3 Gluten Free Meals for Beginners
Gluten free eating is relatively new to me but it’s a growing trend in recent years. More and more people have Celiacs disease, want to lose weight, are seeking a cleaner diet, or have other health related concerns. It can be a really tricky diet to navigate at first and you can fall into the pithole of only eating salads and veggies. As a solution, here are 3 of my favorite gluten free meals with quick prep times and few ingredients to make them feasible on a budget. They cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- The World’s Best Gluten Free Blueberry Pancakes (Breakfast)
I have tried every Pinterest recipe for gluten free pancakes and combined a few to make one recipe that both myself and my gluten-free partner love every time. They taste incredibly similar if not the same as gluten pancakes.
You’ll need:
- 1 ¼ cups Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free flour blend
- 1 tbs. Sugar
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- ½ tsp. Baking soda
- ¼ tsp. Salt
- 1 tbs. Vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup Chobani Vanilla oat milk
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
This recipe takes literal minutes to prepare. Just first mix all of your dry ingredients before adding in your wet ingredients. Use a whisk for these ingredients. Add your blueberries last and use a wooden spoon to incorporate these. The cooking surface should just be prepped with a little spray oil such as canola oil. They cook quickly and come out fluffy just like normal pancakes. I really recommend being generous with your vanilla extract and using the Chobani vanilla oat milk to get a great flavored pancake.
- GF Wraps & Pasta Salad (Lunch)
This for me is less of a recipe and more of a meal my partner wants every day. We love gluten free wraps because they’re super easy and you can change your flavor every day with very minimal effort. Pasta salad is a fresh dish my mom used to make when I was growing up and with gluten free pasta, it’s very easy.
You’ll need:
- GF wraps
Suggested fillings:
- Orange bell pepper
- Cucumber
- Turkey bacon
- Shredded cheese
- Mayo
- Guacamole
- Spring mix
For the pasta salad:
- Gluten free pasta
- Mayo
- Pepper
- Salt
- Bell pepper
- Black olives
The wrap is what you make it. We really like the ingredients listed above, but you can add whatever you want and the Mission wraps have a great taste. For the pasta salad, boil water with salt before adding your gluten free pasta as you would with normal pasta. Drain and let the pasta cool until it’s room temperature. Add in chopped bell pepper and cut black olives. Next, cover the pasta in mayo. This sounds gross, but I promise it’s good. You need more than you think. You want it covered with mayo because the pasta will soak a lot of it up. Once covered to taste, add your salt and pepper. Once again, you need more than you think so be really generous with your seasoning. Mix your pasta and give it a taste test. Adjust your mayo and seasoning to your preferences and ta-da. It makes a great side to your wraps and tastes even better when it chills in the refrigerator.
- Lemon Pepper Chicken & Veggies (Dinner)
This is the easiest, healthiest meal of all time. You can cook all the components of this meal simultaneously and have it ready in under an hour. There’s no official recipe for this, just my own experience.
You’ll need:
- Lemon pepper marinade Peppercorn
- Salt
- Thyme
- rosemary
- 2 lbs. chicken breast
For veggies:
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Pepper
- Zucchini
- Summer squash
- Tomatoes
- Olive oil
To prep your chicken, stab the chicken breasts with a fork to tenderize. Place in a casserole dish and season with thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Then, use the entire bottle of lemon pepper marinade to coat the chicken. Wrap the top of the dish in tin foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove the dish at 20 minutes, flip the chicken, season the other side, and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
To prep your veggies, cut thin slices of your squashes and tomato. Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of your dish. You want something small but deep to stack your veggies. After applying the oil, layer your summer squash, zucchini, and tomato. After every layer, season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Keep stacking your layers to the top of the dish. Then, either with a lid or tinfoil, cover the dish and roast in the oven for 40 minutes at 425 degrees. When you remove the veggies, give them a mix and make sure they’re softened.
If you prepare both dishes together, they’ll finish at the same time and can cook together at the same temperature in the oven. You can also add a side salad or some quick airfryer potatoes to make this a filling meal.