I am gluten intolerant but not as sensitive as a celiac. I always appreciate any attempt on a friends behalf so don't feel you have to do it all.....we GF's are used to limited choices. I'm always happy to bring something myself as part of a potluck. Additionally, many friends provide me with a recipe so I can cross reference potential sources of gluten they might not have considered.

There are some wonderful gluten-free mixes out there for everything from pie crust to cookies. I've been using the gluten-free pantry brand lately to bake for a friend who's wheat intolerant. I find the mixes take the difficulty out of gluten-free cooking. Especially if you're only doing it once in a while.

My mother cooks a small amount of rice stuffing for our gluten free guest. She uses all of the same ingredients but uses a blend of wild and brown rice (I think?) instead of the bread cubes so it still tastes great. The gluten free guest brings the pumpkin pie with an appropriate crust. Another easy option would be to make a crustless pumpkin cup in an individual ramekin. Other than that, just keep an eye out for any ingredients in marinades or ad-ins for hidden gluten-- ask your guest if there are any items to look out for. Also be mindful of cleaning equipment thoroughly while cooking to avoid cross-contamination.

A rice pilaf with plenty of vegetables and lots of poultry seasoning can give the same tastes as bread stuffing. And if you cook it in a skillet, it's one less item to bake.

also, try a nut crust instead of a pastry crust for the pie.

Thank you for thinking about it! However, if my host made awesome mashed potatoes, turkey, a veggie side without wheat (just a simple batch of roasted veggies works well) I promise you I wouldn't be missing anything else :)
Dessert is a bit more tricky, but the ramikin of crustless pie is a very good idea.

Something important to be aware of is that if you are stuffing the turkey with "regular" gluten-containing bread stuffing, your guest (depending on the severity) may not eat the turkey. I've been gluten free for nearly 4 years now and just learned this recently! Eating a piece that's "close to the outside" isn't okay either. There are a TON of gluten free blogs featuring thanksgiving recipes right now (but yes, mixes do make things easier). Good Luck!

I'm gluten intolerant and for the past couple of years have been making a pumpkin chiffon pie with a Rice Chex crust that people go nuts for. Just don't add any salt to the crust bc the Rice Chex already have salt added.

I have celiac and agree with the original poster - PLEASE ask your friend (privately) how sensitive they are, if you have made anything with wheat flour in the past 24 hours, your kitchen (no matter how well you clean it) will be contaminated from flour floating in the air and might make them very ill. This includes cake mix, brownie mix, etc.

Still - it is incredibly kind of you to include your friend, and they will appreciate you! I agree with PP that it's not a big deal to come to a meal and not be able to eat much, let alone everything, so if you take the time to make even one special dish they can have, it means a LOT.

I usually tell friends who offer to cook for me that I would be happy to bring something. For thanksgiving, maybe offer to let them bring the dish that is the most difficult to make GF in your house, like the stuffing.

Anything that is wood or a non-stick pan is contaminated, so stick to glass and stainless steel when cooking for your friend. Check labels - if it says wheat, barley, rye, barley malt, soy sauce, or dextrin, rule it out. Oats, unless they say they're gluten free, are usually contaminated.

Check out this website for a more full list:
http://americanceliac.org/living-with-cd/gluten-free-diet/

Hope that helps! This year we decided to host a completely GF thanksgiving at our house. 14 people in a 500 square foot apartment!! The only thing we asked people to bring was drinks, so we're getting wine, sangria and spiced punch. I'm SO excited :)

If you're making gravy, think about your thickener - if you use flour, your friend won't be able to eat it, but cornstarch is ok.

Just be aware there is no such thing as an "intolerance" with an allergy. An allergy means that the immune system creates white blood cells that attack the person's digestive system. I am allergic to wheat, not sure if it's celiac's disease. Anyway, point is, just be aware that there is wheat in products where you'd never expect it. I would say don't torture yourself. Have an honest conversation with your friend, and maybe ask what he has done in the past? That way you might find out he does not mind if only 2 or 3 items are gluten free. Also, my pet peeve is when waiters tell me I must eat the only gluten free thing on the menu even though I hate it. Ask what he likes and hopefully he won't expect you to kill yourself making a dozen things - the gluten free ingredients behave SO different than regular recipes. And many of the prepackaged brands taste like cardboard. Ask which ones he likes.

