Healthy Wedding Buffet Ideas
Your guests will naturally be coming to your wedding to celebrate your love. That doesn’t mean that the wedding food isn’t one of the main attractions at any wedding celebration. Putting some time and effort into what you serve your guests is important as it shows you’re thinking about them and what they would like to eat.
With more people becoming health conscious, your wedding reception needs to include healthy food options. It’s not all about potatoes and pie any more! You want to serve food that people will actually enjoy and will make them feel good. You can create a menu that will leave people with plenty of options without compromising on flavor. Some of my favorite ingredients are so healthy!
Here are just a couple of meals from my meal planner that can be used to make delicious wedding reception food.
Healthy Wedding Buffet Ideas
Entrees
Avocado, Bacon, and Chicken Salad
450 calories
I love a good salad at a wedding reception. It allows you to fill up on non-starchy vegetables, get some protein and usually avoid too many carbohydrates. For a wedding, serve the dressing on the side so guests can decide how much they want.
Ingredients
2 cups Mixed greens - 20 calories
2 Uncured bacon, slice - 88 calories
½ Avocado, small - 116.5 calories
5 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw - 190 calories
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp) - 35 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Cut bacon into small pieces with kitchen shears. Cube chicken and avocado.
Fry bacon and cook chicken on stove top by cooking on lowest heat for ~10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
No bacon? Use turkey or soy bacon. No chicken? Use tofu or fish.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings
Sliders on Lettuce Wraps
348 calories
Finger food is a great idea for either the cocktail hour or to add to the buffet for the dinner portion of the evening. This recipe makes enough for two “sliders”.
Ingredients
4 oz Ground turkey, 93% lean, raw - 172 calories
½ Avocado, small - 116.5 calories
½ oz Cheese, sliced cheese, full fat/ regular - 55 calories
2 Lettuce leaves for lettuce wraps - 4 calories
1 Salt, dash - 0 calories
1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories
Instructions
Mix turkey with salt & pepper.
Divide into two mini patties.
Spray a pan with an oil spray. Cook for ~4 minutes on each side, covered with a lid.
Place burgers, avocado, and cheese evenly in lettuce wraps.
No cheese? Use extra avocado.
Note 1: 1 oz cheese = typically 1 slice. So 1/2 oz cheese = 1/2 a slice. Cut this 1/2 a slice into 2 pieces for the 2 burgers.
Desserts
Festive Strawbs with Yogurt
190 calories
I love that these look so special, but aren’t processed food. Perfect when you want a little dessert or a sweet treat but don’t want to go all-in with cake.
Ingredients
1 cup Strawberries, fresh - 50 calories
½ cup Yogurt, flavored (<15 gm sugar/ serving), 2% Greek - 100 calories
2 tsp Sprinkles - 40 calories
Instructions
Dip strawberries into yogurt
Top with sprinkles
No dairy? Use a dairy-free yogurt
Lower Sugar Cobbler
305 calories
This recipe is for a single-serve to make it easy to increase to serve to your guests. This is a great option to have a pie-like dessert that is a little healthier because of the reduced sugar.
Ingredients
½ cup Strawberries, fresh - 25 calories
½ cup Blueberries, fresh - 35 calories
3 tsp Sugar - 48 calories
¼ tsp Vanilla - 0 calories
1 Cinnamon, dash - 0 calories
⅓ cup Oatmeal, dry oats (uncooked) - 100.5 calories
⅛ cup Walnuts - 96 calories
Instructions
Crush walnuts by putting them in a plastic bag & mashing them with the butt end of a tool, e.g. knife (be careful)
Combine all ingredients in a bowl
Spray a small oven-safe container (or 2) with an oil spray, add in mixture
Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees
Notes: No walnuts? Use any other nut. No nuts? Use seeds, or go without nuts/ seeds. Frozen berries work fine here! No need to defrost.