11 Easy Gluten and Dairy Free Thanksgiving Sides

A Thanksgiving table with one gluten-free guest and one dairy-free guest usually ends up with two separate side dishes nobody fully trusts. The fix is choosing sides that were never built on flour or butter in the first place, so nobody is eating a modified version of someone else’s dish. The 11 sides below use rice, potatoes, nuts, olive oil and coconut milk instead of the usual roux and cream, and each one lists the substitution that will actually break it without care.

Starches and mashes

Classic mashed potatoes with olive oil and broth

Yukon Golds mashed with warm chicken or vegetable broth and olive oil instead of butter and milk. Use about 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil and 3/4 cup (180 ml) hot broth per 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of potatoes, added gradually until the mash holds a soft peak on the spoon. Cold broth makes the starch seize and the mash goes gluey; keep the liquid hot.

Coconut milk sweet potato mash

Sweet potatoes mashed with full-fat canned coconut milk instead of cream, sweetened only with a spoonful of maple syrup. Full-fat coconut milk (not the carton beverage) is what gives body; the carton version is too thin and the mash turns soupy. Roast sweet potatoes whole at 400°F (204°C) for 45 to 55 minutes rather than boiling them, since boiling waterlogs the flesh before the coconut milk goes in.

Herb roasted fingerling potatoes

Fingerlings halved, tossed in olive oil, salt and rosemary, and roasted at 425°F (218°C) for 25 to 30 minutes until the cut side is deep golden brown. No dairy or gluten enters this dish at any point, which makes it one of the lowest-risk sides on a shared table. Overcrowding the pan is the main failure: potatoes need space to brown rather than steam, so use two sheet pans if the one you’re using looks packed.

Vegetables and stuffing

Green bean almondine without the flour

Green beans blanched 3 to 4 minutes in salted, boiling water, then shocked in ice water and finished in a skillet with olive oil, toasted sliced almonds and lemon zest. This replaces the traditional cream of mushroom casserole entirely rather than substituting inside it, since gluten-free cream of mushroom substitutes tend to separate when baked. The beans should still have a slight snap; beyond 5 minutes of blanching they turn olive-drab and soft.

Roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic

Halved Brussels sprouts roasted cut-side down at 425°F (218°C) for 20 to 25 minutes, then tossed with balsamic vinegar reduced by half in a small saucepan. The cut side needs direct contact with a hot pan to char; sprouts tossed and roasted loose steam instead of caramelizing. A dry pan works better here than parchment, which insulates the sprouts from the direct heat.

Gluten-free cornbread stuffing

Cornbread baked with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend containing xanthan gum, cubed and dried in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 20 minutes, then combined with sautéed celery, onion and sage and baked covered at 350°F (177°C) for 30 minutes, uncovered for a final 10. Skipping the drying step is the most common cause of soggy stuffing, since fresh cornbread cubes cannot absorb broth without turning to paste. Blends without xanthan or guar gum will not hold together at all; check the bag before buying it.

Roasted root vegetable medley

Carrots, parsnips and beets cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces, tossed in olive oil and roasted at 400°F (204°C) for 35 to 40 minutes, stirred once at the halfway point. Cutting pieces to a consistent size matters more than the vegetable choice itself; uneven pieces mean the small ones burn before the large ones cook through. You can roast beets separately and add them at the end if you want to keep their color from bleeding into everything else.

Grains and salads

Wild rice and cranberry pilaf

Wild rice simmered in broth for 45 to 50 minutes until the grains split and curl, then folded with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and a sherry vinaigrette. Wild rice takes nearly twice as long as white rice and will not soften on a shorter cook time; taste a grain at 40 minutes and keep going if it is still chalky in the center. This dish is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free with no adaptation required.

Roasted butternut squash and quinoa salad

Cubed butternut squash roasted at 400°F (204°C) for 25 minutes, tossed with cooked quinoa, dried cherries and a maple-cider vinaigrette. Rinsing the quinoa before cooking removes the saponin coating that causes a bitter, soapy edge; skip this and the whole salad tastes slightly off even if every other step is right. Serve it warm or at room temperature, not chilled, since cold quinoa turns gummy.

Sauces and small plates

Fresh cranberry sauce with orange

Fresh cranberries simmered with sugar, orange juice and orange zest for 10 to 12 minutes until about half the berries have burst. This is inherently gluten-free and dairy-free, and it is also the easiest make-ahead dish on the table since it improves after a day in the refrigerator. Canned jellied cranberry sauce is not a substitute if you’re also trying to avoid corn syrup, since most canned versions use it as a base sweetener.

Dairy-free mushroom gravy

Sautéed mushrooms and shallots deglazed with broth, thickened with a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch to 2 tablespoons cold water per cup of gravy) instead of a flour-and-butter roux. The cornstarch must be whisked into cold liquid before it hits a hot pan; added dry or added to hot broth directly, it clumps instead of dissolving. The gravy will thicken further as it cools, so pull it off the heat slightly looser than the final texture should be.

Where these sides fail: the substitutions that don’t hold

The most common failure across gluten-free and dairy-free Thanksgiving sides is treating a 1:1 flour substitute as a true equivalent in a baked, structural dish like stuffing or a roux-based gravy. Gluten-free flour blends without xanthan or guar gum cannot bind cornbread or biscuits; the crumb falls apart on the fork. Coconut cream and cashew cream can replace dairy cream in a mash or a soup, but they cannot replace butter in anything that needs to hold air, like whipped potatoes meant to be piped or a laminated crust; the fat structure is different and the dish will turn out denser and flatter than the original.

A second failure is temperature-related: cold broth or cold coconut milk added to hot mashed potatoes seizes the starch and produces a gluey, tacky mash rather than a smooth one. Warm every dairy-free liquid you’re adding to your mash before you add it.

Making these ahead and keeping the table simple

Cranberry sauce, the vinaigrette for the quinoa salad, and dried cornbread cubes for stuffing can all be made 2 to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in airtight containers. Mashed potatoes hold well in a slow cooker on low for up to 2 hours if stovetop space is short, but stir in a little extra warm broth before serving since they will have thickened. Roasted vegetables and green beans are best finished within an hour of serving; roasting them ahead and reheating loses the caramelized edge that makes them worth roasting in the first place. Leftover sides keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated in sealed containers; gravy and cranberry sauce also freeze well for up to 2 months, so you can make them well before your guests arrive.

Can Thanksgiving be gluten-free and dairy-free without tasting like a substitute meal?

Yes, if the sides are built around ingredients that were never dairy or gluten-based to begin with, like roasted vegetables, rice pilafs and olive-oil mashes, rather than modified versions of a butter-and-flour dish.

What can replace butter in mashed potatoes for a dairy-free Thanksgiving?

Olive oil combined with warm broth is the most reliable replacement; full-fat coconut milk works too but will carry a mild coconut flavor into the potatoes.

Is traditional stuffing gluten-free?

No, traditional stuffing is built on wheat bread; a gluten-free version needs cornbread or a certified gluten-free bread made with a flour blend that contains xanthan or guar gum to hold its structure.

Are paleo Thanksgiving sides the same as gluten-free ones?

Not exactly: paleo rules out grains and legumes entirely, so a gluten-free dish like wild rice pilaf or quinoa salad is not paleo, while roasted vegetables and olive-oil mashed potatoes generally fit both, so check your guests’ needs before deciding which to serve.

Can gravy be both gluten-free and dairy-free?

Yes, by thickening pan drippings or broth with a cornstarch slurry instead of a flour-and-butter roux; the slurry must go into cold liquid before it reaches a hot pan or it will clump.