Celiac Disease Diet: Cooking and Dining Out
If you have Celiac disease, then you know how tough it can be to feel confident in the kitchen. Maybe you’re not sure where to go for recipes, or what gluten-free products to stock your pantry with, or maybe you’re nervous about cross-contamination. Trust me, I hear you. After my Celiac diagnosis, I found myself eating only certified and prepackaged gluten-free foods and raw vegetables because I had no idea what I was doing (and I was terrified to get glutened). And being a dietitian now, I know that was so not healthy for too many reasons, and definitely not enjoyable (especially because the GF bread back then was pure cardboard).
There are so many great resources out there now for finding creativity in gluten-free cooking, so I think it’s a little easier now to enjoy cooking while making sure you’re getting adequate nutrition on a GF diet. It’s also a bit easier to dine out now that following a gluten-free diet isn’t such a new thing (I can also argue that this has created new problems when dining out for those of us with Celiac, but that’s for another blog post). Here are my top tips for following a gluten-free diet with Celiac disease at home and when dining out:
Experiment with gluten-free grains and plant foods.
“But gluten-free means grain-free, right?” No way! And it definitely doesn’t mean carb-free either. There are so many excellent gluten-free grains out there for you to try that make cooking while gluten-free a lot more interesting. I’ve had Celiac disease for over 15 years and there are several things on this list that I haven’t tried. It’s not all about the brown rice and quinoa. You can have a diverse diet when it comes to grains, and I definitely encourage you to do so, both for your health and sanity. Below is a great list of fiber-rich gluten-free grains and plant-based foods for you to find, try, and hopefully love:
Amaranth
Arrowroot
Buckwheat (if 100% buckwheat)
Cassava
Corn
Flax
Garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) & garbanzo bean flour
Job’s tears
Legumes (beans, peas, lentils, etc.)
Millet
Montina
Ragi
Nuts & nut flour (almond, hazelnut, coconut, peanut, etc.)
Oats & oat Flour (questions about oats? Read on…)
Peas & pea flour
Potatoes, potato starch, and potato flour
Quinoa
Rice & rice flours
Sago
Seeds & seed flours
Sorghum
Soy
Tapioca
Teff
Wild rice
Yucca (have you had yucca fries?? So, so good)
Buckwheat pancakes - a favorite of mine!
Ethiopian injera - a spongy flatbread made with fermented teff flour (it’s amazing!)
Can I eat oats on a gluten-free diet?
Oats are a little more controversial. Oats contain a protein called avenin, which is structurally similar to gluten, so a small percentage of those with Celiac disease can react to it as if it were gluten. However, most organizations report it is safe to eat oats with Celiac disease or on a GF diet. This is mirrored in the research, which shows that people with Celiac disease are able to tolerate oats just fine as long as they are certified gluten-free and do not come from a facility that may also handle wheat, barley, or rye for cross-contamination reasons.
To clarify things - oats are naturally gluten-free. When you see an a package of oats that says it is certified gluten-free, it means the facility in which they were made does not carry the risk of cross-contamination and that the oats themselves have been tested to be safe for a GF diet. It does not mean there are gluten-containing oats in addition to gluten-free oats. However, I suggest going with certified GF oats as often as you can if you have Celiac disease to reduce your chances of cross-contamination as much as possible.
How to substitute gluten-free flours when baking.
Gluten-free cooking, and especially baking, is all about the right substitutions. Sometimes recipes that have a gluten-containing flour as the main ingredient can be tricky to make gluten-free, but it can be done! I highly recommend finding 1-2 great GF recipe blogs or cookbooks that you can refer to for ideas and substitutions. The cooking time may also vary depending on what flour you use, so again, experimenting is great, but using a gluten-free recipe from the start is definitely easiest.
I would also highly recommend finding great pre-packaged gluten-free baking products that you love. Here are my recommendations:
Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour: This 1 to 1 Baking Flour from Bob’s Red Mill is a lifesaver for easy substitutions from a gluten-containing recipe.
Gluten-Free Bread Mixes: There are a lot of good ones out there, but I love the taste and texture of the Simple Mills Artisan Bread Mix. I like to make little buns with it for tiny egg salad sliders.
Gluten-Free Bean and Starch Flours: These can really make cooking more interesting and allow you to get certain textures that a lot of gluten-free products just don’t have. I’ve used the Chickpea Flour from Bob’s Red Mill before to make GF “crepes” and loved it!
A great Gluten-Free Dessert (if you have a sweet tooth): This is a must for me to be ok with being gluten-free. There are so many great packaged mixes out there, but honestly these premade vegan/GF cookie dough balls from Sweet Loren’s are by far my favorite - they’re always a hit when I make them for friends!
A lot of the flours, starches, and others listed above have shorter shelf lives, so storing them in the freezer can be a helpful way to extend that!
