The Best Sugar-Free Low Carb Thanksgiving Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you survive Thanksgiving on keto? ›

Sugar-Free Doesn't Mean Carb-Free

While sugar-free foods can be part of your diabetes diet, you should think about carbs, too. Just because food is labeled sugar-free doesn't mean it has no carbs. If you're trying to choose between standard products and sugar-free options, look at the food label.

A serving of mashed potatoes comes in around 35 grams of carbohydrates for a one-cup serving. Stuffing prepared from a box mix has 40 grams of carbohydrates for one cup. Keto followers aim for no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day at the start of the diet.

Cutting carbs cold turkey means there's suddenly an overload of insulin in the blood. This can lead to physical changes, such as headaches and shakiness, and emotional changes, such as irritability and depression.

Food and drinks allowed on a no-carb diet include meat, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, oils, water, and plain coffee or tea. If you're less stringent, you can also eat nuts, seeds, non-starchy vegetables, and high fat fruits like avocado and coconut since these foods are low in net carbs.

Severe carb limits can cause your body to break down fat into ketones for energy. This is called ketosis. Ketosis can cause side effects such as bad breath, headache, fatigue and weakness.

Non-starchy veggies should fill half of your plate (plus, the veggies will add festive color to your meal!) and lean protein, like turkey or plant-based proteins, should fill one quarter. Finally, fill up the last quarter of your plate with carbohydrates (carbs), such as mashed potatoes or whole grains.

The roast turkey is the quintessential main dish for Thanksgiving feasts. Remember that no matter what you choose to make, the key to a successful dinner is having a turkey large enough to feed everybody – and to have some leftovers for yourself.

What are 3 foods that are eaten on Thanksgiving? ›

Millions of people across the United States will sit down to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, potatoes, squash, corn, and cranberries.

There Are Plenty of Conscious Ways to Have a Keto Cheat Day

Or, if it's Thanksgiving, don't offer to cook green beans or turkey (which are already keto-compliant). Instead, bring a low-carb pumpkin pie or make mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes.

The reality is, you're probably not consuming that many calories—and even if you did, “consuming more than the needed amount of calories in one day due to a holiday meal will not negatively impact your health in any way,” says Kage.

People following the keto diet should be eating foods like fatty fish, eggs, dairy, meat, butter, oils, nuts, seeds and low-carb vegetables. “Fat bombs” like unsweetened chocolate or coconut oil can help people reach their daily goals for fat intake. Keto-compliant foods like red meats and nuts can be costly.