When you're new to a gluten-free diet, figuring out what's safe to eat can be frustrating, especially when it comes to packing lunches. If you're used to grabbing a burger when out or ordering in a pizza for the crew, those unconscious spur-of-the-moment lunches are no longer an option.
It's going to take a bit of pre-planning to give your body the fuel it needs to get through the afternoon.
You also need to know what you can do for lunch if you're away from home or the office.
Eating out is always risky.
However, a gluten-free diet doesn't mean you have to sacrifice a full belly. To get you started, and keep those hungry gremlins away, here are dozens of gluten-free lunch ideas that can help lessen the frustration and keep you satisfied.
You also need to know what you can do for lunch if you're away from home or the office.
Eating out is always risky.
However, a gluten-free diet doesn't mean you have to sacrifice a full belly. To get you started, and keep those hungry gremlins away, here are dozens of gluten-free lunch ideas that can help lessen the frustration and keep you satisfied.
Microwave Oven
Let's start with the easiest option.
For those with a microwave oven near-by, packing up a few leftovers from last night's dinner makes a simple solution.
Enchiladas, beef stew, or a chicken-and-rice casserole can be ready to eat in only a few minutes.
If super-hot water is available, there are also pho-type noodle dishes, similar to Top Ramen noodle soups, that can be stashed in the trunk of your car. Just toss the ingredients into a soup cup and nuke according to the directions on the package.
For those with a microwave oven near-by, packing up a few leftovers from last night's dinner makes a simple solution.
Enchiladas, beef stew, or a chicken-and-rice casserole can be ready to eat in only a few minutes.
If super-hot water is available, there are also pho-type noodle dishes, similar to Top Ramen noodle soups, that can be stashed in the trunk of your car. Just toss the ingredients into a soup cup and nuke according to the directions on the package.
Convenience flies out the window when you have a time-demanding job or you're out in territory that isn't very celiac-friendly. Where room-temperature burritos fried to a crisp the night before and nuked at the office worked fine when hubby is able to take 30-minute lunches, when he switched to a water restoration company, or had to travel during lunch time, lunch was often rushed.
He rarely had time to stop for lunch back then, and was never near a microwave, so we had to move to finger-foods to keep him well fed.
If you're pressed for time like he was or you don't have a refrigerator near by, you can still enjoy tasty gluten-free lunches. It just takes a little more thought and prep.
If you're pressed for time like he was or you don't have a refrigerator near by, you can still enjoy tasty gluten-free lunches. It just takes a little more thought and prep.
Make Lunch a Snack You Can Carry With You
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| No Time to Stop for Lunch? Have a Gluten-Free Snack Instead! |
If you never leave the house without a big gluten-free breakfast, you might be able to get by with a few snacks tucked into a backpack or large bag instead of eating a complete meal.
When hubby used to travel an hour-and-a-half one way to work, he left far too early in the morning for breakfast. Instead, I'd send him a burrito made with a brown-rice tortilla for lunch and tons of snack foods that he could dip into whenever he had the urge to eat.
Snack foods don't have to be junk. While I did toss in a baggie filled with Cool Ranch Doritos or Sour Cream and Green Onion Lay's Potato Chips during the summer months, I also gave him:
- steak-cut beef jerky strips
- homemade cheese sticks
- cucumber wedges
- red pepper strips
- cashews or mixed nuts
- hard boiled eggs, peeled
- raisins or dried cranberries
- apples and bananas
- salami slices with cheese squares
- thick cubes of ham
- cold baked chicken legs
- Snack Pack puddings, gelatin, or mixed fruit
- black or green olives
- pickle wedges
A few gluten-free crackers paired with some ham and cheese or a couple of gluten-free cookies to go along with those hard-boiled eggs can tie you over until you get home where you can make a more substantial gluten-free meal.
Just be aware that gluten-free products are going to have a higher amount of trace gluten than something you make yourself.
Gas Station Convenience Stores
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| Jerky and Potato Chips Make a Quick GF Meal |
Hubby and I use gas station convenience stores in a pinch. This often happens when we decide to take a Sunday drive on the spur of the moment and I don't have lunch-type foods like leftover chicken in the house that we can take with us.
We also might stop and grab a quick bite to eat when we are visiting my oldest son, his wife, and our granddaughter.
During times when celiac-friendly options are slim, we'll usually drop by the gas station for lunch and pick up a couple of the following:
We also might stop and grab a quick bite to eat when we are visiting my oldest son, his wife, and our granddaughter.
