How to Host a Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all having a good weekend so far. Thanksgiving can be a stressful holiday for a whole variety of situations. For those with Celiac or gluten sensitivity, it can be a stressful food event filled with concerns of gluten filled food or food contamination. I’ve hosted a Thanksgiving dinner the past few years, and have learned how to provide safe, gluten free alternatives to the traditional foods.

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, and have any guests who request gluten free food, here are a few useful tips to ensure a stress-free, happy Thanksgiving:

Talk to your guest a couple days beforehand. Starting a dialogue can help you understand their needs for food safety. And speaking from experience, your guest will definitely appreciate it and stress out less over consuming food.

Use gluten-free ingredients as substitutes for traditional gluten-filled ingredients. The best example of this is stuffing. Stuffing is a scary food Thanksgiving item, so go the route of using gluten free stuffing cubes. When you purchase them from the store, check to see if they have been processed in a facility that also handles wheat. Best place to verify is looking under the ingredients. If it has been, there’s a good chance that you’ll see something along the lines of “May contain wheat.” You’ll want to steer away from ingredients such as these.

Provide food that doesn’t need gluten substitutes. This is an easy, and more often than not, healthy decision. Provide side dishes that are naturally gluten free, such as fresh vegetables, potatoes, and fruits.

Those are just a few tips, I hope you’re looking forward to the holidays as much as I am! 

Also, if you've ever prepared a gluten free Thanksgiving and have tips of your own, add them to the comments in this post!