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Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is one of the hardest meals to keep gluten-free when stuffing, gravy, and pie crusts usually start with wheat flour. This collection gathers gluten-free turkey, gravy, sides, desserts, and drinks in one place so you can plan the whole table without jumping between categories. The plate below picks eleven recipes from across the site. The 12 recipes counted at the top of the page are the ones tagged for Thanksgiving, listed further down. Use certified gluten-free products and check every label. A gluten-free label is a package claim. It is not a medical clearance. Browse by dish: start with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans, then pies and a cup of squash soup. Give the gluten-free dishes their own spoons. Read the turkey, gravy, and stuffing guides before you shop. Cross-link into dinners, salads and sides, baking, and desserts for more of the table.

12 holiday recipes · 10 related recipes · Updated

A Thanksgiving plate

Build the plate from these eleven recipes, picked from across the site. Wheat flour usually shows up in the gravy roux, the stuffing cubes, a canned soup, a fried-onion topping, or a refrigerated pie crust. A plain turkey, a plain potato, and a roasted vegetable are the dishes that stay simpler. Still read the broth, the spice blend, and any packet that came with the bird.

  • Garlic mashed potatoes — Mash them with butter, milk, salt, and garlic. Keep flour-thickened gravy in another pot, and use a spoon that never stirred a wheat roux.
  • Green bean casserole — The beans are the easy part. The cream soup and the fried-onion topping need a gluten-free label. Give the dish its own serving spoon.
  • Sweet potato casserole — Marshmallows and a canned topping still need a label check. An oat crumble belongs only when those oats are labeled gluten-free.
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts — A plain roast with oil and salt. Keep the pan off the stuffing board so crumbs do not land in the vegetables.
  • Roasted sweet potatoes — Cubes or halves with oil and salt. Skip a glaze packet unless that packet says gluten-free.
  • Classic cornbread — Cornmeal is not automatically gluten-free. Use cornmeal and a flour blend that say gluten-free if you want cubes for stuffing.
  • Pie crust — Refrigerated dough and a graham-style shell are wheat unless the box says gluten-free. This crust is written for a labeled blend.
  • Pumpkin pie — Use plain pumpkin purée, not pie filling. The spice jar still gets a look, and the crust is the line that usually hides wheat.
  • Pecan pie — The filling is mostly sugar, syrup, and pecans. The crust and any store-bought syrup still need a gluten-free label.
  • Apple crisp — The topping uses oats only when they are labeled gluten-free. Whether someone with celiac disease eats oats, because of avenin, is a question for their clinician.
  • Butternut squash soup — A first course that does not need flour. Use broth labeled gluten-free, and keep the ladle out of a wheat-flour gravy pot.

Pantry for this plate

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  • Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour — For the pie crust, and for a roux if you thicken gravy with flour. The bag says gluten-free. If it already lists xanthan gum, do not add a second binder.
  • Argo corn starch — For a glossy gravy without wheat flour. Whisk it into cold broth first. The box this listing matched says gluten-free. Read the box you receive.
  • Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats — For the apple crisp topping when you want oats. The bag says gluten-free. Whether someone with celiac disease eats oats, because of avenin, is a question for their clinician.
  • 100% pure pumpkin — For pumpkin pie filling. Use plain purée, not pumpkin pie filling, and read the can you receive.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Confirm the package is labeled gluten-free before you buy.

Holiday guides

Thanksgiving recipes

Related published recipes

Already on the site and a natural fit for a thanksgiving table.

Common questions

Is turkey gluten-free for Thanksgiving?

Plain turkey meat is naturally gluten-free. The risk is an injected or pre-basted solution, a seasoning blend, or stuffing cooked inside the bird. Choose a bird with no added solution or one labeled gluten-free, and bake stuffing in its own dish.

How do you thicken gluten-free Thanksgiving gravy?

Cornstarch, arrowroot, tapioca starch, or a sweet rice flour roux all thicken pan drippings without wheat flour. Whisk the starch into cold broth first, then simmer until glossy. Use broth labeled gluten-free.

What gluten-free stuffing works without bread?

Wild rice, quinoa, or roasted vegetable stuffings skip bread entirely. If you prefer a bread stuffing, use cubes from a loaf labeled gluten-free and toast them dry before mixing so they stay firm.

How do you keep a shared Thanksgiving kitchen from cross-contaminating the gluten-free dishes?

Give the gluten-free stuffing, gravy, and potatoes their own pot, whisk, and serving spoon. Wheat flour dust stays in the air and on a shared board. Do not bake a gluten-free stuffing inside a bird that was injected or packed with a wheat seasoning. Set the gluten-free dishes at the start of the line so a wheat stuffing spoon does not travel down the table.

When do oats belong on a gluten-free Thanksgiving table?

Only when the bag says gluten-free, as on the apple crisp in the plate above. Ordinary oats are often handled near wheat, barley, or rye, and rinsing does not fix that. Oats also contain avenin. Some people with celiac disease react to that protein even when the oats are certified gluten-free. Whether to include oats is a decision for that person and their clinician.

What does a certified gluten-free label change about a holiday product?

In the United States, a gluten-free label means the food meets the FDA rule of less than 20 parts per million of gluten. A certification mark is a third-party check on top of that claim. Broth, gravy packets, fried onions, pie crusts, marshmallows, and spice blends still need the words on the package you buy. A recipe on this site does not replace that label. Source: FDA, Gluten and Food Labeling.

Who decides whether a Thanksgiving menu is strict enough for celiac disease?

A clinician who knows that person. This page can point at labeled ingredients, separate spoons, and oats. It cannot decide what is safe for someone with celiac disease. Take personal questions about symptoms, oats, and how strict to be to that clinician.

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