The holiday season is synonymous with an array of hearty, memory-laden dishes, yet nutritionists caution that the real calorie culprits are often the unexpected ones.

While it’s common to brace for a hearty main course during festive feasts, it’s the decadent sides and sugary beverages that can stealthily pack a caloric punch, sometimes outshining the main dish in terms of calorie content.

Holiday fare typically shares a common theme: a high concentration of saturated fats, added sugars, and refined carbohydrates, with scant fiber to slow digestion and promote a sense of fullness.

Dr. Auriel Willette, a neurology associate professor at Rutgers University, explained to the Daily Mail that this nutritional profile can lead to overeating, as it postpones the sensation of being satisfied.

Given this understanding, Dr. Willette emphasized the importance of being mindful of the caloric content in festive foods, as this awareness can empower individuals to make more informed dietary choices.

He further suggested that, with the right approach, holiday meals can be enjoyed without consuming days’ worth of calories in one sitting or during a snacking spree.

Below Daily Mail reveals six calorie-loaded savory and sweet treats to watch out for this season, along with ways to make them healthier. 

Daily Mail also reveals the simple swaps you can make to make these unhealthy foods healthy

Green bean casserole: 300 calories per serving

Despite its healthy sounding name, New York-based personal trainer Natalie Alex told the Daily Mail that green bean casserole can be ‘a surprisingly indulgent holiday side, packed with butter and cream.’ 

‘A hearty portion can easily reach up to 300 calories per half-cup serving, with significant fat and sodium,’ she added. 

But you don’t have to sacrifice flavor to lighten it up. 

By swapping condensed cream soup for a homemade mushroom, or vegetable-cream sauce, using fresh or frozen green beans instead of canned, and replacing deep-fried onions with baked or air-fried onions, you can dramatically reduce the calorie count. 

Skipping or cutting back on butter, cheese, and heavy cream, and bulking the dish out with extra herbs, garlic, mushrooms, or vegetables, also keeps the dish far lighter and more nutritious. 

Mac & cheese: 450 calories per serving

As the holiday season ramps up, macaroni and cheese remains a staple on the festive table. 

But Dr Hillary Lin, a Stanford-trained physician and longevity specialist based out of New York, told the Daily Mail that this side dish is ‘very energy-dense and high in saturated fat and it’s basically a slow, elegant way of eating a cheeseburger’s worth of calories before dinner even starts.’

One version of the dish from fast food chain Chick-fil-A contains 450 calories per serving and 29g of fat, which is more over 40 percent of your daily fat allowance.

The saturated fat in the dish primarily comes from cheese, butter, and cream or whole milk.

Nutritionists suggest several ways to enjoy the comfort food without the calorie overload. Swapping in lower-fat dairy, reducing butter, and incorporating vegetables like cauliflower or zucchini into the sauce can dramatically cut fat and calories.

Alternatively, sides such as roasted cauliflower, butternut squash gratin, or creamy polenta can provide a rich, festive flavor with far less saturated fat, offering lighter yet satisfying options for the holiday table.

Pecan pie: 520 calories per slice

While most people anticipate that holiday dinners will be filling, it’s the indulgent sides and sugary drinks that can quietly load a plate, or cup

Flaky pie crust loaded with jumbo pecans, pecan pie is a classic dessert come the festive season. 

Made with ingredients like butter, eggs, and vanilla, this indulgent treat is high in calories, fat, and sugar, making it a dessert best enjoyed in moderation. 

One pecan pie on sale at Wegmans contains 520 calories per slice (124g), which is roughly 25 percent of a woman’s daily allowance and 20 percent of a typical man’s daily calories. 

It also has 26 grams of total fat, which is 33 percent of the daily value for both men and women, and 35 grams of sugar, which is almost 1.5 times the daily limit for women and for men, it’s nearly the entire daily limit in just one slice.

There are ways to enjoy pecan pie with fewer calories and less sugar. Using light or reduced-fat crusts, replacing part of the sugar with natural sweeteners like maple syrup, dates, or erythritol, and reducing the amount of corn syrup in the filling can lower calorie density. 

Substituting egg whites or a smaller number of yolks and adding extra chopped nuts or pureed pumpkin can help maintain texture and richness while reducing fat and sugar. 

Eggnog: 530 calories per cup

Despite its calorie load, eggnog offers some nutritional benefits, providing four to six grams of protein (roughly seven to 13 percent of the daily protein needs) and 10 to 20 percent of the daily value for calcium per half-cup

As the holiday season approaches, eggnog returns to grocery shelves and café menus, delighting fans with its rich, creamy flavor. But behind its festive cheer lies a surprisingly hefty nutritional profile. 

