Clean Eating Thanksgiving Recipes

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I love holidays and all for different reasons. I try not to say XYZ is my favorite holiday because I tend to say that about all sorts of holidays. So I’ll just say, I love Thanksgiving. Part of this is probably because I love to cook, another because I love to get together with my family, especially if family I don’t get to see all the time are going to be there. 

As we all know, Thanksgiving means we’re eating. For some people they think about eating too much and feeling awful and sleeping it off to the sounds of American football in the background.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! I can’t help you with your self-control… But maybe I can help you find some better-for-you recipes for this Thanksgiving. If you want to feel better on Thanksgiving, read on for a list of clean eating Thanksgiving recipes that still hit all the right spots. 

I tried to include recipes that, in my opinion, do not compromise on the Thanksgiving basics or the tastes we’re all looking for, but that use better ingredients, are made from scratch, and use somewhat less sugar! Some people will disagree with these recipes, saying they’re not healthy for whatever reason. I am a firm believer in enjoying the food of this life! All things in moderation, of course, but if it’s made with real ingredients and not pumped with chemicals, I am going to enjoy all the cream and butter and meat and so on. 

I also tried to stick with a pretty classic Thanksgiving line-up, but obviously this is specific to different regions and cultures so it may not line up entirely with what your family likes on Thanksgiving. Feel free to use the table of contents below to skip right to the section that interests you. 

Preparing some ingredients ahead of time

Appetizers

The Meat

Sides

Desserts

Drinks

Preparing some ingredients ahead of time

This, obviously, will not be for everyone. Thanksgiving is enough work on it’s own without having to make the ingredients that go in to your dishes. However, if you want to take your clean eating Thanksgiving recipes to the next level, ensuring that the ingredients are whole and clean is the best thing you could do. 

I’m talking about things like making your own pumpkin puree, mayonnaise, pickle relish, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce, and so on. Personally, I don’t think any of these things are hard (I mean mayonnaise can be as simple as whipping up some olive oil with an egg), but they do obviously take time, some more than others. Shoot, you could even go so far as to make your own cream cheese, not that I will be doing this…

One of the biggest advantages to this for me is cutting down on the use of cans. I’ve discussed this briefly before, but even BPA-free cans have a lining that may not be very good for you. They have come up with new liners that don’t have a plethora of safety research (though ultimately they’re probably fine) and they’re very similar to BPA in form and function so there’s very possibly some issues of chemical/toxin exposure. 

Is it the end of the world if you use cans? Of course not! Is it potentially better to avoid them? More than likely. Besides the liner issue, the fresher the food, the better for you. Also, you can save quite a bit of money by making so many things you’d buy at the store, and a lot of the time they taste better.

Obviously, as seen with my cream cheese comment, there are so many variations of the lengths people are willing/able to go to achieve certain results. Figure out what works for your family with your budget and goals, and go for it. 

If this is something you’re interested in, I’ll let you look up your own recipes on that. Maybe someday I’ll post my recipes for my favorite grocery store replacements.

Appetizers

The appetizers list could go on forever. Nobody has time for that and there are entire topics devoted to that you can go find. So I picked a couple of my favorites.

Deviled eggs

Here is a great deviled eggs recipe from Brittany Mullins at Eating Bird Food. This recipe utilizes greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise, which ups the protein and gives a nice creamy texture to it. However, if you’re partial to mayonnaise, I’d say you can just substitute mayonnaise for the greek yogurt. If you do that, I would SO recommend whipping up your own mayonnaise to avoid all the unnecessary additives in store bought mayonnaise. It’s so easy, and you probably have all the ingredient laying around. 

Here’s the ingredients list: eggs, greek yogurt, pickle relish or diced dill pickles, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. 

Healthy Deviled Eggs by Brittany Mullins at Eating Bird Food

Cream cheese spreads

I’m not actually going to include a recipe for this one because it’s so stinking easy. Here’s what you do:

Take an 8oz block of cream cheese. Put it on a plate. Take a jar of your favorite jelly (I love a jalapeno jelly for this, personally), pour it on top of the cream cheese until it fully covers it. Et voila. Serve with crackers. 

What will make this “clean” or not are mostly the jelly and cracker choices you make. I recommend, for a clean eating Thanksgiving, to go for a quality ingredient jelly (jam preserves, whatever you prefer) from the store or to make your own. My favorite store bought jellies are Bonne Maman and Crofter’s Organic. 

