Healthy Cream Cheese Recipes

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.

With sliced vegetables, a whole-wheat tortilla and baby spinach, these roll-ups make the perfect healthy lunch for your kids to take to school.

The key to this healthy omelet recipe is cooking the eggs over low heat so the curds set up nice and soft. A splash of milk in the eggs is added insurance to keep the omelet from turning rubbery.

Blending vanilla yogurt and reduced-fat cream cheese creates a topping that's as virtuous as it is delicious. Any fresh berry can be used in this recipe.

This creamy, crowd-pleasing dip comes together with ease in your crock pot. Leave it in the slow cooker all party long to keep it warm for serving with perfect, melty cheese in every bite. Whole-wheat bread and raw veggie dippers allow you to dig in without the guilt.

Inspired by artichoke dip, we made a creamy cheese topping to serve on quick-cooking chicken breast cutlets for an oh-so-satisfying meal.

This easy cauliflower gratin uses one pot to steam the cauliflower and then make the cheesy sauce, cutting down on dishes. Just 20 minutes in the oven is all it takes to crisp up the breadcrumb crust. Serve this family-friendly gratin alongside roast chicken, pork or steak.

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.

This healthy stuffed mushroom appetizer is a nice balance of soft mushrooms, creamy filling and crunchy topping. This combination tastes downright decadent, but it's actually good for you. Be sure to get all of the moisture out of the chopped mushrooms before moving on to the next step; if not, the filling will be soggy and make the mushroom caps watery.

These buttermilk cupcakes look like the ones you can now buy at fancy cupcake shops, but are easily made at home. The cream cheese frosting is decadently delicious, and so are the cupcakes--take a bite and you'll find a surprise filling of strawberries and orange marmalade inside each one!

Though this stunning red, white and blue American flag cake screams “Fourth of July Cake,” it's such a good dessert you'll want to make it for Memorial Day and other summer holidays too. We made this flag cake recipe healthy, with less saturated fat and calories than traditional versions, by replacing some butter in the yellow sheet cake with oil. Plus, for the cream cheese frosting, we replaced some of the cream cheese and butter with low-fat Greek yogurt.

Tender cauliflower gnocchi combine with a quick cream sauce, tender peas and flaky salmon for an unforgettable weeknight dinner. This one is so good you might make it for special occasions. If you don't like smoked salmon, use fresh.

Our 30th anniversary deserved a cake, and what cake better represents EatingWell than one with vegetables? While many homemade carrot cakes include pineapple in the batter, we made a jammy filling with it instead to tuck between the layers.

This gluten-free, low-carb "bread" is light and airy--like a cloud! Use it in place of a burger bun or sandwich bread if you're following a low-carb or keto diet. To get the fluffiest cloud bread, make sure there is no yolk in your egg whites, and whip them in a clean bowl for maximum volume.

These creamy and lemony cheesecake bites are diabetic-friendly and guilt free!

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.

The breading for these zucchini curly fries takes on the flavor of a classic everything bagel while the tangy, creamy sauce finishes off this fun appetizer that's perfect for a party or brunch. Store-bought everything seasoning can be loaded with salt, so it's best to make your own at home. Look for fresh and crisp-looking zucchini noodles in the produce section or make your own using a spiralizer. Soggy ones (or even the frozen variety) won't crisp up well.

Get your veggies and your protein fix in this easy, gluten-free chicken and cauliflower-rice casserole. Riced cauliflower stands in for traditional rice, making this creamy casserole low in carbs but—with the simple combination of Cheddar cheese and chicken—suitable for even the pickiest of eaters.

Get into the fall spirit with this one-pan gnocchi with a creamy pumpkin sauce. Some pumpkin and other squash sauces can be cloyingly sweet, but not this one--it's savory all the way, thanks to the bacon, garlic and thyme. Instead of being boiled, a package of store-bought gnocchi--one of our favorite convenience products--is browned and crisped in a little bit of bacon fat. Then the sauce (made with canned pumpkin--another great convenience product) is prepared right in that same pan, so cleanup is minimal too. Serve with a simple green salad for an easy dinner that comes together in 30 minutes.

If you love warm spinach and artichoke dip, then you'll love that we turned this classic dip into a creamy pasta dish with chicken. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.

This family-pleasing casserole features lean turkey tenderloin pieces, brown rice, zucchini, and mushrooms, all baked in a creamy sauce and topped with crunchy crumbs and cheese.

These mini cheesecakes aren't just adorable--baked in a muffin tin, they're quicker to make than traditional cheesecake and perfectly portioned.

Almond flour provides the base for this tender gluten-free cake that is filled with carrots, spices and just a hint of coconut. Look for almond flour in the gluten-free baking section of most major supermarkets or natural-foods stores.

Cream cheese and pesto make a delectable filling for lean chicken breasts. Use this technique to experiment with other fillings as well, such as ham and cheese or goat cheese and chopped olives.