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Over the years I’ve shared my favorite paleo holiday recipes individually. Today I thought I’d put them into an easy to find collection. Some of the recipes are my own and others are from other sources. I mean, I don’t think I could improve upon Gordon Ramsay’s cranberry sauce. Scroll down for my favorite paleo holiday recipes: turkey recipe, grain-free “cornbread” stuffing, and bacon maple sage sweet potatoes. I’m also sharing two types of pie crusts. Yes, there is a pie crust that you can roll out to put on the top of a pie.
Brined Paleo Holiday Turkey Recipe
If your holiday turkey always comes out dry. No worries. I got you. Have you ever brined a turkey? It takes some time but it is well worth the extra effort and is hands down the best turkey recipe. I typically brine our turkey for roughly 24 hours before I roast it. For Thanksgiving week that means your turkey has to be thawed by Tuesday or Wednesday. Turkeys always seem to take longer to defrost than I always think they will.
A brine is a flavorful solution that’s concentrated in salt and sometimes sugar that seasons the turkey. The salt also helps your turkey retain moisture. This is why I say it is well worth the effort. When you brine the turkey you want to keep it refrigerated. I use a trash bag in the roasting pan. I put the turkey in, add the chilled brine, and then tie up the bag. After 12 hours I flip the turkey over so that both sides get equal time in the brine. Use whatever container you have that will hold the turkey and the brine.
If you don’t have room in your refrigerator it’s possible to consider putting it outside. For food safety reasons a refrigerator should be 40 degrees or less. Of course, it should also be above freezing outside. If you’re lucky to have weather in that 8-degree temperature range (say overnight), and it won’t be disturbed by animals, then I say go for it.
Rinse the turkey after brining and discard the bag. Put the turkey in the roasting pan and make the compound butter. This is the next level turkey recipe tip to help keep your turkey moist. The flavored butter is going to go between the skin and the turkey breast. If you can’t do dairy I recommend Nutiva’s Shortening made with red palm oil. It has 3 ingredients: coconut oil, palm oil, and red palm. It’s sustainably sourced palm and it actually has a buttery taste.
The other turkey recipe tip to make sure your turkey isn’t dry is to let it rest before you carve it. Cover the turkey with foil and let it sit untouched. Resting the turkey allows the juices to soak back into the meat. If you cut it right away all of the juices will come pouring out. I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes. I’ve heard some chefs recommend an hour or more. I’d hate for you to do all of the work in this turkey recipe and then lose the efforts because you cut the turkey too soon.
Brined Paleo Holiday Turkey Recipe
Prep Time
1 d 1 hr
Cook Time
3 hrs
Resting Time
20 mins
Total Time
1 d 4 hrs 20 mins
Use these recipes as a guide for creating your own flavors. The ratio of water and salt and the length of the brine are the most critical things.
Course:Dinner
Cuisine:American
Keyword:Christmas, Holiday, Thanksgiving, Turkey
: Jennifer Michelle
Ingredients
The Brine
- 8quartsliquid
- 1cupsalt
- 1cupsugaroptional
- 1medium oniondiced
- 6clovesgarlicchopped
- 2bay leaves
- 1Tbsppeppercorns lightly crushedomit for AIP
- 1Tbspdry thyme leaves
- 1Tbspdry sage leaves
- 1Tbspdry rosemary leaves
Compound Butter
- 2sticksbutterfor AIP use palm shortening or Nutiva shortening
- 2tspdry thyme leaves
- 2tspdry sage leaves
- 2tspdry rosemary leaves
- fresh ground pepper to tasteomit for AIP
Instructions
Brine the turkey for 1 day turning over after 12 hours.
Rub the inside, outside, and between the skin and breast with compound butter seasoned to your liking.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400 and reduce to 350 until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Don't forget to baste every 30-45 minutes. Total cooking time depends on the size of your turkey.
Cover the turkey with foil for 20 minutes and allow it to rest before carving.
Read the original post here
Grain-Free, Gluten Free, Cornbread Stuffing
This recipe is made with almond flour so the texture is a lot like cornbread. What surprised me about this paleo holiday recipe is that the combination of coconut flour and maple syrup kind of give it corn-y taste. I’ve fed it to unsuspecting people who had no idea that it wasn’t real cornbread.
Read more about both recipes on the original post here.
