Your Complete Paleo Thanksgiving Menu
Your November video lesson can be found on our private YouTube Channel and linked below.
Through the years, I have adapted every single traditional Thanksgiving recipe that my family has always enjoyed into a paleo version. Perhaps I’m biased, but I genuinely believe these paleo versions are far tastier than the old, gluten-filled versions. Many of these can be found in my holiday cookbook, which you can purchase as an ebook through Amazon. For you, my members, I’ve included the Thanksgiving recipes here and have linked to the ones that are already posted on the website. If you’d like to see more holiday recipes, consider purchasing the cookbook. It’s full of all sorts of great recipes from Fall Harvest through Super Bowl Sunday. If you typically enjoy something a little less traditional for Thanksgiving and need a paleo version, let me know and I’ll see if I can help you convert it to something that will help further your health goals.
Traditional Oven Roasted Turkey and Gravy
If you love herbs baked into your turkey, just gently ease the skin away from the flesh and place your herbs in that space. Sage, parsley, rosemary, and thyme would all be delicious. My family likes plain and simple so that’s the way we go. Here’s a somewhat scandalous idea – you can bake a chicken instead of a turkey if you have a small crowd. Roasted chicken is easier to bake to perfection: cooked thoroughly, but not dry. If you have a really large crowd, I recommend two smaller birds rather than one great big one. They will be more tender and flavorful than a big, old bird.
Yield: The rule of them is two pounds of turkey = one serving (so for example, a 10 lb. turkey should serve 5 people)
Cook Time: Plan on 15-20 minutes per pound. Plus allow time for the turkey to rest before carving.
Ingredients:
1 12-14 lb. turkey
1/4 cup water
4 stalks celery
12-14 baby carrots
1/2 medium onion
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoon ghee or olive oil
Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure to arrange your oven racks so the turkey will fit without a rack touching the top. You may need to remove one rack altogether.
2. If you are starting with a frozen turkey, make sure you allow ample time for it to defrost fully before roasting. When thawed, open turkey from package in (clean) kitchen sink. Rinse inside and out then pat dry with paper towels. Remove giblets from cavity and save for broth. Allow turkey to rest in sink while you prepare your baking pan.
3. Create a roasting rack for your turkey by laying celery stalks on bottom of roasting pan, place carrots in-between celery and then lay onion, sliced into rings, over top. Now place the turkey on the “rack.”
4. Combine salt and pepper in a small dish and combine well. Sprinkle this all over the outside of the turkey, rub it in, and sprinkle any remaining in the cavity of the bird.
5. Melt ghee and baste entire turkey with a small amount.
6. Place turkey in oven and enjoy the smell of your turkey roasting away!
7. Baste with ghee every 30-45 minutes and rotate your bird.
8. Your turkey will probably come with one of those little pop up timers. Once that pops up, I leave my bird in for about 15 more minutes to make sure it’s done. You can also use a meat thermometer and check to see that the dark meat is 170 degrees and breast meat is 165 degrees.
9. Remove from oven and transfer turkey to a large cutting board and tent with foil. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before carving. Don’t worry, it will still be hot.
10. Save the pan drippings and vegetables for the gravy.
Notes:
A trick I learned from my husband’s family is to roast the turkey the day before Thanksgiving! Shocking, I know. There are several benefits to this: you get all the mess out of the kitchen before the big day and you can go ahead and cook the bones and get that amazing broth for the rest of your recipes. If you slice the turkey and lay the skin over top, then seal it well, it will keep the turkey from drying out. No one will know you baked it the day before. Of course, if you are fancy and like to place the whole bird on the table, then you can’t do this. We always serve it sliced on a platter so this works perfectly in my house.
Now for the gravy…
You will simply not believe how flavorful this gravy is until you taste it. Made with all the vegetables and pan dripping from roasting the turkey, it’s sure to be a huge hit!
Yield: 12-16 Servings
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
all the pan drippings from your roasted turkey
additional broth to total three cups
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons arrowroot
2 tablespoons water
Method:
1.Once your turkey is finished cooking, remove it to a cutting board to rest.
2.Pour all of the pan drippings, vegetables included, into a blender. Add chicken broth if needed to total three cups. Blend until as smooth as possible.
3.Transfer gravy to a saucepan and heat over medium heat and bring to a low simmer.
4.Whisk arrowroot and water together to form a slurry.
5.Once gravy is simmering, slowly stir in your slurry. Continue stirring for one minute.
6.Reduce heat to low. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
7. Keep warm until time to eat.
Notes:
As with all of these other Thanksgiving recipes, this gravy can be made the day before and reheated right before serving. You may need to add a little additional broth to achieve your desired consistency.