To make my "intolerance" point more clear - an allergy is a medical condition. The term intolerance means nothing and means a doctor has no idea what's causing the problem - it may be a medical condition such as a missing enzyme, or the doctor may be clueless. Gluten and wheat allergies can be detected with a blood test, and confirmed with a biopsy. Big difference.

To echo some of the specific suggestions above, I'd like to add a general rule. For the most part, don't try to "de-gluten" recipes that call for things with gluten in them. The results are generally pretty poor. You'll be much better off, especially since you're not used to accommodating this, by sticking to things that need gluten in them in the first place.

Check out Bob's Red Mill - their products are easy to find (if not, they have an online store) and even have recipes.

Good luck!

@qhartman: "For the most part, don't try to "de-gluten" recipes that call for things with gluten in them." Amen to that. I'm baffled at attempts to try to mimic no-go food categories, like making faux bread stuffing (not the rice--that's a great idea) for gluten-free folks. It reminds me of people that want to feed vegetarians lots of overly processed fake meat. Yuck!

Roasted root veggies, garlic cheese grits casserole, wild rice, sweet potato casserole (just mashed sweet potatoes with a nuts, brown sugar, and butter on top), and green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic are some of my favorite veggie options for Thanksgiving that also might work for a gluten-free person, depending how sensitive they are.

Mark Sisson's blog Marksdailyapple.com has had some great posts about doing a Primal/Paleo thanksgiving, so most everything is gluten intolerant/celiac complaint.

Here is an example.
If you ever want to find good gluten-free/celiac compliant recipes, and are not getting great results just searching with those keywords paleo/primal can greatly broaden the results.

I would not count out "fake" wheat until she talks to her friend - there's nothing more sad than watching everyone else blissfully eat homeade yummy bread while you sit there and starve. It does require practice though with the ingredients, so if you have time try cooking it a few times first.

My Mom, aunt and sister are true celiacs. Thanksgiving - rice dressing with veggies and poultry seasoning and perhaps some dried cranberries or raisins; cornstarch gravy, cranberries, don't cook bread stuffing in your bird, pumpkin custard (the filling in a custard cup) - simple vegetables or fresh fruit - avoid seasoning mixes and bouillons that may contain malt or wheat. Keep it simple - everyone will like it!

I invited a friend to Thanksgiving, and she said, "I'm can't eat dairy, wheat, tomatoes or..." something else. I forget what. To accommodate her gluten intolerance, I made some apple flautas with rice tortillas. She just skipped the stuffing (opting instead for the hummus and rice crackers she brought with her).

My mother-in-law and brother-in-law both have full-blown celiac, and we're having them over this year. Since they're both very sensitive, we're going avoid cooking in any of my gluten-contaminated dishes-- we'll be doing without my cast iron, silicon, non-stick, plastic, and wood, and making do just with glass and stainless steel.

If you're using anything packaged, also remember to look for 'natural flavorings,' which can include barley malt, which manufacturers don't need to disclose on labels.

We cook a gluten free Thanksgiving; the stuffing is Sunset Magazine's Apple Bacon Cornbread stuffing (made with homemade gluten free cornbread) and it is better than any gluten filled stuffing I've ever had. I use potato starch for the gravy. Most of the other dishes are naturally gluten free (mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted vegetable, green salad, cranberry sauce, etc.). I make Chebe (Brazilian tapioca) cheese rolls. Gluten free apple crisp is a delicious and easy alternative to apple pie and I also make sweet potato pie in a GF gingerbread cookie crust (pumpkin would work fine, I'm just allergic to it). Depending on which family we host they either just go with it and love everything or hold fast to tradition and want certain foods such as wheat rolls and pumpkin pie in a wheat crust. I just ask them to bring those things if it is important to them, as I keep my kitchen gluten free.

I'm not generally a big fan of modifying gluten-y recipes to work for gluten-free diets. It almost always feels like I'm settling for something moderately palatable and oddly-textured, instead of enjoying something delicious.

