Are you looking for gluten and dairy free meals? Wondering if you’re doomed to tasteless food?
That was me a few years ago, but I’ve now built up a selection of easy free-from meals that don’t feel like you’re missing out at all.
Here are gluten and dairy free meals plucked from personal experience.
Gluten and dairy free breakfast ideas
You might not be a morning person, but fuelling up at the start of the day can be incredibly delicious in a free-from way.
Fruit bowl with extras
Chop up any amount of fresh fruit you like. You might just want melon on its own or an assortment of everything in your fruit bowl. Add coconut yoghurt, maple syrup and a few nuts of your choice.
Omelette
A plain one takes 5 minutes but you could add some fried courgettes, peppers, mushrooms or onions to mix it up. If you love cheese on your omelette, Cathedral City and Violife do the best alternative cheese.
Creamy millet porridge
Take a look at this recipe for millet porridge from the slow cooker. Even if you don’t have every single ingredient, it’s still very tasty. Preparation takes 10 minutes, and you can leave it overnight.
Avocado, garlic and egg on toast
This one’s super popular. Just spread fresh avocado on your gluten-free toast and add (peeled) crushed garlic. Feel free to change up the garlic for something else if you’re not a fan. Then just add fried or scrambled egg. Highly recommended.
Oat porridge with your favourite toppings
The much-loved breakfast staple is ideal for adding extra flavour. I love it with peanut butter, berries, nuts, dairy-free yoghurt, maple syrup and honey in any combination. It makes for powerful fuel for your day too. If you’re buying ready-made porridge pots, check whether they have milk in the ingredients.
Scrambled eggs on toast
Need something quick and easy? Plain scrambled eggs on gluten-free toast (no milk) is always a yummy breakfast and slightly lighter option than porridge.
French toast
A weekend treat that I can’t recommend enough. Here’s the recipe. Just remember to use gluten-free bread and plant-based milk instead.
Full English breakfast
If you’re having a cooked breakfast, you can enjoy most things. Sausages often have gluten in them, so watch out if you’re in a restaurant, but you can easily get gluten-free ones. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, baked beans and gluten-free bread are fine. Here’s some gluten-free black pudding if you’re into that.
Gluten and dairy free lunch ideas
You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many options you can have. Take note of these for when you’re eating out too.
Quinoa salad with courgette, onion, pepper
Never had quinoa before? Fry chopped courgette, peppers and onion in a frying pan using olive oil. Once they’re soft and brown, add 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water. The quinoa will soak it up. Keep stirring until the quinoa is yellowish and the water has gone. Ready to serve in a large bowl. You can refrigerate this for several days too.
Vegetable crisps
You can have potato crisps as an accompaniment too, but I had to spotlight these.
Omelette with vegetables, cold turkey and green leaf salad
Make an omelette like you do for breakfast. Cook a turkey breast in the oven for half an hour and slice onto your plate. Add a green leaf salad. Tasty and suprisingly filling.
Gluten-free panini
There are some excellent gluten-free paninis out there – I recommend Schär. Just make up your panini as normal, press it in a panini maker and you’ll hardly notice it’s free-from. I love having it with Cathedral City cheese and tuna or ham.
Vegetable soup
You can pretty much have any vegetable soup. If you want cheese, use Cathedral City or Violife but just be aware that it won’t melt quite the same as normal cheese.
Potato salad
This is a great side to add to your lunch. Boil 4 or 5 new potatoes. Prepare 1 chopped apple, a handful of raisins, ½ cup of mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Chop up the boiled potatoes and mix thoroughly with the rest. Incredibly tasty.
Baked potato with salad
A classic baked potato is a great option that you can make at home and choose when you’re eating out. As long as you don’t have butter with it, you can enjoy tuna mayonnaise, beans, coronation chicken and vegan cheese on your tattie. Get your greens in with a leafy salad.
Delicious rice salad
Make this a side or your main dish. Boil 250g of rice and once it has cooled, mix it with any combination of salad extras. I love adding lemon juice, cucumber, pepper, cold turkey, grapes and cooked courgettes.
Gluten and dairy free dinner ideas
Here’s some reliable dishes to whip up. Gluten and dairy free meals don’t have to be complicated.
Homemade burgers
For one burger, put 150g mince in a burger shaper and place it on a baking tray to put in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Fry it in olive oil if you fancy it more BBQ-style. Just add veg of your choice.
Burmese Lamb
Here’s a delicious recipe for Burmese lamb if you don’t mind a bit of spice. Perfect gluten and dairy free treat and ready in half an hour. Just make sure you get gluten-free soy sauce.
Beef and vegetable balti
Here’s a healthy curry that you can make as spicy as you like. Super easy and ready in half an hour. Remember to get dairy-free Greek yoghurt and gluten-free naan bread.
Steak and chips
Ok it’s obvious: I love meat. This option is an excellent one to rely on when you’re eating out as most restaurants serve steak. Watch out for the sauces they provide; if I’m in doubt, I don’t have a sauce at all. In case the waiter asks, chips fried in the same oil as normal batter are fine if you’re gluten-free. However, if you’re coeliac, stay away from chips like these.
Vegetable curry
For those who don’t want meat. Coconut makes the flavour outstanding. Here’s the recipe – look at the notes for gluten-free and vegan diets.
Salmon with teriyaki sauce and rice
Bake salmon in the oven drizzled with teriyaki sauce for a delicious option. It’s so easy and cooks within half an hour. Just add rice and veg for a very healthy meal.
Mexican wraps
For a fun dinner, make the filling, put the dish in the middle of the table and people can make their own wraps. Here’s some gluten-free wraps and dairy-free cheese to substitute.
Eating out must-knows
When you’re eating out, you can ask if your choice can be modified or ask for a free-from menu. Normally they’re able to find something to suit you – you don’t have to work out what’s acceptable yourself.
The good news is that gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan diets are becoming more widespread, and restaurants want to keep up. If in doubt, big restaurant chains tend to have wider range of free-from options.
Free-from is fun
It’s easy to make a gluten and dairy free meals when you know how. It doesn’t have to cost the earth or be really tricky.
Have fun with these recipe inspirations. If you have any goodies to share, let me know in the comments!
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