Gluten-Free Meal Prep: What to Eat, What to Avoid, and Simple Recipes

If you have food sensitivities or intolerances or are simply trying to stick to a new diet, you may benefit from meal prepping. 

If you’re on a gluten-free diet plan, making whole meals or dishes ahead of time will save you time during the rest of the week and mean that you always have something ready to eat, which eliminates the headache of the constant question ‘what am I going to eat today?’

In this article, we’re going to dive into the topic of gluten-free meal prep. Read on to learn more about the benefits of this practice, how to start meal-prepping on a gluten-free diet, how and if you can freeze these make-ahead meals, and some simple recipes to try today.

What Is Gluten-Free Meal Prep?

As the name suggests, gluten-free meal prep involves making whole meals or dishes with ingredients that don’t contain gluten. Gluten is the main storage protein of wheat and some other grains and is primarily made up of gliadin and glutenin (1).

While gluten isn’t inherently bad for the majority, research has found that it can trigger illnesses such as celiac disease, gluten ataxia, dermatitis herpetiformis, wheat allergy, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity in some people (2).

Those who have concerns over these illnesses or those who have already been diagnosed with any of these illnesses can benefit from gluten-free meal prep as it helps them avoid these proteins.

Why is gluten bad for you? Read more on the potential and side effects of this protein.

What Are the Benefits of Gluten-Free Meal Prepping?

Some reasons why you may consider doing this include:

• Saving Time and Money

When you meal prep, you don’t always have to spend time in the kitchen cooking every other time you need something to eat. By having several meals ready to go, all you need to do is quickly heat them and go. This can be beneficial for new mothers, busy caretakers, busy career folk/business people, etc.

If you stick to eating the meals that you’ve made, the practice can also save you money by preventing you from ordering food in. Buying ingredients in bulk for meal prep/batch cooking also helps you save some extra coins.

• Better Management of Gluten Related Illnesses

Whether you suffer from celiac disease, wheat allergy, gluten sensitivity, or any other illness triggered by this protein, avoiding gluten in the diet helps you stay free of pain and discomfort. This can lead to a better quality of life.

• Reduces Food Waste

You can always freeze and reuse any leftover foods or ingredients. If you meal prep with a specific recipe in mind, you’re also able to shop wisely, which helps prevent food waste.

• Easy Macro/Calorie Tracking

Meal prepping is popular in the fitness community as it allows people to know exactly what they’re eating and how much of it they’re consuming. 

Whether you’re doing gluten-free meal prep for weight loss or planning on making gluten-free meal prep high-protein meals for muscle gain, meal prepping allows you to easily track what you’re eating. 

This helps you see if your diet is aligned with your goals or if you need to alter some aspects for better results.

Learn more about how to go gluten-free.

Is Gluten-Free Meal Prep Easy to Arrange?

It can be. The trick to attaining success in anything is proper planning. By educating yourself on the gluten-free diet and learning which foods contain this protein and which don’t, you can proceed to make a meal plan and prep with little to no fuss. 

The main culprits that contain gluten are grains, specifically wheat, rye, barley, and sometimes oats (1) – with the latter being due to cross-contamination during processing and packaging. You can still eat oats, but you’ll need to look for brands that are certified gluten-free.

In addition to the aforementioned grains, gluten can also be found in (2):

• Wheat derivatives such as farro, semolina, graham, and kamut
• Triticale – a wheat and rye hybrid
• Malt, which is often made from gluten-containing grains such as barley, wheat, and rye
• Brewer’s yeast as it’s a by-product of barley

Having this list of gluten-containing products at the back of your mind will make meal-prepping for this diet much easier.

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How Do I Start Gluten-Free Meal Prepping?

Here are some tips that will come in handy for anyone who is starting their meal-prepping journey for a gluten-free diet.

• Learn Your Ingredients

As mentioned above, knowing which products contain gluten goes a long way to understanding what you can and cannot eat while on this meal plan. As you shop, we would suggest you pay close attention to products such as (3):

1. Pastas and noodles 
2. Breads, pastries, and other baked goods
3. Cereals and granola
4. Croutons, as well as breading and coating mixes
5. Malt beverages and beer
6. Sauces (soy sauce), syrups, and salad dressings

These products are usually made from flour from gluten-containing grains and aren’t safe to consume while on this diet.

