Thanksgiving is the best food holiday and I love how everyone’s is unique and brings different flavors and traditions into their Thanksgiving spreads! I wanted to share some of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes that have become a part of my table over the last 5 years of following a ketogenic lifestyle. The most fun part of keto for me, is adapting recipes to work for my lifestyle, but are still DELICIOUS! My goal is always to create recipes that everyone loves- not just people who are keto. So today I am sharing my absolute favorite sides to go along with the turkey! No shortage of cheese and bacon on this menu, but that’s what the holidays are for!

• The Best Keto Stuffing: made with bacon, leeks, and keto pumpkin bread!

• Loaded Cauliflower Mash: topped with cheese and bacon

• Butternut Swiss & Chard Gratin: cheesy, warm and cozy

• Four-Cheese Cracked Pepper Broccoli: a simple crowd pleasing veggie

• BLT Deviled Eggs: my favorite recipe for parties and any family gathering

• Pumpkin Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting: a fun alternative to pie

THE BEST KETO STUFFING

Stuffing is hands down my favorite part of Thanksgiving. I am the queen of leftovers and will probably eat this stuffing for 5 days in a row, it is based off a Martha Stewart recipe I saw that was obviously full of carbs. So I tweaked it to be keto-friendly and added the pumpkin bread twist. I use my Keto Pumpkin Bread recipe as the base of the stuffing. So step 1, is make that or if you are short on time you can buy a store-bought keto friendly bread. Either way, you will want to dry out the bread. You can do that by cutting it into bite size chunks and leaving them on the counter to dry out for a day or so, or you can speed up the process by baking the bite size pieces at 300 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

LOADED CAULIFLOWER MASHED "POTATOES"

Cauliflower is definitely a staple in a Keto diet. It is so versatile and at least for me is just as good as any potato! Make this for Thanksgiving and make all the other people jealous that you have bacon on your mash and they don’t ;)

 PLATING TIP!

I layered the cheese and bacon in the bowl so that pretty much every bite gets plenty. So I poured 1/2 of the cauliflower mash in the bowl, added cheese and crumbled bacon, then added the other half on top in a layer and topped with the rest of the cheese, bacon, and green onions. 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH & SWISS CHARD GRATIN

This is the ultimate fall recipe! Perfect for Thanksgiving or a Friendsgiving potluck! Butternut squash is a bit higher in carbs, at about 13 net carbs per 1 cup, but if you save some room in your macros I guarantee you won't regret it! Such a cozy dish and no one will even know it is keto-friendly!

FOUR-CHEESE CRACKED PEPPER BROCCOLI

You need some greens in the mix on Thanksgiving and I love this broccoli dish. It’s a crowd pleaser and a kid pleaser with four different kinds of cheese!

DEVILED EGGS

Deviled Eggs have always been my favorite party food, so I always make them a part of my Thanksgiving too! My favorite variety is the BLT Deviled Eggs, I’ve been making them for over a decade. This deviled egg recipe is a little different than the traditional filling. I add sour cream to my egg mixture and it is a game changer! It brings lightness and acidity and cuts through the mayonnaise.

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

If you want to try something a little different for dessert I would highly recommend these keto-friendly Pumpkin Cupcakes, they are one of my favorite recipes. I’ve been making them since the early days of going keto and they never disappoint!