People with IBS seem to take one of two approaches to Thanksgiving Dinner. The oh-what-the-heck group splurges on high-FODMAP party foods and bears the consequences. Friends, good luck with that. This post is for members of the other group, who know they will enjoy the festivities more without abdominal pain, bloating, and bowel problems getting in the way. Many of us are spending Thanksgiving weekend with friends or family, and it will be a long weekend, indeed, if we are feeling miserable or tying up the bathroom for hours.
Fortunately, the centerpiece of the meal, the turkey, doesn’t contain any FODMAPs, but other classic menu items have some. As you read on, remember that the same food can be high, medium, or low in FODMAPs depending on the serving size! Use that to your advantage.
French onion dip. Instant onion soup mixes that are used to make dips are full of, well, onions. And the sour cream contains lactose. Try our recipe for Lower-FODMAP Hummus instead. For dippers, choose low-FODMAP portions of carrots, green bell pepper strips, rice crackers, Schar gluten-free crackers, or tortilla chips.
A handful of mixed nuts can be part of a low-FODMAP diet. The serving pictured above, ½ cup, would not be low in FODMAPs.
Mixed nuts. Nuts in general should be limited to one small handful per meal or snack on a low-FODMAP diet. Skip the cashews and pistachios, which are highest in FODMAPs. Choose low-FODMAP servings of peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds or macadamia nuts instead.
Green bean casserole. While I confess I’ve never been a fan of this mid-century dish, I know some people consider it a must-have at Thanksgiving Dinner. It’s not a good prospect for modification to a low-FODMAP diet because its very identity depends on topping it with crispy fried onions. No way around it. To keep green beans low-FODMAP, skip the canned soup and onions and go with a low-FODMAP serving of roasted, steamed, grilled or sautéed green beans instead.
Peas. Frozen peans appear on many Thanksgiving tables. Unfortunately, a standard serving size of peas is high in FODMAPs. Just have a spoonful, or go with lower FODMAP vegetables like roasted carrots, green beans, or rutabagas.
Bread stuffing. “Moisten bread, mix it with onions and sausage grease, pack it down, let the fat from the roasting turkey soak into it. Eat the equivalent of several slices of bread in a single serving. Maybe have seconds.” Does this sound like a recipe for a belly ache? I think so. The fat from the sausage and the turkey aren’t FODMAPs, but they can be heavy. At a minimum, make your stuffing with real sourdough bread and bake it in a separate dish instead of in the bird. Consider a stuffing made with quinoa or rice instead of a bread stuffing.
Sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes can be part of your low FODMAP diet in a standard serving size of ½ cup.
Green-skinned Kabocha squash (middle) is low-FODMAP. Compared to buttercup squash, it has a thinner skin, darker and drier flesh, and no blue-green “cup” on the blossom end.
Winter squash. The FODMAP content is a little different from one squash to another, with kabocha and spaghetti squash being the lowest in FODMAPs. If you are a squash lover, learn to identify kabocha at the grocery store; it is often mislabeled as buttercup squash, but it has a thinner skin, darker flesh, and it no blue-green “cup” as seen on the blossom end of a buttercup.
Mashed potatoes. Potatoes themselves are low-FODMAP, but if they are mashed with regular milk, loads of sour cream or garlic, they don’t stay that way. To keep them low-FODMAP yet still delicious, mash them with butter or olive oil and lactose-free milk or kefir, and season them with salt and black pepper. Garnish with fresh minced chives or sliced scallion greens and you’ll have some delicious low-FODMAP spuds.
Gravy. Many recipes for gravy contain flour, which is a source of FODMAPs. Cornstarch or sorghum flour can be used instead. Cornstarch is more readily available, but a little fussier to work with and makes a more transparent gravy. Sorghum flour tends not to clump, and gives the gravy a similar opaque “look” to traditional gravy.
Cranberry sauce. It has become easy to find prepared (canned) cranberry sauces made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Choose one of these, and enjoy your cranberry sauce.
Dinner roll. If the rolls are nothing special, take a pass on them. If you’d enjoy just a taste, my guess is that 1 ounce of a dinner roll would probably be low FODMAP, if tested. A very fluffy commercially made 2-inch square dinner roll weighs about 1 ounce, while a homemade dinner roll might weight 2 or 3 ounces.
Pumpkin pie. Unless you make it yourself with lactose-free milk, skip the pumpkin pie. Most traditional recipes call for evaporated milk, which is egregiously high in lactose. And then there’s the crust, which is unlikely to be low-FODMAP unless it is gluten-free. May I suggest saving your dessert for the next day, treating it as a meal or snack with it’s own separate FODMAP budget?
As you plan your holiday meal, perhaps you’ll arrive at a middle ground, with very small portions of one or two higher-FODMAP treats, while keeping the rest of your food choices low in FODMAPs. Only you can decide! I’m wishing you a wonderful holiday. Be thankful for your time with friends and family. It’s not all about the food! Change the focus for at least part of the day—enjoy a long walk in the woods, make some music, or enjoy a brisk outdoor game together.
Resources:
FODMAPEveryDay has a wonderful collection of recipes for every holiday.
The Monash University FODMAP Diet app is the definitive source for low FODMAP foods and serving sizes.
Original post 11/1/2017. Updated and republished 11/14/2022.
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