The Ultimate Guide to Gluten Free Meal Planning

Gluten Free meal planning will work great for your family whether gluten free or not. It is packed with tips and tricks to help you plan healthy, delicious, meals for your family. In general, our family tries to eat very little processed food. We follow a Mediterranean diet. We eat a lot of protein and veggies and fruit. We eat a few kinds of gluten free grains such as some rice, buckwheat, and quinoa. I am always wanting to get a healthy fat ( put the low-fat stuff down please- your body needs good fats!) and protein in my meals. We are homesteaders so we have fresh eggs and a plentiful garden which we love to use in our meals.

This way of eating would not be possible without pre-planning and meal prep. It seems like a lot of work at first but it is SO worth it. I hope you enjoy the Ultimate Guide to Gluten Free Meal Planning

• When I initially wrote this guide, I could not tolerate gluten – I now can have it so other recipes on this blog may have gluten ingredients, however, because I was GF for seven years, I will always include GF options in my recipes.

*this post contains affiliate links, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

---

Gluten Free meal planning tips for breakfast

Having breakfast foods prepped helps so much on busy mornings.

Smoothies – my tip for easy smoothies – get big bags of fruit and make smaller single serving bags from those for an easy busy morning breakfast. Anyone making a shake can just grab a fruit bag and add it to protein powder and liquid of choice. Adding a good fat such as avocado or a nut butter will really help balance the meal and you feel fuller longer.

( Note for those following a Mediterranean way of eating, I know that smoothies are not a traditional part of the diet and I do not have them regularly – they are more of a once in a while treat and when I do make them, I am using a very clean protein source.)

Gluten free Oatmeal or another grain such as buckwheat – Make up a big pot of hot cereal and have add ins like fresh or dried fruit and nuts out for each person to make their own.

Greek Yogurt, overnight oats or Chia pudding – Like with the oatmeal, having yogurt, or chia pudding as a base and then delicious, healthful ingredients as toppers is key.

Breakfast burritos – these are so easy to make, and freeze very well. We LOVED the California style burritos in San Diego – so our favorite combo is bacon, eggs, cheese and potato. You can make your own gluten free tortillas or get a brand such as Siete

Egg Cups, Fritattas, and egg bakes, great options for a protein and veggie packed breakfast

Muffins – gluten free muffins, they freeze very well and are easy to warm up. There are many muffin recipes on this blog for delicious and easy muffins.

---

Gluten Free meal planning tips for lunch

In my house, on weekdays, I am the only one home for lunch so I usually eat leftovers morphed into one of the things mentioned below. Leftovers are such a lifesaver in gluten free meal planning.

Salads – I love taking leftover chicken and making a fresh chicken salad, and adding garbanzo beans for extra protein.

Gluten Free Wraps – you can put pretty much anything in a wrap and will be delicious. I make buckwheat crepes or use cassava flour tortillas.

soups – leftover soups are a quick and easy lunch – I like make at least one homemade soup or chili a week. Don’t do the canned stuff, they are loaded with sodium and preservatives.

---

Gluten Free Meal Planning tips for dinner

I like to plan out what I am going to have for dinner each night of the week ( 100% honesty – I do not always stick to EVERY night’s plan but it definitely helps me to have that plan in place) Even if you are not a planner, these tips and suggestions will help you have a plethora of healthy food at the ready so you can throw something together fast. We do a few nights on repeat that my family really likes and these include:

Easy Freezer meal prep video

Themed nights make Gluten Free Meal Planning Fun

Meatless Monday – we love to do veggie lasagna or Neatloaf

Taco night – This is fun to switch up. We do a lot of venison tacos, fish tacos, or nachos ( one of my super powers is to make kick-ass nachos with ANY leftover)

Big Salad Night – I confess not every salad night looks like this at my house but it sure is fun to do once in a while! This is my Summer Steak Salad recipe if you what to recreate it.

Homemade Pizza Night – we love using lean proteins such as shredded chicken or homemade meatballs and pile on the veggies.

