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta, the starch that usually gets drained off with your pasta water stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results.
By Breana Killeen

Slow-Cooker Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips

Rating: Unrated
6
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.
By Hilary Meyer

Carrot Cake

Rating: Unrated
14
Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.
By Patsy Jamieson

Corn Bread-Topped Chicken Enchilada Casserole

For a twist on the classic chicken enchilada casserole, this slow cooker recipe is topped with homemade corn bread.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Inspiration and Ideas

25 Comfort Food Dinners with Ground Beef

25 Comfort Food Dinners with Ground Beef

Ground beef is a quick-cooking, budget-friendly protein that works in a variety of dishes including pasta, chili and more.
24 Comfort Food Dinners That Are Low-Carb and Satisfying

24 Comfort Food Dinners That Are Low-Carb and Satisfying

Whether it’s casseroles or pizza, you’ll get all the flavors and familiarity of your favorite dishes, but with a low-carb spin.
26 High Blood Pressure-Friendly Comfort Food Dinners

26 High Blood Pressure-Friendly Comfort Food Dinners

Comfort Food Diabetes-Friendly Dinners

Comfort Food Diabetes-Friendly Dinners

The Top 20 Comfort Food Recipes of 2020

The Top 20 Comfort Food Recipes of 2020

22 Comfort Food Dinners for Weight Loss

22 Comfort Food Dinners for Weight Loss

Chicken & Zucchini Casserole

Rating: Unrated
7

This baked chicken and zucchini casserole is creamy, hearty and low-carb! The whole family will love this easy casserole, plus it's a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies (concealed in a delicious cheese sauce!).

All Healthy Comfort Food Recipes

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili

Rating: Unrated
64
Make a double batch of this quick vegetarian chili, full of black beans and sweet potatoes, and eat it for lunch the next day or freeze the extras for another night. We love the smoky heat from the ground chipotle, but omit it if you prefer a mild chili. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread and coleslaw.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Pork Chops with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Rating: Unrated
9
These seared pork chops are topped with a rich and creamy mushroom sauce that gets flavored with fresh herbs.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Hearty Minestrone

Rating: Unrated
4
This version of the Italian classic soup Minestrone is packed with leeks, potatoes, beans, zucchini, spinach and orzo, making it perfect for a hearty lunch or supper on a cold winter's night. To make a vegetarian version use vegetable rather than chicken broth. Top each bowl with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for a zesty burst of flavor.
By Kathleen Desmond Stang

Muffin-Tin Quiches with Smoked Cheddar & Potato

Rating: Unrated
26
Potatoes, cheese and greens make this mini quiche recipe delicious and satisfying. Bake up a batch over the weekend and you'll have breakfast available in a hurry for the rest of the week.
By Carolyn Casner

EatingWell's Eggplant Parmesan

Rating: Unrated
21
Here we bake breaded eggplant for crispy results with fewer calories to boot. This makeover of the classic recipe was originally developed by our Test Kitchen in 1995 and got an update in 2020 for our 30th anniversary issue.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken

Rating: Unrated
5
Browning the chicken and sautéing the aromatics before everything goes into the crock pot is key to building the flavors in our version of this popular curry.
By Adam Dolge

Mug Brownie

Rating: Unrated
2
You might want to keep a copy of this recipe in the pantry beside the cocoa for those moments when you crave a chocolaty treat. Cook this fudgy brownie in a mug in the microwave and it's ready in less than a minute!
By Carolyn Casner

Italian Wedding Soup

Rating: Unrated
7
This Italian Wedding Soup recipe is Italian comfort food at its best, and this easy soup recipe lends itself to countless variations. Substitute spinach, chicory, chard or any other leafy green for the escarole or kale, and any leftover cooked (or canned) beans for the white beans in this healthy Italian wedding soup recipe.
By Joyce Hendley

Skillet Chili Mac

Rating: Unrated
2
Poblanos add a kick of heat to this chili mac recipe. If that's not your thing, swap in green bell peppers to tone down the heat in this easy pasta dish, which mashes up mac and cheese and chili into a seriously satisfying skillet dinner.
By Stacy Fraser