Because gluten is the key to allowing baked goods to essentially become inflated and rise during cooking, gluten-free baked goods need something to replace the gluten to achieve as similar a product as possible. That’s why you may see things like chia seed, psyllium husk, flax meal, xanthan gum, or guar gum in a product or called for in a recipe. Again, these things are necessary to try to achieve the same texture as a gluten-containing product. On that note, I would recommend to store GF baked foods at room temperature if possible (or freeze if necessary), because they don’t tend to stay as well in the refrigerator.
How to avoid cross-contamination at home on a gluten-free diet.
Whether you’re cooking gluten-free for yourself or a family member, it’s important to make sure your work station (or your food in the pantry and fridge, for that matter) doesn’t come in contact with gluten-containing foods. Depending on how severe your allergy or intolerance is, you may want to have a separate cabinet, cooking utensils, and entire workstation dedicated to your GF diet. The toaster is one of the main kitchen gadgets I worry about when talking about preventing cross-contamination. All those crumbs give me anxiety!
If you’re helping a family member or loved one follow a strict gluten-free diet, it’s really important to have patience. Eating can be a scary occasion for them even at home because every time is an opportunity to get sick. So being as careful as possible, let them watch your prepare their food (be patient with them! We’ll watch you like a hawk only because we don’t want to get sick), listen to their concerns, and try your very best - doing these things will always put them more at ease.
This also goes for what you purchase in the grocery store. I would definitely avoid buying GF items in bulk, especially GF flours that are right next to flours that contain gluten. That stuff flies and may possibly contaminate the product you’re buying.
How to ask for gluten-free meals when dining out.
Restaurants can also be difficult. My best advice is to review the menu beforehand to make sure you have gluten-free options, and consider calling the restaurant to make sure the staff is knowledgeable and that the kitchen can accommodate you. Don’t take it personally if they can’t - it’s much better for both of you if they are honest and upfront to avoid you getting sick. Trust me, I’ve been to plenty of restaurants that said they could “definitely” accommodate a gluten-free diner, only to find out that the staff really didn’t know what gluten even was. Needless to say, I didn’t feel confident that my meal would be free of gluten, which makes a very uncomfortable and frustrating dining experience. Using services like Find Me Gluten Free, or even Google reviews, can be a good way to scan the experiences of other gluten-free diners to see what their options were like. When I do this, I’m less looking for their reviews of how things tasted and more so whether or not their server was knowledgeable and that their meal was actually GF.
When you’re ready to order, don’t be afraid to ask your server 10000 questions! You’re the customer and you should feel 100% comfortable before ordering and spending money at their restaurant. If your server doesn’t seem knowledgeable about the menu and modifications they can make to ensure a GF meal, ask that they speak to the chef to double check (or ask that the chef come speak to you!). Also, make sure your server is abundantly clear that you need a gluten-free meal because you have Celiac disease. Make sure they know it’s not a dietary preference or choice, and that it needs to be taken seriously.
And most importantly - if when you get your meal you aren’t sure if it’s actually GF or not, ask your server to confirm! There’s been too many times when I’ve been too afraid or shy to ask, and I ended up getting glutened.
How to I ask your server for a gluten-free meal.
I’ve been here a million times, so I totally get how awkward and demanding it can feel to ask for GF modifications. There’s definitely been occasions when I felt like a total dick. But remember, Celiac is serious and your health is important! Also remember that the restaurant does not want you to get sick either.
Here’s something you can say to your server when ordering:
“I’m not able to eat any gluten because I have Celiac disease. Can you [or the chef] help me figure out what I can order?”
“I’d like to order the ___, can it be modified to be GF?”
“I see things marked with “GS” [gluten-sensitive] on the menu. Does this mean they are already gluten-free, or they have to be altered to be gluten-free?”
“I just got my sandwich and I just want to double check that this bread is actually GF, can you do that for me?”
“I ordered this pasta with GF noodles and it came out with regular noodles. Can you please have the chef remake this with the GF noodles? I have Celiac and can’t eat any gluten.”
Final thoughts from your Celiac dietitian.
Although these tips can be helpful, I know that it can still be hard to find that confidence in the kitchen or when dining out if you’re gluten-free or have other food allergies, intolerances, or restrictions. The best advice I can give is to experiment, take the pressure off, and have fun with it. Finding someone to try recipes with, or try a new GF restaurant in town, is also a great place to start. I personally have to follow gluten-free recipes to a T or else they’ll come out as some sort of crazy mess, and that’s ok! Whatever you can do to get comfortable with food again is the goal here.
Need help deciphering the alphabet stew for gluten-containing ingredients on food labels, or help reviewing a menu for safe choices? Reach out and set up an appointment, or fill out an application!