Christmas side dishes are where dinner gets heavy without anyone noticing. Nobody counts the butter in the red cabbage or the double cream in the corn pudding, and they're often the difference between a big dinner and a very big one. Here are six from four kitchens, with what each weighs before and after.
| Dish | Traditional, kcal | Lightened, kcal | Saving | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RotkohlGerman | 227 | 147 | 35% | 4g |
| Candied YamsSoul Food | 412 | 191 | 54% | 3g |
| Corn PuddingSouthern | 321 | 170 | 47% | 8g |
| Potato KugelJewish | 441 | 235 | 47% | 12g |
| TzimmesJewish | 345 | 307 | 11% | 4g |
| RumbledethumpsBritish | 420 | 243 | 42% | 8g |
Red cabbage that doesn't need butter
Rotkohl, German braised red cabbage, is finished with butter in a lot of recipes. It doesn't need it: apple, vinegar and a slow braise do the work. Mine drops the butter entirely, halves the sugar and doubles down on apple. It goes from 227 to 147 kcal. You lose the gloss and the cling. It's not jam any more, and I think it's better for it.
Candied yams without the candy
Candied Yams are a Southern and soul food Christmas staple, baked in butter and brown sugar. Take both out and roast the sweet potatoes properly instead, and it drops from 412 to 191 kcal. Here's the honest bit: it isn't candied any more. It's roast sweet potato. The book scores it low on closeness for that reason, and it's still good on the plate.
Corn pudding
Corn Pudding is set with double cream and a lot of butter. Whole milk and a fifth of the butter make it 170 kcal against 321. It sets firmer and it's less luscious.
Kugel, tzimmes and rumbledethumps
Potato Kugel swaps half the potato for courgette. Tzimmes, the sweet carrot dish, barely moves, because carrots and a little honey are the dish. Rumbledethumps keeps its cheese crust and cuts the butter in the mash from 80g to 20g.
The rule for sides
Pick one rich side and make the others plain. A Christmas plate with four buttered sides is where the extra calories hide. The full dinner, counted, is in a traditional Christmas dinner, counted.
Every side is printed in full in Authentic-ish Christmas, traditional version first.