Please note: 

Luckily, some companies and manufacturers are now making gluten-free variations of the above products, so make sure to read the ingredients list. If it says ‘gluten-free’ on it, then it’s likely safe to consume them.

• Know What You Can Eat

Now that you know what you shouldn’t eat, the next step is to make a list of foods that are safe and healthy for you to eat. Fruits, vegetables (both starchy and non-starchy), lean meat and poultry, fish and other seafood, dairy, beans, legumes, and nuts are all naturally gluten-free foods and can be consumed without the fear of ingesting this protein.

Lesser-known grains are also a fantastic source of complex carbohydrates, in addition to vitamins and antioxidants that can replace the lack of wheat in our diets. 

Research has shown that pseudocereals such as amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa, minor cereals such as fonio, teff, millet, and job’s tears, as well as cereals such as rice, corn, and sorghum are naturally free gluten-free alternative grains that can be used to replace wheat in your diet (4, 5).

Please note: 

Just like oats, which are naturally gluten-free but pose a risk of cross-contamination triggering gluten sensitivity, many of the above-mentioned gluten-free grains are often planted together with wheat or processed and packaged in factories that also handle wheat and other gluten-containing grains. Therefore, they too may be exposed to this protein so always read the labels to see if they are gluten-free.

• Shop Seasonally

This allows you to consume the freshest ingredients and if you’re trying to do gluten-free meal prep on a budget, you’ll manage to save some money and stick to your budget.

Pro tips: 

1. If you see an ingredient that’s in season (and is therefore cheaper) and you don’t know how to make it, simply look up how to make it. Chances are it’s much easier than you assume.
2. Use alternative ingredients – most foods, especially fruits and vegetables, can be used as substitutes for each other. Instead of buying the fruit or vegetable that’s not in season at a higher price, look up its alternative and see if that’s currently in season. You can also use frozen fruits and vegetables with a little recipe adaptation.

Read more: Real Food Diet: A Perfect Plan For Weight Loss

• Ingredients Prep

Now that you’ve shopped keeping the above two points in mind, the next step is to prep your ingredients. One of the reasons why many people avoid meal prepping is due to how long the entire process takes. 

While we’re not denying that making meals for a whole week will take a long time, prepping the ingredients beforehand will save you some time and make the time spent doing the cooking go much more smoothly. 

Having some recipes outlined before you start ingredient prepping is also a good way to make sure you have everything ready before you even switch on your cooker.

• Batch Cooking

This refers to the process of cooking a large amount of food at once and saving some for later. Proteins and grains are some foods that work well with batch cooking. Vegetables can also be batch-cooked, but not everyone prefers this option.

When batch cooking, make sure to clean as you cook as this will save time and reduce the mess in the kitchen. You can also freeze anything that you’ll be consuming later in the week.

What Are Some Easy Gluten-Free Meal Prep Recipes?

Breakfast Options

• Buckwheat Pancakes

Despite having ‘wheat’ in the name, buckwheat isn’t related to wheat and is naturally gluten-free. These pancakes are great for anyone who wants to still enjoy pancakes at breakfast without triggering a wheat or gluten sensitivity.

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• Butter, for the skillet

Direction

1. Add all the ingredients – apart from the butter – to a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Place a skillet on a medium-low flame and brush the skillet surface with butter.
3. Pour some of the batter onto the skillet and cook as you would regular pancakes.

This makes 12 pancakes which is perfect for meal prep. One serving = 3 pancakes (6)

Calories for 1 serving: 219. Fats: 7.3 g. Protein: 9.6 g. Carbs: 30.8 g.

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• Savory Oats

As previously mentioned, the trick to having oats on a gluten-free diet is to check the label to ensure that no cross-contamination occurred from the harvesting process to the packaging point.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup dry quick-cooking gluten-free oats
• ¾ cup water
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp shredded white cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• ¼ cup diced red pepper
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onions
• 1 large egg

Directions

1. Bring water to the boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add oatmeal, reduce the heat, and let it cook for about 3 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese, a small pinch of salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2. Over medium-high heat, place a nonstick pan with ½ teaspoon of coconut oil. Once the oil is hot, add the vegetables and cook until they soften – 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Transfer the oats to a large enough bowl and spoon the cooked vegetables over them.
4. In the same nonstick pan, add the remaining ½ teaspoon of oil and fry the egg. Cook as desired, turn off the heat, and add the egg to the bowl of oatmeal and vegetables.
5. Optional – Top with chopped walnuts, green onions, and za’atar.

