15 low calorie Christmas recipes for vegetarians

Being vegetarian doesn’t have to mean going hungry this Christmas. Vegetarian Christmas food can be just as exciting as the traditional festive feast with all the trimmings.

And with The Healthy Mummy 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge by your side, you will never miss out on delicious festive food at Christmas time.

We’ve put together some quick and easy recipes that are healthy and delicious so you can still stay on track with your weight loss goals this Christmas.

We’ve put together a Festive Cookbook so you can go into this fun time of year knowing all the tips, tricks and info to have a great time without going overboard.

We’ve included more than 30 of our favourite, easy-to-prepare recipes to suit the season including starters, mains, sides, and desserts specially developed by our team of nutritionists to bring you tasty, festive food that’s balanced.

Within this cookbook, there are many vegetarian options. You can also swap the non-vegetarian ingredients in the recipes for a completely meat-free dish.

Christmas Healthy Meal Planner

Starters and Appetisers

To help you to stick to your goals these Christmas holidays, think light, think tasty and make the most of the seasonal produce that is plentiful at this time of year.

Here are some starter and appetiser ideas.

Pumpkin, goat’s cheese, and parmesan savoury muffins

110 calories per serve

You can find the recipe here

Hummus Dip

140 calories per serve (just add some veggie sticks or crackers)

You can find this recipe in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub

Guacamole with Carrot Sticks

118 calories per serve (not including veggie sticks or crackers)

This recipe can be found in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub

Mains

Keep things simple and choose mains that don’t require too much attention. The easiest meals are those that you can prepare the day before and just warm up on the day.

We love these ‘set and forget’ options which you can prepare the day before by prepping the vegetables.

Veggie Packed Ginger & Tofu Stir-Fry

For an added Christmas touch, you can sprinkle on some cranberries.

410 calories per serve

You can find the recipe in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub

Spinach and Sweet Potato Lasagne

411 calories per serve

You can find the recipe here.

Rice-&-Nut-Stuffed Butternut Squash with Christmas Spiced Chermoula

433 calories per serve

Sides

This is the time when you can wow your guests with good quality, fresh seasonal produce. Delicious vegetarian side dishes are a vegetarian’s dream! They can be a showstopper alongside your main meal.

You can sprinkle on cranberries or chestnuts for that added Christmas feel. Fresh chestnuts must always be cooked before use and should never be eaten raw.

To cook them, you can first remove the chestnuts from their skins by either boiling or roasting them. For both options, you can first make a small incision in the skin.

Once cooked, peel off the tough shell and the papery thin skin underneath. Peel the nuts whilst hot (as it’s impossible to peel a cold chestnut!) to ensure the complete removal of the inner brown furry skin, called the ‘tan’, which is bitter.

Onion and Brie Yorkshire Pudding Bites

151 calories per serve

You can find the recipe here.

Courgette and Parmesan Fritters

278 calories per serve

You can find this recipe in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub

Broccoli, Spinach and Feta Frittata

285 calories per serve

Desserts

These desserts could be prepped the day before.

Sugar-Free Mince Pies

200 calories per serve

200 calories per serve

You can find the recipe here

Healthy Fruit Trifle

173 calories per serve

You can find this recipe in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub

Passionfruit and Coconut Whiteout Cake

216 calories per serve

You can find this recipe in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub

Ginger Stars

194 calories per serve

You can find the recipe here

Fun Christmas desserts for kids

Healthy Strawberry Santas

Instead of using calorie heavy pastry or biscuits, strawberry Santas use delicious, fresh strawberries and replace the traditional whipped cream that is often a staple of festive desserts with low-fat cream cheese. Fantastic for the kids’ table at a Christmas party.

Ingredients (Makes 2 servings)

• 1 punnet strawberries (250 grams)
• 1/2 cup light cream cheese (130 grams)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest (16 grams)

Method

1. Wash and pat dry the strawberries.
2. Cut the top off the strawberries removing the green leaves, so that the strawberries can stand up flat on a plate.
3. Cut the bottom 1/3 of the strawberries off and reserve for Santa’s hat.
4. Combine the cream cheese and zest. Fill a piping bag with the cream cheese and carefully pipe a triangle shape onto the wide part of the strawberry to form Santa’s beard.
5. If you don’t have a piping bag use a ziplock bag and fill with cream cheese mix then snip off a small corner to use instead.
6. Add a small dollop of the cream cheese at the small top of the strawberries and place the small pieces you cut off on top to represent Santa’s hat.
7. Place in the fridge and chill for 10 minutes before serving. This recipe makes 2 serves so divide equally to serve.

Gingerbread People

The kids will love these Gingerbread People. They can even decorate them themselves.

You can use the same recipe for these as the Gingerbread Stars, but using the people cookie cutter instead. Or why not try these adorable Reindeer Biscuits?

Want access to thousands and thousands of healthy recipes that will help you to lose weight? Then be sure to check out our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.

Our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge is a family-friendly, breastfeeding-safe program designed FOR MUMS to help them lose the baby weight. 

Every week you are given a different meal plan to follow and each month we add NEW recipes to our Challenge Recipe Hub. That way, you’ll never get bored and stay on weight loss track while digging into healthy, yummy recipes.

Learn more about our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge HERE.

If you would like a sneak peek at some of the meals, snacks and exercises from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge you can download our FREE recipe packs HERE.