It’s that time of year again: everyone is putting up their grateful signs, and family group chats are exploding with passive-aggressive non-arguments about who’s cooking what this year. Thanksgiving barrels in at full speed every holiday season, whether we’re ready or not, but at least everyone gets a truckload of good food out of it, right?. Well, everyone, that is, except those of us who are gluten-free. 

As the number of gluten-free eaters increases, so do the odds that you will have one attending your Thanksgiving dinner. Gluten intolerance presents in several different levels of severity, and it’s becoming a more common diagnosis every year. It may be a temptation for you to think, “Well, we have gluten-free food, there are green beans, and corn, and jello, and turkey, well, turkey without gravy…” and let me stop that thought right in its tracks. If you do not want to sit at Thanksgiving dinner and chew dry turkey and watch everyone else eat pie without you, neither do your gluten-free guests.

What Difference Does Gluten Make? 

Some of you who have gluten-free relatives and friends may have tried a GF recipe or two already. If that is the case, you have probably already learned that it is easier said than done. While the recipe itself may have been easy enough to follow, odds are the results were underwhelming in the least. You probably used words like ‘dry,’ or ‘crumbly,’ or ‘bland’ to describe your final output. 

What is it about cooking gluten-free that makes the end product so different? The answer is in the chemistry. Gluten is a protein found in wheat flour. As you mix water with wheat flour, the gluten creates stretchy sheets within the dough, acting as a sort of glue. Adding yeast and folding the dough creates air bubbles that make the dough rise. Without gluten, dough breaks apart easily and becomes crumbly. 

Luckily, some elements of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner are naturally fairly free of gluten, like the meats and the vegetables. The web is overstuffed with recipes for gluten-free bread, gravy, stuffing, pie… you name it. And, as we mentioned before, many of them are quite doable, but do they leave your mouth watering?

A Little Something Extra

The main two elements that gluten-free dishes lack are moisture and flavor. So, while you can’t change the fact that a lack of gluten scientifically makes baked items much less appetizing, there are other ways to make up for it. And they’re ridiculously easy. 

• OLIVE OIL is a healthy and well-loved adder of moisture, especially when paired with bread. But what you might not know is that olive oil can be an excellent source of flavor. Olivelle, one of our tried and true favorites, has created a wide variety of infused olive oils. With flavors ranging from “Pizzaolio” and “Peppered Bacon” to “Sweet Cream Butter” and “Vanilla Maple”, their oils can be used for both savory and sweet gluten-free bread recipes. Just drizzle or dip!
• SPREADS can salvage any dry baked good, but not all spreads are equal. Stonewall Kitchen carries some of our go-to unique and rich spreads, like their Maple Pumpkin Butter, which we love on rolls, and their Hot Pepper Cranberry Jelly, which can salvage even the driest of gluten-free crackers. Some of our other tried and true favorites are from Bourbon Barrel foods Bourbon Barrel Foods: their Blueberry Bourbon & Cardamom Jam is made from organic blueberries and cooked in small batches, and it shows. 

Even more good news! No need to order these items online; we carry them in store and would love to sample with you!

Other Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Options

If you’d rather steer clear of gluten-free baked goods, another idea to consider is trying a non-traditional Thanksgiving spread.  How about Turmeric Chicken with Couscous and Roasted Potatoes,Sirloin Steak with Garlic Mushrooms and Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Salmon with Chickpeas over Kale, or Spiced Poached Pear? Sign up for our  NON-TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING FEAST cooking class! Taylor King of OG Greens has prepared a new and fresh way of doing Thanksgiving , and she’s coming in to show us how! The dishes she’s created are full of flavor, packed with nutrition, and naturally void of gluten!

Eating gluten-free doesn’t have to thwart your Thanksgiving dinner. Naturally dry gluten-free baked goods can be revived with the right oils and spreads. You can go a non-traditional direction and change up your Thanksgiving menu to feature naturally gluten-free main courses and side dishes! The holidays are a time of coming together, of sharing warm conversation and good food. Let’s share with everyone this year. Whatever you need to make a tasty gluten-free Thanksgiving spread, stop in to Plum’s Cooking Co. to make it happen!