25 BEST Keto Thanksgiving Recipes (2024)

Planning a holiday menu when you're trying to follow a specific health plan isn't always easy. Let us help you plan your keto Thanksgiving menu or holiday dinner with our favorite low carb and keto-friendly holiday recipes!

We have 25+ of the best keto Thanksgiving recipes from your appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, sauces, and desserts! Most are from our website, a handful are from other low carb food blogs. It's a Whole Lotta Yum!

25 BEST Keto Thanksgiving Recipes (1)

Jump to:
  • Keto Thanksgiving Menu
  • Holiday Meal Planning Tips
  • Main Dish Ideas
  • Hot Side Dishes
  • Holiday Salads
  • Holiday Sauces
  • Thanksgiving Desserts
  • Appetizers
  • Low Carb Breads
  • More Keto Holiday Recipes

Some of the dishes are low carb and might not be true keto. We have a wide variety of readers and some try to follow strict keto during the holidays, and others are just trying to keep their carbs down but want to still enjoy their favorite holiday. Just do what's best for you and your health program when planning out your keto Thanksgiving recipes!

Keto Thanksgiving Menu

Hosting Thanksgiving dinner is always one of my favorite family celebrations. For the most part, we stick to the same core dishes but it's always nice to add in a few new surprises each year.

As a general rule of thumb, here's what I serve as our Keto Thanksgiving Menu. If you can get your guests to help bring some of the dishes, even better!

My go-to holiday appetizer is putting together a simple meat and cheese board, with the addition of low carb vegetables. No one would guess it's low carb and it's ALWAYS an impressive crowd-pleaser. Even better? This is an easy dish for older kids to assemble for you. Here's what we suggest for an entire menu of keto Thanksgiving recipes:

  • 2-3 appetizers
  • turkey
  • 2-4 hot side dishes (depending on your party size)
  • salad
  • bread (whether it be keto or just bread for your non-keto guests)
  • 1-2 desserts

Holiday Meal Planning Tips

Wondering how to juggle it all and not end up stressed and frazzled by the time dinner is served? Here are my top tips after serving large holiday meals for the past 20+ years:

  • Get your guests to help! Trust me, they WANT to! Whether it be to bring a dish or help with prep, let them assist.
  • Assemble the baked dishes and desserts 2-3 days in advance.
  • Set the table the day before.
  • Don't make everything from scratch, some store-bought items like a meat and cheese tray or olives for an appetizer are just fine.
  • Make some dishes in a crockpot, Instant Pot, or air fryer to free up oven space.
  • Put older kids (and spouses!) to work. Don't try to do it all.
  • Scared of a big turkey? Cook turkey breasts instead.

Main Dish Ideas

Herb Roast Turkey Breast

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If you're cooking for a small group, our roast turkey breast recipe in the oven is the way to go. You'll love the herb butter that coats the entire breast while baking. Dare I say you won't even need gravy?

If you're wanting a whole bird, you'll love our easy roasted turkey in the oven!

Air Fryer Turkey Breast

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Do you have an air fryer yet?? Thanksgiving might just be the best time to go out and get one if it's been on your wish list! Here's our recipe for yummy crisy air-fried turkey breast that cooks in under an hour.

More of Our Air Fryer Turkey Recipes

  • turkey cutlets
  • Air fryer boneless turkey breast (from frozen)
  • turkey thighs
  • turkey legs
  • turkey tenderloin

Air Fryer Cornish Hens

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If you aren't a turkey lover, making air fryer Cornish game hens is a great alternative for Thanksgiving. Allow ½-1 hen per person. For a small group use your air fryer, otherwise, you can bake this entire recipe in the oven too.

Hot Side Dishes

Loaded Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

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You have to have mashed potatoes at your Thanksgiving meal but don't want the carbs. You won't believe how creamy and addictive our keto cauliflower mashed potato recipe is, the consistency is similar to mashed potatoes since we mix in cream cheese, cheese, and garlic. Make ultimate potatoes or top with keto gravy.

Keto Sausage Stuffing

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Our keto stuffing recipe with sausage hits it out of the ballpark! No one will ever know this is a keto dish. We show you how to make your own dried bread cubes with keto bread. It takes a bit of time, but it's totally worth it and all of the steps are super easy.

Low Carb Green Bean Casserole

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Casseroles were popular in my house growing up. But a low carb, gluten-free, keto green bean casserole?! Count me in.

It's rich, creamy, and perfect for the holidays, made with a cream cheese sauce instead of canned mushroom soup. Serve fried onions on the side or make our keto fried onions.

Pureed Butternut Squash

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You'll seriously love our low carb mashed butternut squash. So creamy and flavorful, you won't even miss sweet potatoes. This is not a strict keto recipe, but is low carb. To reduce the carbs puree half squash and cauliflower together.

Keto Baked Mac N Cheese

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In some parts of the country, having Mac N Cheese on the holiday table is the norm, if you're missing it from your Thanksgiving table this year, make a lower carb version with our keto friendly mac n cheese recipe using cauliflower. The cheese sauce is amazing!

