Can Sunday roasts be healthy?

Elsapie93
Elsapie93 Posts: 17
in Food and Nutrition
I love a good Sunday roast, but obviously they are not the healthiest of meals about! I was wondering if there was still a way to enjoy one without them being too much of a treat?
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Replies

  • louisegibbs85
    louisegibbs85 Posts: 304 Member
    I usually miss off the roast potatos and roast parsnips, have the meat, mash, veg, Yorkshire pudding and gravy
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    what's wrong with them? stick with mostly the meat and veggies and potatoes, and go light on the yorkshire pudding and the gravy.
  • GlitterrMagpie
    GlitterrMagpie Posts: 302 Member
    I don't think roast dinners are a bad choice just get the portion control right. I try to have plenty of meat and veg and keep my potato serving under 200g. I suppose whatever you choose to roast the potatoes in will make a bit of a difference, I use vegetable oil.
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    Double or triple up on the veggies, watch your meat and potato intake, perhaps don't drown everything in gravy and/or butter, and it can be a good meal.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    I think people only see them as unhealthy because they can add up to a lot of calories. Really, there's nothing specifically bad about them.

    If you enjoy a good roast and don't want to go overboard, stick to lean meats, fill up with lots of veg, go easy on the oil when cooking potatoes and don't go crazy with the yorkshires :) Portion control is key.
  • Elsapie93
    Elsapie93 Posts: 17
    I don't have gravy anyway (I know it's terrible) but my favourite part of the roast is the potatoes and parsnips! My dad does the cooking and he loads us with veggies, but unfortunately my younger sister is very fussy and won't eat anything green! Although my dad makes her eat her greens! I love broccoli, green beans, cabbage and carrots, and honestly although I do like my yorkies I can live without them! In retrospect the roasts I have are not that bad, but I always feel so lethargic after eating them!
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    You can reduce the calorie density of some foods, e.g. chicken instead of lamb, cut visible fat off red meat, make the gravy with less dripping, making mint sauce with less sugar, having more green veg and fewer potates, etc.... but don't think of it as being unhealthy. High calorie does not necessarily mean unhealthy. There's a lot of protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre in a traditional roast. And if it's hard to fit in your calorie goal, do more exercise to make room for it. Go back 50 years, and people ate roast dinners, they weren't obese, but they were a lot more active so a Sunday roast didn't put them in calorie surplus.
  • debbiesats
    debbiesats Posts: 65 Member
    Love family Sunday roasts - I just weigh and log. Not my unhealthiest meal of the week!
    I have more veg and lean meat than anything but I still take a bit of everything. I tend to make deals with myself - one less glass of wine in exchange for a bit of crackling and apple sauce ;-)

    Some weeks it fits my daily allowance, on the days it doesn't it's sort of reassuring to log then see how little weight I would gain back if I ate Sunday roasts every day for the next 5 weeks!
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    What makes you think they're unhealthy?!

    We have roasts nearly every Sunday
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,956 Member
    I would probably just avoid pork belly and yorkshires with gravy.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I love a good Sunday roast, but obviously they are not the healthiest of meals about!
    I'm sure you don't really think meat and vegetables are intrinsically unhealthy!
    I was wondering if there was still a way to enjoy one without them being too much of a treat?
    Portion control.
    Or limit the high calorie parts of the meal.
    Or skip pudding.
    Or just make it fit in your calorie allowance for the day by reducing the calories in your other meals that day.
    Or burn some calories through exercise.
  • Chezzie84
    Chezzie84 Posts: 873 Member
    If you fit it into your day then it is fine.
    My roast dinners are usually not that bad calorie wise because as a trained chef I know how to cut back on fat without compromising on taste and since I am the one cooking it, it's easy to control.

    Edit: For great roast potatoes - boil whole baby new potatoes in the skins until slightly soft
    Heat 2-4 ml of oil (people think you need loads for roasties buy you don`t) in a roasting dish until really hot.
    Then pat down the potatoes with kitchen roll to get rid of the excess water.
    Add potatoes to dish and coat in oil. Roast until brown.
  • Geobec1981
    Geobec1981 Posts: 7 Member
    Use it for your once a month splurge - which means eat with no guilt. You can also put a blind fold on and some eucalyptus oil up your nose and then eat - LOL (means you can't smell the lovely aroma)!

    Remember that everything in moderation is okay. So as long as you arent eating a whole roast with gravy and all the trimmings every weekend, then I don't see the harm in it.

    :-). I hope that this helps.

    Cheers

    George
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Use it for your once a month splurge - which means eat with no guilt. You can also put a blind fold on and some eucalyptus oil up your nose and then eat.

    why? what effect would that have other than making everything taste of eucalyptus oil? Not being a koala, I can't see what's so good about everything tasting like eucalyptus....
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    I find some 'healthified' (lower fat) versions of meals such as ice cream, roast dinners and tiramasu a bit depressing. I'd rather just eat the full version less often. The roast parsnips, spuds and gravy are my favourite part!
  • shutterbug282
    shutterbug282 Posts: 588 Member
    Yes!