But making jelly is SO easy. Generally speaking, four cups of fruit, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, simmer for 30 minutes, put in a jar and refrigerate. Obviously some kinds of jellies are more complicated, but for basic fruit jelly. 

ALSO, you can make your own crackers, which is surprisingly easy. I like to make sourdough crackers, but there are some really great just flour and oil type recipes. The hardest part of making crackers is rolling it out… Or you can just buy some high quality crackers. I like Mary’s Gone Crackers.

Pigs in a blanket

I really like this recipe by Sarah Nevins at A Saucy Kitchen for a healthier pigs-in-a-blanket recipe. Here’s the ingredient list: mashed sweet potato, almond flour, tapioca flour, oil, salt, and cocktail wieners. 

I will say, the Hillshire or other popular brand cocktail wieners most people use are not the best… ingredient wise. If you’re set on them, you do you. But there ARE alternatives. Here’s one that I’ve found. You could also use various other kinds of sausages, like speared Italian sausage or something. But if you want an authentic pigs in a blanket, I’d recommend sticking with a pure beef, minimal ingredients alternative.

Additionally, to make this easier, you could go with Annie’s Organic Crescent Rolls. But I think this A Saucy Kitchen recipe is amazing and not too difficult or time consuming. 

Paleo Pigs-In-a-Blanket by Sarah Nevins at A Saucy Kitchen

Roasted red pepper and garlic hummus

Hummus is healthy, there’s not really a way to make it more healthy, other than cooking dry chickpeas rather than using a can. So you can use whatever recipe you want! But here’s one I like from Suzy at The Mediterranean Dish. This recipe is great because it comes from someone actually raised in the Mediterranean.

Here’s the ingredient list: red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, garlic cloves, chickpeas, tahini paste, sumac, smoked paprika, lemon juice, pine nuts (optional), olive oil, and salt. (Note: I typically omit the jalapeno so my kid will eat it and have made it without sumac just fine.)

Hummus by Suzy at The Mediterranean Kitchen

The Meat

I’m including three meat options here and only one of them is truly a recipe. For the most part, ham is ham and turkey is turkey. I think roasting it is probably one of the healthier options but people get real into their deep frying and what not, so I won’t tell you how to live your life (lol). What’s most important in keeping this part of the meal “clean” is the meat you choose. Obviously there are varying qualities of meat out there. For birds, I recommend opting for a free range bird, preferably not injected with anything. Just bird. For ham, I suggest grabbing an organic, uncured ham, usually they’re bone in. Again, no extra ingredients in their. Just pig. For salmon, I recommend a wild caught variety. 

Ham

The part that can make or break a “clean” Thanksgiving ham, besides the quality of the meat, is the glaze. I for one don’t think a plain ham shouts Thanksgiving like a glazed ham… Here’s a great, healthy and clean recipe for a ham glaze as well as roasting instructions.

Here’s the ingredient list: Spiral sliced bone-in ham, maple syrup, coconut sugar, dijon mustard (this is one ingredient where quality can differ. I like to stick with an organic one without unnecessary additives), cinnamon, cayenne, ginger, and cloves.

Honey Glazed Ham by Lexi at Lexi's Clean Kitchen

Turkey

I am no turkey roasting expert. The only Thanksgiving I was in charge of the meat, I made ham, because that’s what I prefer. However, this recipe from Ree Drummond at The Pioneer Woman looks so good, so simple, and very healthy.

Here’s the ingredient list: Turkey, butter, orange, rosemary, salt, and pepper.

The comments on this recipe say it comes out perfect and was very easy, so that’s promising.

Oven Roasted Turkey by Ree Drummond at The Pioneer Woman

Salmon

I personally do not want fish on Thanksgiving… But I had to include a seafood option for my pescatarians out there! Honestly, this herb crusted salmon recipe by Holly at Spend with Pennies looks so good and I will probably have to make it for dinner soon. This recipe could also work with another fish, like cod or whatever you prefer, but the cook time will differ, obviously.

Here’s the ingredient list: salmon, butter, lemon, salt, black pepper, breadcrumbs, parsley, parmesan cheese, dill, and garlic.