Grain Free Paleo Cornbread
Prep Time
5 mins
Total Time
35 mins
Ingredients
- 5eggs
- 1/3cupavocado oil
- 1/3cupmaple syrup
- 1cupwater
- 1.5cupalmond flour
- 3/4cupcoconut flour
- 3/4cuparrowroot flour
- 1/2 tspsalt
- 1/2tspbaking soda
- 1/2tspbaking powder
- butter or lard for greasing the pan
Instructions
Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk
Add the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly
Bake at 350 F in a greased 9 x 13 pan for 30-35 minutes
Recipe Notes
*reduce maple syrup to 1/4 cup or less for a more savory version
Grain Free Paleo Cornbread Stuffing
Prep Time
3 hrs
Cook Time
45 mins
Total Time
3 hrs 45 mins
Ingredients
- 1batch of "cornbread" from the recipe above
- 3tbspgrass fed butter or lard
- 1 cupdiced onion
- 1cupdiced celery
- 1/4tspdry sage
- 1/2tspsalt
- pepper to taste
- 1/2boxPacific Turkey Broth
Instructions
Cut the cornbread into cubes and dry on a sheet tray at 250 F for about 3 hours. Stir it once or twice to make sure all of the cubes are dry.
When the cubes are dry saute the onion and celery in your fat of choice for 5 minutes or so. Add the dried sage, salt, and pepper.
Put the cornbread cubes back into the 9 x 13 you baked the cornbread in and mix with the onion and celery mixture. Use the turkey broth to add more moisture to the cubes. The cubes should be moist, no longer hard, but not soggy. Adjust the amount of broth to suit your taste.
Pro Tip: Make this a day before you need it and pop it in the refrigerator to let the flavors marry.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes. Check the moisture level about half way through the cooking process. If it is too dry add a bit more broth and re-cover with foil; if it's too wet remove the foil and allow it to bake uncovered. If it is fine, continue to keep it covered. If you'd like some drier bits on top, remove the foil after the 30 minute mark, and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes.
Recipe Notes
This is the turkey broth that I use:
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Bacon Maple Sage Sweet Potatoes
Let’s face it the holiday season is swimming in sugar-filled recipes. If there were a recipe that is long overdue for a paleo holiday conversion it is sweet potatoes. When you’ve been low carb for a while you may find the thought of adding marshmallows to sweet potatoes over the top. Sweet potatoes taste like dessert all on their own so I wanted to create a savory recipe. Yes, I use maple syrup but it’s only 3 tablespoons for 4 potatoes. It’s more of a hint to balance the flavors than anything else.
I grow sage in my yard but you can easily find it in stores. If you can’t find fresh a bit of dried will likely work. Where I live it doesn’t rain at all during the summer so if you have a dry area in your yard sage is perfect. It grows easily with very little attention or water and early in the year it gets pretty purple flowers.
Bacon Maple Sage Sweet Potatoes
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
35 mins
Ingredients
- 4sweet potatoespeeled and diced
- 7slicesthick bacon
- 2TBSPbacon fat
- 12fresh sage leaves
- 1/2tspsalt
- 3TBSPmaple syrup
Instructions
Cut the potatoes into bite sized chunks and steam them just until they are fork tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes.
While the potatoes are steaming cook the bacon in the oven. Put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet to catch the oil from the bacon.
Time and temperature will depend on the thickness of your bacon and how crispy you like it. For thick sliced bacon I use 375F and let it bake 20 minutes or so. After it's cool I cut it into bite sized pieces about 1/2" thick.
When the bacon and sweet potatoes are almost done melt your fat of choice in a skillet and add the fresh sage leaves to fry. Using 12 sage leaves there were hints of sage in the dish but it wasn't overpowering. If you'd like more of a pronounced sage flavor simply use more leaves. Cook both sides for a total time of about 60 seconds, 30 seconds each side. A pair of tongs is very handy for this quick task.
In a bowl add the sweet potatoes, bacon, crumbled sage leaves, and salt. Pour the fat the sage leaves were cooked in over the potatoes along with maple syrup. Toss to combine and enjoy.
Paleo Greenbean Casserole
I know the recipe below is for mushroom broth but it’s the base of my homemade cream of mushroom soup. Read the full post to see how I use cauliflower to make dairy-free cream of mushroom soup. Basically, I blend the mushroom broth with steamed cauliflower.
To make the casserole:
I cook frozen green beans in salted water. They’re still green but they don’t taste raw. I definitely don’t cook them until they’re gray because they’re going to cook more in the oven. After straining the green beans I mix them with the homemade cream of mushroom soup.
For the onions on top, I slice shallots and toss them in well-seasoned arrowroot starch and fry them in a pan. (I know some confuse shallots with scallions. Scallions are green and shallots are purple and look like small oblong onions.) Alternately you could use thinly sliced yellow onion. I keep the seasoning simple with salt and pepper, just enough so they don’t turn out bland. Then I use avocado oil or lard to fry them. This is the most time-intensive hands-on part of this paleo holiday recipe.
Easy Mushroom Broth Recipe
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
An easy mushroom broth recipe that can be adapted for the paleo and autoimmune paleo lifestyles.
