Living gluten free is not easy, especially when you’re first starting out. It can be overwhelming trying to find the best alternatives for your favorite foods. We are blessed to have so many more options in grocery stores than there used to be, but it can be exhausting to have to go through the trial and error to find the brand you like the best, especially because gluten free groceries are so much more expensive. As someone with Celiac Disease who has followed a gluten free diet for six years, I have tried so many different gluten free products. It took a lot of time to find my favorites, so I’ve compiled a list to save you time and stress in the gluten free aisle. Whether you have to be gluten free for medical reasons or you want to try something new, here’s a list of products for you to try. Some of them are even better than the real thing!
- Promise Bread
Finding a good gluten free bread was one of the hardest things about the early days of my Celiac diagnosis. Talk about trial and error. In the past six years, I have tried almost every brand of gluten free bread. I’ve had bread that was smaller than my fist, that fell apart when you cut it and bread that cost almost $10 a loaf for a small quantity. Finally, only about a year ago, my mom found a new brand we had never tried before called Promise. The first time I tried it, I felt like I was eating real bread again. They also have so many different types: sourdough, white bread, multigrain (my personal favorite), brioche. The list goes on. The only problem with this brand is that it can be hard to find. I have only been able to find it at ShopRite. But if you can get your hands on it, it’s a must try.
- Barilla Gluten Free Pasta
Okay, this one might be controversial with my other gluten free friends out there, but out of all the gluten free pastas I have tried, Barilla’s version is my favorite. I will be honest: I really don’t like chickpea pasta. I know chickpeas are a popular ingredient in gluten free pasta alternatives, but I’ve tried it and I just don’t like the taste. I like Barilla because it feels the most like regular pasta to me. It is made out of corn and rice, so you don’t get any overpowering flavors like you sometimes get with chickpea pasta. There are two other brands that I really like, Jovial and Rummo’s, but while they stand out in taste, they more expensive than Barilla. And if you’ve ever had to eat gluten free, you would understand why the cost is so important. So if you’re looking for a cost-effective gluten free pasta that also tastes good, Barilla is the one to pick.
- Good Crisp Company Chips
Finding alternatives for your favorite meals is important, but it’s also important, and arguably more fun, to find new gluten free snacks to try! I discovered Good Crisp Company only a couple of months ago, and they have quickly become my favorite snack. They are an even more delicious alternative to Pringles (yes, there is gluten in Pringles), and they come in the same fun cylinder-shaped can that we always got our hands stuck in as kids. They have so many different flavors (sour cream and onion is the best!), and they are not only gluten free but also nut free, soy free AND dairy free, so if you have other allergies you can still enjoy them. My friends who aren’t gluten free have tried them and LOVE them, so even if you don’t have to eat gluten free, I highly recommend you give them a try.
- Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour
I’ll be honest, I’ve tried a couple of different brands of flour and haven’t noticed much of a difference, but this is the one I use most frequently. I love to bake, so I love Bob’s Red Mill because it is 1:1 with regular wheat flour, so you can replace it in your favorite recipes without having to adjust the measurements. When I look up recipes online, I often don’t even look for gluten free recipes specifically because I can follow the recipe but change the regular flour to gluten free flour. This might not work as well for cakes or breads, but it has worked perfectly for plenty of different cookie recipes.
- Sweet Loren’s Gluten Free Cookies
Of course I HAD to put a sweet treat on here, because people who eat gluten free deserve to satisfy their sweet tooths too! Sweet Loren’s makes oven-ready cookies that you can keep in the freezer and pop in the oven when you’re in the mood for something sweet that you can make quickly. The cookies usually take only about 11 to 13 minutes in the oven, and they are soft, gooey and delicious, just the way cookies should be! Being gluten free, convenience is hard to come by. Often when you want a really good gluten free meal or treat, you have to make it yourself. When you’re a busy college student like me, you don’t always have time to bake things from scratch. Sweet Loren’s is convenient AND delicious – a winning combo. All their products are not only gluten free, but they’re also free from the top 9 Allergens: wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, milk, egg, sesame, fish and shellfish. Oh, and my non-gluten free friends love them too – we’ve enjoyed them together on many a movie night.
If you just started eating gluten free, hopefully this list helped you find some new options to try. If you don’t eat gluten free, definitely give these products a try anyway! Gluten free products get a bad rap, but they can be really delicious if done right – and these brands do it right.