Unless you've got money to spend on a plethora of new flours/starches/gums and time to devote to testing and tweaking your substitutions, I wouldn't suggest trying to adapt your existing stuffing, crust, etc recipes for your GF friend. There are plenty of sites out there devoted to gluten-free recipes, and your friend may have some of his own (or be willing to bring dishes). I make stuffing with gluten-free cornbread and crustless pumpkin-cardamom custard pie (see GlutenFreeGirl for both recipes). Even my gluten-eating friends and family scarf them down!

Even if you're not attempting to de-glutenize dishes with obvious gluten, be mindful of the many ways that gluten can be hidden in foods that you wouldn't expect it in (e.g. chicken stock, Rice Krispies, soy sauce, deli meats, chewing gum, Twizzlers, etc).

Fall has a lot of yummy gluten free squashes that you can utilize for side dishes... My favorites are butternut, acorn and spaghetti.... Follow instructions on the sticker when you buy them... For acorn or butternut you can mix some nutmeg, cinamon, brown sugar and butter for a yummy side... And spaghetti squash can be used in place of spaghetti or with just some butter, salt and pepper... Just as everyone else said, watch what you add to them that they don't have gluten... You can also google recipes "gluten free recipe for" and fill in what you want huge amount of resources on the net! Good luck your friend will be so happy you are making an effort!

I posted about a gluten free stuffing, "Quinoa & Red Rice Stuffing" but I didn't schedule to post it on my blog until this Sunday night! Look for it at www.ex-scapes.com

l'm making a fully Gluten free/partially dairy free thanksgiving this year. In addition to turkey:
-gf bread/wild rice roasted chestnut stuffing
-mashed sweet & regular potatoes (with caramelized onions & greek yogurt)
-homemade cranberry sauce
-spaghetti squash with pine nuts/sage
-roasted mixed veggies w/rosemary
-greens (kale or broccoli rabe)
for dessert:
baked apples with cranberry sauce
pumpkin pie with gf ginger snap crust

- or Sauteed Apples

When I bake Gluten free I choose recipes that have no/few/easy substitutions and aren't fussy in needing starches, gums, etc. I won't be attempting a gf angel food cake... but most dense/fruit filled cakes, cookie crust pies, crisps, etc can be made with almond meal, coconut flour and/or a good gf baking mix like pamelas. You don't need to spend tons of time experimenting with flour mixes, it's more important to choose your recipe wisely and set reasonable expectations for a gluten free dessert.
Most importantly - don't freak out. Ask the GF person how it is for them - and be damn sure you know which dishes of yours they should not eat. If they are concerned about airborne gluten contamination... well they shouldn't be at your house to begin with and nothing you cook will be gf, so don't bother.

Please make sure your turkey is gluten-free, many of them have been injected with additives. I spent a lot of time reading labels to find one for my mom.

I made a gluten-free Thanksgiving last year on the fly. Any homemade Thanksgiving is dead easy to make gluten-free. I have no idea why folks thing it's such a big deal.

Free range heritage turkey. Skillet stuffing made with homemade cornbread and sausage. All the usual vegetable side dishes, cranberry sauce, etc. Fruit pies with flourless crusts, and ice cream! No one would have even noticed it was gluten free (and peanut free, actually).

If you are actually making Thanksgiving dinner instead of buying it from Stop & Shop, gluten free is pretty much a no-brainer. It's so strange to me that folks panic when they can't use gluten, even though a typical Thanksgiving menu is meat and vegetables... just baffling.

I'm sure it's this illogical panic that keeps the expensive gluten-free prepared foods companies in business!

There are so many possibilities! We are eating an all gluten free meal of maple and sage roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffin, salad, and 3 types of pies. Here are some other ideass; http://glutenfreetravelette.blogspot.com/2011/11/obligatory-thanksgiving-recipe-round-up.html

I rely on some fantastic gluten free cooking websites for ideas and recipes, but the best one by far is http://www.glutenfreegirl.com. This blog is written by a brilliant and ridiculously talented woman who has celiacs disease, and she has an enormous post devoted to an entire GF thanksgiving menu. good luck!