According to a 2024 investigation by consumer watchdog Consumer Reports assessing 30 brands of eggnog, a standard half-cup serving (120ml) of commercial eggnog was found to contain an average of 170 to 210 calories, along with significant fat and added sugar. 

Homemade eggnog can be even more indulgent. A half-cup of a traditional recipe spiked with bourbon or rum contains 265 calories, 17 grams of fat, and 18 grams of added sugar, though the numbers vary depending on the recipe. 

Despite its calorie load, eggnog does offer some nutritional benefits, providing four to six grams of protein (roughly seven to 13 percent of the daily protein needs) and 10 to 20 percent of the daily value for calcium per half-cup. 

You can enjoy eggnog with far fewer calories by lightening up the base and adjusting the mix-ins. 

Swap heavy cream for low-fat milk, unsweetened almond milk, or oat milk, and reduce added sugar by sweetening with a little maple syrup, vanilla, or warm spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Using pasteurized egg whites instead of whole eggs cuts both fat and calories, and skipping or reducing the alcohol trims them even further.

Sweet potato casserole: 560 calories per serving 

As holiday tables fill up with rich casseroles and comforting classics, nutrition experts say sweet potato casserole remains one of the biggest calorie hitters when it comes to side dishes. 

Ben Emminger, a nutrition coach with Garage Gym Reviews, told Daily Mail that a traditional serving can deliver nearly 400 calories and up to 27 grams of sugar per cup, putting it closer to a dessert than a savory dish.

Meanwhile, Dinnerly’s ready-made sweet potato casserole with marshmallows and candied pecans recipe takes the dish’s indulgence to the next level. 

Quick to prepare and easy enough for any cook, the casserole comes with a nutritional cost: each serving contains 560 calories, 31 grams of fat, and 65 grams of carbohydrates. 

While Emminger said: ‘There are lower-calorie options abound, such as fresh vegetables, but moderating your intake of this side dish with proper portions can be a great way to ensure you’re not overindulging.’ 

According to Starbucks’ nutritional information, a venti (20fl oz) serving of its Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha contains 580 calories, placing it among the chain’s higher-calorie seasonal offerings

In its return to Starbucks’ seasonal menu, one of the coffee chain’s most festive beverages, the Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, is drawing attention not only for its rich flavor profile but also for its hefty nutritional load. 

The drink, made with rich espresso, white-chocolate sauce, peppermint syrup, steamed milk, whipped cream, and dark-chocolate curls, has been described by the company as ‘an oh-so-delightfully merry treat.’ 

But nutrition figures reveal that the indulgence comes at a significant caloric cost.

According to Starbucks’ nutritional information, a venti (20fl oz) serving of the holiday beverage contains 580 calories, placing it among the chain’s higher-calorie seasonal offerings.

Much of that comes from its sugar content: the drink delivers a striking 83 grams of sugar, more than double the American Heart Association’s recommended daily limit for adults. This is the equivalent of eight Krispy Kreme glazed donuts and around three slices of chocolate cake with frosting.

Fat content is also notable. With 20 grams of total fat, the drink edges close to a full meal’s worth of richness in a single cup.

You can cut calories most dramatically by switching from the white-chocolate sauce (which is the biggest source of sugar) to fewer pumps or a half amount, or by swapping to sugar-free peppermint syrup rather than the standard version. 

Choosing nonfat milk, almond milk, or oat milk instead of whole milk lowers the drink’s fat and calorie content, and skipping the whipped cream (or asking for ‘light whip’) trims even more. You can also downsize to a grande or tall, which alone can cut hundreds of calories. 

Shake Shack’s Peppermint Bark Chocolate Shake: 1,320 calories per serving

As the holiday season rolls around, peppermint bark has become a perennial favorite in candy aisles, but nutrition experts note it comes with a higher calorie count than a standard chocolate bar.

Unlike plain chocolate, peppermint bark combines layers of dark and white chocolate with crushed candy canes, adding extra sugar, fat, and overall calories to each bite.

For example, the Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Bar contains 70 calories per stamp-sized 12-gram square, making it a concentrated sweet treat despite its small size. 

But one concoction featuring peppermint bark, Shake Shack’s Peppermint Bark Chocolate Shake, contains a gut-busting 1,320 calories per 16fl oz cup. 

Other indulgent ingredients thrown into the mix include chocolate frozen custard hand-spun with mint chocolate fudge and whipped cream. 

If you’re looking for a lighter option on Shake Shack’s menu, a single vanilla or chocolate frozen custard cup comes in far lower, generally under 300 to 350 calories, and skipping add-ons like whipped cream, fudge, or candy pieces reduces the load even further.