Gluten-Free Foods: The Ultimate List of 100 Foods You Can Eat
In this post, you’ll find the list of gluten free foods that you can eat if you have gluten sensitivity.
Gluten is common in staple foods like bread, pasta, malt products, cereals, alcohols, sauce, and other baked goods.
Gluten is ordinarily harmless. In some cases, this protein compound may be difficult for some people to break it down, and just cause adverse reactions in the digestive system.
If you have gluten sensitivity or Celiac disease, gluten-containing foods must be avoided to prevent adverse health effects. This is why it is essential to check the food labels closely.
Before we get into the list of gluten free foods, let’s first take a closer look at what gluten is.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a family of proteins containing glutenin and gliadin found in wheat, rye, barley, oats, and other related species, and food products.
As a protein, gluten acts as a binder for foods to keep and maintain their shape. Think of it as a glue-like binder substance that binds food together.
For instance, when flour is mixed with water, the proteins gliadin and glutenin combine and form gluten. With this, a sticky network is created, giving elasticity to dough.
The more you knead the dough, the stronger gluten strands develop to be more stretchy and elastic.
As a result, your dough gets puffy, chewy, or a glue-like texture. This is why your bread is chewy, your pizza dough is stretchy, and your pasta noodles elastic when pressed in the making process.
What does it mean to be gluten intolerant?
You are gluten intolerant if you have digestive problems with gluten. Gluten intolerance sometimes refers to gluten sensitivity or non-celiac wheat sensitivity, non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a condition wherein your body reacts adversely to gluten.
And it causes you to experience pain and bloating after eating gluten-containing foods.
Sometimes, this is often mistaken as Celiac disease because they show similar symptoms on how the body reacts upon the consumption of gluten.
However, Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that runs in the family.
The celiac disease destroys the lining of the small intestines due to gluten, and it affects nutrient absorption while gluten intolerance does not cause permanent damage to the digestive system.
Signs and symptoms of gluten intolerance
Signs and symptoms of gluten intolerance vary from person to person. There’s no specific laboratory test that can directly diagnose gluten sensitivity.
You’ll be diagnosed with such intolerance if you happen to have a negative test for wheat allergy and experiencing symptoms after consuming gluten-containing foods.
The symptoms of gluten intolerance are gassiness, abdominal pain or diarrhea, fatigue, headache, vomiting, numbness, itchy skin, and depression.
Here is a list of foods that gluten-intolerant individuals to avoid:
- Wheat flour
- Biscuits
- Beer
- Bread
- Cakes
- Muffins
- Pasta
- Pastries
- Pies
- Pretzels
- Pizza
- Sauces
- Sausages
100 Gluten-free foods
Removing gluten foods in your diet may be challenging. And it can limit your food choices. Still, you have many healthy and delicious food options that are naturally gluten-free.
We are providing you with a list of foods that can serve as your guide in choosing food items that are from ingredients containing gluten.
Don’t forget to carefully check the food labels! Foods that are free from gluten have less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten.
Alright, let’s identify 100 gluten-free foods from each food group!
Fruits and Vegetables (1 -13)
The best thing about fruits and vegetables? It’s 100% gluten-free! Enjoy all your fresh goodies to your heart’s content. Use it in your salads, desserts, and more! Here are fruits and vegetables that go well with a gluten-free diet:
| FRUITS | VEGETABLES |
| 1. Apples and pears 2. Citrus fruits (orange, lemon) 3. Stone fruits (apricots/peaches) 4. Tropical and exotic fruits (bananas/mangoes) 5. Berries (strawberries, blueberries) 6. Melons 7. Young coconuts | 8. Green leafy vegetables 9. Cruciferous vegetables (cabbages, Brussel sprouts, broccoli) 10. Marrow vegetables 11. Root 12. Edible plant stem (celeries, asparagus, rhubarb, bamboo shoots) 13. Allium family (onions, leeks, scallions) |
However, if you are going to get your fruit intake from preservative products, you need to double-check the label because these may contain gluten.
And if you are highly sensitive to just traces of gluten, you better for fresh fruits seem to cause symptoms.
Some processed fruits are added with other gluten-containing ingredients such as modified starch, hydrolyzed wheat protein, or maltodextrin.
- Fruit jams. These may contain other gluten ingredients.
- Plain canned fruits, vegetables, and juices are gluten-free.
- Frozen fruits and vegetables. Gluten may be used in its flavorings and sauces unless it’s just plain frozen fruits.
- Dried fruits. There are dried fruits products that are sometimes coated with gluten-containing flour-like in diced dates in oat flour.
- Chopped fruits. It can have gluten if it was contaminated with other gluten products during the handling process.
Protein foods (14 – 24)
Most animal-based or plant-based protein (legumes, lentils, and nuts) food sources are naturally free from gluten.
However, you must take note of how these foods are prepared. This is because it may contain the intentional addition of gluten-containing ingredients.
