Holiday Foods Face-Off: Which Is Healthier to Eat?

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Before you start stressing about how to eat healthfully this holiday season, take heart. Nutrition pros approve, and even encourage, taking a break from your health goals to enjoy those once-a-year favorites. Whether it's pie, mashed potatoes, sugar cookies, or another treat, “take a serving and savor it,” says Debbie Petitpain, RD, wellness director at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Still, when you're choosing between, say, apple pie and pumpkin pie, you might be wondering which seasonal specialty has the nutritional advantage. If you can eat a favorite food and do less dietary damage, it’s a healthy holiday win, so here's some guidance.

Ham or Roast Beef?

Spiral ham is lean—supplying 126 calories, 4 grams of fat, and less than 1 gram of saturated fat in 3½ ounces. The calorie and fat content of roast beef depends on the cut. For instance, bottom round roast has 169 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of saturated fat in 3½ ounces cooked. The same size serving of bottom sirloin (tri-tip) roast has 193 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 4 grams of saturated fat; top sirloin has 173 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 2 grams saturated fat. Rib eye roast has 307 calories, 24 grams of fat, and 10 grams of saturated fat.

So while the ham might look like the healthiest option, beef is better if you choose a lean cut. Spiral hams are cured, which means they contain nitrates and nitrities, which, when they interact with protein, create compounds called nitrosamines—which may cause cancer. Plus, ham is very high in sodium: 986 mg in 3½ ounces. (You should get no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day.)

Better pick: Roast beef

Pumpkin Pie or Apple Pie?

Though you may try to convince yourself that any food that contains pumpkins or apples is a healthy choice, pie is still a special occasion dessert. Calories, carbohydrates, and fat are realities either way. Pumpkin pie, though, will have about 100 fewer calories per slice than apple pie, primarily because it has only one crust, says Joan Salge Blake, RDN, a professor of nutrition at Boston University. More crust means more calories and saturated fat from the butter or shortening used to make it. (Or try CR's Crustless Pumpkin Pie recipe.)

Better pick: Pumpkin pie

Cheese and Crackers or Chips and Dip?

These two starters have a lot in common, starting with the fact that they’re both easy to overeat, as foods that are high in carbohydrates and sodium tend to be. Cheese and dips both pack a lot of sodium, and—unless you’re talking about vegetable- and bean-based dips like salsa, guacamole, or hummus—saturated fat.

Calorie-wise, the choices are even. Five Ritz crackers with two cubes of Swiss cheese or an ounce of potato chips with 2 tablespoons of onion dip provide about 200 calories.

But with cheese and crackers, you get a decent amount of calcium, says Lona Sandon, PhD, an associate professor of nutrition at UT Southwestern. Two cubes of Swiss cheese have 267 mg of calcium, about a quarter of the daily value (1,000 mg). The cheese also supplies 8 grams of satisfying protein. And if you choose thin slices of cheese and eat them sandwiched with pieces of fruit like apples or pears in place of crackers, you’ll get filling fiber and loads of flavor.

Better pick: Cheese and crackers

Mashed Potatoes or Sweet Potato Casserole?

Both sweet and white potatoes are “ridiculously rich in a lot of nutrients,” says Salge Blake. Both contain vitamin C and potassium, a blood pressure-lowering nutrient that most Americans fall short on.

Of course, we’re not exactly comparing potatoes to potatoes here—your choices are white potatoes mixed with butter and cream vs. sweet potatoes made even sweeter with marshmallows. But the sweet potato casserole gets a slight edge because those potatoes have a wider range of nutrients, including the antioxidant beta carotene, than white ones. To cut back on sugars (and calories), skim off the marshmallow topping. Who needs anything extra when you already have so much natural sweetness?

Better pick: Sweet-potato casserole

Parker House Rolls or Cornbread?

Ounce-for-ounce, both have roughly the same number of calories and grams of carbohydrates. While cornmeal has some vision-protecting lutein and zeaxanthin, neither option provides a ton of nutrients, and that’s okay. “Not every item on the plate has to be a superfood,” Petitpain says. Cornbread can be enjoyed plain, however, while a roll will probably be slathered with butter or drowned in oil, Salge Blake says.

Better pick: Cornbread

Sugar Cookies or Snickerdoodles?

The recipes for these cookies share the same basic ingredients list, in similar proportions. The major difference is the addition of cream of tartar to the snickerdoodles, which give them a softer texture than sugar cookies—and doesn't affect nutrition. But a crisp, hard sugar cookie is a better vehicle for colorful holiday icing, which only adds more sugars.

Better pick: Snickerdoodles

Champagne or a Cocktail?

All pure alcohol contains 7 calories per gram and little other nutritional value. But that’s just the beginning of the story. Bartenders may add intrigue in the form of mixers like pomegranate or cherry juice, which make some cocktails sound like wellness tonics. But the juices still add extra calories.

What’s more, mixed drinks can include far more alcohol than you realize, which can make all of your other thoughtful decisions about what to eat go out the window. With champagne, you know exactly what you’re getting, says Salge Blake. Better to opt for the drink where you can see how much alcohol you’re sipping. Whatever your choice, though, stick to one drink, enjoy, and be done with it.

Better pick: Champagne