Keto Roasted Radishes

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Before you turn up your nose at the thought of roasted radishes, you'll be surprised to hear that radishes are actually the closest-tasting cooked vegetable to our dear old friend the potato! Even our kids loved these low carb baked radishes.

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This simple Brussel sprouts casserole is made with roasted Brussels sprouts combined with a creamy cheeese sauce and bacon. I promise, even Brussels sprouts haters will love this casserole.

More Low Carb Hot Sides

Holiday Salads

While the hot veggie dishes are often prominent during the holidays when you're looking for keto Thanksgiving recipes, we suggest serving a cold salad on the side too. Here's a handful of the best everyone will love and no one would ever guess they are low carb.

Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing

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Aspinach salad with hot bacon dressing was always one of our favorite holiday salads, we've adapted our family recipe to make it keto friendly.

Keto Broccoli Salad

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Here’s another keto take on the traditionalraw broccoli salad, which is a holiday classic for many families. Don't be put off by the raw broccoli, it's seriously amazing. It's also the most popular salad on our website with over 500K reshares.One of the most popular recipes on our site!

Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad

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If you didn't realize you can eat Brussels sprouts raw, you can! The best way to serve them is thinly sliced and tossed with flavorful ingredients such as bacon, blue cheese, and our apple cider vinaigrette like we did in our shaved Brussel sprouts salad.

Holiday Sauces

The only two keto Thanksgiving recipes you need as far as holiday sauces go are cranberry sauce and gravy. We've included our two favorite recipes for both.

Low Carb Cranberry Sauce

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If you thought you had to skip the cranberry sauce for a keto Thanksgiving, have no fear, keto friendly cranberry sauce is easy to make and cooks in just 15 minutes.

It's very yummy on turkey, chicken, keto biscuits, and more. This is definitely something you should add to your keto Thanksgiving menu.

10 Min Make Ahead Keto Gravy

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If you can't live without gravy, and I feel ya there, we created a fantastic easyketo gravy you can make ahead that just takes 10 minutes. It's rich and thick, just the way you'll like it. We show you how add a touch of drippings on turkey day if preferred.

Thanksgiving Desserts

To plan an entire low carb holiday meal, don't forget the keto Thanksgiving recipes like a dessert or two that no one will even know is sugar free. While pumpkin is traditional, there's multiple other options if you want a variety.

Keto Crustless Pumpkin Pie

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If you're looking for an AMAZING keto pumpkin pie recipe, be sure to try our crustless recipe, it's highly rated. You can either bake it in a pie pan, bake it in individual muffin tins to make mini desserts, or bake them in ramekins.

Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse

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More Low Carb Dessert Ideas

Appetizers

You'll just need a couple of keto Thanksgiving recipes that are appetizers for your low carb holiday. Two hot dishes and something simple like veggies and cheese are great options. You don't want to stuff the guests before dinner even starts.

Hot Artichoke Green Chili Dip

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4 ingredients, 15 minutes, and one happy chef. This mild artichoke green chili dip puts a kick in your guests' steps and a smile on their faces.

Antipasto Skewers

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Boursin Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers

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Stuffed Mushrooms with Bacon and Cream Cheese

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Keto Charcuterie Board

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Our favorite holiday appetizer is just putting together a meat and cheese board. All of the ingredient ideas for our low carb charcuterie board are keto friendly, other than the sliced apples (our son's favorites).

We love to shop at Trader Joe's when making a charcuterie board, they're hands-down the cheapest plus have a fantastic variety.

More Appetizer Ideas

Low Carb Breads

Low Carb & Keto Dinner Rolls

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What's a holiday meal without the dinner rolls and butter? You don't have to skip out just because you're on a health mission for yourself. This recipe uses almond flour and the bread-like texture turns out beautifully.

Find the recipe on Low Carb Maven

Low Carb Biscuits

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Also made with almond flour, these biscuits work wonders with keto gravy, or honestly a little Thanksgiving biscuit sandwich.

Keep in mind this recipe is low carb, wheat and grain-free only.

Find the recipe on Heart of a Country Home

Cheesy Cauliflower Muffins

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These little cauliflower muffins are adorable and so tasty! You can alter the amount of cheese you use, depending on how much you love cheesy foods. They make for a great appetizer, snack, bread-like side dish, and anything else you can think of, really!

Find the recipe on Kirbie's Cravings

More Keto Holiday Recipes

  • 18 Keto Side Dishes
  • 25 Days of the Best Keto Christmas Cookies
  • 12 Low Carb Cocktails to Make Your Holidays Merry and Bright

Be sure to save the keto Thanksgiving recipes pin to Pinterest for later!

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25 BEST Keto Thanksgiving Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you eat keto on Thanksgiving? ›

Protein — You've got that covered with turkey, but it's also OK to slip some bacon, ham, sausage and/or eggs into your sides. Vegetables — avocado, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, eggplant, kale, mushroom, peppers, spinach and Swiss chard, to name a few.

