Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Planning a gluten free thanksgiving does not have to be overwhelming. It’s actually fairly easy to create. I have been sans gluten since about 2010, and the shifts and changes I have made to have a GF Thanksgiving, have not had to be monumental changes, and I feel great avoiding the gluten.

The tastes and flavors are still amazing, and very frankly, I don’t feel like I am missing out on a thing. I think it’s just about getting a rhythm down, and some good resources and recipes under your belt. Here is my list of favorite recipes and tips for a successful Gluten Free Thanksgiving!

First let’s talk about where gluten shows up, so you know how to avoid it or replace it.

Where does gluten show up?

Below are the primary dishes or ingredients where gluten shows up in Thanksgiving recipes is:

• Pie crust
• Stuffing (or dressing)
• Canned soup – that may be an added ingredient
• Crispy fried onion topping – like in green bean cassarole
• Breads and rolls
• Gravy – which uses flour or roux

Turkey 

Turkey is naturally gluten free. Purchase pasture raised, organic or locally raised whenever you can. Not only will the flavor be amazing, but there will not be added hormones, chemicals, pesticides and your animals are humanely raised.

My favorite preparation for my turkey is to brine it with Alton Brown’s recipe, I have made just a couple adjustments, I never seem to find candied ginger (or maybe I forget to look), and I use olive oil instead of canola oil. Lastly, his timing for the turkey is 2-2 1/2 hours, and I have found this to be too short, for me it’s a solid 3 hours, and maybe 3 1/2 dependent on your oven.

Not sure what size turkey to get? Plan on about a 1/2lb per person.

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are typically gluten free. They are a staple at our house, you simply can not have Thanksgiving dinner without mashed potatoes. There is really nothing like the loft you get with a russet potato. However, this white potato is not the best for our blood sugar. I like to switch this up at times, and use a white sweet potato instead (when my family doesn’t balk at this). It’s a more dense potato and will keep blood sugar stabilized. Which in turn supports our hormone balance.

Mashed potatoes do typically contain dairy. So if you are also reacting to dairy this is one food to be aware of.

For Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes- You can substitute any non-dairy milk or chicken broth instead of cows milk. And use ghee rather than butter if you can tolerate it. Ghee is butter fat with the milk solids boiled out -so no casein or lactose. If ghee does not work, I have subbed olive oil instead of the butter, and this works well also.

How much to make? My mom always says 1 potato per person, I personally like lots of left overs, so I always make more.

Stuffing

Is not typically gluten free due to the bread of course. However there are some great gluten free breads on the market now. A couple of my favorites are Canyon Bakehouse, and Kim and Jakes 

1 loaf Gluten free bread –  Cut into cubes, and set out to dry for a few days, or toast in the oven
6-8 T Butter or ghee
3-4 Stalks celery chopped small
1 Medium onion diced small
20ish Fresh Sage leaves chopped
About 2 cups of Chicken Stock – my favorite is the Pacific Foods Brand, because it doesn’t have sugar or gluten
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Saute’ celery, onion and sage in 2T butter or ghee until the onions are translucent, and remove from heat. Place bread cubes in a buttered glass baking dish (9 x 13 ish). Mix in onions, celery and sage. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Add 2 cups of chicken stock, and stir everything together. Dot the remaining butter or ghee on the top of the mixed stuffing. Bake covered for 15mn, and uncovered for 15mn at 350 degrees.

There are also a couple other stuffing versions you could look for that could be Gluten Free or GF. Corn Bread Stuffing (double check there is no white flour in it, as corn bread can commonly have it), as well as a Wild Rice Stuffing. 

Green Bean Casserole

The crispy onion topping and the mushroom soup, are not typically gluten free without some effort.

The soup and the crispy fried onions are not gluten free. When I first wrote this article, I had a hard time even finding gluten free cream of mushroom soup, and there were no gluten free crispy onions.

However, gluten free cream of mushroom soup does exist now! I buy the Pacific brand, because it is much cleaner ingredients wise than the bigger brands which have so many added junkie ingredients.

I have also found Gluten Free Crispy Onions at Aldi. They are the Aldo LiveGF brand, and only there around Thanksgiving. I have also found a version at my co-op, but I don’t recall the brand name.

Cranberry Sauce with Clementines and Cinnamon

Cranberries and the sauce variations are naturally gluten free. 

Thank you Wholefoods for this recipe! It is sooooo yummy! It has even taken the place of the canned cranberries for me, which I LOVE (that’s big!) It’s the perfect amount of sweet and tart. This recipe does call for a fair amount of sugar, so instead of that I use Nu Naturals Stevia and it’s equally yummy, with the substitute. 

Gravy

Is not typically gluten free, usually white flour is added to thicken the gravy.

However, I found a recipe that is better than any recipe I have had with flour in it. I am the kind of girl that puts gravy on just about everything on my plate on Thanksgiving, so I am COMPLETELY in love with this recipe from Elana’s Pantry. I did make an adjustment and only use one large onion in this recipe. I’m telling you this recipe is so good, NO ONE notices it’s gluten free, and I think it’s better than any gluten-ized gravy I have ever had.

I like the Pacific Foods Chicken Stock for this recipe, as there is no sugar in it (yes, did you know most stock has some sort of sugar in it?), no funky food chemicals, and it’s Gluten Free (yes often soup has gluten or flour in it to thicken it).

Pumpkin Pie 

Is not typically gluten free due to the flour in the pie crust.

I typically use Elana’s Pumpkin pie recipe from her book The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook, which is a great book to get if you are dipping your toe in the water of GF. I did not find this recipe online, but she has a new Paleo Pumpkin Pie recipe that looks divine, plus, it has coconut milk in it (yum!). I am also grateful she has upgraded some of her ingredients and is now using coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil, and honey instead of agave nectar, which is what I always replaced the agave with in her GF Almond Flour Cookbook above.

There are also some great gluten free pie crusts you can buy at your local coops or natural grocery stores too as another option.

Or if you are local to Minneapolis, I love everything at my favorite bakery Hold the Wheat, and they do an amazing Thanksgiving pie spread.

Dairy Free Whipped Cream

Whipped cream is gluten free, however I like a dairy free option.

I can’t find my original recipe for this, but I’m including a similar one. Basically you are taking the solid part of the coconut milk from the can, whipping, adding a little sweetener, and whipping again. It’s a yummy substitute. I really love this with a little honey, it’s not “sugar free” then, but the flavor is so lovely. You could also add stevia to this for a sugar-free option.

Use those leftovers!

Turkey Bone Broth

Don’t through away that Turkey Carcass! Freeze it, or pop it right into the crock pot, and start a batch of Turkey Bone Broth. It’s the perfect time of year for it. Bone Broth helps reduce inflammation in your body, heal the digestive tract, boost your immunity, and warm your heart and soul! Here is my easy peasy recipe for Turkey Bone Broth.

Turkey Wild Rice Soup 

Is a another GREAT way to use the turkey leftovers. But this one again is not typically gluten free, so definitely make your own! And you can use the bone broth above for the stock. Here is my recipe for Turkey Wild Rice Soup, enjoy!!

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Updated 4.09.26
Photo Credit to: Alison Marras