9 Diabetes-Friendly Swaps for Holiday Cooking and Baking

Replaces: Sour cream, mayo, heavy cream

Baked potatoes and butternut squash soup may be two of your favorite eats around the holidays, but their ingredients aren’t always diabetes-friendly. One way to change that: Use Greek yogurt instead of the dollop of sour or heavy cream they’re usually topped with, suggests Lori Dror, RD, CDCES, a nutritionist with Northwell Health based in Merrick, New York. Creamy Greek yogurt can also be used in place of high-fat, calorie-dense mayonnaise and sour cream in potato salad and dips, she says.

“Greek yogurt has double the protein of regular yogurt, promoting satiety and leaving us feeling satisfied for longer,” she says. “It also tends to contain less carbohydrate than regular yogurt, making it diabetes friendly.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a 7 ounce (oz) container of low-fat plain Greek yogurt contains 19.9 grams (g) of protein and 7.9 g of carbs. Meanwhile, the same portion of low-fat plain yogurt contains 10.4 g of protein and 14 g of carbs.

To keep calories and added sugar in check, opt for plain varieties of Greek yogurt over flavored ones, says Leah Kaufman, RD, a nutritionist at the NYU Langone Health Weight Management Program in New York City. And choose low- or nonfat Greek yogurt over full-fat versions —  a general fat swap rule-of-thumb in the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Replaces: Creamy cheeses and butter

Planning to bake this holiday season? Great! But to keep your weight and blood sugar in a healthy range, reconsider the ingredients you may typically use.

For example, pureed fruits like pumpkin and mashed avocado can be great alternatives to less-healthy fats used in baking and cooking, Kaufman says. “Avocados are a great substitute in brownies for butter. They offer an unsaturated fat rather than a saturated fat and don’t really change the taste or the texture, as it’s very similar to butter,” says Kaufman, adding that cocoa masks the taste of avocado in recipes.

Indeed, 100 g of unsalted butter contain over 50 g of saturated fat, while the same portion of avocado has about 2 g of saturated fat and some polyunsaturated fat, per the USDA. When you replace saturated fat sources with polyunsaturated fat, you can lower your cholesterol, notes the American Heart Association.

Similarly, canned pumpkin is often used in vegan recipes, including vegan mac and cheese, Kaufman notes, and can be a smart choice for people with diabetes because it offers sweetness without added sugar. What’s more, pumpkin offers fiber, which the Mayo Clinic points out can help promote feelings of fullness. One cup of canned pumpkin without salt offers 7.1 g of fiber, according to the USDA. Just be sure to choose plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix, which tends to be packed with added sugar.

RELATED: The 9 Best Sugar Substitutes for People With Type 2 Diabetes

Replaces: Butter

Roasted veggies are a smart side dish on any diabetes-friendly holiday table — if they’re made with healthy fats, that is.

Because a saturated fat such as butter can increase your cholesterol when eaten in excess, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends people use healthier options like canola and olive oil instead.

Your choice of oil will depend on the type of dish you’re making and how high the cooking temperature will be. “The ‘smoke point,’ or the temperature at which the oil starts smoking while cooking is an important consideration,” says Nina Crowley, PhD, RD, the former program coordinator for the metabolic and bariatric surgery program at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston and the current professional affiliations and education manager at Seca, a medical scale company.

Olive oil is ideal for starter salads, as well as those healthy roasted or sautéed veggie dishes when prepared at temperatures below 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, canola oil has a higher smoke point and can be used when cooking foods above 400 degrees Fahrenheit, Dr. Crowley says.

Replaces: White flour

Another ingredient to keep an eye on during holiday baking: flour. A simple fix is to replace refined flour with the whole-wheat variety.

The reason: Whole-wheat flour offers more fiber than refined white flour, according to the ADA. For example, ¼ cup of whole-wheat flour by the brand King Arthur supplies 3 g of fiber, a good source of the nutrient. Compare that with ¼ cup of refined all-purpose flour by the same brand, which provides less than 1 g of fiber. What’s more, whole-wheat flour contains far more B vitamins and vitamin E than refined flour, notes the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

This is a good thing for a diabetes-friendly diet, Dror explains, because that means it’s digested more slowly, promoting glycemic control.

Crowley says whole-wheat flour can be a good substitute in baked foods like muffins or bread, but may not be the best idea for delicate dishes and sweets because “the whole grain (bran and germ) may have a more bitter flavor, and alter the texture.” Still, if you want to give it a try, experiment with swapping out all, or even half, of the white flour in a recipe for whole wheat flour before serving the dish to guests to see if the switch works in taste and texture.

