Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes

Find healthy, delicious gluten-free Thanksgiving side dish recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Roasted Honeynut Squash

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Honeynut squash looks just like mini butternut squash, but on the inside you'll find an even sweeter, deeper orange flesh. This winter squash has only been available at farmers' markets and in select grocery stores for a few years. If you see it, grab a few to try! This simple roasting method enhances the natural flavor of the squash with butter and spices.
By Carolyn Casner

Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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In this easy vegetable side dish recipe, sweet potatoes are tossed with maple syrup, butter and lemon juice and are roasted until tender and golden brown. The delicious glaze that forms on these maple-roasted sweet potatoes transform this ultra-simple dish into something sublime.
By Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

Roasted Brussels Sprout & Butternut Squash Salad

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Serve this hearty and healthy fall salad with roasted pork tenderloin, chicken or salmon, or with your Thanksgiving meal. All of the vegetables are roasted on the same pan, so this recipe is easy to prep, and it tastes great warm or at room temperature so it's perfect for holiday buffet tables and potlucks. Cranberries add a sweet-tart edge, while the maple-tahini dressing provides depth.
By Julia Levy

Sautéed Butternut Squash

Sautéeing butternut squash in olive oil quickly yields perfectly cooked results and slighly caramelizes the squash for extra flavor. This recipe makes a delicious vegetable side dish to pair with roasted meats.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Steamed Butternut Squash

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Butternut squash steams quickly, making this a great cooking technique to enjoy this fall vegetable as a weeknight side dish. For extra flavor, toss the steamed butternut squash with salt, pepper and a little bit of olive oil, butter or Parmesan cheese after cooking.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Melting Sweet Potatoes with Maple Butter

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As the name implies, these sweet potatoes melt right in your mouth. After browning in a hot oven, thick slices of sweet potato simmer in broth and soak up the flavors of maple syrup and lemon. This simple dish is great alongside roasted chicken or pork and makes a great Thanksgiving side dish.
By Carolyn Casner

Hasselback Potatoes with Cheese

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Hasselback potatoes are the perfect side dish for people who love crispy potato-chip-like slices as well as the tender interior of a baked potato. Simple to prepare, these hasselback potatoes look impressive and decadent with melted Cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of paprika on top.
By Carolyn Casner

Oven-Roasted Squash with Garlic & Parsley

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Learn how to roast squash in this healthy recipe adapted from Alice Waters. Look for squash varieties, including buttercup, kabocha or hubbard, at your farmers' market and try them in this tasty side dish.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Garlic-Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

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Speed up roasting vegetables, like these lemon-and-thyme-infused Brussels sprouts, by cooking them on two large baking sheets instead of just one. This basic roasting technique also works for other root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and potatoes.
By Hilary Meyer

Balsamic Roasted Carrots

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Roasting carrots brings out their sweetness, which is enhanced further with a tangy balsamic and maple glaze. Serve them straight-up for an easy weeknight side dish or garnish with chopped hazelnuts for holiday meals and dinner parties.
By Marianne Williams

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

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Garlic cloves, cooked along with the potatoes, give this puree extra body and lots of flavor.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets

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Try a sweet glaze on beets or other root vegetables to help balance their earthy flavor. This easy recipe will work with steamed carrots, turnips or rutabaga too.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen
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Inspiration and Ideas

Beet Salad
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This simple beet salad recipe uses just a handful of ingredients to create a delightful side dish. Roasted beets add a sweet, earthy and aromatic flavor that shines in this side salad.
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions
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Fresh herbs, onion and bacon sauté alongside Brussels sprouts in this easy vegetable side dish recipe. This savory dish is delicious in the fall and winter months, when Brussels sprouts are in season. If you can find them still attached to the stalk, don't be intimidated--buy them, as they're likely more fresh. Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Smoky Aioli

Air-Fryer Brussels Sprouts

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These super-crispy and browned air-fryer Brussels sprouts with sweet onions and salty bacon--all amped up with bright lemon juice--are sure to be a hit, whether you serve them for a weeknight side dish or as part of your holiday spread for Thanksgiving. This recipe makes enough to serve eight but is easily halved, though once you taste it you may well want a double serving. And if you prefer a vegetarian side, simply omit the bacon.

All Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes

Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

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The genius hack in this recipe: topping sweet potatoes with marshmallows while they're still piping hot from the slow cooker yields a baked marshmallow topping that's typical with baked sweet potato casseroles.
By Carolyn Casner

Cinnamon Baked Pumpkin

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Baked pumpkin is a fun twist on tradition. A sprinkle of cinnamon is a delicious nod to the usual pie and transforms the squash into an enchanting side dish recipe.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Roasted Delicata Squash & Onions

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Roasting intensifies delicata squash's flavor. Seasoned with rosemary and maple, this recipe's great with pork or turkey.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Sautéed Leek Mashed Potatoes

In this healthy mashed potato recipe, we flavor the mashed potatoes with leeks lightly sautéed in butter and tangy buttermilk. These mashed potatoes are an amazing side to grilled steak or chicken.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Candied Carrots

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A combination of brown sugar and apple juice makes these easy candied carrots sweet but not cloying. Chopped fresh thyme brightens the flavor in this classic side dish, but feel free to omit it if you want an even simpler dish. Serve with chicken, pork or your Thanksgiving dinner.
By Julia Levy

