Healthy Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes

SO I know some of you have already begun planning your Thanksgiving meals but I thought I would put together a list of healthy Thanksgiving recipes. These recipes I have tried and LOVED! I am always looking for healthy ways to eat “traditional” foods. And these are great options for everyone. Let’s start out with what my family typically eat for Thanksgiving. We have to have Turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing/dressing, cranberry sauce, SWEET POTATO PIE, and pumpkin pie. I found some great recipes for these foods. All of these recipes are gluten free and lower in carbs! YES! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Turkey with Gravy

When I was younger, my family would make fried turkey! Although it was delicious, it probably wasn’t the most healthy way to eat turkey… I mean I love turkey, especially the breast! But you cannot have turkey breast without having gravy! This recipe is great and healthy! I love gravy but I try not to put too much on the turkey because I want to taste the turkey too! Well, Unicorns in the Kitchen put together a great gravy recipe for turkey gravy without drippings! I am only making turkey breast this year so there isn’t much for drippings. Finding this recipe was perfect! And best part, I can make this ANYTIME not just for Thanksgiving! The only thing I changed was I used almond flour instead of regular flour.

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are a pretty easy switch for me.. I found this recipe for Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes on Favorite Family Recipes. And it just makes so much sense. Basically, you just substitute some of the potatoes for cauliflower! They are genius! I love the taste of potatoes (who doesn’t) and I wanted to cut some of the carbs. WELL, THIS RECIPE DID JUST THAT! Sorry I am just so excited! And this is super simple to make! Best part is, you don’t even need to tell your family you added cauliflower in it if you don’t want to… hahaha!

Green Bean Casserole

One of the most classic side dishes and my FAVORITE is Green Bean Casserole. I’ll be honest, as long as I can remember, I just made it with canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, and the topping. Ok, so I love green beans for holidays! I had to try this dish because it sounded absolutely amazing and SO simple! I love simple! Great job, Kitchen Treaty! I would have never thought to put shallots on this but hey, on the traditional green bean casserole, you would put fried onions so its not far off! The only thing that was missing for me was mushrooms but hey, why not add them into the shallots to make them more like the traditional green bean casserole. Of course, Jacob asked why it wasn’t creamy… hahaha!!

Stuffing/dressing

So stuffing isn’t exactly my favorite. I don’t really eat it because its just “weird” to me. Haha! But I will take a roll every day! However, I found this great Gluten Free Stuffing from Favorite Family Recipes and it is really good! I don’t normally eat stuffing because I always think of it in the box and that is just no for me. But since I know exactly what was in it, I really liked it!

Cranberry Sauce

Jackson loves cranberry sauce. He likes the tart and sweetness of it! So I was looking for a recipe for one that has less sugar in it or at least a “healthier” sweetener. And this recipe from Healthy Recipes has a great option for less sugar and also has an option for honey! I tried it with honey because I didn’t have the other sweetener. And we liked it! It was a bit different (much more tart) than canned cranberry sauce but super simple to make and turned out so well! 

Sweet Potato Pie

Growing up, my dad’s side of the family ALWAYS had sweet potato pie for dessert on Thanksgiving. My grandma would make the BEST pies… I think that’s why her nickname was Pie! Anyway, before she passed away she gave the recipe to my dad and he shared it with me. Unfortunately, it is not low carb… there is a lot of sugar in it (I mean that’s what makes it so good!)!! When we are visiting my dad, we eat the sweet potato pie, because its my grandma’s recipe and moderation is key! But I have tried to make it a bit healthier on my own.

Since I love sweet potato pie and can eat it every day for every meal, I tried several recipes! Cooking with K has a crustless sweet potato which was SO GOOD! It was so creamy and sweet potato-y (is that a word?). Less carbs with there being no crust, which is great and still full of flavor! YUM!

I also had to try this Ambitious Kitchen recipe for sweet potato with a pecan crust! I love pecans (almost as much as sweet potatoes) and I love sweet with salty! She gives options on how to make it dairy free and paleo which is nice too! I really thought this recipe was GREAT! Great is an understatement. I don’t ever want to eat another pie ever again (sorry Dad…). The pecans add the perfect amount of salt and the sweet potatoes with their natural sweetness and a bit of sweetness from the brown sugar. The balance is amazing! GREAT job, Ambitious Kitchen! YUM YUM YUM!!!

Pumpkin Pie

Ok, I will be honest, pumpkin pie is not my favorite pie for Thanksgiving. I like it but I would rather eat Sweet Potato Pie if it is available. Living in Wisconsin, sweet potato pie is not baked as often as pumpkin or apple pie. My extended family likes to eat low carb so I figured this Crustless Pumpkin Pie would be perfect for them! I mean no crust would have to be low carb, right? Well Healthy Recipes did it and it tasted just like pumpkin pie! I mean I wasn’t expecting it not to taste like pumpkin pie… I just thought it would be different without the crust BUT it definitely didn’t!

What are your favorite dishes to eat for Thanksgiving?