If you need to cook a gluten free Thanksgiving dinner fear not because we’ve got you covered. Below you will find everything you need to produce a glorious gluten free turkey dinner.
Gluten free Thanksgiving dinner
This is a collection of gluten free Thanksgiving dinner recipes drawn from across the web. The idea is to give you a one-stop page to help you to find and take you straight to the recipes you need to make a healthy, tasty gluten free feast for you and your guests.
Hopefully, my doing the research and pulling them all together in one place will make it easier for you to cook a spectacular gluten-free dinner. However, if you prefer to follow a recipe book. I can highly recommend these two.
The first one is a great book for those who cannot eat gluten and want to follow a Paleo style diet. It is exceptionally well written, and as you will see when you are taken to the Amazon site it has plenty of good reviews.
For those who are simply looking for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that contains no gluten this other recipe book is likely to be a much better choice. It also has good reviews on Amazon.com and the recipes in the book are mostly very easy and fast to make.
The nice thing about the recipes in these books is that they are simple enough to enjoy year round, so they are a very good investment. If you are not looking for a gluten-free cookbook just read on to find all of the dishes you need to make the perfect Thanksgiving dinner for those with gluten sensitivity.
Gluten free Thanksgiving appetisers
Not everyone serves starters or appetisers, but when they do, they normally involve bread, crispbreads or pastry. Loading these with tasty toppings is a quick and easy way for a host to cater for everyone’s tastes and keep them happy until dinner is ready.
Fortunately, lots of gluten free canapes and appetizers are easy to make and serve instead. Here are links to some of our favourites:
Stuffed celery filled with cream cheese – surprisingly tasty and easy
Sweet potato bites – a slice of roasted sweet potato is a great alternative to a cracker
Loaded potato skins – roasted potato skins are also a great gluten free cracker alternative
We would love to hear your suggestions for this section. There must be hundreds of ideas out there, so please share your favourites in the comments. No gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without a few starters, so we need more ideas.
Gluten free Thanksgiving turkey
The centre of the feast is still normally a roasted turkey. Now you would think that roast turkey would be completely gluten free, which if it was cooked as is, it would be.
However, many families add gluten to their bird without really thinking about it. For example, those birds sold in roasting bags will often have been dusted with all-purpose flour.
Not to mention the fact that many families still cook their turkey with some stuffing inside the bird despite the food safety warnings. Usually all of that gorgeous stuffing is gluten laden.
In addition, most people prepare the gravy alongside the turkey, perhaps making the juices part of the gravy or sauce. Often gluten finds its way into the meal because the homemade gravy is thickened with a flour and butter roux, or tinned gravy is used which often has gluten added to it when it is made.
So, without further ado here are a couple of gluten free turkey recipes:
Gluten free girl’s gluten free turkey recipe
Three gluten free turkey recipes
If none of those are right for you, using a one of each of the gravy, turkey and stuffing recipes listed below may be a better approach.
Gluten free stuffing
A stuffing free Thanksgiving would be just wrong; fortunately, there are many alternatives. This page is a great guide to all of the different kinds of gluten free alternatives you could serve with your roasted turkey.
Gluten free rice stuffing recipes
A great alternative is rice stuffing. Here are some of the best recipes:
Wild rice and sausage stuffing
Traditional gluten free bread style stuffing
If you want a more traditional stuffing you still can have it. Here are two great recipes that tick all of the boxes:
Gluten free cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving
Another good alternative is cornbread stuffing. You just need to buy a traditional gluten free version. This is the best recipe we could find:
Gluten free cornbread Thanksgiving stuffing
Amy’s gluten free cornbread stuffing
Another alternative is to buy one of the many gluten free packet stuffing that are becoming increasingly available.
Gluten free thanksgiving biscuits and muffins
Many families like to serve some form of bread, biscuit or muffin with their thanks giving dinner. For someone who cannot eat gluten passing these lovely dishes up really is not easy. Fortunately, there are plenty of gluten free alternatives:
Gluten free Thanksgiving biscuits
Gluten free sweet potato biscuits
Gluten free Thanksgiving rolls
Gluten free cornbread made with sour cream
Old fashioned gluten free cornbread
Gluten free Thanksgiving muffins
Gluten free turkey gravy
It is hard to enjoy a meal without good gravy; these are our favourite gluten intolerant friendly gravy recipes:
The ultimate guide to gluten free gravy – this page shows you how to make gluten less gravy from any meat stock
Gluten Free on a Shoestring turkey gravy recipe
Gluten Free Girl’s turkey gravy
Gluten free Thanksgiving side dishes
We have given you alternatives for most of the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes that contain gluten above, but you still need to watch out for gluten in other sides. For example, steamed vegetables can catch someone out if they come with a sauce that has been thickened with flour.