During times when celiac-friendly options are slim, we'll usually drop by the gas station for lunch and pick up a couple of the following:
- steak-cut beef jerky strips, original recipe
- individual packages of nuts
- fresh fruit like bananas
- a package of chips, Lay's brand
- Klondike ice cream bars
Grocery Store Options
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| You Don't Need Bread! Just Roll Your Ham into Tubes |
Another option is to head for your local grocery store and buy yourself some gluten-free lunch meat and cheese.
When it's been a long day and you want something more substantial than a bag of chips or box of caramel popcorn, this has worked well for us. We simply sit in the car and roll the boiled ham and cheese slices into tubes and eat them with a paper towel.
If you keep a hand-cranked can opener in your car, you could also opt for canned fruits, Bush's baked beans, or canned meats like tuna. Yogurt, snack-sized ready-made puddings, pickles, and baby carrots are also easily available in stores.
Avocados, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, pepperoni slices, celery with peanut butter and cream cheese, and cold peeled shrimp would also work well.
Avocados, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, pepperoni slices, celery with peanut butter and cream cheese, and cold peeled shrimp would also work well.
Some grocery stores also offer pre-cooked rotisserie chickens that are gluten free. Paired with some fresh fruit, a bag of salad mix, and a tasty gluten-free dressing, that roasted chicken makes a nice, filling picnic lunch.
Many stores also have a small gluten-free section where you can find crackers, cookies, and gluten-free bars.
Our local Walmarts sell fresh-sealed gluten-free breads and buns. Since they aren't frozen, and don't need to be toasted, it's easy to make a peanut butter sandwich if you're on-the-go. The frozen varieties would also work if you pull a loaf out of the freezer the day before.
Our local Walmarts sell fresh-sealed gluten-free breads and buns. Since they aren't frozen, and don't need to be toasted, it's easy to make a peanut butter sandwich if you're on-the-go. The frozen varieties would also work if you pull a loaf out of the freezer the day before.
If you're lucky enough to have a small frozen gluten-free section, I've heard that Udi's bakery-sized ready-made chocolate muffins are to die for. All you'd have to do is thaw and eat.
Insulated Lunch Cooler
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| Insulated Lunch Box Makes the Best Gluten-Free Lunch Option |
This is the option that hubby uses every day for work today.
While some of the prior options have been quite useful when we're out on the weekends, the insulated lunch box is much more practical.
If I know we are going to be busy on the weekend and need a take-along lunch, cooking ahead and stopping for a picnic is a better option than risking what the gas station or grocery store might have.
While some of the prior options have been quite useful when we're out on the weekends, the insulated lunch box is much more practical.
If I know we are going to be busy on the weekend and need a take-along lunch, cooking ahead and stopping for a picnic is a better option than risking what the gas station or grocery store might have.
Today's lunch boxes are a drastic improvement over those little tin or plastic boxes with a snap-in thermos that we used to carry to school decades ago. Today, lunch boxes come in both hard and soft varieties with tons of pockets and plenty of room to carry along an ice-substitute that will keep your food cool and safe for several hours.
In fact, when hubby gets home from work at 5 o'clock in the evening, any food he hasn't eaten is still cold. The same goes for his drinks. Today's lunch coolers are designed to keep your drinks cold for several hours, provided you use those blue ice-substitutes.
I just toss the Rubbermaid ice-packs into the freezer when hubby gets home, and they are frozen and ready-to-use again the next morning.
I just toss the Rubbermaid ice-packs into the freezer when hubby gets home, and they are frozen and ready-to-use again the next morning.
Many varieties of insulated coolers also come with hard liners that can be removed for easy cleaning in case something gets spilled. That's the type that hubby has right now.
These insulated lunch boxes make regular lunches available for those of us who are gluten free. Hubby is able to take a sandwich made with smoked shredded pork on gluten-free bread quite often now.
Along with the sandwich or a couple of left-over chicken legs, I also toss in a few cheese sticks, a banana, some red pepper strips with homemade Ranch Dressing, and maybe a chocolate pudding cup.
Along with the sandwich or a couple of left-over chicken legs, I also toss in a few cheese sticks, a banana, some red pepper strips with homemade Ranch Dressing, and maybe a chocolate pudding cup.
If a decent gluten-free bread isn't available in your area, or if you're tired of sandwiches, other gluten-free lunch ideas might be:
- homemade cheese-and-cracker lunch kit (make yourself)
- potato salad or coleslaw (with or without meat)
- deviled eggs or chopped egg salad
- chicken salad with chunks of ham
- tuna salad and gluten-free crackers
- dill pickles and olives
- cranberry sauce
- taco salad with salsa and sour cream
- hot wings or jalapeno poppers (good cold)
- raw vegetable strips with Ranch Dressing
- crackers with herbed cream cheese spread
- lettuce salad with cold meats, eggs, cheeses
- bean salad made with mixed vegetables
- chicken nuggets or strips
- cucumber slices topped with tuna salad
- vegetable salad with bacon and mayo
- thin sliced meat spread with cream cheese
- thin sliced meat rolled around a pickle wedge
- apple slices with peanut butter and raisins
- sandwich filling threaded on skewers instead of bread
- cottage cheese with pineapple or fruit salad mix
- yogurt mixed with blueberries and walnuts
Making your lunch yourself also helps to control the potential for cross-contamination that always exists whenever you eat out. If you live in a rural area, with no health-food store, these lunch boxes are definitely the way to go.