Burgers and Air fryer fries – I personally skip the bun and pile the toppings high on my burgers

Pasta Night – We love pasta night, this could be lasagna, Alfredo,spaghetti and clam sauce, ramen – there are many GF pasta options

Build your own Baked potato Bar – I make sweet potatoes and russets and then set out all the yummy toppings

Soup and Sandwiches – Think out of the box – this could be oven subs, wraps, quesadillas, French dips, …

Appetizer Night – We love to mix it up for these – mezze platters, air fried buffalo cauliflower wings, dips, and more – use your imagination and have fun!

---

My tried and true methods for gluten free meal planning

These are all the things that I do regularly to plan meals for my family.

Pick a day to prep food for the week

I like to do this on the weekends, usually Sunday. I flip through cookbooks, blogs, and take inventory on what I have on hand and then make a list of the meals I am going to make. After I shop, I prep what I can ahead of time.

Always have something thawing

I always have at least two kinds of protein thawing in the fridge, so there is always something to cook up. Here I have two chicken breasts which is the perfect amount for any soup or chili ( for my family of 4) and ground lamb which can become meatballs, wraps, egg roll in a bowl, burgers and more.

Gluten Free sides and fillers – Cook up a big pot of rice or quinoa

Cooking up a big pot of rice or quinoa is perfect for creating easy bowls, wraps and side dishes for quick lunches or to round out a meal.

Keep healthy Gluten Free pantry staples on hand

Below is a list of the things that I keep stocked in my pantry.

Dry Gluten Free pasta

onion and garlic

Quinoa and Rice

Canned and dry beans

Canned Tomatoes

Chicken Broth

Green Chiles

Pesto

potatoes and sweet potatoes

salsa

flavorful spice blends

dried fruit, seeds and nuts

Olive oil

nut butters, peanut, almond, cashew

gluten free flours

arrowroot powder to thicken soups, sauces

---

Keep healthy Gluten Free options in the fridge

Eggs ( yes I know many homesteaders keep fresh eggs on the counter – but if you get them at the store – in the fridge they go!)

Sliced turkey

Crumbled Feta or Goat Cheese

Cheese – I like to have cheddar, Parmesan, gouda, Swiss, and mozzarella

Mustard

beets

Salad greens – I always have a big container of mixed greens as well as a smaller one of arugula

Vegetables – I always have mushrooms, a bag of coleslaw mix, and other in season produce

Fruit – berries, lemons, limes, apples, oranges

olives

Grain Free tortillas

---

Keep Healthy Gluten Free options in the freezer

Fruit – berries, mangos, bananas

Mixed veggies, broccoli, peas, corn, green beans

Protein such as chicken, venison, pork tenderloin

Wild caught fish and shellfish ( I do not personally recommend tilapia, unless it is home raised as a healthy fish option – research it!)

---

Tips to Cook once, eat twice

Transform leftovers – Roasts or leftover pork or chicken can become nachos, enchiladas, hash, bowls, wraps, salads and more.

Add Beans – When making ground meat, adding a can of beans will easily double it, making it cost effective, and delicious! We do this a lot for taco meat. Tacos night one and then nachos, enchiladas or bowls another night.

Make two – When making things like lasagna, double the recipe. Cook one and put the other in the freezer.

Freeze soups, stews and chili – All three of these freeze very well and it is so nice to be able to pull out a homemade soup whenever you want one.

---

Clean your produce and cut or chop so it is ready to go

I like to throw all of my produce in a bowl of water and then dry and transfer to glass storage containers for easy access throughout the week.

I hope you enjoyed the ultimate guide to gluten free meal planning. Please let me know which tip or trick you found useful in the comments!

---

Want more easy and delicious recipes?

Join our FREE farm to table recipe recipe sharing community HERE for nightly What’s for dinner inspiration, and a community of people who love delicious and healthy food.

Never miss a recipe – subscribe to Homesteading and Hungry Here