A Low FODMAP Christmas

Updated 2022

This post isn’t actually a recipe, it’s my ideas on how to do a low FODMAP Christmas and still have great tasting food. It’s a difficult time of year to be on a special diet and I imagine a few patients I’ll see over the next couple of weeks will say that they’re going to wait until after Christmas before starting it, which is understandable. But for those already following the low FODMAP diet and feeling the benefits there is no reason why you can’t continue it over Christmas with a few adjustments to your normal recipes.

 Christmas Roasts

Choosing a roast turkey or goose would be a great option because you can use the giblets to make an excellent stock for your gravy (shop-bought stocks have onion, leek and sometimes garlic added which means they are not suitable on the low FODMAP diet). Roasting the giblets for half an hour or so will add a richness to the stock flavour, but if you are short of time then just put them straight in a small pan, cover with water and simmer gently for at least an hour. You could add some chopped carrot a few peppercorns, some parsley stalks and a stick of celery if you like. This can be made a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge once it has cooled and been strained. When the turkey or goose is cooked, skim the fat off the meat juices, add the stock from the giblets and thicken using a little cornflour (mixed into a paste with water before adding.)

If you were having a roast beef or venison use red wine added to the meat juices to make the gravy (simmer it well for 10 minutes to get rid of any harsh alcohol flavours), thicken with a little cornflour as before if required and use any cooking liquid from boiling or par-boiling potatoes, carrot or turnip as additional stock. You can use a gluten free plain flour mix to make Yorkshire puddings but to be honest they don’t rise quite so well as normal ones would, but otherwise they are not a bad substitute.

A roast ham is lovely on Christmas Eve. I’ve made this recipe from Good Food Magazine a couple of times recently, it was brilliant served with fluffy mashed potato and steamed French beans tossed in garlic oil, a handful of toasted flaked almonds and grated lemon zest. To make it low FODMAP, skip the cider and onion from the stock and then make sure you keep the leftover stock to make a delicious soup or freeze it for another day. Use lactose free milk to make the parsley sauce and thicken it with cornflour as above. I’ve also tried a slightly different version and glazed the ham with a maple syrup (instead of honey) and mustard mix (checking the labels to make sure there are no high FODMAP ingredients), it was lovely.

Christmas Veg

Sprouts are limited to a maximum of 5 at a time but if there are other moderate sources of FODMAPs in the meal (for example if you were serving them with toasted flaked almonds, or had some butternut squash in a roasted veg mix ) it’s probably best to just have a couple.

Instead of making honey roast carrots and parsnips, try using pure maple syrup (fructose syrup is often added to the cheaper “maple flavoured syrup”), it works brilliantly. Last Sunday I made this Waitrose carrot and parsnip recipe using maple syrup (although I used 2 tablespoons instead of 4) and substituted Dijon mustard (but it would be fine to use wholegrain) and I would highly recommend it.

French beans as mentioned above would be another option as would a roasted veg mix including green peppers, aubergine, courgette, carrot and turnip.

Christmas Trimmings

Pigs in blankets should be fine, check the sausage ingredients to ensure there is no added onion, leek or garlic. A small amount of wheat should be OK (if it’s not one of the first few ingredients there won’t be much added).

Cranberries are low FODMAP and making a fresh sauce is really simple, this is the recipe I’ve used for the past 6 or so years, I normally add a bit of water to the sugar to the sugar to stop it burning.

I will try and post a recipe for a Low FODMAP Christmas stuffing this week or next – it’s a work in progress!

Lastly I would just say don’t get stressed about it, enjoy the day.