Ingredients
- 7TbspKerrygold Butter, Lard, or Bacon Fat
- 4cups cremini mushrooms sliced
- 2.5tspsalt
- 3clovesgarlic (1 Tbsp)
- 6cups water
- 1tspdry parsley
- 1/4cupwhite wine (Clean Slate Riesling)(optional)
- pepper to taste(omit for AIP)
Instructions
Over medium-highheat melt the butter until it stops bubbling. When the bubbles slow down add the sliced mushrooms, 1/2 tsp of salt, and pepper.
Saute the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until they are nicely browned.
Add the garlic and parsley and stir until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the white wine and cook it until most of the liquid evaporates.
Add 6 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of salt.
The broth could be ready at this point but I let it simmer (not boiling) for an hour over low heat.
Strain and enjoy. To freeze the broth put it into clean mason jars but do not put the lids on tightly. Allow them to cool on the counter before refrigerating. The next day, make sure the lids are not sealed, pop them loose if they have, and half-way screw the lids on the jars and put them in the freezer. (You want the liquid to be able to expand as it freezes and not break the jar.) When they are frozen you can tighten the lids.
Gordon Ramsay’s Cranberry Sauce
The cranberry recipe I grew up eating is made with ingredients that I no longer eat. No one needs artificial colors or flavors in their diet. Watching Gordon’s Ultimate Cookery Course on YouTube I saw him make this sauce. At first, it sounded odd because he uses star anise and cardamom but then I thought he’s a Michelin star chef. It is seriously the best cranberry sauce.
Although he uses sugar, a no-no in my world, it’s really the only way you can make caramel. Alternative sweeteners and other granulated sugars simply won’t do. They don’t cook the same and the caramelized sugar gives the sauce its texture. No worries though; it’s not over the top sweet. The sauce comes out a bit tart. There’s just enough sugar to balance the cranberries. Besides, I make this once a year. One time a year isn’t going to ruin your goals.
It’s not my recipe to share so you’ll have to visit Gordon’s website to get the written recipe
Low Carb Almond Flour Pie Crust
This is the first paleo pie crust I discovered. It’s incredibly easy because you make it in a food processor. There’s no rolling so you simply press it into the pan. It’s great for pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and other pies that only require a bottom crust.
Get the recipe from Elana’s Pantry here. She also offers alternative crusts on this page: egg-free, nut-free, and baking with Stevia.
Pie Crust
Can you believe it’s possible to make a paleo pie crust that you can roll out and shape? Years ago I didn’t. Then I found this recipe from The Healthy Foodie and it’s been life-changing. I bookmarked it so long ago that I had to fire up my old computer to get the bookmark link. Yes, it’s that good.
I mean…look at that photo from The Healthy Foodie blog.
Most paleo pie crusts are too crumbly to stick together. This recipe has a bit of tapioca which helps the dough stick together. Many crusts these days contain cassava which is a deal-breaker for me. This recipe does not contain cassava.
Paleo baking is drastically different than regular baking so when I find a recipe that works I stick with it. You can get the recipe here.
The Key To Paleo Holiday Cooking
My goal is to work my butt off early in the week so that I can sit on my butt on the holiday. I watch Hallmark Christmas movies nearly year-round but I always save a few favorites for the special holiday. Christmas Vacation and Love Actually are my top two favorites. I put a post together with some Christmas movies I found on Prime.
Whether you watch movies or go for a walk in the snow it’s nice to have a relaxed holiday. The key is a bit of planning so that you’re not doing everything at once unless you want to of course. If you work most of the days leading up to the holiday this is how I’d break down the paleo holiday recipes:
- The Weekend Before Thanksgiving
- Make the cream of mushroom soup and freeze
- Make the pie and freeze it (optional)
- Sunday/Monday
- Pull the turkey out of the freezer
- Tuesday
- Make the corn bread & stuffing
- Make pie dough
- Put green beans and mushroom soup together. Save onions for Thursday
- Wednesday
- Brine the turkey
- Make cranberry sauce
- Bake Pies
- Thursday
- Make the turkey & gravy
- Saute shallots/onions for casserole
- Toss the stuffing and green beans in the oven
- Steam potatoes if you’re having them
- Put out the cranberry sauce
- Put out the pies
If you’re looking for more paleo holiday recipe ideas check out this anti-inflammatory holiday menu from my friend Mommy of Mayhem.
Originally posted on November 16, 2020 @ 15:29
Related posts:
- Bacon Maple Sage Sweet Potatoes
- Grain Free Paleo “Cornbread” and Stuffing
- Brining And Roasting The Perfect Holiday Turkey
- Easy Instant Pot Paleo Beef Stew
