Thanksgiving is upon us, and with it comes memories of gorging on high calorie and high carb foods. Thanksgiving is actually one of the easier holidays to "low carb." I have a suggested menu below. However, if you are visiting someone else's home, how about giving the host or hostess a call and offering to bring a couple of these dishes along. Besides, if you do it, then it will bring some variety (and low carb options) to the meal. I know many people just make the exact same things year after year and would welcome something new (especially if they didn't have to make it.)
Appetizers
In our house we usually have a protracted afternoon of appetizers. (We could actually just stop at the appetizer portion and not eat the main course, but then what would we do for leftovers?) Low carb appetizers include:
- Low Carb Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce (this is naturally low carb, simply make your own cocktail sauce with Heinz low carb ketchup, horseradish, and your favorite hot sauce.) Elegant and delicious!
- Scallops wrapped with bacon can be wrapped the night before, refrigerated, and cooked just before serving.
- Low Carb Crabmeat Balls can be cooked the day ahead and heated up right before serving.
- Low Carb Swedish Meatballs can be cooked up to 2 days ahead and then just heated up in the chicken broth the day of the event.
- Nuts
- Hickory Farms Beefstick
- Cheese
Low Carb Crabmeat Dip, can be made the night before and cooked right before serving.
Main Course
The turkey, ham, or roast is low carb by itself, but stuffing and mashed potatoes are another matter.
Low Carb Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Here are some low carb substitutes for mashed potatoes and stuffing.
Veggies
Most veggies are good, unless they have a sugar-laden gravy or lots of marshmallows. Here are some of my favorites:
- Mythos' Low Carb Baked Spaghetti Squash Recipe
- Green Beans sauteed in butter and bacon slices
Low Carb Desserts
This is where it gets interesting!
- Low Carb Pumpkin Pie Dessert from The Low Carb Gourmet by Karen Barnaby
- My Brownies Recipe from The Low-Carb Gourmet by Karen Barnaby
- Cream Cheese Brownies (uses a mix as a base)
- Luscious Low Carb Decadent Chocolate Cake or Brownie (uses a mix as a base)
And don't forget the low carb eggnog!
If you try these, please leave a comment and let me know about your experiences!
(And to get low carb updates on a weekly basis, read about my free weekly low carb newsletter!)
Update: The Chicago Sun Times also has some low carb Thanksgiving recipes for low carb stuffing; low carb cheesecake; low carb butternut squash soup; low carb cranberry, orange and walnut relish; and low carb scalloped cauliflower.
I really didn't like any of the options for a low carb thanksgiving it really was disapointing, i tried them ahead of time so i didn't waste any money if nobody liked them, well nobody did. thanks i guess
Posted by: Carrie | October 18, 2005 at 01:23 PM
well I guess I enjoyed the post... Thanks for sharing...
Posted by: Thanksgiving Dinner | October 24, 2008 at 01:46 AM
What a whiner up there! I thought these were great, thanks so much!
Posted by: Ashley | November 22, 2010 at 05:10 PM
They all sound AMAZING!!! Thank you so much for putting them down in PRINT! :)
Peace~Lvoe~Light
Victoria
Posted by: Victoria | November 09, 2011 at 04:55 PM