I have two favorite holidays – Thanksgiving and New Years Eve and Day (ok, so I suppose that’s three). As I’m sure you can tell by now, I love to cook and I have hosted Thanksgiving Dinner for family and friends for decades now. Each year since I started my keto journey, I have slowly started incorporating keto Thanksgiving recipes into the mix, either just for me or that everyone can enjoy that aren’t obviously low carb, like creamed spinach and my creamy brussels sprouts casserole.
This year’s keto Thanksgiving menu will feature the widest array of keto Thanksgiving recipes — because so many more members of my close circle have either joined me whole-heartedly on the keto lifestyle and my two teenage sons have both cut out refined sugar as well!
My Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe
Thankfully (see what I did there?), most Thanksgiving turkey recipes are low carb. My tried and true method to a perfectly moist roasted turkey without fail is to set the bird in a brine (I use Alton Brown’s recipe) overnight, only to stuff the cavity with sliced lemons and herbs (no stuffing!) and make sure to get under the skin on the breast to coat the both sides with butter. And while cooking, I cover the turkey with a cheesecloth to retain maximum moisture and baste on occasion with more butter and bone broth.
Keto Baked Ham
My sons love baked ham, and typically I will pick this up at Honeybaked Ham since I make every other part of the holiday meal from scratch, however this year I will be making a low carb baked ham so we still have the brown sugar goodness – thanks to my favorite brown sugar substitute -? Lakanto’s Golden Monkfruit – without the sugar and carbs. (more Thanksgiving side dish recipes and dessert are below after the ham recipe!)
Low Carb, Keto Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 8-10 pound bone-in fully cooked ham
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter grass fed
For the Keto Ham Glaze
- 1 cup Lakanto Golden Monkfruit
- 1/2 cup Pyure Harmless Honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F and put rack on the lowest spot.
- Place your fully cooked ham on a roasting rack lined with foil. If it's just come out of the fridge, let it come to room temperature.
- If the ham still has the rind on, carefully remove without removing the fat.
- Once the rind is removed, score the surface of the ham with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern.
- Pour the water into the tray and cover the entire ham with aluminum foil.
- Place in lower rack of oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until just starting to brown (be careful not to burn!) and add the monkfruit, Pyure honey substitute, mustard, cinnamon and cloves.
- Stir until monkfruit has dissolved and mixture is well combined.
- Reduce heat to low and add in the garlic cloves - smash them with the side of a knife before placing the garlic in the pan to release the flavors.
- Warm for another minute or two and turn off the heat to let the glaze cool.
- Remove the ham from the oven and remove foil.
- Brush half of the glaze onto the ham evenly.
- Put the ham back in the oven and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.
- Remove the ham from the oven again and turn the oven up to 425?F.
- Now, using a baster, remove some of the pan juices and add it to the glaze mixture and mix to combine.
- Brush half of the mixture again on tho the ham and bake again, uncovered.
- Finish off by turning on your broiler and broil the ham for 2 - 3 minutes.
- Pour remaining glaze on ham just before serving.
Nutrition
Keto Thanksgiving Starters
To start, while our guests are arriving and before the big meal is set out, I’ll be serving some finger foods including Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Keto Deviled Eggs and Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms.
Keto Thanksgiving Side Dishes
So the turkey and my keto glazed ham recipe will be the centerpieces of our keto Thanksgiving meal, and I’ll be serving them with these delicious Thanksgiving side dish recipes:
- ?I Can?t Believe It?s Not Potatoes? Mashed Cauliflower Recipe
- Creamy Brussels Sprouts Casserole
- Keto Creamed Spinach
- Chive & Cheddar Biscuits
- Keto Cornbread with Jalapen?s
I am making a traditional cornbread stuffing for the family because so many of them love it, but obviously, I will not be partaking in that 🙂
Keto Thanksgiving Dessert
We’re finishing off the Keto Thanksgiving Menu with a classic Pumpkin Pie. This one is so good, I promise NO ONE WILL ever guess that it’s low carb and sugar free!
I’m also going to make my Caramel Swirl Keto Cheesecake Bites for those who aren’t fans of pumpkin pie or want more dessert options (I mean, it’s Thanksgiving, after all!).
