As the founder of Faithful Workouts and The Fresh Table, I love to cook, and I especially love to prepare healthy, life-giving meals. Even during the holidays, I love to eat healthy because I just feel better when I make eating this way a lifestyle choice and not a “diet”.
My husband and son are both gluten and dairy-free free so I feel I’ve mastered the art of GF and DF cooking. If you need to take out gluten and dairy from your holiday meals or you just want to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner that is healthier, that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice delicious, great-tasting foods.
In this post, I am going to share with you a complete Thanksgiving meal that includes my personal favorite recipes. This is also the meal I plan to cook and serve my own family this year. Even if you don’t need gluten-free and dairy-free recipes, I still highly recommend all of these recipes.
All of the Thanksgiving dinner recipes included are for 8-10 people (depending on how hungry they are!) I’ve included a soup, salad, four sides, and a dessert. I recommend cooking the turkey the way you and your family love most. Part of the fun of Thanksgiving is the leftovers, so be sure to make enough so you can enjoy them with some other fun recipes for a few more days. All these recipes are gluten and dairy-free but loaded with flavor.
1.) Curried Squash Soup
I grew up eating a lot of homemade soups. I think my mom was one of the best soup makers ever! I still love soups and make them often, especially living in Colorado. This Curried Squash Soup is one of my favorites because of the savory taste of the squash, the subtle sweetness of the apples, and the spice of curry powder.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
- 1 large onion (diced)
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 4 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 10 cups gf chicken or vegetable broth
- 4 tablespoons curry powder (add half and taste so you can get the right spice level)
- 2 med. apples peeled, cored, and diced
Directions:
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add onions, garlic, and apple, and sautéfor about 5 minutes. Add squash and broth and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a blender in batches until smooth. Add 2 tbsps. Curry powder, stir well and taste. Add additional curry if needed and stir well.
2.) Blueberry and Dill Salad
Obviously, Thanksgiving can be a heavy meal, so I like to include this salad, which is flavorful but also very light.
Ingredients:
Salad
- 8 cups mixed greens
- 1/2 cup green onion (thinly sliced)
- 1.5 cups fresh blueberries (sliced strawberries work well too)
- 2/3 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese (Optional)
Dressing
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is best)
- 1 tsp dried dill
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Put the lettuce into a large salad bowl. Sprinkle the fresh dill over the lettuce. Top with green onions and blueberries. For dressing, put all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk. When ready to serve, pour dressing over lettuce and top with crumbled goat cheese (optional).
3.) Sausage and Celery Stuffing
This recipe holds a special spot in my heart. I remember cooking this gluten-free stuffing recipe with my father-in-law. He was one of my all-time favorite people. He was a family-loving, Italian guy who also loved his food. He was diagnosed with Celiac disease late in life, but he adjusted and continued to love being in the kitchen, and I loved to cook with him whenever we were together.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsps olive oil (divided)
- 4 oz. ground Italian sausage
- 1 cup of onion, finely chopped
- 3 cups of celery, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 slices of gluten-free bread cut into large cubes
- 3 large rice cakes
- 1 and 2/3 cup GF chicken broth (add more for a wetter stuffing)
- 2 tsp dried tarragon
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place bread slices directly on the oven rack and cook until crispy on both sides. Remove and cut into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1tbsp. olive oil in a large pan over medium/high heat. Add the Italian sausage. Stir and chop the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Cook for 4 minutes or until almost cooked through. Add in the onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stir, and cook for about 6 min. Add bread cubes, broth, tarragon, and parsley into the pot. Hold the rice cakes in your hand and crumble them into the pot. Stir well. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Use 1 tbsp olive oil to coat a large baking pan. Pour stuffing into the pan. Bake for 45 min. Can sit in fridge for up to 2 days before cooking.
