Add some spice to your cooking with these vibrant and satisfying recipes featuring turmeric. This golden rhizome features a compound called curcumin, which has been known to help fight inflammation. Turmeric works well in sweet and savory dishes alike—pack up Turmeric Chicken & Avocado Wraps for lunch or sip on a Golden-Milk Shake for dessert.
Orange-Carrot Turmeric Ginger Shots
Heami Lee, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keeley
This colorful shot may help reduce inflammation. Carrots and orange juice add an earthiness along with vitamins and beta carotene, while ginger and turmeric provide a nice warming spice. Whether enjoyed in the morning or midday, it’s a vibrant and nourishing addition to your routine.
Turmeric Chicken & Avocado Wraps
Heami Lee, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keeley
These chicken salad wraps are packed with ingredients that help reduce inflammation. Turmeric adds a bright golden hue, while chickpeas add fiber and plant-based protein. Mix up the chicken salad at the beginning of the week to enjoy in a wrap or serve it over greens if you prefer.
High-Protein Anti-Inflammatory Veggie Soup
Heami Lee, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keeley
This plant-based soup features lentils, which offer plenty of protein and fiber to make this soup satisfying. Together, with anti-inflammatory ingredients like turmeric and sweet potato, you’ll get a balanced soup that’s warming and comforting, all in one delicious bowl.
Golden-Milk Shake
Heami Lee, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keeley
This golden-milk shake is a creamy, vibrant beverage that combines the traditional spices of golden milk with the natural sweetness of banana. Enjoy this milkshake as a post-dinner dessert.
Gut-Friendly Snack Mix
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Styling: Christina Brockman
Mild, fiber-filled edamame becomes roasted and crispy, adding to the crunch factor of the plantain chips and cashews—all of which become enrobed in the warm umami flavors of tamari and curry spices in this snack mix.
Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Whipped Feta & Pomegranate
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop stylist: Lindsey Lower
This whole roasted cauliflower dish features warming spices on a bed of tangy whipped feta. Juicy pomegranate arils add a pop of sweet-tart flavors that offer a delightful contrast to the creamy feta and bold spices.
Mango-Turmeric Smoothie
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel
Kick-start your mornings with this speedy smoothie packed with tropical fruit flavors. Its lively yellow hue is boosted by anti-inflammatory turmeric. Ginger provides a zesty kick, but feel free to omit it for a milder flavor.
Laksa Ayam with Shirataki Noodles
Ali Redmond
This laksa ayam is a delightful twist on traditional Southeast Asian laksa, offering a lower-carb but still deeply satisfying meal. The homemade spice paste is the heart of the dish, infusing the broth with rich, aromatic notes that complement the slightly chewy texture of shirataki noodles.
Roasted Chickpea & Cauliflower Pitas with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Nicole Hopper, Prop Stylist: Tucker Vines
These perfectly spiced pitas are piled high with roasted veggies for a satisfying vegetarian dinner. Bibb lettuce works well with these pitas, but a handful of arugula leaves would be just as nice.
Frozen Lemon-Ginger-Turmeric Shots
Photographer: Brie Goldman Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman Prop Stylist: Gabriel Greco
When hot water is poured over these frozen lemon-ginger-turmeric ice cubes, they melt to create a soothing hot beverage that’s perfect for cold and flu season. Bright, strong and punchy, you’ll want to sip on this beverage all day long.
Baghali Pollow with Quinoa (Persian-Style Quinoa and Beans with Chicken)
Ali Redmond
This adaptation of baghali pollow, a traditional Persian layered rice dish, is made with quinoa instead of basmati rice. Plenty of fresh herbs and fragrant spices and a trifecta of protein—quinoa, chicken and beans—ensure the dish is both flavorful and satisfying.
Spiced Cauliflower Chraime
Micah Siva
Chraime is a spicy North African fish stew, popular with Sephardic Jews for Rosh Hashana, Passover and Shabbat. The word “chraime” has roots in an Arabic word meaning “hot.” This meatless version highlights cauliflower, stewed until tender, studded with plump and juicy golden raisins and drizzled with date syrup.
Turmeric & Ginger Shots
Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman
This zippy, anti-inflammatory shot captures the earthy flavor of fresh turmeric, a hint of heat from fresh ginger, and Cara Cara orange for just the right amount of sweetness.
Tofu Scramble with Spinach
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
This vegan scramble brings on the cheesiness without cheese, thanks to nutritional yeast—a seasoning that imparts a savory, umami flavor comparable to Parmesan. Turmeric tints the tofu yellow, making it a perfect stand-in for scrambled eggs.
Slow-Cooker Curried Sweet Potato & Cauliflower with Coconut & Cashews
Topped with toothsome coconut chips and roasted cashews, this vegetarian curry is rich and satisfying. A sprinkle of dried fruit serves as a counterpoint to the warm curry spices. Serve with brown rice or naan, if desired.
Ginger-Turmeric-Carrot Shots
This refreshing shot captures the sweetness of carrots and coconut water, with a slight hint of heat from fresh ginger. If your blender is big enough, this would be easy to double and have in your fridge, ready when you are.
Padma Lakshmi’s Tandoori Chicken Salad
Padma Lakshmi’s tandoori salad features chicken marinated in yogurt and plenty of spices, along with lots of crunchy vegetables including cucumber, cabbage, jicama and radishes. Cooking the chicken in its marinade and then using that cooked marinade as a dressing adds tons of flavor.
Coconut Stew with Spinach & Beans
Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl
Sweet potatoes add sweetness and body to this stew flavored with ginger, cumin, coriander and turmeric (which gives it its vibrant yellow color). Unseeded chiles add extra heat, but you can seed them to mellow the spiciness.
Kale & Chickpea Grain Bowls
This veggie-heavy bowl is loaded with crunch and color, thanks to crispy carrots and chickpeas, fresh kale and a vibrant avocado dressing. It also delivers more than 50% of your daily dose of fiber, key for weight loss, energy and healthy digestion.
Red Lentil Soup with Saffron
This hearty red lentil soup uses spices common in Persian cuisine: turmeric, cumin and saffron. Enjoy it with a warm baguette or steamed rice.