Panko breadcrumbs would be the one ingredient I’d say you could level up in terms of clean eating. Not that there’s anything wrong with the ingredients in most panko breadcrumbs, but you can easily make them yourself if you like to make bread anyway. I’ll let you look it up, but it’s basically as easy as putting a fresh piece of bread in the food processor, then roasting lightly in the oven or in a pan with some olive oil and seasonings.

Herb Baked Salmon by Holly at Spend with Pennies

Sides

These are the sides of my family’s Thanksgiving spread. I know there are so many others, but I hope you find some inspiration from our family!

Green beans

One option for a truly simple and clean green bean dish is pan fried bacon and green beans. I just chop up some bacon, cook, then cook the green beans in the bacon grease. However, my family does green bean casserole, so let’s cover that.

Green bean casserole is also relatively easy to make. We do 1:1 cans of green beans and cream of mushroom soup, some milk, and sprinkle some French’s fried onions in there and more on top. However, I’m not a huge fan of the ingredients in most cream of mushroom soups. There are organic options that I like the ingredients of a lot better, like Amy’s. So that’s an option. I also think you could use homemade (or even store bought) breadcrumbs instead of the fried onions and it would be different but just as good and easy. 

I struggled to find a recipe I loved for this, but I eventually found one by Michelle at Unbound Wellness that has great ingredients and sounds amazing. I will say, this is A LOT more work than the way I grew up making it, out of a can. But it will be so much better for you and honestly probably taste a lot better too. Here’s the ingredient list: avocado oil, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, arrowroot starch, broth, coconut cream, green beans, almond flour, coconut flour, onion, and coconut milk.

This one is dairy and gluten free, which is great for those who require or prefer that. I personally love dairy and gluten in my recipes. I’m not a food blogger but I do cook and bake a lot, with a focus on creating dishes that ditch store bought products full of junk. Maybe for Thanksgiving this year I’ll perfect this recipe with gluten and dairy and post it for you guys. We will see. You could easily sub equal parts of half and half and regular milk for the coconut cream and milk if you want to try this recipe with dairy.

Green Bean Casserole by Michelle at Unbound Wellness

Rolls

You have to have Hawaiian rolls on Thanksgiving… Luckily, rolls are super easy to make. Here’s a great and simple recipe from Allie at Baking a Moment. Best part is homemade rolls are always even better than store bought. If you can follow a recipe, these should be amazing. 

Here’s the ingredient list: water, active dry yeast, pineapple juice, brown sugar, butter, eggs, salt, vanilla, flour. 

I have no qualms with all-purpose flour for something like a sweet roll, given it’s not something you eat every day. However, you could easily sub a little bit of the all-purpose for whole wheat. I do this often with various breads and it always works well. I don’t change anything else usually though if you do more than half of the flour as whole wheat you will probably need to add more moisture. But again, this is a sweet roll, so I probably wouldn’t sub more than a cup for whole wheat.

Hawaiian Rolls by Allie at Baking a Moment

Sweet potatoes/yams

It took me years to give up my beloved “candied yams” from my childhood. However, after making this sweet potato casserole for the last several years, I can admit that it is actually better. And it’s a lot easier and doesn’t involve burning your fingers layering hot yams.

Now, there’s a range for what might be a “healthier” sweet potato casserole. I’ve seen recipes that don’t add any sugar… I can’t do that. Remember, I come from candied yams! I like some sugar in my sweet potatoes, it’s the sweet side of the Thanksgiving plate.

Here is another great recipe from Brittany at Eating Bird Food that minimizes added sugar but still keeps the spirit of this side intact. Here’s the ingredient list: sweet potatoes, coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, ground flaxseed, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, brown sugar, pecans, oats, and almond flour. (Note: You can easily use regular milk for the coconut milk and use an egg instead of flaxseed.) 

Sweet Potato Casserole by Brittany at Eating Bird Food

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is so simple to make, SO much better than from a can, and better for you. I like cranberry sauce from a can, but I LOVE homemade cranberry sauce. I find most recipes for this to be pretty similar in the end, some use honey to sweeten and others use sugar and brown sugar. 

Again, for an occasional treat, I think just using sugar is fine and delicious, but in the spirit of clean eating and avoiding refined sugars, I’ve included a recipe from Cookie and Kate that uses honey or maple syrup. Here’s the ingredient list: fresh cranberries, honey or maple syrup, water, orange zest, cinnamon, and orange juice.

