The holiday season is just around the corner and these delicious keto Thanksgiving recipes will keep you on track while enjoying holiday gatherings and family meals.
For those on a keto diet this often means trying to figure out what to eat when just about every food option is built around carbs. Some will consider holiday meals as a cheat meal. It’s one day of not eating keto and they plan to go right back to it the next day.
Often Thanksgiving is just the start of the holiday meal season. From Thanksgiving through New Years there’s any number of holiday meals, Friendsgiving, work lunches to celebrate the season as well as multiple family get togethers.
I don’t know about your family but with mine the holiday meals start happening from just before Thanksgiving and it keeps going through to New Years Day. One cheat meal leads to another and another. Before you know it watching the scale going up.
Having a good plan in place is the key to making through the holidays. Here are some tips that have helped me survive the holidays. Perhaps they will help you too!
RULES TO HELP NAVIGATE HOLIDAY MEALS
- Focus on meat and low carb vegetables
- Pass on stuffing, bread, noodle/rice dishes and high carb desserts
- Bring your own dish. Bring a keto side dish or dessert that you will enjoy eating
- Don’t focus on calories or sticking within your macros. This is a holiday meal so some indulgence is expected. Becoming overly focused on portion sizes can lead to feeling deprived and lead to eating non keto foods
- If you do eat high carb foods don’t mentally beat yourself up over it. It’s not the end of the world. Acknowledge it and move on.
- Have a snack before the meal. Becoming hungry while waiting for a meal to be served can contribute to overeating. A small protein/fat snack may help control hunger
- Be prepared for questions. Though keto is becoming more common there is usually one person in the group that will have negative comments about it. Be prepared and don’t engage them. You do not have to convince anyone else that how you are eating is what’s best for you. If someone asks why I’m not eating a particular food I just simply say I didn’t want any.
If I get offered something I don’t want to eat I simply say something such as:
Oh that looks delicious but I’m full right now.
Thanks! I’ll try some of that later.
That dish looks delicious. I’m going to try some of that later.
Most of the time people offer you food because they are being nice and want to make sure that everyone is enjoying themselves. Other times they have put a lot of effort into making a special dish and they want to have people try it and enjoy it.
By commenting on how delicious the dish looks and then saying you’ll come back to it allows you to pass on something without hurting the other person’s feelings. It also keeps those people I call food pushers (the ones who keep coming back to have you try something again and again) from getting you to eat something you aren’t interested in.
If the person circles back to me later and asks if I tried it I will usually say yes and it was delicious! Sure it’s not accurate but this will usually satisfy the other person and we move on to other things from there.
Now that you have some tips to help navigate your way through the day lets move on to some delicious keto Thanksgiving recipes.
APPETIZERS
With a selection of cheese, marinated artichokes, olives, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, peppers and various types of meat these appetizers can easily be tailored to include a selection of keto friendly foods. The carb count for each skewer will depend upon what you include on each one.
Baked Feta and Olives:
Making this appetizer doesn’t get much easier. It takes just a few simple ingredients and a few minutes to put this app together. Bake it in the oven for 25 minutes and this delicious appetizer is ready to serve. This recipe makes 6 servings each with 3.4 net grams of carbs.
Proscuitto wrapped asparagus:
The saltiness of the proscuitto goes well with the asparagus. This recipe is super easy to make and can be quickly put together. Plan for 3-4 spears of asparagus per person as an appetizer. Each serving will have about 1.5 net grams of carbs.
Avocado and Bacon Deviled Eggs:
Deviled eggs make an appearance at just about every family gathering. Bacon and avocado take them to a whole new level. We try to plan at least 1 hard boiled egg (2 halves) per person. Often we make extra since they won’t go to waste. They are a great keto friendly food with only 1.1 net grams of carbs for 2 deviled eggs.
Sausage and Cream Cheese Pinwheels:
These keto friendly pinwheels not only look great but they taste delicious too! It takes a few extra minutes to make them since you will want to slowly roll them so they look great. But it’s worth it. There’s only 2.4 net carbs for 2 pinwheels.
SIDE DISHES
Cheesy Zucchini Gratin:
Make this side dish recipe using 2 zucchini and plan for it to serve at least 8 people (probably more). Each serving of cheesy deliciousness will only be 2.3 net grams of carbs. This is one side dish that will not break the carb bank if you decided to have seconds!
Replace your high carb mashed potatoes with these cauliflower mashed potatoes. This is an easy keto swap that even non keto family members enjoy. I serve them with shredded cheese and cooked, diced bacon on the side. People can choose to keep them plain and top them with turkey gravy or they can create their own loaded mashed cauli-potatoes. Each serving has 3.9 net grams of carbs.
Balsamic Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon:
If you’ve been on the fence about trying Brussel sprouts then this recipe will change your mind. Balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese and bacon make these a delicious side dish. Since this is being served at a Thanksgiving dinner with multiple side dishes I would use a pound of Brussel sprouts for every 6 people. Each serving will have 3.6 net grams of carbs.
Make an ordinary Caesar salad even better by placing the romaine halves on the grill (or on a grill pan) for several minutes. Grilling the lettuce brings out a sweet, smokey flavor. Each half of a romaine head has 2 net grams of carbs. This homemade Caesar salad dressing adds another 1.1 net grams of carbs per serving.
Green Bean Casserole:
This casserole gets a keto twist to it by losing the high carb Cream of Mushroom soup and the fried onion topper. A freshly made mushroom cream sauce and bacon. You can never go wrong with bacon. Each generous serving has 7 net grams of carbs.
Or how about this version of the Green Bean Casserole?
This one features a cheesy sauce and a crunchy topping created with crushed pork rinds. Each serving has 4 net grams of carbs.
