10 Healthy Christmas Snack Ideas

Are you looking for healthy Christmas snack ideas?

At this time of the year it’s normally the excess snacks and treats that cause most damage to our waistline!

Constantly picking at potato chips, chocolates, and drinking alcohol can add more than 1,000 calories per day; and once this weight is piled on it becomes difficult to shift in the New Year.

Your number one goal this Christmas should be to prevent any weight gain.

In fact, it’s probably best that you don’t try to lose weight, because you can start to feel deprived, and the end result is usually binge eating.

So, I’d suggest you make a goal of weight maintenance this Christmas.

This way, you can still enjoy the food you love, but by making healthy choices, and eating in moderation, you can prevent the infamous holiday weight gain, and still stay on track with your diet!

Here are a few healthy swaps for making the traditional Christmas snacks a little less calorific!

10 healthy Christmas snack ideas:

#1 Open-top mince pies – line the bottom only with pastry. I’d also suggest using filo pastry, rather than the traditional puff pastry, and adding a finely chopped apple to your mincemeat.

#2 Serve marinated chicken, beef or fish sticks, rather than the breaded versions.

#3 Swap salted nuts for plain popcorn, or rice cakes.

#4 Go for toasted pita triangles, or wholegrain bread sticks served with a salsa dip, rather than potato chips.

#5 Serve a crudites platter – using a selection of veg such as sliced carrots, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, baby corn, bell pepper, and a reduced fat dip – as a lighter buffet alternative.

#6 Swap bowls of chocolates for dried fruit dipped in dark chocolate.

#7 Serve a mixed food platter – with a selection of cheese cubes, fruit slices, raw veggies, suitable dips, dried fruit, unsalted nuts, mini bread sticks, and yoghurt – rather than higher fat buffet-style food.

#8 Swap ice cream for fresh fruit sorbet.

#9 Go for pretzels as a lower fat alternative to salted, roasted nuts.

#10 Serve small cups of homemade vegetable soup rather than higher fat sandwich options.

If you tend to have large bowls of chocolates and nuts around your home at Christmas, why not place a platter of healthy alternatives beside them – this way each time you reach for a chocolate, you’ll have to make a conscious decision ‘healthy‘ or ‘unhealthy‘ snack!

For more healthy snack ideas and healthy snacks for children, check out these posts.

Which healthy Christmas snacks will you be serving this year?