Naturally Sweetened Cranberry Sauce by Cookie and Kate

Turkey gravy

I can’t lie that I love a good brown gravy from a packet. However, if you’re looking for a good gravy recipe with better ingredients that’s fresh and without extra ingredients, here’s a simple option from Ashlea at All the Healthy Things.

Here’s the ingredient list: butter, all-purpose flour, turkey pan drippings, broth, salt, and pepper. Much cleaner than you’d get from a packet.

Turkey Gravy by Ashlea at All the Healthy Things

Mac ‘n’ cheese

I actually didn’t grow up with this one at Thanksgiving, but my sister has been making it the last couple years and I’m sold. There are a few variations of this, but I’m partial to when it has the crispy breadcrumbs on top so that’s what I’ve included here with a recipe by Liz Marino at The Clean Eating Couple.

Here’s the ingredient list: elbow macaroni pasta, olive oil, onion, all-purpose flour, milk, garlic, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, pepper, breadcrumbs, basil, parsley, oregano, and butter. (Note: her recipe calls for skim milk, which I would personally substitute for whole milk to get a more creamy, rich dish. But if you’re looking for lower calorie and fat, keep the skim milk.)

As I stated with another recipe in this list, there’s no problem with using store bought breadcrumbs, but you can level up with some homemade ones and drop a couple ingredients very easily.

Mac 'n' Cheese by Liz Marino at The Clean Eating Couple

Mashed potatoes

I don’t think most people make instant mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, so I probably don’t even need to include this. However, here’s a solid mashed potato recipe from Gimme Some Oven that is sure to be a hit.

Here’s the ingredient list: russet potatoes, garlic, salt, butter, milk, cream cheese, optional chives or green onions for topping.

You can totally omit the cream cheese if you prefer, but it does add a wonderful creaminess and richness to these potatoes. I’ve also made this with red potatoes, and it tastes great as well. 

Mashed Potatoes by Gimme Some Oven

Stuffing

Is it stuffing or dressing? I call it stuffing, though I don’t make it by stuffing it in the turkey… Either way, it’s delicious! I grew up with Stove Top boxed stuffing, which is so good. But here’s a homemade and equally delicious version. Obviously, this is going to require a bit more work than the boxed version, but it’s still not difficult.

Here’s a perfect recipe from How Sweet Eats, that does include QUITE a lot of butter. I love me some butter and don’t mind using a lot of it, but you can always substitute some of your oil for part of the butter if you want, just use equal measurements and it should work out fine.

Here’s the ingredient list: cubed bread, butter, onion, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, sage, parsley, rosemary, broth, and eggs. I’d recommend buying a good quality bread like Dave’s Killer Bread or Ezekiel Bread or making your own simple bread. 

Buttery Herb Stuffing by How Sweet Eats

Desserts

There is so much creativity you can take in picking desserts for your Thanksgiving table. For this post, I decided to stick with some classic pies and add some of my favorite desserts to make on Thanksgiving. 

I did not include a pecan pie, even though I know that is a Thanksgiving must have for some people. My family always makes it. The reason for this is that it’s pure sugar… and usually made with high fructose corn syrup, which I don’t love. You can probably find recipes that don’t use HFCS, but either way it’s still just sugar with little other nutritional value, which at least some other desserts have some of.

If you are a die hard pecan pie fan, go for it! But I figured it didn’t make any sense to add that to a “clean eating Thanksgiving” list.

Also, this is a dessert section and I’m not a sadist so these recipes mostly use refined sugar. You could find ways to substitute the sugar with maple syrup if you desire, or find recipes that do this, but I am going to continue taking my desserts with actual sugar, in moderation of course.

Pumpkin pie

I obviously couldn’t leave this off the list and settled on a recipe from Ambitious Kitchen. For this dessert I’d recommend opting for a cleaner brand of pumpkin puree or making your own. You can also choose to make your own pie crust. This sounds complicated, but making a healthy and delicious pie crust is actually pretty easy. In case you’re interested, here’s a solid pie crust recipe from Amy’s Healthy Baking.  

Here’s the ingredient list: pie crust, pumpkin puree, eggs, maple syrup, sugar, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt. Super simple and pretty decent for you. I love pumpkin pie because it hits all the fall pie spots without having an exorbitant amount of sugar.

