Question: Can I eat the turkey if the stuffing has gluten in it?
Answer: No, you can’t. Even if you’re sure it's a gluten-free turkey, cooking it with stuffing that contains gluten will contaminate it. Period. Don’t let your mother or your aunt or your in-laws persuade you to “just eat the meat from the outside of the bird.”
If you have celiac disease and will be eating in someone else's house, you'll need to give them some advice in advance. If you’re preparing a turkey for someone with celiac disease, here are a couple of steps to take:
- Use a gluten-free stuffing recipe.
- Cook stuffing with gluten separately, not inside the turkey.
- Read How to Make Holiday Foods Safe for Gluten-Free Guests.
- Read 10 Tips for Hosting Gluten-Free Guests.
Finally, be open to new ideas: On my first gluten-free Thanksgiving, the friends who invited me to dinner couldn’t find gluten-free bread for the stuffing, so instead they substituted crumbled-up pieces of gluten-free cookies. The stuffing was delicious — and it was one of the most touching things anyone has ever done for me.