No-Sugar-Added Oatmeal Cookies

Rating: Unrated
1
Classic oatmeal cookies without all the sugar, these better-for-you gluten-free treats get their sweetness from ripe bananas and chopped dates.
By Carolyn Casner

Pulled Pork with Caramelized Onions

Rating: Unrated
14
Traditional pulled pork is barbecued, which gives it a smoky flavor. But the slow cooker happens to be the absolute easiest way to cook pulled pork--and you can get a hint of smoke by adding chipotle chile. Serve the pulled pork with potato salad, collard greens and grits. Or make it into a sandwich and serve it on a bun with coleslaw.
By Judith Finlayson

Banana-Bran Muffins

Rating: Unrated
36
By the end of the week, any bananas left in the fruit bowl are past their prime--just right for these moist bran muffins. Add a handful of dark chocolate chips to entice children to enjoy a fiber-rich treat.
By Patsy Jamieson

Ham-&-Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Rating: Unrated
10
Making a pocket in the chicken breast to hold the stuffing is easy with a good, sharp, thin-bladed knife. Browning the chicken in a skillet before baking gives it a beautiful golden color, and finishing in the oven ensures that it cooks evenly throughout.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce

Rating: Unrated
9
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.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Slow-Cooked Ranch Chicken and Vegetables

Rating: Unrated
5
This creamy, veggie-packed chicken dinner comes together easily in your slow-cooker-and makes enough for another night's casserole (see associated recipe)!
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Sweet & Sour Beef-Cabbage Soup

Rating: Unrated
10
This wholesome sweet-and-sour soup combines beef, caraway seeds, sweet paprika and cabbage--ingredients that star in a number of German dishes. It is particularly nice served with crusty rye bread. For an even heartier soup, add diced cooked potatoes along with the cabbage. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna with Broccolini

Rating: Unrated
32
In this low-carb spaghetti squash lasagna recipe, garlicky broccolini, spaghetti squash and cheese are combined for a healthy take on a favorite casserole. This bakes right in the squash shells for a fun presentation. Serve with a big Caesar salad and some warm and crusty whole-grain bread.
By Breana Killeen

Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

Rating: Unrated
29
This fragrant, Italian-flavored soup takes advantage of quick-cooking ingredients--boneless, skinless chicken breast, bagged baby spinach and canned beans. It features a simple homemade basil pesto swirled in at the end to add a fresh herb flavor. If you are very pressed for time, you can substitute 3 to 4 tablespoons of a store-bought basil pesto. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

Rating: Unrated
20
Sliced Brussels sprouts and mushrooms cook quickly and cling to the pasta in our fall version of pasta primavera. Look for presliced mushrooms to cut prep time. Serve with a tossed salad.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Quick Turkey Meat Sauce

Rating: Unrated
3
This lean Bolognese is made with ground turkey instead of ground beef and the result is just as delicious! Plus, finely chopped mushrooms are incorporated into the sauce (undetected!) for an easy way to eat more vegetables. Serve this healthy, hearty sauce with your favorite pasta, or over polenta with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
By Carolyn Casner

Beef & Barley Soup

There's something so satisfying about a hearty bowl of beef and barley soup--especially when it's one you've made from scratch with reduced-sodium broth and chunks of delicious sirloin steak. This slow-cooker recipe is simple to prepare, serves six, and is a great alternative to canned soup!
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Rating: Unrated
5
Two of our favorite comfort-food sandwiches join forces in these family-friendly dinner sandwiches. We found that softer buns make this easier to eat, and it's all the better when wrapped takeout-style in a sheet of foil.
By Katie Webster

Pork Zuppa

This rich Italian soup, made with ground pork and potatoes, is sure to satisfy everyone who tries it. Using a slow cooker makes this recipe easy to execute.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Mexican Skillet Lasagna

Rating: Unrated
2
This easy Mexican-inspired lasagna recipe replaces the noodles with tortilla strips that become like tender ribbons in the cayenne- and cumin-spiked tomato sauce. Topped with Cheddar and cream cheese, the lasagna is just as soulful as its Italian cousin and can be made on a busy weeknight in about 30 minutes using a single skillet. Excerpted from The Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion, published by ABRAMS © 2017.
By Kathy Brennan & Caroline Campion
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