Special Diet Thanksgiving Recipes

Healthy, delicious Thanksgiving recipes for those who follow a diabetic, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan or low-calorie diet. Healthier recipes from the food and nutritious experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Roasted Honeynut Squash

Rating: 5 stars 6
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

Beet Salad

Rating: 4 stars 9
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.
By Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough

Slow-Cooker Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Rating: 4.5 stars 4
Skip the roasting in this butternut squash soup recipe and let your slow cooker do the work instead. Just load up all the ingredients into the crock pot, set it and forget it for an easy, healthy dinner or packable lunches.
By Carolyn Casner

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions

Rating: 5 stars 11
Fresh herbs, onion and sautéed bacon flavor this easy Brussels sprouts 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.
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By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Fig & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Roll

Rating: 4 stars 4
Buttery puff pastry is a tasty shortcut ingredient that can be used in many delicious ways. Here we roll out a pastry sheet and cover it with fig jam and crumbled goat cheese, then roll it up into a log and bake it. The end result is a sweet-and-savory appetizer that looks and tastes impressive, especially considering it has just three ingredients.
Victoria Seaver
By Victoria Seaver, M.S., RD

Fall Chopped Salad with Spinach, Butternut Squash, Apples & Cheddar

Rating: 4.5 stars 14
Who says spinach salads are only for spring? Use autumn's tender crop of fresh spinach and other seasonal vegetables to make this fall salad with roasted butternut squash, apples, cheddar and pecans. This colorful and healthy salad would be a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving menu, but there's no reason to save it for holidays--serve it along with chicken or pork for a healthy weeknight dinner, or turn it into a main course by adding some chickpeas or chopped chicken or turkey.
By Carolyn Casner

Mini Crustless Caramelized Onion & Cheese Quiches

These crustless mini quiches are packed with savory caramelized onions and flavorful cheese. This technique for making caramelized onions uses way less fat, and by using sweet onions (like Vidalia, if you can find them), you don't need to add the sugar some recipes call for.
By Stacey Ballis

Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Rating: 5 stars 15
In this healthy side dish, sweet potatoes are tossed with maple syrup, butter and lemon juice and roasted until golden brown. The delicious glaze that forms transforms this simple dish into something sublime.
By Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

Broccoli Casserole

Rating: 4.5 stars 15
This lightened-up broccoli casserole is sure to be a hit. Learn how to make this classic side dish healthier.
A portrait of Breana Killeen, M.P.H., RD
By Breana Lai Killeen, M.P.H., RD

Melting Sweet Potatoes with Maple Butter

Rating: 5 stars 3
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

Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze

Rating: 3.5 stars 2
This sweet potato pound cake started out as a way to use up leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, but quickly became its own reason to make sweet potatoes. The cake gets better as it sits, so it's a great make-ahead candidate for any occasion.
Stacey Ballis Headshot
By Stacey Ballis

Fresh Apple Squares

Rating: 3.5 stars 5
One batch of dough does double duty as both the crust and streusel topping to make one of the easiest desserts around.
Eating Well Bio Page
By EatingWell Test Kitchen
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Inspiration and Ideas

19 Vegetarian Diabetes-Friendly Thanksgiving Recipes
These meatless Thanksgiving dishes—ranging from appetizers to entrees—include complex carbs like whole grains and starchy vegetables and have heart-healthy levels of saturated fats and sodium, so they fit well into a diabetes-friendly eating pattern.
17 Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Desserts for Diabetes
Ease some of the Thanksgiving cooking stress with these make-ahead diabetes-friendly dessert recipes.
Diabetic Carrot Cake
Rating: 4 stars 6

With this luscious take on an all-time favorite, you can fit this low-sugar cake into a diabetic meal plan with style.