Should I break keto for Thanksgiving? ›

If you're unfamiliar with a keto diet, here's the quick explanation: It's extremely low in carbohydrates and high in fat. Meat, including turkey with skin, is fine to consume, but other Thanksgiving staples aren't. Mashed potatoes are off limits, along with bread stuffing, rolls, sugary cranberry sauce and desserts.

What is 75 20 5 keto meal plan? ›

"With a keto diet, the breakdown is approximately 75 percent fat, 20 percent protein and 5 percent carbohydrates." For example, a woman who weighs 150 pounds and is moderately active is recommended to eat 25 grams of carbs (think one medium sized apple!), 86 grams of protein (a little over three 3 oz chicken breasts) ...

Are sweet potatoes keto-friendly? ›

Nutritionists and keto practitioners advise against eating sweet potatoes on a keto diet due to their high carbohydrate content. But you may be able to consume it in very small servings. If you limit your carb intake to 50 grams per day, you can only consume a little over one medium-sized sweet potato.

Can you eat carrots on keto? ›

The bottom line. Carrots can be eaten on keto, but it may be difficult to include them regularly or in large quantities, as they contain a fair amount of carbs. Some less starchy alternatives to enjoy raw or cooked include celery, broccoli, and cauliflower.

What is the hardest day of keto? ›

1.The First 10 Days May Be The Toughest

Before starting, you should be aware that if you drop carbs cold-turkey, the first few days you will most likely experience symptoms of your body adjusting to lack of glucose. Many people starting off keto will go through this and it's often referred to as the “Keto Flu”.

Will one slice of pizza leave ketosis? ›

Regular Crust

This type of pizza crust can have up to 33g of carbs without any added sauce or cheese. If you're limiting your carbs to 20-50 grams per day, one slice of this type of crust will likely kick you out of ketosis.

What happens if you eat too many carbs on keto? ›

The bottom line. You should avoid cheat meals and days on the keto diet. Consuming too many carbs can kick your body out of ketosis — and it takes several days to 1 week to get back into it. In the meantime, your weight loss may be disrupted.

How fast to lose 20 pounds on keto? ›

“If the patient can maintain a steady calorie deficit, I expect them to lose one to two pounds per week,” says Dr. Seeman. So after 12 weeks, her clients are usually down around 20-25 pounds.

Is cottage cheese good on keto? ›

While cottage cheese is known for its high protein content, it also contains a relatively high amount of carbs and not that much fat, making it a less-than-ideal choice for keto. A ½-cup serving of cottage cheese contains 88 calories, 2.4 g of fat, 4.5 g of carbs, and 11.6 g of protein, per the USDA.

Can you lose weight on keto eating 50 carbs a day? ›

Most people will need to go under 50 grams per day to reach ketosis. This range may be beneficial if you want to lose weight while keeping some carb sources in the diet. It may also help to maintain your weight if you're sensitive to carbs.

Is peanut butter OK on keto? ›

Peanut butter can definitely be part of a keto diet, but it's best to stick to plain options that are free of extra flavors and sweeteners. Almond butter is a good choice, too, and it's slightly lower in carbs. Additionally, you should be mindful of your portion size if you're trying to lose weight.

Is popcorn okay for keto? ›

Net carbs are calculated by taking the total grams of carbohydrate in a food and subtracting the amount of fiber. In this case, popcorn contains 6 grams of carbs per 1 cup serving and 1.2 grams of fiber, bringing the net carbs per serving to 4.8 grams. Yes friends, popcorn is indeed a keto food.

What fruit is good on keto? ›

Keto fruits by definition are low in carbohydrates. You still need to exercise portion control with most keto-friendly fruits to be within the limits of a keto diet. Keto-friendly fruits include avocados, watermelon, strawberries, lemons, tomatoes, raspberries, peaches, cantaloupe, star fruit, and blackberries.

Is turkey allowed on the keto diet? ›

Foods to Eat

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. Cheese: Cheddar, cream cheese, goat cheese, mozzarella, or blue cheese (always unprocessed).

How do I get back into ketosis after Thanksgiving? ›

Here are a few tips to help you get back into ketosis:
  1. Try intermittent fasting. Combining intermittent fasting with the keto diet may help your body shift its fuel source from carbs to fat ( 9 ).
  2. Track your carb intake. ...
  3. Try a short-term fat fast. ...
  4. Exercise more. ...
  5. Try a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) supplement.
Jun 2, 2020

What is considered a cheat day on keto? ›

For keto dieters, a cheat day can mean indulging in actual pasta, pizza, and other high-carb meals. While many dieters think of cheat day as a well-deserved reward, nutritionists say there are downsides to it.

Is turkey cold cuts keto-friendly? ›

Nearly all minimally processed meats are good sources of keto-friendly protein, including beef, chicken, fish, shellfish, pork, turkey, bison, and lamb. A 100-gram serving of these meats typically contains 17-21 grams of protein. Fattier cuts, like bacon and sausage, are lower in protein than leaner cuts.

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