thanksgiving menu to support blood sugar balance + metabolic health
22 holiday favorites made healthier, just for you!
Collaborating with like-minded friends is one of my favorite things to do. I met Sonja Manning when we both worked remotely for Levels Health. Sonja was Chief of Staff for Dr. Casey Means (co-founder of Levels Health and author of Good Energy), and I was developing recipes for the Levels App and for all of you! Sonja now has a substack and a recipe club called Cooking in Color, where she shares colorful, delicious, metabolically healthy recipes.
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Sonja and I bonded over our shared passion for all things metabolic health and we eventually met in person at Natural Products Expo West in March of 2024.
Sonja and I have kept in touch and decided to collaborate on a Thanksgiving menu to support metabolic health. This was a labor of love for both of us. I hope you find new family favorites here and try new spins on the old classics.
I know traditions can be bound up in doing things and making recipes the way they have always been done, but I encourage you to try some of these healthier takes on the classics. Increasing fiber, plants, and protein and reducing refined grains and sugars will ultimately benefit everyone. And I promise, most people cannot tell the difference between “traditional” recipes and those updated and made healthier. xx Beth
I have prepared the recipes two ways so that you have choices! You can either download the recipes one at a time or scroll to the bottom of this post, where I have prepared an ebook containing all 22 recipes you can download. You get to choose!
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Join today to access our complete Thanksgiving menu with all the trimmings, all made blood sugar-friendly, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and dairy-free (or with dairy-free swaps), and to support your metabolic health!
Nibbles
One of my favorite secret hacks is “pre-gaming” (and it is not the same thing that it means to my twenty-something daughters!). I use the term pre-gaming to mean starting a holiday party, meal, event, or gathering with appetizers or snacks that prioritize protein, fat, and fiber. In this way, you are more likely to have level glucose no matter what the rest of the evening has in store.
This lupin dip, spinach + artichoke dip, and rosemary-spiced nuts provide protein, fiber, and healthy fat, making them a great start to your Thanksgiving holiday meal. If you are a guest at someone else’s home, consider bringing an appetizer that will give you a glucose response and keep your energy levels and mood stable, too!
Lupin dip—Serve this flavorful, garlicky dip with flackers, cucumber rounds, or homemade chia seed crackers, both the crackers and lupin dip are easily made a day or two before Thanksgiving, saving you time in the kitchen.
Spinach + artichoke dip—spinach dip is a popular appetizer any time of year, but this dip with added artichokes elevates the dip and adds nutrients too! This popular, flavorful dip can be made ahead and warmed right before serving. Serve with homemade seed crackers, flackers, or cut veggies like jicama, endive, or cauliflower.
Savory rosemary spiced nuts - These nuts spruce up any appetizer board, and they are incredibly delightful served warm! You can also make them in advance and warm them up quickly in the oven (see recipe notes) before serving. Often, spiced nuts are packed with brown sugar or cane sugar, but not these! A little egg white helps them stick together, and they are sweetened with either maple syrup or allulose. These also make a great hostess gift - put them in a cute mason jar and tie them with a ribbon and ta-da!
Chia seed crackers—If you’ve never made your own crackers, this is an easy recipe to get you started. If stored in an airtight container, these crackers can be made two or three days ahead of the big day. This recipe is totally customizable- use your favorite nuts and seeds for these crackers and use your favorite spices too. Flavorful and packed with nutrients and fiber, these little crackers will be a new favorite!
Mains
Roast Turkey with all the trimmings—Dr. B grills our turkey! Every family has their own way of cooking a turkey: in the oven, in a deep fryer, or on a grill. I am not going to tell you how to cook a turkey, but I will share what we do! We cook our turkey on the Weber grill, which frees up the oven for all those yummy side dishes and desserts that we love to make and enjoy with family and friends.
Cranberry sauce—This spiced cranberry cherry sauce is a family favorite. It has no added sugar and is naturally sweetened with just cherries and orange juice. Make this one a week ahead of Thanksgiving and the flavors meld and just get better with time. I usually make a double batch because this cranberry sauce is wonderful on yogurt or No Oats with a handful of nuts or nut butter any time of year.
Traditional “cornbread” dressing—This dressing tastes so much like cornbread that no one will miss the actual cornbread. It is a grain-free, corn-free, gluten-free, and blood sugar-friendly traditional “cornbread” herb dressing. Loaded with all the herbs, celery, onion, and sage you would expect but made with my famous flax bread in place of the cornbread. Make this one a day ahead and bake just before serving.
Paleo loaded stuffing—This flavorful “loaded” stuffing could be a meal all by itself and is actually my favorite Thanksgiving leftover to enjoy the next day for breakfast with a poached egg. It's loaded with bacon, sausage, celery, onion, sage, and chestnuts and uses your choice of one of three bases: sweet potato, flax bread, or cornbread, you choose!