Paleo or Gluten Free Dressing or Stuffing
This dressing is just as good (may I say better?) than the old gluten filled version. It’s so chock full of flavors, no one will suspect it’s “healthy” in any way! If you need to keep this paleo, just use my paleo bread recipe instead of gluten free bread.
Yield: 12-16 Servings
Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
3-4 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade
8 cups gluten free bread, torn into small pieces
3-4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1/2 cup ghee or olive oil (ghee is best for flavor)
2 cups celery, diced small
2 cups onion, diced small
1 lb. ground pork
4 teaspoons dried sage
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
6 eggs
4 teaspoon coconut aminos
Method:
1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread bread pieces into a thin layer on sheet pan and bake 20-30 minutes, stirring once, until dry, but not browned.
2.In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt ghee and add onions and celery. Sauté 15 minutes or until vegetables are translucent. Season with about a half teaspoon of salt and pepper.
3.Now add sliced mushrooms and pork. Continue to cook over medium to medium high until meat is cooked through and slightly browned. Sprinkle in another 1/2 teaspoon salt.
4.While meat mixture cooks, get out a large mixing bowl and add eggs, 3 cups broth, aminos, sage, poultry seasoning, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and mix well.
5.Toss in toasted bread crumbs.
6.Once meat and vegetables are cooked, remove from stove and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before adding to egg/bread mixture.
7.Once cooled slightly, add meat to bread and mix well. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper if necessary.
8.Pour into greased 9×13 casserole dish.
9.If baking right away: Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until set in center. Add more broth if necessary for your desired consistency.
10.This dish is perfect if you make it ahead of time. If preparing ahead, pour an additional 1/2 cup broth over dressing once it’s in casserole dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
Notes:
I think there are as many opinions on dressing as there are people who celebrate Thanksgiving. My family prefers their dressing a little drier, my husband’s family likes their dressing decidedly wetter. That’s why I’ve given a range for the amount of broth to add. While your dressing cooks, it’s ok to stir it around a bit and see how dry/wet it is and add additional broth if necessary. I added the full 4 cups for my family while I was testing the recipe and they thought it was perfect. You might prefer a little more or a little less.
Pumpkin Pie
What is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? This paleo version is even more delicious than the traditional! We make it all year round.
Yield: 6-10 servings
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
1 unbaked pie crust (see recipe on page 34)
1 15 oz. can pumpkin (make sure you don’t get pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs
3/4 cup coconut milk or almond milk
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of salt
Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Mix all ingredients, except pie crust, until well combined. Pour into prepared pie crust.
3.Bake 40-45 minutes, until center just jiggles a tiny bit when you move the pan.
4.Remove from oven to cooling rack.
5.Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes:
For Thanksgiving, I make almost the entire dinner the day before, but I always make my pies on Thanksgiving morning. I just think a pie is at it’s very best when it’s fresh.
Additional Recipes
Fresh Cranberry Relish or Sauce recipe is found here.
Sweet Potato Casserole recipe is found here.
Green Bean Casserole recipe is found here.
Dessert – just search “pie” or “pumpkin” or “apple” to find all sorts of Thanksgiving appropriate dessert recipes here on the website.
The Paleo Pie Crust recipe is found in the files section on our private Facebook page.
A few Quick Reminders about Surviving the Holidays
- You are an adult and get to choose what you put in your body. Sure, mom might not be thrilled that you’re passing on her marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, but you can assure her you love her in other ways. Don’t sabotage your health for someone else’s feelings. But on the other hand….if your mom is super sensitive and it would devastate her if you didn’t eat the sweet potatoes, then have a small portion and balance the rest of the meal accordingly. The bottom line is that you have to choose your priorities, know your body, know how far you can push things with your diet without ill effects, and make your choices accordingly.
- For most of us, special food goes hand in hand with holiday celebrations. I would advise you not to go into this time telling yourself that you will 100% abstain from treat foods. Rather, plan specifically when you want to enjoy the treats that you want most. What is the dessert that is a make or break for you? It just wouldn’t be Christmas without _______. Once you figure out what those things are, you can schedule them into your celebrations.
- Going along with the item above, don’t go into the holidays telling yourself it’s ok to go hog-wild for a couple of months. A lot of damage can be done to your health in two months of eating with abandon. Think about where you want to be January 1st and plan accordingly. For an example of just how bad things can go with a couple months of lax eating, read my story of insulin resistance.
- This is a great time to try to Paleo-fy a favorite old recipe. Or send it to me and ask me to take a crack at it. Most recipes can successfully be made over.
- Maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar and other paleo-approved sweeteners are simply not as inflammatory to the body as cane sugar and corn syrup. If you can even reduce the sugar or replace it with these natural alternatives, you could change the way your body reacts to the food.
- Be intentional. Spend some time thinking about how you want to feel for the next two months and then beyond. Then figure out what you need to go do achieve those goals.