As the weather gets colder and the days are darker, it can feel hard to be motivated and inspired to create hearty, warming meals. It’s easy to carry on eating the same old recipes that are easy and quick so you can curl up by the fire and relax with a cup of loose leaf tea or hot chocolate. However, having healthy and warm meals is essential during winter.
A healthy, hearty, and warm meal daily can help to keep you warm in freezing temperatures and give you the essential energy needed to tackle the winter climate. Discover new, exciting winter meal ideas to help you keep warm and give you that cozy feeling while enjoying delicious nutritious meals.
Beef Stew
A good old-fashioned beef stew is an excellent and simple way to keep you warm while providing essential energy to get you through icy cold months. It’s a tasty warm meal that everyone will love and can be used when winter is long gone too!
To create a hearty beef stew, you only need everyday ingredients such as beef, vegetables, and stock cubes. It is an easily adaptable meal too where you can add ingredients you have in or ones that you love to create a unique stew to your liking.
Baked Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is a popular hit with the whole family for dinner. Making a baked version keeps the mac and cheese warmer for longer, ensuring every bite warms you through during winter. You can adapt your usual mac and cheese recipe to include a parmesan breadcrumb topping. Be careful though, make sure to make plenty for everyone as a baked mac and cheese will go down even more quickly than a regular mac and cheese!
Use a blend of your favorite cheeses or various cheddars and add a few tomatoes for extra taste.
Chicken Pie
Nothing is more perfect for winter than a proper chicken pie that warms your bones with every bite. A classic, warming, delicious chicken pie is flavorful with lots of goodness packed in through the meat and vegetables. Crumbly pastry, sweet leaks, crunchy carrots, and any other vegetables you desire with juicy roast chicken make the chicken pie a must-have during winter.
You can serve it with mashed potatoes, vegetables on the side, and warm chicken gravy to provide a hearty meal that’s ideal for the cold months.
Sweet Potato Chili
Warm your family up with a scrumptious and healthy sweet potato chili. Instead of using mincemeat, as with a traditional chili, replace it with sweet potato for a healthier twist on a traditional tasty chili. Everything else within this meal can remain the same as a traditional chili, adding vegetables if you wish, or kidney beans.
To help thicken the chopped tomato sauce, add two tablespoons of tomato puree and enhance the flavor with various spices such as paprika and chili powder. You can make it as spicy as you wish and enjoy it with a splash of sour cream on top!
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken noodle soup is another warming classic that is perfect for icy cold days. It is a nourishing meal to keep your energy high through the long winter days and it’s also an ideal meal for when you’re feeling unwell or down.
Choose warm flavors and filling ingredients such as the vegetables you love and mixed herbs. You can tailor chicken soup to your liking, swapping ingredients or using what you have in. Try using chicken breasts too so as you cook it, it will create a yummy chicken stock with the juices.
Cottage Pie
This meal idea is a much-loved winter pick-me-up and is simple to make too. The whole family will enjoy a scrumptious cottage pie packed with energy and nutrients. You can add peas and carrots to create a healthy cottage pie and create a rich gravy with the juice from the meat for extra taste.
Ensure to add some cheddar to the top of the mash if you want a crunchy, delicious layer on top of this stunning meal.
Try some of these hearty, nutritious, and absolutely delicious meal ideas to keep you warm throughout winter. Make sure to pack each meal idea with healthy ingredients to give you and your family the vital energy you need. Swap ingredients for your favorite foods that work with the dish and ensure to season well for extra taste.