4.) Green Beans with Toasted Almonds and Bacon
Of all the vegetables I eat, green beans remind me of my mom. Growing up, green beans were a part of many of our meals. My mom typically made them the same way, which is this recipe. One of the things I love about food is can stir up memories from your past. I am so thankful that my mom taught me from a little on that the best foods are the ones you make yourself with fresh ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. of fresh green beans
- 2 slices uncured (no nitrate) bacon
- 2/3 cup slivered almonds
- 3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Bring water to a low boil in a large pot. Wash and pluck the tips of the beans. Put clean beans into water. Cook for approx. 7 minutes (if you are not serving immediately, cook only until they aren’t quite done because they will cook more when you reheat). Drain the beans. In a large frying pan, cook 2 slices of bacon until crisp. Remove bacon but keep the grease in the pan. Toss in the almonds and cook until just golden. Crumble the bacon into small bits. Turn off the heat and add the green beans, lemon juice, and bacon. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir (bacon is pretty salty, so be careful not to over-salt).
5.) Jalapeño Orange Cranberry Sauce
Any Thanksgiving meal just isn’t complete without a delicious cranberry sauce. By delicious, I don’t mean that jelled stuff that comes out of a can. Again, I love the variety of flavors in this recipe. The tartness of the cranberries, the spiciness of the jalapeños, and the sweetness of the oranges are amazing when put on a piece of turkey.
It’s funny, I always thought I hated cranberries because of the canned version. It’s amazing how much better fresh ones taste.
Ingredients:
- 12 oz bag of cranberries
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely minced
- 2 oranges (peeled, seeded, and chopped into small pieces)
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Directions:
In a small pan, combine cranberries, water, sugar, and jalapeño pepper over medium heat. Stir, cover, and simmer for about 5 min. or until cranberries or softened. Add oranges and lime juice. Stir and cook additional 3 minutes. Once it’s room temperature, cover and put it in the fridge. Can be made up to 3 days in advance.
6.) Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower
If you ask my boys what their favorite part of our Thanksgiving meal is, they would probably say the mashed potatoe,s and they both love this version.
Ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower (broken into smaller pieces)
- 2 lbs of potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (you can peel or leave on)
- ¼ cup of olive oil
- 1 – 1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
- garlic, 4 cloves peeled and whole
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
Directions:
Dice up your potatoes and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. Fill a large pot halfway with water. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes, cauliflower, and garlic. Cover and cook at a low boil until cauliflower and potatoes are soft (approx. 30 min). Once cooked, drain the water out, and then put the cauliflower, potatoes, and garlic back into the pot. Take a sharp knife and kind of chop through your potatoes and cauliflower while they’re still in the pot, just to make the chunks a bit smallerAdd in olive oil and 1 cup almond milk and blend with a hand-held blender. You may need to add additional almond milk to get the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. When ready to serve, sprinkle the fresh parsley over the top.
7.) Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans
I think my boys would like me to make the traditional mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows but my daughter and I love this version better, so the girls will win this year!
Ingredients:
- 5 large sweet potatoes
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- salt to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl, place the sweet potatoes, pecans, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Toss to coat. Spread the sweet potatoes out on a large baking sheet covered in foil. Spread them out into a single layer (may need 2 baking sheets. Place the potatoes in the oven and roast at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft and lightly browned. (Stir halfway through so potatoes don’t stick to foil)
8.) Apple Crisp
If you know me at all, you know I’m not big on desserts, but I know I have to include something for Thanksgiving, so here is one of my favorite go-tos when I am craving something sweet. (My second choice would be strawberries dipped into melted dark chocolate)
Ingredients:
- 8 cups diced apples (peel on or off – your choice)
- 2 tsp + 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
- 3/4 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
Directions:
Put diced apples in a 13 x 9 pan. Sprinkle 2 tsp cinnamon over apples. In a separate bowl, combine 1 tsp cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut oil, oats, and almond flour and mix well. Should form a crumbly consistency. Crumble over apples. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for approximately 40 minutes.
Faithful Workouts is an online Christian fitness community where we combine faith, fitness, food, and fun. Keeping God at the center of our lives so we can reach our goals and live life with more joy while looking and feeling our best.
Michelle is the founder of Faithful Workouts and The Fresh Table. She began her fitness career in 1984 and still loves to help people break free from fitness frustration and move towards a life that’s full of physical and spiritual health. Michelle is married to Jeff and they have three adult children.
