Eat Well / Low sodium Thanksgiving dinner
Much of the salt in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner hides in places you never taste. It comes from the turkey's basting solution, the canned soup in the casserole, the boxed stuffing mix and the bottled dressing. A full plate made that way runs about 2,862 milligrams of sodium; made from scratch, the same plate is about 670.
Four common places carry a lot of it:
| One helping of every dish | Sodium | Saturated fat |
|---|---|---|
| Made the traditional way | 2,862 mg | 43.5 g |
| Made the lighter way, from scratch | 670 mg | 13.5 g |
That full plate (turkey, gravy, stuffing, mash, green beans, cranberry sauce, a roll, carrots, salad, a dessert and a drink) is still more than one meal for a guest with heart disease, whose per-meal line is 750 milligrams of sodium and 4.5 grams of saturated fat. That is why the book portions a smaller plate for that guest rather than relying on the full spread.
| Dish, same portion | Lighter version | Traditional |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey, 3 oz | 86 mg | 405 mg |
| Stuffing, 1/2 cup | 149 mg | 881 mg |
| Gravy, 1/4 cup | 23 mg | 167 mg |
| Potato and cauliflower mash, 1/2 cup | 20 mg | 202 mg |
| Green bean casserole, 1/2 cup | 18 mg | 400 mg |
| Dinner roll, 1 roll | 121 mg | 189 mg |
It looks like the same menu. Nothing is missing, the turkey, stuffing, mash, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls and two desserts are all still on the table. What changes is how each one is built: olive and canola oil in place of most of the butter, unsalted stock instead of canned broth, a from-scratch mushroom sauce instead of canned soup, and a vinaigrette made from scratch instead of a bottled dressing. Herbs, garlic, lemon zest and the turkey's own pan juices carry the flavor that salt used to carry.
Read the label before it goes in the cart. A turkey labeled "basted" or "self-basted" has been injected or marinated with a solution, butter or other fat, broth, stock or water plus spices, up to about 3% of the bird's weight before processing, and the label is required to say so. That solution is where a lot of the sodium in a "convenient" turkey comes from. Choosing a plain fresh turkey and seasoning it yourself, with oil, garlic and herbs tucked under the skin, is most of the work of lowering the sodium before you have cooked anything.
One dinner, built low in sodium from scratch
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General information based on published guidelines. Your care team sets personal targets.
Mostly from places you would never taste: a butter-and-salt rub on the turkey, a basting solution injected into many store birds, canned soup in green bean casserole, boxed stuffing mix, and bottled salad dressing. None of those are optional extras, they are how the classic recipes are usually built.
One helping of every dish made the traditional way adds up to about 2,862 milligrams of sodium. The same plate made the lighter way, from scratch with unsalted stock and no canned soup, comes to about 670 milligrams, and the saturated fat drops from about 43.5 grams to about 13.5.
Skip any turkey labeled "basted," "self-basted" or "enhanced." By federal rule, those birds have been injected or marinated with a solution, up to about 3% of the bird's weight, that typically carries added salt.
Yes. Made from scratch with unsalted stock, a quarter cup of gravy is about 23 milligrams of sodium against about 167 in a classic gravy, and a half cup of stuffing is about 149 milligrams against about 881.
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