Secret Tooth-Friendly Recipes to Happy Holidays and Healthy Teeth

Great food is one of the staples of the holiday season, but popular holiday treats are often terrible for your teeth. As long as you maintain great oral hygiene, a few sugary treats probably won’t harm your teeth in the long run, but it’s wise not to overdo it. Thankfully, there are plenty of delicious snacks and desserts you can make that are good for your teeth! Here are a few tooth-friendly recipes you can try out this holiday season.

1. Mint Pesto

This festive twist on basil pesto combines mint and parsley to create a subtle minty and fresh pesto that you can use in a variety of ways. You can pair mint pesto with yogurt, pasta, lamb, fish, vegetables, burgers, and more. It’s also great for your teeth. The recipe contains almonds, which are packed with calcium, and protein, to help strengthen your teeth. Additionally, parsley is a natural source of vitamin K, which helps protect your teeth from decay, as well as vitamins A and C, both of which are great for your gums. It’s also rich in antioxidants and has antibacterial properties. This makes this one of the tooth-friendly recipes that’s great for you as it is versatile, and it’ll be a unique addition to any holiday party.

2. Cranberry Cooler

Cranberry juice is incredibly good for your entire body, but it’s also great for your teeth. This is because it’s a source of antioxidants and has antibacterial properties. In fact, cranberry juice actively inhibits the growth of seven different bacterial microbes, making it great for preventing—and even improving—gum disease. On its own, however, cranberry juice is incredibly tart—that’s where this cranberry cooler comes in. This recipe is great for people looking for low-carb tooth-friendly recipes as it uses liquid stevia extract instead of sugar. Stevia doesn’t produce acid in your mouth like sugar does, so using Stevia is a great way to sweeten the drink without making it bad for your teeth. This cranberry cooler is delicious and incredibly festive; when you sit down to drink it, you’ll know the holiday season has arrived!

3. Cucumber Salsa

If you’re looking for a healthy appetizer to bring to a Thanksgiving party, this cucumber salsa is a worthy contender! It has plenty of vegetables with vitamins that are great for your teeth and the rest of your body, making it very healthy. Cucumbers have vitamin C and a small amount of vitamin K in them, but they’re so crunchy that they also help naturally scrub plaque from your teeth as you chew. Tomatoes can be acidic by themselves, but adding them into a dish like this helps you take advantage of the tooth-healthy vitamins they contain, such as vitamin C and vitamin K. Even the sour cream has something to offer your teeth: calcium. This recipe has the added benefit of being quick and easy to make—plus it’s ready to serve immediately! It can be a delicious alternative to traditional salsa and tastes different enough that you don’t have to like salsa to love this cucumber version.

4. Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a holiday must-have, but they also happen to be great for your teeth! These roasted sweet potatoes is one of the tooth-friendly recipes which are a low-calorie alternative to the traditionally sugar-packed casseroles that are so popular this time of year. It doesn’t have any added sugar, allowing you to make the most of the vitamins and nutrients that make sweet potatoes so good for your teeth—and for the rest of your body. 

Sweet potatoes are naturally low in fat and absolutely full of vitamins, including vitamin C, calcium, and beta-carotene. Once you eat it, beta-carotene converts into vitamin A, which is good for gum health, helps build tooth enamel, and aids in saliva production, which in turn helps you fight cavities. Drizzling a little olive oil on your sweet potatoes, just as this recipe calls for, helps your body to absorb the beta-carotene better. Additionally, the high levels of vitamin C and beta-carotene give sweet potatoes anti-inflammatory properties, which could help you fight off gum disease.

5. Sautéed Greens with Pine Nuts and Raisins

Sautéed greens with pine nuts and raisins is a great side dish and is part of the list of must try tooth-friendly recipes because it’s extremely healthy, delicious, and easy to make. Most greens are packed with nutrients—kale, for example, contains calcium and vitamins K, C, and B6, and is also packed with antioxidants and beta-carotene. Together, these nutrients make kale a superfood for your oral health—and for the rest of your body. It helps strengthen your teeth, fights decay, and works to keep your gums healthy. Pine nuts are also a natural source of antioxidants, as well as other vitamins and minerals that make them great for you.

6. Broccoli Cheddar Soup

When it’s cold outside, it’s comforting to sit down with a steaming bowl of soup. Broccoli cheddar soup is a tasty option—and it’s good for your teeth! It has plenty of calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin K, which work together to fight decay and keep your teeth and gums healthy. Despite all these tooth-healthy vitamins, this soup doesn’t compromise on taste. Whether you make it at home or for a party, it’ll be a huge hit! No one will even know that you’ve snuck in a dish that’s good for their teeth.

7. Apple Cranberry Stuffed Pork Roast

If you’re looking for a unique but tempting holiday meal, apple cranberry stuffed pork roast fits the bill. It also happens to be good for your teeth. While it does contain a little sugar, so do most glazes for holiday meats—this is one of the many tooth-friendly recipes that has plenty to offer despite the sugar. Meat contains protein, which is great for your teeth, but it’s also one of the best sources of phosphorus, which is essential to your dental health because it protects and rebuilds tooth enamel. Additionally, although this recipe only has a tablespoon of fresh ginger, it’s a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant and can help fight infections, making it very effective in fighting against gum disease. Cranberries are also a good source of antioxidants. So although this recipe doesn’t seem that tooth-healthy at first glance, it contains ingredients that are essential for your teeth.

8. Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie

Most Americans cringe at the mention of sugar-free desserts, but sugar substitutes have gotten better and better in recent years. If you don’t like one kind of sweetener, there are many more for you to try. This sugar-free pumpkin pie is good for your teeth, mostly because it doesn’t have a lot of sugar. Pumpkin is also good for your teeth, as it contains vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium. Zinc helps strengthen your teeth and is good for your gums, while magnesium works with calcium to strengthen tooth enamel. Plus, this recipe is quick, easy, and delicious—making it guilt-free and ideal for the busy holiday season.

9. Stuffed Baked Apples

This recipe is a lot like an apple crumble, but with no added sugar—all the sugar you need is in the fruit! This specific recipe uses vegan butter, but you can easily substitute it for real butter if you’re not vegan. Every ingredient in these stuffed baked apples provides nutrients, from fiber and vitamin C to Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is great for your teeth on a number of levels, keeping your gums healthy and fighting against tooth decay. Your teeth, your body, and your stomach will thank you for eating this scrumptious dessert.

10. Eggnog

Eggnog is one of the classic holiday tooth-friendly recipes — yes, it’s actually good for your teeth! All those eggs mean that eggnog is absolutely packed with protein. The milk in eggnog also provides calcium and vitamin D. Cloves have natural antioxidants and antimicrobial properties, while cinnamon has natural antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Although eggnog is sweet, this recipe uses honey instead of sugar; it still has glucose, but honey has antimicrobial properties and natural antioxidants, as well as trace amounts of vitamin B and vitamin C.

With so many options on the internet, you don’t have to compromise on taste if you want to eat healthy meals or sugar-free desserts. You can find plenty of tasty holiday treats that are packed with nutrients, to be specific: tooth-friendly recipes to follow. This allows you to eat your fill guilt-free, gives you more energy instead of placing you in a sugar coma, and provides your body with the nutrients it needs to keep your entire body—including your teeth—healthy.