AIP Turkey Brine Recipe + Our AIP Thanksgiving Menu

Thanksgiving is upon us! I literally can’t believe it’s here already — seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the start of the year; how is it almost over already?! This Thanksgiving is extra special to me because – while it’s our third Thanksgiving celebrating together – it’s my fiance and I’s first Thanksgiving as an engaged couple living together in our new condo (2017 update: We’re now MARRIED, so it’s our first Thanksgiving as a married couple :)). We also threw an AIP Friendsgiving for our local autoimmune support group here in Kansas City a few weeks ago and that was a huge success, so we definitely have a high bar to meet for our little dinner together.

To prepare for the big day, I wanted to share what’s on our Thanksgiving menu, and as a BONUS – share my recipe for an amazing AIP turkey brine! I’ve used this brine recipe for three years now and it produces the most moist and delicate turkey ever — I’d definitely recommend it and that’s not just me being biased! Others can attest to its greatness. 🙂

Now onto the menu…

Mitch + Britt’s AIP-Friendly Thanksgiving Menu

Appetizers

• Veggie Tray
• Paleo Spinach Artichoke Dip (via Paleo Leap)
• Plantain Chips

Turkey

Brined (see below for recipe) + served with fresh orange-cranberry relish*

*Cranberry relish recipe is basically just 16oz fresh cranberries, 2 oranges, 1 apple, and some cinnamon and ground ginger blended together in a food processor – simple yet delicious!)

Sides

• Mashed White Sweet Potatoes (We do our own rendition of this, but if you’re looking for an actual recipe i’d recommend using the “Silk Potato Puree” recipe from the Healing Kitchen cookbook)
• Savory Pumpkin Stuffing (via Whole Life Full Soul)
• Roasted Root Veggies (via Mickey over at Autoimmune Paleo)
• Braised Rainbow Chard (we LOVE the recipe found in the Autoimmune Wellness Handbook)

Dessert

• Sweet Potato Pie Cheesecake (via Alaena Haber’s guest blog post at Autoimmune Paleo – we served this at our Friendsgiving and people were falling over themselves for it!)
• AIP Maple Glazed Snickerdoodles (via The Curious Coconut – Britt’s favorite cookie!)

Honorable Mention: This will be my first year NOT making this amazing dessert from Empowered Sustenance, but I still had to give it a shout-out because it’s been so good to me over the years. It’s a crustless, AIP-friendly pumpkin panna cotta. This actually seems to be an updated recipe because it has a nice tigernut crumble added to it, but I’ve been making this panna cotta recipe since 2013 and it’s so amazing.

Beverages

• Various herbal teas (I like to use this vanilla rooibos tea [or something similar] and blend together with coconut milk to make a tea latte!)
• La Croix
• Aaaaand the one big “splurge” that we allow ourselves each year is So Delicious Coconut Milk Egg Nog. It’s not AIP-friendly but I gotta be honest – it’s worth every dang sip. I’ve tried to make my own in the past but it’s just…not the same and I’m a HUGE egg nog fan so I need my egg nog! #treatyoself. 😉

And below is the brine recipe, as promised. We hope you have a great Thanksgiving and wonderful start to your holiday season! Happy Eating.