    I usually swap out roast potatoes for New potatoes and fill my plate with mostly veggies. :)
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    How could you possibly think that a meal of meat, potatoes, and vegetables isn't healthy? How crazy has the nutritional messaging really become?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    I don't have gravy anyway (I know it's terrible) but my favourite part of the roast is the potatoes and parsnips! My dad does the cooking and he loads us with veggies, but unfortunately my younger sister is very fussy and won't eat anything green! Although my dad makes her eat her greens! I love broccoli, green beans, cabbage and carrots, and honestly although I do like my yorkies I can live without them! In retrospect the roasts I have are not that bad, but I always feel so lethargic after eating them!
    Yeah, portion control has a direct correlation to good and bad..........potatoes and parsnips shouldn't be a subject of controversy in a nutrition forum. Who knows, maybe there is a direct correlation between increased nutritional awareness and obesity.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I've come to realise that I grew up with tiny portions of most things, especially potatoes, so my mum's roasts were never even high calorie, let alone 'unhealthy'.

    Personally I'd say skip seconds of dessert if it's your health that worries you and just eat less if it's your weight.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    How could you possibly think that a meal of meat, potatoes, and vegetables isn't healthy? How crazy has the nutritional messaging really become?

    This!
  • nuttyduffy
    nuttyduffy Posts: 255 Member
    I have a roast every weekend, with all the trimmings. Sometimes I swap sweet potato for roast & sometimes I have both, just depends on my calorie allowance for the day.

    There's nothing unhealthy about roasts if, like people have said, you watch your portions.
  • Elsapie93
    Elsapie93 Posts: 17
    Right okay just to clear a few things up with everyone! It's not the condense of the meal that I'm worried about, it's the way we cook it, I should have been more clear about that . My family has a BIG traditional roast dinner everything cooked in fat, apart from the veg, so my question was really how do I cook it in a healthier way?

    Thanks for the advise from those who chose to be helpful and constructive!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    Right okay just to clear a few things up with everyone! It's not the condense of the meal that I'm worried about, it's the way we cook it, I should have been more clear about that . My family has a BIG traditional roast dinner everything cooked in fat, apart from the veg, so my question was really how do I cook it in a healthier way?

    Thanks for the advise from those who chose to be helpful and constructive!
    What exactly is cooked in fat and why do you think fat is unhealthy. Again portion control..........
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    Right okay just to clear a few things up with everyone! It's not the condense of the meal that I'm worried about, it's the way we cook it, I should have been more clear about that . My family has a BIG traditional roast dinner everything cooked in fat, apart from the veg, so my question was really how do I cook it in a healthier way?

    Thanks for the advise from those who chose to be helpful and constructive!

    Dietary fat isn't unhealthy unless we are talking trans fat in the form of Crisco and the like. Fat does contain more calories than protein and carbs, but your body needs it, so the solution is portion control and exercise.
  • Elsapie93
    Elsapie93 Posts: 17
    The potatoes and parsnips are what I'm worried about, portion control is fine as my appetite isn't as big as it used to be, but I mean the potatoes and parsnips are cooked in ALOT of fat which varies depending on how many he is cooking for! It was just a simple question, because I wanted to know weather there was a way to make it better for me and my family.
    My dad suffers from high cholesterol which really worries me and my sister is very over weight and I just wanted to know if I could make a few changes in our family meals to ease us all into a better diet, I'm obviously no expert in this and I really just wanted some friendly advise.

    Thank you!
  • Elsapie93
    Elsapie93 Posts: 17
    The type of fat can vary as well, sometimes it will be cooking oil and sometimes it will be duck fat! Deepening on occasion and if we have guests, portion control for me personally isn't too much of a problem, but my dad and my sister load their plates and both go for seconds :/
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    I still believe your missing the point. Cooking potatoes and parsnips in oil is not unhealthy, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't use another cooking method, you don't have to use oil. Again though it's portion control.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
    I dry roast my snips and spuds and limit them to around 100g - no need to add fat to roasted meat anyway - I always avoid any skin or crackling and I have loads of veg. My family are nowused to dry roast and no butter on veg but if yours complain keep yous separate. Still all tastes really good!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member

    Thanks for the advise from those who chose to be helpful and constructive!


    uh, who wasn't being helpful?
  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
    How could you possibly think that a meal of meat, potatoes, and vegetables isn't healthy? How crazy has the nutritional messaging really become?

    Thank you!

    I consider myself a health conscious person and I love a good Sunday roast. Like any meal, just watch the portions and practice common sense.

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