And don't forget those leftovers. An insulated cooler with fake ice is a nice way to keep them safe until you can get to a microwave.
Hot-Food Thermos
Using an insulated lunch box to carry your lunch or dinner works well for cold or room-temperature foods, but if you want a hot lunch, consider picking up a thermos specifically designed to keep your food warm.
A food thermos is an unbreakable, insulated jar that comes in 10 to 24-ounce sizes. Available in stainless steel, the wide-mouth opening makes these perfect for soups, stews, chili, and casseroles.
You can even fill them with meat and potatoes if that's your thing. Scrambled eggs, fried rice, chicken Alfredo, or scalloped potatoes would also stay nice and warm.
You can even fill them with meat and potatoes if that's your thing. Scrambled eggs, fried rice, chicken Alfredo, or scalloped potatoes would also stay nice and warm.
These Thermos food jars are advertised to keep cold foods cold, but honestly, we've never tried ours with cold foods. I don't know how well they work.
They do keep soup and stew warm for several hours, provided you follow these instructions:
They do keep soup and stew warm for several hours, provided you follow these instructions:
- You need to fill the thermos with boiling water and allow it to sit for at least 5 minutes. This takes the chill off the stainless steel interior. If you pack your food when the thermos is cold, it will lower the temperature of the food. Just before you pack the thermos, make sure that you carefully dump the boiling water out first.
- The food you pack must be heated on top of the stove to a complete boil. Since you won't be eating the food for several hours, you want it to be so hot that you can't eat it right now without burning your mouth.
- Carefully, fill the thermos with the hot food and close the lid tightly. I usually use a soup spoon to do this.
When he had been too busy to eat lunch, the food inside the thermos was still warm, even after he got home several hours later.
He does prefer his soups and stews to be a little on the thin side, making them easier to eat right out of the jar, but that's a personal preference. You wouldn't have to turn your chili into a soup if you don't want to, especially if you have a full 30 minutes to an hour to eat your lunch.
Just make it thin enough to easily fill the thermos.
Just make it thin enough to easily fill the thermos.
Think Ahead and Keep a Running List of Choices in Your Head
Tossing together a nice gluten-free lunch option that does or doesn't need refrigeration is as simple as thinking about what you normally like to eat.
If you think ahead and keep a running mental list of gluten-free possibilities in your head, you won't have to face that challenge when the time comes.
You'll already know what you can eat.
If you think ahead and keep a running mental list of gluten-free possibilities in your head, you won't have to face that challenge when the time comes.
You'll already know what you can eat.
We've come a long way from our first out-of-the-area trip to Colorado where we didn't plan ahead and ended up living on Frito corn chips, mixed nuts, and Coke for three days.
That was a beginner's nightmare.
Coming home from that experience, I vowed to never be unprepared like that again.
That was a beginner's nightmare.
Coming home from that experience, I vowed to never be unprepared like that again.
Today, we have a much wider gluten-free selection to choose from, not only because gluten-free products are more available than they were back then, but because we have literally spent hours thinking ahead and discussing different gluten-free possibilities.
We are always on the look-out for future possibilities.
We are always on the look-out for future possibilities.
While we don't use a lot of gluten-free products in our home, we do try a few out here and there in case we need something quick-and-easy when we are away from home or the kids want to get together.
Being a super-sensitive celiac that can't eat whole grains and added fiber makes most gluten-free products not an option for me. It's more difficult to find safe gluten-free food than it is for the average celiac.
Being a super-sensitive celiac that can't eat whole grains and added fiber makes most gluten-free products not an option for me. It's more difficult to find safe gluten-free food than it is for the average celiac.
For me, looking ahead has been vital, but not as hard as you might think. I've simply learned to sacrifice variety, and I now reach for items that I know are always completely safe for me.
That's made grabbing lunch in less-than-optimal conditions no longer a concern.
That's made grabbing lunch in less-than-optimal conditions no longer a concern.
While our food choices might be different than what you might choose to eat, that's okay. The trick to getting a good gluten-free lunch is to think ahead and know what's going to be easily accessible and doable for you.
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