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Buttermilk

These garlic mashed potatoes are extra creamy, thanks to the addition of both butter and buttermilk. To prevent the potatoes from getting gummy, be sure not to overmix them in Step 2. Mashed vegetables tend to get cold easily; keep all tools--the ricer and bowl--warm by running under hot water before using.
By Adam Dolge

Sweet Potato & Turnip Mash with Sage Butter

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This sweet potato and turnip mash is fragrant with fresh sage.
By Raghavan Iyer

Balsamic-Roasted Green Beans with Parmesan

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Sweet balsamic vinegar and nutty Parmesan cheese complement roasted green beans and shallots in this easy and healthy side dish. Roasting the green beans gives them a sweet, caramelized flavor while they still retain some bite. Serve with chicken, fish, pork--you name it. These green beans are also a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving meal.
By Robin Bashinsky

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

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This creamy cauliflower mash makes a perfect low-carb stand-in for mashed potatoes. Here we take simple mashed cauliflower and mix in garlic, buttermilk and a touch of butter to create a flavorful side dish that has about one-quarter of the calories of typical mashed potatoes. If you like, vary it by adding shredded low-fat cheese or chopped fresh herbs.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

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These hasselback sweet potatoes are like mini marshmallow-topped sweet potato casseroles drizzled with sage-infused butter. The hasselback technique, slicing the potato but leaving it whole, makes for a tender potato with a crispy top--the best of both worlds.
By Carolyn Casner

Balsamic Roasted Cabbage

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These roasted cabbage wedges with honey and balsamic vinegar make an attractive and healthy side dish that's also very easy to prepare. You can use red or green cabbage--or make a double batch with one of each for a pretty presentation.
By Marianne Williams

Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This healthy mashed sweet potato recipe has just 5 ingredients and is dinner-ready in 20 minutes. Using sweet potatoes for this classic side dish adds color to your plate along with a little sweetness and a boost of Vitamin A. With classic and simple flavors, it can easily be paired with any of your favorite dishes.
By Carolyn Casner

Orange & Avocado Salad

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This colorful salad would be a welcome addition to a Mexican-inspired meal.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions for Two

Hearty Brussels sprouts pair nicely with salty bacon and onions in this quick Thanksgiving side dish for two. A sweet balsamic glaze makes a nice complement drizzled over the top, but it's not necessary to enjoy this classic combo. For a twist on this recipe, try swapping pancetta for the bacon. If you want to have leftovers, this recipe is easily doubled.
By Hilary Meyer

Lemon-Herb Roasted Beets

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We love how roasting brings out the sweet flavor of beets. Golden beets look especially pretty when tossed with the fresh herb and lemon seasoning mix, but any type of beets will work in this recipe. If you're a lemon lover, be sure to add the squeeze of fresh lemon juice after the beets are roasted.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Honey-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

Balsamic vinegar and honey combine to give a sweet-tart coating to these roasted Brussels sprouts. These honey-balsamic Brussels sprouts are quick enough for a weeknight meal, but they are special enough to make a no-fuss side dish for Thanksgiving or any other holiday meal.
By Jasmine Smith

Crispy Potato Stacks with Fresh Sage

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These little cute stacks are everything you want in a potato side dish: tender in the middle, devilishly crispy on the outside, and seasoned with sage and butter throughout. For best results, use a mandoline to slice the potatoes extra-thin.
By Mary-Frances Heck

No-Sugar-Added Sweet Potato Casserole

Instead of loading up this comfort food side with tons of brown sugar and marshmallows, we have turned to sweet spices, vanilla and inherently sweet dried fruit to enhance the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes. A topping of pecans and pepitas replaces traditional marshmallow topping to keep it healthy and add texture and color for a beautiful casserole.
By Carolyn Casner

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Make this classic comfort food side dish in an electric pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, to get the potatoes soft and tender in a jiff! This easy, 5-ingredient recipe is perfect for the holidays because it's all done in one pot and doesn't take up any extra oven or stove space.
By Hilary Meyer

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta & Sage

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In this roasted Brussels sprouts recipe, pancetta--cured Italian-style bacon--seasons sweet Brussels sprouts with a hint of salt and a touch of smoke that goes nicely with the fresh sage. These Brussels sprouts are the perfect vegetable side dish to any turkey, pork or chicken dinner.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Shallots

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This easy side dish combines the natural sweetness of caramelized shallots with the earthiness of Brussels sprouts, a fall favorite.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Meringue-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole

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This lightened-up take on the classic Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole is spiked with crushed pineapple and toasted pecans. We top it with an airy, slightly sweet meringue. You can pipe the meringue to make it look fancy or simply spread it neatly with a rubber spatula.
By Jessie Price

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

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This healthy recipe is a savory riff on the traditional brown-sugar-and-pecan-topped sweet potato casserole so often found on Thanksgiving tables. Crispy baby kale leaves make a stunning garnish, but any green or herb that suits you will look great, fried or not.
By Mary-Frances Heck

Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing

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Pure maple syrup, as opposed to artificially flavored and colored “pancake” syrup, is an extraordinary cooking ingredient. Here it adds body as well as rich flavor to the dressing, providing a perfect counterpoint to the smoked cheese.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen
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