These are easy, open and serve kinds of foods. The kind that can show up at a potluck and no one will think – Oh, celiac! Also, the kinds that non-celiac friends can provide without driving themselves bonkers.
This is by no means a comprehensive list; I’m sure there are tons of things I don’t know about yet. But it’s a start. I’ve named specific brands when that sort of thing matters (not all tortilla chips are made equal). And, you know, it’s a good idea to check ingredients.
Appetizers & Condiments
Name Brand:
- Tostitos Corn Tortilla Chips – all of the unflavored varieties
- Kettle Chips – plain is safe, haven’t checked the others
- Lay’s Classic Potato Chips
- Sabra Hummus
- Wishbone Ranch Dressing
- San-J Gluten Free Soy Sauce
- Chex – Corn & Rice (but not Chex Mix)
- Lucerne Sour Cream (regular, not light)
- Land o’Lakes salted butter (but not unsalted)
- Challenge butter, salted & unsalted
- Organic Valley: butter, sour cream, cream cheese, cheeses other than blue cheese or cottage cheese, plain yogurt
- Safeway store brand refried beans
- Heinz Ketchup
- Heinz Mustard
- Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing, Oil & Vinegar, Balsamic, Creamy Ceasar, Poppy Seed
General:
- Veggie platters (but not the dip that usually comes with them)
- Salad fixings: lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, onions
- Plain nuts (check ingredients and processing)
- Rice crackers (check ingredients)
- Most cheese (not blue cheese)
- Avocados
- Maple syrup
- Canned olives
Main Dishes
Name Brand:
- Amy’s Gluten Free Frozen Dinners (there’s a range)
- Aidell’s Chicken & Apple Sausage
- Trader Joe’s store brand premade polenta
- Ancient Harvest Polenta (Whole Foods)
- Glutino Frozen Dinners/Pizzas
- Amici’s Gluten Free Pizza (if you’re in area, they do deliver: Mountain View, Menlo Park, Cupertino, Dublin, and Redwood Shores)
General:
- Meat. All plain meat is fine. This does not include cold cuts.
- Eggs
- Nigiri/sashimi
- Rice
Desserts
Name Brand:
- Many Hershey products: Rolos, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Milk Chocolate
- Cadbury milk chocolate/dark chocolate bars
- Nestle Butterfinger, Milk Chocolate
- Scharffenberger Chocolate bars
- Ghirardelli chocolate bars
- Lucerne Whipped Cream (not reddi-wip)
- Haagen Dazs Ice Cream: Vanilla, Coffee, Five line, Milk Chocolate & Vanilla bars (there are probably others, but I haven’t checked)
- Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Ginger Snaps
- Glutino Cookies (Whole Foods)
- Nature’s Devine Gluten Free Brownies (Whole Foods)
- Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream: Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip, Vanilla
General:
- Fruit
- Gluten Free Waffles (mostly Whole Foods)
- Meringue cookies (check that they’re not processed in the same facility as wheat)
Beverages
Name Brand:
- Bard’s Gluten Free Beer
- Strongbow English Cider
- Woodchuck Draft Ciders
- Woodpecker Draft Ciders
- Wyder’s Cider
- Naked Juice (all except Green Machine)
- Bailey’s Irish Cream (this one is debatable, since it has whiskey in it, but I’m in the camp that believes the distillin process removes gluten, so I’ll drink this one)
- Starbucks bottled frappacino (and regular blended frap from a counter, but not the low fat frappacino)
- Most Tazo teas (not Green Ginger, Honeybrush, Lemon Ginger, or Tea Lemonade)
- Celestial Seasonings Chamomile tea (probably others, too)
- Nestle Nesquick Powders
General:
- Water
- Milk
- Fresh squeezed juice
A lot of the stuff on this list is available at normal grocery stores. Some is only available at places like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Whole Foods also has their own, in house, gluten free baked goods, and they’re great about labeling gluten free items clearly. But I do my regular shopping at Safeway, and I do just fine there.
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