3 easy ways to make the Magnolia Table cookbook recipes healthy: yes, you can cook Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Table cookbook recipes even if you’re dairy-free, gluten free, paleo, or trying to lose weight!

I am proudly basic about many things, but a big one is TV. And that means I love Fixer Upper just as much as the other huddling, shiplapping masses elbowing their way through Target for an artisanal salt shaker.

Are you a Fixer Upper fan or does the whole phenomenon drive you nuts? And have you seen their new cookbook?

It’s called Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering, and it. is. everywhere. The Magnolia Table cookbook sold a crushing 169,000 copies in just its first week on sale–let’s just pause to focus on how insane those numbers are.

And you know what? I love it. 

I love to see smart business women succeed, especially when they stay true to themselves. Plus, the book is gorgeous. I can’t remember a softer, simpler, more serene book design that’s come out in the last 5 years. Granted, if color is your jam, all things JG might feel a little too whitewashed. But I loves me some white.

The Magnolia Table cookbook recipes surprised me, though. They weren’t what I expected–maybe you’re a better diviner of what TV stars really eat than I am (bless you for that skill), but I was pleasantly surprised about a few things about the Magnolia Table cookbook recipes.

3 surprising things about the Magnolia Table cookbook recipes

1. The Magnolia Table cookbook recipes are not fancy.

You’ll find processed cheese, onion soup packets, and canned chicken soup. This is how much of America cooks and eats, and I loved that Joanna didn’t let us bad folks in NYC publishing talk her into losing that realness. You can tell this is what she really cooks, and in today’s age, it’s better to ring true than to melt into the crowd.

Plus, I was comforted that these days you can buy healthier versions of those quick-trick processed ingredients, or even make your own cream of chicken soup. So don’t immediately knock-out those recipes if you’re about clean-eating–there is a way!

2. The Magnolia Table cookbook recipes are not especially healthy.

Many of the recipes call for bucketloads of butter or heavy cream or cheese or all the other things that I would surely bathe in if my body didn’t hate lactose. Again, this is really what her family eats, and why wouldn’t they when they spend their time running around a farm and hanging with Gertrude the photogenic goat.

But for those of us that sit on our butts 10 hours a day, staring at various screens, the butter river needs to flow a bit less. (More on how to make the Magnolia Table cookbook recipes healthy below.)

Either way, I never want to live in a country where anyone has to apologize for being their 4-sticks-of-butter-selves, even if I’m going to privately cut that down to two. Be you, Jo Jo.

3. Girl’s got a sweet tooth.

The breakfast chapter, which was stuffed to the brim with things like Overnight French Toast and Cinnamon Squares, was nearly 15% of the book, while dessert made up another 15% of the book. If you’re a crotchety person like me and think french toast is nothing but dessert for breakfast, then the Magnolia Table cookbook recipes are 30% more sweet things than you might want. I flipped past these things, but if you’re a sweet eater, loosen your belt buckle now because you gotta get to work.

Even though the Magnolia Table cookbook recipes weren’t my soulmates (the book design was), I found myself dog-earing a lot of recipes in the lunch and dinner sections as inspiration. And the one that called to me loudest was Joanna Gaines’s Almond Chicken Tenderloin recipe, which with a few tweaks, hit that perfect trifecta of easy + healthy + simple that I love.

3 ways to make Joanna Gaines’ Almond Chicken Tenderloin recipe (and other Magnolia Cookbook recipes) healthier + simpler:

1. Make it gluten-free. The original recipe calls for ½ cup almond flour and ½ cup all-purpose flour. I cut the AP and made it 1 cup almond flour, because it’s gluten-free, paleo, higher protein, and lazy person alert: did you know it’s easier to measure one thing instead of two? That’s some culinary math for you right there. And yes, you could do the same swap for many of the non-baking recipes in the book, or even use your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour mix.
2. Halve the butter. I know, I love butter, too. But butter goes straight to my butt and makes my stomach hurt sometimes, so REALITY CHECK. (Reality sucks.) But the good news is that the recipe really doesn’t need that much fat, so we’re gonna be just fine. And the better news is that you can substitute ghee for the butter if you’re dairy-free.
3. Skip the parsley garnish. Because I don’t know about you, but I can never use up all my leftover parsley. And picking leaves off stems is just UGH. I might quit parsley for the rest of my life, in fact. Instead, skip this most thankless of tasks and cook green beans and tomatoes in the same buttery skillet you used for the chicken. Two side veg > one fussy garnish.

Almond Chicken Tenders: A Magnolia Table cookbook recipe

Click here to get the recipe!

For more cookbook reviews, check out:

Once Upon a Chef, the Cookbook by Jennifer Segal

My favorite Middle Eastern cookbook of the year:

5 quick reads of the week

1. Speaking of being proudly basic…
2. The big question that comes up when you publish a book.
3. Cookbooks are 95 percent white. Here’s my author, Nik Sharma, chatting with Dianne Jacob and what we can do to support diverse books.
4. More smart advice to make a living from your writing.
5. Life goal: go to every single one of these.

What we’re eating this week

Monday: My mom came to spend a few days with us while I was recovering from a surgery, and she made her epic Carne de Panela. Which translates, literally, to Beef in a Pot. But it is excellent beef in a pot. Beef in a pot like you’ve never had before. And we had leftovers for days!

Tuesday: I got it together and made french onion soup in the Instant Pot! I hadn’t made french onion soup in ages, and oh lordy, was it good.

Wednesday: Almond chicken tenders from Magnolia Table! Feelin’ proud, feelin’ happy and full.

Thursday: I dunno. Beer?

Friday: I dunno. Wine and cheese? As my mom has started saying: let’s not adult today.

Cheers!