This makes enough for 1 serving (7). However, for meal prep, you can batch-make the vegetables so you don’t have to cook 3 things every morning.

Calories: 262. Fats: 16 g. Protein: 13 g. Carbs: 18 g.

Lunch/Dinner Options

• Lemon Herb Chicken and Potatoes

This is a good option for anyone who is looking to make some gluten-free high-protein dishes.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp ground pepper
• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, chives and/or oregano)
• 1 ½ pounds russet potatoes, cut into wedges
• ¼ cup capers, rinsed
• ¼ cup rinsed pickled jalapeños

Directions

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high.
2. Combine the oil, lemon juice, and herbs in a medium-sized bowl. Transfer half of this mixed sauce to a cup and set aside.
3. Massage ½ a teaspoon of salt and pepper to the chicken and then transfer the chicken to the bowl with the remaining sauce. Set aside to marinate.
4. Pour 1 tbsp of oil and ¼ tbsp of salt and pepper over the tomatoes and toss.
5. Add the potatoes and chicken to a pan and grill, flipping them occasionally.
6. Take out from the grill after 15 minutes or once the potatoes are golden brown and the chicken has an internal temperature of 165 °F.
7. Cover everything with foil for 5 minutes before cutting up the chicken and serving.

This makes 4 servings (8).

Calories for 1 serving: 483. Fats: 27 g. Protein: 27 g. Carbs: 34 g.

• Turkey Taco Bowls

Ingredients

For the rice

• ¾ cup brown rice
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 lime

For the turkey 

• ¾ lb lean ground turkey
• 2 tbsp homemade taco seasoning
• ⅔ cup water

For the salsa

• 1 pint halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 finely chopped jalapeno
• ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
• Juice of  ½ lime
• ⅛ tsp salt

Others

• 12 oz can corn kernels (drained)
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella

Directions

1. Cook brown rice according to package directions, adding the lime zest and salt to the cooking water.
2. Add the turkey to a medium-sized pan and cook over medium heat, breaking it up with a spatula until no longer pink. This should take approximately 10 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the cooked meat, then add the water. Stir and simmer for a couple of minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat.
4. Combine all the salsa ingredients and toss together.
5. Portion everything out into 4 meal prep containers.

This makes 4 servings (9).

Calories for 1 serving: 370. Fats: 7 g. Protein: 29 g. Carbs: 52 g.

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How Can I Store Gluten-Free Meal Prep for the Week?

Most meals will survive for up to 4 days in the fridge as long as they’re kept in airtight containers. You can also freeze leftovers in the freezer – just remember to thaw them out well in advance of consuming them.

Read more: Clean Eating Challenge: A Simple Guide To Kickstart Your Journey

What Are Common Mistakes in Gluten-Free Meal Prepping?

The most common mistake is perhaps buying the wrong ingredients and realizing a little too late that they contain gluten. This is why reading labels is essential for this type of meal planning.

Also, make sure to buy exactly what you need to avoid food waste. Always pick your recipe before you head to the grocery store so you can buy exactly what you need and no more.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I freeze gluten-free meal prep?

Yes, most meal prep meals can be frozen, but it depends on the specific dish and how well its texture holds up in the freezer. Certain ingredients tend to freeze better than others. 

• How long can gluten-free meal prep be stored?

Gluten-free meal prep can be stored in the freezer for weeks or even months. However, the timeline for normal fridge storage differs per recipe. Just as a precaution, don’t allow most meals to go past 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

• Is gluten-free meal prep safe for vegetarians?

It can be. The only rule for this diet is to eliminate anything that contains gluten. As a vegetarian, you can go further and eliminate any animal-based ingredients that you don’t consume. Simply alter the ingredient list to suit your needs.

• What are some gluten-free snack options for meal prep?

Boiled eggs, gluten-free muffins, hummus with vegetables, fresh fruits, yogurt with berries, nuts and seeds, and roasted pumpkin seeds are all great healthy examples of gluten-free snacks.

The Bottom Line

The idea of gluten-free meal prep shouldn’t scare you. As long as you know what to eat and what not to eat, all that remains is to combine those ingredients and make incredible meals that are both delicious and nourishing. Remember to read the labels and experiment with your foods.