Another example is that many families serve mash from a packet. Often these packet mashes contain gluten. Mash made from fresh potatoes is gluten free, but it takes a lot of time to boil the potatoes and make mash in this way. Here are two fairly quick alternatives that can be quickly whipped up for a gluten intolerant guest:
Cauliflower mash – this only takes about 20 minutes to prepare
Often gluten is also hidden in the green bean casserole many families serve as a side dish. Here are a couple of gluten free alternatives:
Gluten free green bean casserole
Gluten free green bean and caramelized mushroom casserole
Ok, so that is the starters and mains covered, now to the dessert – if you still have room.
Gluten free piecrust
For most families Thanksgiving dinner is not complete without pumpkin pie, which means that you need a good piecrust recipe. Here are our favourites:
http://alittleinsanity.com/gluten-free-pie-crust-recipe/ – this recipe is both gluten and dairy free, so it is ideal for families with multiple allergies.
Gluten free single crust piecrust
You can also find a great gluten intolerance friendly recipe for a piecrust on this Facebook page. It is run by Laura who shares some fantastic recipes, so I highly recommend subscribing to her page, for year round inspiration, so just click the link.
Gluten free pumpkin pie
The piecrusts above are all great recipes and they can work with many traditional pumpkin-filling recipes, but you may find that the filling you traditionally use is too wet for a gluten free pastry. The lack of gluten in the crust tends to result in a slightly flakier pastry, if your filling is too wet you can end up with a soggy crust.
The recipes below avoid this potential issue because the filling used has been adapted to suit a gluten free crust:
Vegan gluten free pumpkin pie
Betty Crocker’s gluten free pumpkin pie
Other Gluten Free Desserts
Pear chocolate and hazelnut tart with no gluten
Gluten free cherry and walnut cookies
Gluten free ginger molasses cake
Gluten free no bake chocolate torte
The above section was written mainly with the cook in mind. The rest of the page is to help someone with gluten intolerance who has been invited to be someone’s guest, so if you are a cook go and put the kettle on if you are gluten intolerant guest please read on.
Let your host know you are gluten intolerant in advance
If you are lucky enough to be invited to a Thanksgiving dinner and are gluten intolerant, it is always wise to tell your host when you accept the invitation. Try to do it well in advance and tell your host not to worry. I explain I am intolerant not allergic, so they can rest easy because if I do eat something with gluten in it the worst that is going to happen is that I will get a stomach ache. Bear in mind that serving up a gluten free Thanksgiving dinner will seem daunting to most people, so try to put them at ease.
Usually I offer to bring a few things with me, so that they do not have to worry too much about my dietary needs. Normally, just gravy and some gluten free stuffing and a nice dish for the whole table to enjoy.
This normally goes down well, and I try to offer to arrive early and give them a hand. It is a nice thing to do and it allows me to work out which dishes are gluten free. If I am in doubt, I tend to pass that dish along without having to have the embarrassing ‘I can’t eat that conversation’. That way I feel more relaxed and I think everyone else does too.
I have some great friends and relatives who have taken the time to learn what gluten intolerance is, but even they still occasionally get things wrong. Therefore, even with them I do my best to take responsibility myself and tactfully check exactly what is in each dish. If I cannot find out without causing offence I simply pass on that dish. There is so much to eat on the table, going without something to be safe really is not an issue for me.
Avoiding hidden gluten in a Thanksgiving dinner
Of course, things do not always go smoothly on the day. Sometimes confusion reigns. When that happens, I am not sure what is gluten free, and what is not, I just avoid those Thanksgiving foods that I know often contain hidden gluten. Here are some examples:
Stuffing usually contains bread and, therefore, gluten
Gravy made from a packet or can may contain gluten
Homemade gravy that has been thickened with flour
Most packet sauces contain gluten
Mashed potatoes made from a packet
The skin of a turkey when all purpose flour is used as part of the baste
Most pie crusts or crumbles that are made from traditional ingredients
Next year’s gluten free Thanksgiving dinner
We plan to leave this post up on the site and add to it over time. If we have missed anything, please let us know in the comments. We would love to add to the bank of recipes on this page, so if you have any favourite gluten free recipes please let us know.
Also, when you use the recipes on this page please let us know how you go on. It is only with your help that we can make the gluten-free Thanksgiving 2018 page even better than this year’s.