The RenalTracker Team
September 27, 2019

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. It has been written and vetted by RenalTracker's team of kidney experts and researchers. The same team was awarded the KidneyX Prize organized by the American Society of Nephrology and HHS for pre-dialysis solution in Washington DC in 2019.   

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Thanksgiving is coming!

Well, it’s still at least a month or two away, but you can never be too early to brush up on your cooking skills, especially for such a festive occasion.

However, with all the food served during Thanksgiving, one can’t be sure if these foods are OK for people with kidney conditions or undergoing renal diet.

Mashed potatoes is definitely one of the dishes that people on renal diet tend to steer clear from. Not only that, turkey is also quite high in protein, so it would be best to eat reduced portions of it.

So, to help you make sure that everyone, whether they have CKD or not, can enjoy Thanksgiving without much worry, here are some Thanksgiving holiday recipes for renal diet patients.

First off… some dinner rolls to pair with your turkey:

Yeast Dinner Rolls

Nutrient Analysis

Low-protein recipe; Makes 20 servings

Sodium

5 mg

Protein

 3 g

Potassium

31 mg

Phosphorus

32 mg

Calcium

5 mg

Calories

148 kcal

Fat

4 g

Carbohydrates

24 g

These rolls are made for all occasions: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and as homemade bread.

Ingredients


QTY

UNIT

FOOD ITEM

1.)

1

cup

hot water

2.)

6

tbsp

vegetable shortening

3.)

½

cup

sugar

4.)

1

pack

yeast

5.)

2

tbsp

warm water

6.)

1

pc

egg (large)

7.)

4

cups

all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

2. Combine hot water, shortening, and sugar in a large bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Dissolve yeast in warm water.

4. Add egg, yeast, and half the flour to the mixture in the large bowl. Beat well.

5. Stir in the remaining flour with a spoon until easy to handle.

6. Place dough in a greased bowl; grease top and cover top with plastic wrap.

7. Allow to rest 1 to 1 ½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

8. Cut off amount needed to shape rolls.

9. Bake rolls for 12 minutes or until done.

Now, some vegetables, to balance out the turkey and other meat-based dishes on the table:

Favorite Green Beans

Nutrient Analysis

Low-protein recipe; Makes 6 servings

Sodium

77 mg

Protein

 2 g

Potassium

214 mg

Phosphorus

38 mg

Calcium

38 mg

Calories

137 kcal

Fat

9 g

Carbohydrates

14 g

Ingredients


QTY

UNIT

FOOD ITEM

1.)

2

cans

whole green beans, drained and rinsed

2.)

1

pc

small onion, chopped

3.)

½

cup

fresh mushrooms, sliced

4.)

1

tsp

paprika

5.)

¼

tsp

coarse black pepper

6.)

1 ½

cups

unsalted top cracker crumbs

7.)

4

tbsp

margarine, unsalted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix together green beans, onion, mushrooms, paprika and black pepper.

3. Place in a greased baking dish.

4. Top green bean mixture with cracker crumbs and margarine.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Lastly, some Peachy Cobbler for dessert:

Peachy Cobbler

Nutrient Analysis

Low-protein recipe; Makes 10 servings

Sodium

46 mg

Protein

4 g

Potassium

116 mg

Phosphorus

46 mg

Calcium

16 mg

Calories

253 kcal

Fat

4 g

Carbohydrates

34 g

Ingredients (for Batter):


QTY

UNIT

FOOD ITEM

1.)

1

cup

all-purpose flour

2.)

¼

cup

sugar

3.)

cup

butter or margarine, softened

4.)

¼

cup

milk

5.)

2

pc

egg whites

Directions (for Batter):

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Sift together flour and sugar.

3. Cut butter into flour and sugar mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Add milk and egg; stir just until moistened.

5. Set aside for filling.

Ingredients (for Filling):


QTY

UNIT

FOOD ITEM

1.)

3

tbsps

all-purpose flour

2.)

½

cup

sugar

3.)

½

tsp

cinnamon

4.)

½

cup

water

5.)

2

cans

16-oz sliced peaches in light syrup or own juice, drained

6.)

1

tbsp

lemon juice

7.)

2

tbsps

butter or margarine, unsalted

Directions (for Filling):

1. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and water in saucepan.

2. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.

3. Add peaches, lemon juice and butter.

4. Cook ingredients until peaches are hot (about 5 minutes).

5. Pour filling into an 8 ¼" x 1 ¾" baking dish.

6. Top with prepared batter.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

For drinks, you can go with Cranberry Punch (which you can check out by clicking on the link).

Even festive occasions like Thanksgiving can be great for people with CKD. These recipes just prove that people with kidney disease can still enjoy good food and the company of others even while renal dieting.


Sources:

Kidney Cooking: A Family Recipe Book for Kidney Patients - Georgia Council on Renal Nutrition, National Kidney Foundation

https://www.kidney.org/sites/default/files/docs/kidney_cookbook_lr.pdf


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