Healthy Pumpkin Pie by Ambitious Kitchen

Apple crisp crumble

I love this dessert and though I feel like it’s underrated, I think if you try it you’ll never go back. I also love this same exact dessert but with blueberries instead. Here’s a great recipe for the apple version from Tati at Healthful Blondie. You can make this recipe with a pie crust if you choose, but I like it without. The nice thing about a blueberry or apple crisp recipe is that it can easily be made gluten free with a 1:1 GF, oat, or cassava flour, and it’s already vegan for those that prefer that! 

Here’s the ingredient list: red apples, granny smith apples, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, tapioca flour, cinnamon, rolled oats, flour, walnuts or pecans, salt, coconut oil, and vanilla. (Note: If you want to use butter instead of coconut oil in this recipe, you totally could.)

Healthy Apple crumble by Tati at Healthful Blondie

Pumpkin log

I had never heard of a pumpkin log until I met my best friend in high school and my life was changed. It’s pumpkin, it’s cream cheese, it’s cakey, it’s spiced, it’s delicious. Here’s a good, healthier recipe I found from Ana at Colorful Foodie. She substitutes some of the cream cheese for greek yogurt, which ups the protein content and I like her use of coconut sugar (though I have no qualms with cane sugar, especially in desserts.

Here’s the ingredient list: flour, coconut sugar, honey or maple syrup, lemon juice, pumpkin puree, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, powdered sugar, greek yogurt, cream cheese, vanilla, and all-natural sweetener. (Note: I don’t know what all-natural sweetener really means here and she doesn’t specify. I’d probably just use maple syrup in its place.)

Healthy Pumpkin Roll by Ana at Colorful Foodie

Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting

Here’s a recipe that is dear to my heart. I used to make these all the time when I had to eat gluten-free years ago and I actually just substituted the regular flour whatever recipe I used called for with Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour (which tends to be kind of sticky or spongey in my opinion) and it just made the most soft, spongey pumpkin cookies ever and I kept making them that way forever. So go ahead and try that if you want. 

Here’s a good version of this cookie with normal flour (though you can sub for Cup4Cup if you want to try it) from Haley at If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen.

Here’s the ingredient list: flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. It’s a cookie, so obviously it’s not going to be healthy… but it’s more than just flour and sugar so it’s not terrible!

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting by Haley at If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen

Drinks

Yes, I know, most people just buy these. I don’t love the ingredients or the amount of sugar in most store bought versions and they’re actually not too difficult to make so I figured I’d include some of my favorite holiday drinks. Plus, you can control the amount of sugar, knowing how sweet you like your drinks.

I wouldn’t call either of these entirely “clean,” as generally I consider drinking sugar sweetened beverages to be of no benefit and mostly negative for your health, especially if consumed in excess. However, they are a very fun part of Thanksgiving and these recipes are intended to be a step in a better direction.

Eggnog

I love eggnog and can drink, admittedly, way too much of it. However, have you ever read the ingredients of eggnog at the store? Not great… Luckily, eggnog is actually very easy to make. I like this recipe from Brittany at The Pistachio Project because she provides instructions for cooking it, since raw eggs worry a lot of people.

If raw eggs don’t concern you, you just blend up the ingredients and chill, but she provides a great explanation for “cooking” the eggs if you want to do that. Honestly, I might do that this year just to have a nice warm cup before I chill it. 

Here’s the ingredient list: whole milk, maple syrup, nutmeg, eggs, vanilla. That’s it? That’s it. Way better than store bought. (Note: I’d add cinnamon as well, personally. It’s very easy to play with the spices on this recipe until it’s exactly how you want it.)

Healthy Homemade Eggnog by Brittany at The Pistachio Project

Apple cider

Apple cider from the store isn’t too bad but still has ingredients you don’t need. Plus, it’s easy to make fresh, which is going to taste better and have more nutrients. I love this version from Laura at Joy Food Sunshine.

Here’s the ingredient list: apples, orange, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, brown sugar, and water.

Homemade Apple Cider by Laura at Joy Food Sunshine

Wrap-up

There you have it! My clean and (mostly) healthy(ish) Thanksgiving recipe lineup for you to have a much happier stomach this year. Remember, I can only help you with ingredients… The portion control is up to you…

This post is a little different from our usual, but it lines up with my passion for helping you make better choices about the ingredients in your food and products. If you’re interested in that kind of content, please consider subscribing to my newsletter and browsing our other posts for topics you may be interested in as well.