RELATED: 10 Fiber-Rich Foods for Your Diabetes Diet

Replaces: Eggs

Like flour, eggs are a staple baking ingredient. If your healthcare team has told you to limit your intake of eggs, such as if you’re watching your cholesterol, you can make a replacement out of flaxseed, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The committee recommends combining 1 tablespoon (tbsp) of ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp of water and using it as you would an egg in whole-grain baked goods like holiday cookies or cakes.

That said, eggs are a greater source of protein than flaxseed — one large egg offers 6.2 g versus only 1.3 g in 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed. Protein is important to include in a balanced diet and may support a healthy weight, thanks to its satiating effect, notes research from 2022.

So don’t avoid eggs entirely, unless your healthcare team has advised you to do so. Dror recommends sticking to one egg yolk maximum per day and using egg whites whenever possible.

Replaces: Salt

Consider the holidays an opportunity to slash your salt intake in cooked dishes — for instance, casseroles and stuffing — to improve your heart health.

Heart health and diabetes management go hand in hand. An increase in sodium intake can increase blood pressure, which ups the risk of diabetes complications, Kaufman notes.

Data shows most Americans can benefit from cutting back on salt, which contains sodium. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans consume an average of more than 3,400 milligrams (mg) of sodium each day, whereas the Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise no more than 2,300 mg per day.

The aforementioned savory dishes, as well as sauces and gravy, can benefit from garlic, lemon juice or zest, and pepper to increase flavor without using salt, Crowley notes. “Holiday meals can often be tweaked to use more herbs and spices to replace the added salt,” she says. “Rosemary, thyme, chives, basil, and green onion are some of my favorites.”

RELATED: The Potential Benefits and Risks of Ginger for People With Type 2 Diabetes

Replaces: Chocolate

Chocolate lovers may welcome the holidays, but be mindful that this ingredient is high in fat and may contribute to weight gain and worse blood sugar levels if consumed to excess.

One smart swap to consider: cocoa powder, which is a lower-fat alternative to chocolate in baked dishes, such as cakes, cookies, muffins, and brownies, Dror says.

For baked goods, remember to add a healthy fat or fruit puree for the moistness and fat you’ll lose by excluding chocolate. Peanut butter without any additives, Dror suggests, is a healthy option for people with diabetes because it offers good-for-you fat and protein. Two tbsp of smooth peanut butter without salt contains 16.4 g total fat and 7.1 g protein, notes the USDA.

Replaces: White rice

Anyone with a casserole on their holiday menu can instantly boost the nutritional and diabetes-friendliness of the dish with this idea from Dror.

Replace white rice, which lacks nutrients and fiber, with a whole grain such as brown rice, quinoa, or whole-wheat couscous, she recommends.

Whole grains help lower cholesterol, improve gut health, and promote glycemic control, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Additionally, research suggests whole grains boost metabolism and can support a healthy weight. Riced vegetables are another low-carbohydrate rice alternative.

“Cauliflower rice is the most popular, but riced broccoli is another excellent option,” Dror says. One cup of cauliflower rice contains 5 g of carbohydrates, whereas a cup of white rice contains 53 g, notes the USDA.

“Besides being packed with nutrients, vegetables also make holiday meals bigger, brighter, and tastier without adding calories,” Dror says. For example, a broccoli rice from Thrive Market provides some calcium, iron, and potassium.

RELATED: 7 Low-Carb Veggies for a Diabetes-Friendly Diet

Replaces: Heavy holiday drinks like cider and eggnog

The holidays bring with them many beverages that are likely not part of your normal routine, such as cider, eggnog, and peppermint mochas. These drinks may be traditional favorites, but they are laden with sugar and extra calories. “One personal rule that might be easy to stick to is to avoid caloric drinks, which put an additional carbohydrate load into the system because they are liquid, and have a higher impact on diabetes than solids that require chewing,” Crowley says.

“Since many holiday foods have culture and tradition associated with them,” she adds, “I’d suggest keeping some of the mealtime foods that have meaning, but keeping your beverages calorie- and carbohydrate-free.” She recommends sticking to minimally sweetened seltzers and using fruit like citrus or raspberries as flavoring to make still or sparkling water feel more special.

Additional reporting by Madeline R. Vann, MPH.