Turkey gravy—I use Ina Garten’s make-ahead gravy recipe because we grill our turkey. I can make this gravy base days ahead of time, saving time on Thanksgiving day. I substitute the flour in this recipe for arrowroot or cassava flour, which works perfectly. On Thanksgiving, I add turkey drippings to this made-ahead gravy base, and it is ready to serve!
Sides
Green bean + mushroom casserole - People often snooze on the green bean casserole - but at my last Thanksgiving gathering, the TALK OF THE TOWN was this mushroom and green bean casserole with fried onions and leeks. This recipe is so good I’ll be making it as a side dish all year round. Forget cream of mushroom soup and store-bought fried onion toppings; this recipe uses grass-fed cheese (but there is also a vegan sauce option included) and thinly sliced leeks and onions to make a crispy topping.
Chili Mac—This is half chili and half mac and cheese combined into one hot dish! It’s flavorful like chili but creamy like mac and cheese. This recipe includes 9+ colors and is packed with micronutrients. The recipe involves a cauliflower cashew sauce that is naturally dairy-free and vegan, but there is also a cheese option if you prefer using grass-fed cheddar and mozzarella.
Sweet potato + squash casserole - My goal here was to take the beloved sweet potato casserole dish but make it more blood sugar friendly without losing any of the flavor. In addition to sweet potato, this dish uses butternut squash, cauliflower, and carrots to add even more nutrients and fiber and help blunt the glucose spike. When eaten alone, this caused me only a 12 mg/dL rise, and with a balanced meal (like Thanksgiving with turkey, veggies, etc.) I imagine it would be even less!
Brussels sprouts, bacon + chestnuts are easily my favorite side dish (other than loaded stuffing), and I could eat it every week. I love this combination of sprouts, bacon and chestnuts so much- all three ingredients were just meant to be together in my opinion! Cook the Brussels sprouts a day or two ahead of time and assemble this dish 20 minutes before serving.
Mashed “potatoes” - I have been making a low-carb alternative “mash” in place of potatoes for years, and no one misses the “real” thing. This combination of celery root and cauliflower is flavorful and the perfect vehicle for gravy.
Mac + cheese—Many families enjoy mac and cheese on Thanksgiving, and this is the easy, high-protein, one-pot, 20-minute recipe you need! Serve with or without bacon crumble on top.
Roasted root vegetables—This is a very versatile recipe. You could use whatever root vegetables you have available to you! It makes a colorful, vibrant dish that will grace your table and complement just about any meal. I usually cube all of the vegetables a day or two ahead of time and store them in gallon-size baggies drizzled in extra virgin olive oil. When you are ready to bake the root vegetables, spread them out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake.
Corn biscuits—Make these to serve as biscuits, or use this recipe as the cornbread in the paleo-loaded stuffing! My husband and son love these biscuits slathered in butter and honey but they also make the perfect “cornbread” for the paleo loaded stuffing if your family just cannot go without traditional cornbread for Thanksgiving.
Keto croissants—If your family likes to have rolls with Thanksgiving dinner, these keto croissants make an excellent roll and taste great with turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. Make these a day ahead and keep them in an airtight container until ready to serve. Find the step by step instructions for these croissants in this post.
Desserts
Thanksgiving dinner wouln’t be complete without an assortment of desserts, so I have given you options! All of these desserts will give you a level glucose response, and will support your metabolic health too.
Dairy-free, no-bake Pumpkin “Cheesecake”—This easy, make-ahead, no-bake dessert is perfect for when you are low on oven space but need a dessert! Pumpkin, cheesecake, and a lovely nutty crust are sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Pumpkin pecan pie - This low-carb, beautiful pumpkin pecan pie marries pumpkin pie with pecan pie in the most delightful way! Make the day before Thanksgiving and enjoy it with whipped coconut cream or all by itself.
Apple crumble + whipped coconut cream—This is another easy, make-ahead dessert that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. It's especially good with whipped coconut cream or whipped dairy cream if you tolerate it!
Thanksgiving Cinnamon Rolls—Thanksgiving cinnamon rolls are my husband’s family’s tradition, and it has taken me years to create a gluten-free, refined, sugar-free yeast dough to make these yummy cinnamon rolls a reality! I hope they become a new tradition in your home.
Thank you🧡
This newsletter and recipes wouldn’t be possible without YOU! A huge THANK YOU to all who support our work here on Substack. Wishing you and yours a beautiful Thanksgiving.
Download the Healthy Thanksgiving ebook that contains all 22 recipes!
We would love to see the dishes you make! Share snaps of your creations in the Substack chat or tag us on Instagram!
🧡Beth and Sonja
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What a blessing. Thank you for both formats. I love the ebook and print it out and take it with me as we travel. SO EXCITED to be able to eat good healthy food that is creative ! Yes. Yes. Yes. 🙌🏼
Hi Beth — For the chia seed crackers, I have all the seeds except pumpkin (I’m on vacation with limited access to grocery store). Could I increase the amount of the other seeds or substitute pumpkin for flax seed? Thank you!!