Gluten-Free Thanksgiving: The Quest for the Perfect Dinner Roll (Finally!)

We’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, and our entire feast will be 100% gluten free. Sixteen of us will gather around the table, each person bringing a dish to share. Every year, I feel a little guilty when I send the reminder that everything needs to be gluten free—not because anyone complains, but because I know it’s a big ask. Keeping our kitchen safe and avoiding cross-contamination is the only way I know to prevent getting glutenized, and thankfully, our friends understand that. They show up with creative, delicious GF dishes that make my heart (and stomach) very happy. I appreciate them more than they’ll ever know.

And because I want everyone—gluten free or not—to have a truly enjoyable, scrumptious meal, I take the baked goods especially seriously. Let’s be real: a holiday table without amazing bread and desserts just doesn’t feel complete. So every fall, I go into recipe-testing mode. I have my go-to desserts down to a science, but this year I’ve been on a mission: find the perfect gluten-free dinner roll.

Fellow celiacs know the struggle. We want a roll that’s soft, buttery, and worth eating for everyone, not just the gluten-free crowd. And let me tell you, I have tried so many recipes. Some were decent, some were… not. But today—victory.

I think I found the one.
These gluten-free crescent rolls from Meaningful Eats are everything a dinner roll should be: tender, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They do require a few steps, and I’ll admit I have yet to master the art of cutting a circle into twelve perfectly even slices. Why is that so hard?! But honestly, the moment I tasted them, I stopped caring about symmetry. And when my gluten-eating husband took a bite and said, “Wow, these are really good,” I knew the search was officially over.

So for Thanksgiving, I’ll be working on shaping those crescents a little more evenly—but with the comfort of knowing that our guests will get to enjoy an essential part of the holiday meal, and I’ll get to enjoy it safely because they’re completely gluten free.

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy baking!