Gluten Free meal ideas that doesn’t have GF substitutes

[Houseplanning]

So no gf pasta etc please. Am not intolerant to extreme but have hashimotos and heard gluten free Is really helpful. Would rather go without GF specific products though?

thanks

I am coeliac and I don’t eat any gluten free alternatives as they are the work of the devil (I can’t stand the texture of gf pasta).

I eat a lot of currys, any meat and veg, the only GF things I use are gf stock cubes and worcester sauce.

It was daunting at first but now it’s easy and makes it super easy to stick to a really healthy diet to be honest.

You could share have gf days. Make the best of both worlds.

I’m coeliac and gf soy sauce is the only alternative I use much.

curry, risotto, salad, casserole, chilli, anything using potato/rice/meat/veg.

I use hello fresh for ideas a lot as they rarely use pasta.

I tend not to use gf as most are horrible, but I have found old elpaso corn tortillas are quite a good option for lunch on the go. Other than that I tend to have rice, potatoes or more veg, it’s been eye opening how simple it is to stick to healthy eating if bread is a no no. Plus Kettle chips are gluten free😀

Look at low-carb eating more generally, that will be a good source of ideas.

Salads and veg generally are easy. Baking or grilling meat or fish is straightforward. I do dust fish with gluten-free flour (maize cornflour or plain riceflour would still be fine) if I'm frying it usually.

I like bacon and eggs or omelettes for breakfast; that's probably the meal that creates the biggest change from many people's standard fare. But equally, fruit and yoghurt works, perhaps with added seeds.

GF bread is the work of the devil. I do like brown rice pasta from Waitrose the rest I’ve tried are rank. I have other auto immune diseases and going GF has really helped with symptoms. I do get a little sick of rice and potatoes.
I make my own GF cakes with ground almonds. I use rice noodles instead of egg noodles. Use corn flour to thicken sauces Lunches out I find tricky and going on holiday abroad.

I have an issue with Gluten it sets of my IBS.

I mostly eat greek yogurt or eggs for breakfast, salads and variations of salads for lunch eg tuna and white bean / mixed beans or HM soup. Normal meals for dinner, lots of things are naturally gluten free. I do eat a lot of asian food with rice or rice noodles.

The only thing I really miss is pasta and I can't stand the GF stuff.

That’s my biggest bugbear. Always rice or potatoes! Luckily, I do love them but when they are by far the easiest GF filler, it does get a bit boring!

Oats? Good for breakfast obviously (porridge, overnight oats, homemade granola) but also savoury porridge is lovely.
Stews with lentils can stand alone without rice/potato, especially if you add in a starchy veg like sweet potato, squash, turnip etc.

DH has perfected gluten free bread in the bread maker. It’s not the same, but better than I expected and a reasonable alternative.

Oats are not gluten free unless the packet specifically says so. The manufacturing methods for oats involve gluten.

Most of the "taste the difference" type sausages and burgers in the super markets are GF. I second omelettes, bolognese with mashed potato, home made fish cakes and curries. Tesco own brand oven chips are mainly gluten free.

www.mindfulchef.com/healthy-recipes

Loads of amazing ideas here.

@Bluevelvetsofa I'd love to know his recipe! I'd given up on bread until a trip to a specialist gluten free cafe (sadly while on holiday overseas) revealed that it can be not just edible, but pleasant and enjoyable. We already have a bread maker. Thanks!

This is a good gf bread recipe

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berry-nordic-seed-and-nut-loaf/

Just eat real food, cook from scratch and then you don’t need alternatives - rice and potato rather than pasta, sauces from scratch etc.

Im super lucky that I’m a coeliac who loves the taste of the alternatives!

but really though rice and potato based shit is your friend here!

Dd has coeliac disease. She does eat gf pasta. Otherwise rice, potato, roasted cauliflower.

Pakoras are good - made with gram flour. I make home made burgers, chicken nuggets - use gf oats as binder.

What kind of stuff do you normally eat? There is lots of naturally occurring GF food, so depending on what stuff you like, it's easy not to have to buy specific GF alternatives.

I am gluten free due to Hashimoto's. I effectively eat as if I were coeliac, being extremely careful with cross contamination etc. My husband also went GF, as he's the cook in the house and he decided it was easier. He didn't realise he had a problem with gluten, but it's cleared up bloating problems he had, and also his acid reflux.

There is an amazing gluten free blogger, Becky Excell, who has really raised the profile of GF baking in particular, but recently she's got really into cooking dinner type dishes. Simple recipes, natural food etc. If you look up her name you'll find her blog, and she also has a huge Facebook group, which is really helpful. For those talking about bread, she has some brilliant bread recipes, far superior to anything you can buy.

Do you not like pasta in general, or is it just something about GF pasta you don't like? TBH I don't think it tastes any different, and neither do my adult children when they come round and get fed it!

TBH I don't think it tastes any different, and neither do my adult children when they come round and get fed it!

I'm not sure I trust people who say they can't tell the difference. I don't think it's even worth eating. I have courgette ribbons with bolognese and use courgettes in place of lasagna sheets.

Things we eat that are gluten free without major alterations- meat and veg type meals, chilli, curry, tagines (can be served with quinoa), casseroles, salads, stir fries with rice noodles, sweet and sour. Dinners at home are actually super easy.

I don’t see the issue with GF pasta , my daughter is coeliac and has a very restricted diet and we all eat gf pasta with no issue . M &S do really nice gf triple cooked chips ( fresh and frozen ) .

My husband is gluten free as as a poster upthread said, gluten free soy sauce (tamari) is the only substitute we regularly use. We eat gluten free vegetarian, and eat lots of Indian food, general Asian food, Mexican food both with rice, rice vermicelli and rice sticks are great (not substitutes for gluten containing noodles but delicious in recipes they’re designed for), salads.

He uses Free white bread flour and follow the recipe on the pack. He uses a teaspoon of xanthan gum, 7 gms of fast acting yeast, 50/50 water and milk and two whole eggs. Apparently it’s important to have the milk and water tepid.

Ha ha, I guess different taste buds and all that. But honestly, we get the Morrisons or Asda pasta, and neither my husband or I, or the kids as I mentioned before can taste any different to "normal" pasta.

We do eat other types of pasta most of the time, as we tend to follow a low carb diet, so things like the endamme bean or similar (can't quite remember exactly what they are without the box to hand). So maybe we're so used to those, that when we do have normal GF pasta it tastes like the real thing!

Anyway, different strokes for different folks and all that.

Rice, potatoes, beans, pulses are your friend.

If you cook from scratch you will be fine, just avoid accidentally dosing yourself with things like condiments, soy sauce, stock cubes etc.
I make corn tortillas and gram flour 'tortillas' , though neither are as bendy as bought ones.
Use cornflour to thicken sauces.
Most supermarket's luxury range sausages are GF as they are made with rice rather than rusk.

Gf recipes:
Steak and chips with roast tomatoes and mushrooms.
Roast chicken with mashed potatoes, veg, a gravy made from the juices thickened with cornflour. Stuffing made with cooked rice, onion, fresh herbs and an egg, baked into a loaf.
Baked potato with beans and cheese, or tuna.
Sausage and bean casserole
Omelette (cheese,mushroom etc
Anything that you'd wrap in a wrap you can wrap in an iceberg lettuce leaf: works for Mexican, Chinese roasts, even curry, if you don't want to faff making gf versions.