Make Ahead Thanksgiving! Keto, Low Carb, & THM Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to survive Thanksgiving on keto? ›

A few general tips for making your Thanksgiving keto-friendly: Swap out mashed potatoes for mashed cauliflower, nix adding any flour to thicken recipes like green bean casserole or creamed spinach, and load up on the low-carb veggies like Brussels sprouts, spaghetti squash, and mushrooms.

Here are the main foods that are high-in-fat, low-in-carbs and are great starting place for anyone wanting to dip their feet into keto diet: Meat: Steak, ham, sausage, bacon, turkey, and chicken.

Cutting carbs cold turkey means there's suddenly an overload of insulin in the blood. This can lead to physical changes, such as headaches and shakiness, and emotional changes, such as irritability and depression.

Consider easing in. “Prior to starting a keto diet, individuals may benefit from tapering down their carbohydrate intake, instead of reducing carbs cold turkey,” says Lara Clevenger, a ketogenic dietitian-nutritionist with a private practice in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

These foods include meats, eggs, fruits and vegetables, fish, dairy, and nuts. A low-carb diet can help you work on more nutritious eating overall, or if you have diabetes, it can help you manage your condition.

Cold meats that are keto-friendly include most deli meats, like sliced turkey, ham, and roast beef. Most cold cuts and keto deli meats contain additives to extend their shelf life, so they may have small amounts of carbs.

Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, celery, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes contain very few or almost no carbohydrates. The carbohydrate count ranges from 2.97 to 3.89 grams. One cup of raw kale contains 0.9 g of carbohydrates (0% DV), making it a low-carb option.

There Are Plenty of Conscious Ways to Have a Keto Cheat Day

Or, if it's Thanksgiving, don't offer to cook green beans or turkey (which are already keto-compliant). Instead, bring a low-carb pumpkin pie or make mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes.

Even if you enjoy a bit too much turkey, stuffing, potatoes or pie, there's no reason to fret, says Jamie Kandora, clinical nutrition manager for Tidelands Health. The important thing is to not let one day of overeating deter you from your long-term health goals.

How to avoid starvation mode on keto? ›

It sounds impossible, but it's not. Yes, you have to cut out most carbs to make this happen. But you also need to increase your nutrition. Keeping an abundance of nutrients in your diet tells your body that it's not starving.