Having a Dairy-Free Thanksgiving Dinner

It is possible to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that is milk-free. Turkey, of course, has no milk products, and it is possible to make many other Thanksgiving recipes without milk.

You cannot have the turkey without the stuffing, or the dressing if that's what you call it! There are many different stuffing recipes and it is pretty easy to find one without dairy products. It is important to read the nutrition facts on each and every ingredient. Bread crumbs can have milk in them as well as the butter used. By checking the ingredients and substituting those without milk products, the stuffing will help you feel stuffed! Don't forget to look for dairy-free margarine and if needed you could make your own bread crumbs out of milk free bread.

Green Bean Casserole is found on almost every Thanksgiving table. For many years I was not able to eat it because of the cream of mushroom soup used in each recipe. By cooking together mushrooms and butter with a touch of soy milk and thickening it with cornstarch you can make your own cream of mushroom soup without the cream part! This can be mixed in the green beans and topped with French fried onions just like everyone else, but be sure to check the nutritional information on the French fried onions!

Sweet Potato Casserole recipes are easy to find without milk ingredients, as well as most cranberry recipes.

Mashed Potatoes can also be made without dairy. Chicken broth can be used instead of milk as well as soy milk. For a truly unhealthy dish you can also just use dairy free margarine until the potatoes are at the consistency you want.

Another Thanksgiving constant are yeast rolls. It is possible to find these without milk but if you can't find them you can of course make your own.

Dairy-free pumpkin pie recipes are easy to find and if not many of the milk products can be replaced with soy or rice products, but what about that whipped cream on top? Whipped cream can be enjoyed by those with a milk allergy by using coconut milk instead. To make whipped "cream" use the recipe below.

3 cans coconut milk chilled

sugar or sweetener of your choice

vanilla extract

chill bowl and whisk

Open chilled coconut milk and skim the "cream" from the top then whisk vanilla, sugar and coconut milk until it looks like whipped cream. Enjoy!

If someone else is cooking your Thanksgiving dinner then call ahead and tell the host or hostess of your allergy so that they can either substitute non-dairy dishes or at least inform you as to which dishes will have milk in them. If this is so you can also bring your own dairy free dish to share with everyone else!