Cheesy Garlic Creamed Spinach:
This garlic creamed spinach has a delicious cheesy cream sauce. The recipe can easily make 8 – 10 servings as a side dish. Each serving has about 3 net carbs.
Cranberry Pecan Cauliflower Rice Stuffing:
Pass on the high carb stuffings made with bread for this delicious keto “stuffing” with a cranberry pecan blend that makes it great for your Thanksgiving table. Each serving has 5.5 net grams of carbs.
Keto Fathead Stuffing:
This stuffing recipe starts out with a traditional fathead dough. It’s rolled out and cut into cubes. Once baked up these cubes then become the basis of the stuffing recipe. You can follow the recipe to create the stuffing above or you can create the fathead dough and use it in your favorite recipe in place of bread. Either way you can’t go wrong. Divide this recipe into 8 servings and they are only 2 net grams of carbs each.
Keto Gravy:
What is a Thanksgiving meal without gravy for your turkey and cauliflower mashed potatoes? Sad that’s what it is. Well fear not. You can have delicious keto gravy for your holiday meal that isn’t loaded down with flour or cornstarch to help thicken it. Each 1/3 cup serving of this keto gravy has 4.7 net carbs. 1/3 cup is a very generous portion of gravy. Personally I split my portion into two. One for the main meal. One for the leftovers eaten later on in the day. This helps to spread the carbs out over the day. However, I also keep in mind that this is a once a year holiday meal and, should I go over my carb count for the day, I enjoy every bit before getting back to business the next day.
Forget the sugar loaded stuff you get in a can and make your own homemade cranberry sauce. It’s easier than you think and can easily be made a few days before you need it. By using orange extract or several pieces of orange peel you can give your cranberry sauce that orange taste you’re looking for without adding in orange juice. Each generous serving has only 3 net grams of carbs.
MAIN DISHES
Roasted Turkey Breast Infused with Garlic:
If you are having a smaller gathering, or just feel like whipping up a delicious turkey meal any time of the year, I suggest you try this roasted turkey breast. Garlic and herbs are infused in butter and then injected into the turkey as well as under the skin. This infuses the buttery herbal flavor in each bit! Plus the butter mixture under the turkey skin makes it nice and crispy. Soooo good! Carb count? This is a protein filled dish so no carbs here!
There are so many ways to make a turkey that you will have a hard time picking one. Check out this post on making the juiciest turkey ever with no brining needed:
Want to make a deliciously juice turkey AND make clean up easy? Why not use an oven bag to cook your turkey. Check out these steps on how to cook a turkey in an oven roasting bag.
Dry Brined Orange Rosemary Turkey:
Using a dry brine saves on the mess. You won’t have to create a brine solution and find a pot big enough to fit your turkey. A dry brine will pull some of the moisture out of the turkey. The salt is absorbed back into the turkey which helps to make the meat more tender. Check out how crispy it makes the skin!
DESSERTS
Thanksgiving meals are often all about the pumpkin pie.
Other desserts can make an appearance, and every family has their favorites, but pumpkin pie is often the centerpiece of the dessert menu.
Typical pumpkin pie can have easily have 45 grams of carbs or more per slice. The flour in the crust is just part of it. Many recipes use sweetened condensed milk and sugar in the recipe. These all contribute to the high carb count. If you’re looking to enjoy some pumpkin pie at your holiday meal why not try some of these low carb and keto friendly desserts instead.
Pumpkin Tiramisu:
You can whip up this pumpkin mousse used to create this delicious dessert in less than 10 minutes. Using premade, low carb cupcakes helps you put together this Thanksgiving treat quickly and easily. Make individual desserts by using small jelly jars or your favorite parfait glasses. Serve as is or top them with a bit of whipped cream.
Don’t want to be bothered putting the tiramisu shown above together? You can easily leave the cake out and end up with this delicious pumpkin mousse. Sprinkle the top with a bit of cinnamon and some crushed pecans. Serve up in individual dessert cups or put a big bowlful out to be served family style.
Gingercake Roll:
Gingerbread is another seasonal favorite that starts to make an appearance at this time of the year. This recipe features a sugarfree vanilla cream all wrapped up in a gingerbread cake wrapper. Bonus points for it looking just as delicious as it tastes. This one is sure to be a winner on your holiday table.
Keto Apple Cobbler:
Apple pie is another family favorite at the holidays. But a traditional pie, made with a flour based crust, apples and a heavy sprinkle of sugar, can come in at 40-45 grams of carbs for the most simplest of pie recipes. Add in even more if you make a deep dish pie or top your pie slice with a scoop of ice cream. It’s easy for the carbs to add up. Enter in this delicious mock apple pie recipe. It uses chayote squash in place of apples. The squash has the texture of apples once its cooked and you can boost up the “apple” flavor by adding some flavoring extract to the mix. One serving of this cobbler is only 3.3 net grams of carbs. When compared to traditional apple pie this recipe is a keto winner!
These can be eaten as a muffin or, top them with a bit of pumpkin mousse, and you’ve got yourself a delicious pumpkin cupcake! You can’t go wrong if you eat them as dessert or start your holiday dinner morning by having them for breakfast. They are delicious no matter what time of day you eat them.
With the holidays around the corner many people start worrying about how they will navigate the holiday dinner table. With a bit of planning you can make it through the day without going into a carb coma and waking up the next day regretting your choices. Plan a few of the keto Thanksgiving recipes above for your own holiday table or bring them with you to enjoy at someone else’s. They are all delicious and most non keto people love them.
If you are looking for other low-carb/keto recipe ideas, be sure to check out our growing Recipe Index full of low-carb/keto recipes!
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