For example fillers, breading mixer, or flavorings like malt vinegar, wheat-based soy sauce, flour, sauces, rubs, or marinades.
| 14. Whole eggs 15. Shellfish 16. Wild fish 17. Mollusks 18. Fowl 19. Poultry | 20. Pork 21. Beef 22. Wild game 23. Legumes 22. Nuts 24. Soy-based foods (tofu, tempeh, edamame) |
Watch out for processed meats that may have gluten-containing ingredients such as meat substitutes, ground meats, microwavable meat products, pepperoni, salami, sausages, hotdogs, and bacon.
Dairy Products (25 -35)
The only thing is that you will only have to worry if such a dairy product contains malt, flavorings, thickeners, modified food starch, or other additives that may have gluten.
Yes, almost all dairy products are naturally gluten-free!
However, those that are flavored and contain additives should always be double-checked for gluten. Watch out for flavored milk, ice creams, cheese spreads, cheese sauces, and malted milk drinks.
| 25. Cow’s Milk 26. Soy Milk 27. Almond Milk 28. Gluten-free ice cream 29. Butter 30. Ghee 31. Cottage cheese 32. Yogurt 33. Cream 34. Sour cream 35. Cheese |
Whole grains/cereals (36 – 60)
The struggle may sound like this: no bread, no pizza, and no morning cereal! Can you live with that? Well, if you are sensitive to gluten, you may have to skip these foods.
Getting foods from this food group can be tricky, and you should always be careful because many of them contain gluten or wheat-based ingredients.
Still, you don’t have to worry because there are many items from this food group that are gluten-free.
Make sure to read the food labels and watch for “gluten-free” claims in every package. If not, you will have to check the list of ingredients because not all products declare that their food is gluten-free.
| 36. Gluten-free bread 37. Gluten-free cereals 38. Gluten-free oats 39. Amaranth 40. Arrowroot 41. Buckwheat groats 42. Cassava 43. Chia seeds 44. Corn 45. Flaxseeds 46. Granola 47. Millet | 48. Porridge oats 49. Potatoes 50. Quinoa 51. Rice 52. Pumpkin seeds 53. Poppy seeds 54. Sesame seeds 55. Sunflower seeds 56. Sorghum 57. Soy 58. Tapioca starch 59. Teff 60. Yucca |
Products like cornflakes or puffed rice cereals may sometimes have gluten-containing ingredients like malt flavoring or extract.
And here is the thing: if you happen to read the following ingredients on your cereals’ ingredients, then you got gluten in that box.
| Wheat wheat berries Duram Tritical Emmer Semolina Farina Farro Graham Spelt Khorasan | Brewer’s yeast Wheat starch Malt Malted barley flour Malt extract Malt syrup Malt flavoring Malt vinegar Kamut Einkorn Rye Barley |
Fats and Oils (61 – 66)
Your fats and oils are mostly gluten-free. However, some products may contain additives that might have gluten as flavor and thickening added in fat and oil products such as in cooking sprays.
| 61. Olive oil 62. Avocado oil 63. Coconut oil 64. Sesame oil 65. Canola oil 66. Sunflower oil |
Sugar (67 – 71)
Pure sugar produced from either sugar cane or sugar beets is gluten-free.
Somehow, you might think that sugar cane is a grass plant-like barley, rye, and gluten grains, it does not contain gluten that can harm people with gluten sensitivity.
Here is a tip to remember. Though we know sugar is gluten-free, you have to check in the grocery store on how it was stored or displayed in the same section with other gluten-containing products like wheat flour.
Hence, the possibility of gluten contamination may be present because sugar and flour are usually indicated in the same area, and even on the same shelf.
| 67. Molasses 68. Brown sugar 69. White sugar 70. Artificial sweeteners 71. Sugar substitutes |
Beverages (72 – 74)
Gluten-free beverages include juices, sodas, and sports drinks. You just have to be careful if you are going to other countries, though.
That is because there are soda brands in different parts of the world that use other names for ingredients.
You’ll never know which of these new and unfamiliar drinks are gluten-free.
| 72. Cider juices 73. Fruit juices 74. Soda drinks |
Alcoholic drinks (75 – 81)
A liquor made from wheat, barley, or rye, is considered gluten-free after distillation. Hence, it’s safe for gluten-sensitive people.
But, you still have to find out for possible hidden gluten ingredients in certain alcoholic drinks, especially the ones that serve as flavorings or other additives after distillation.
Gluten cross-contamination is also potential during the process of wheat, barley, or rye.
| 75. Gin 76. Vodka 77. Tequila 78. Whiskey 79. Brandy 80. Scotch 81. Bourbon |
Soups, Condiments, and Sauces (82 – 100)
Identifying if any soup and sauce as gluten can be tricky because these are items where most hidden gluten ingredients are used.
That’s why you have to pay attention to the food labels on any pre-prepared or cream-based canned soups and sauces.
As for your condiments, you would surely love to spice up your dips, sandwiches, marinades, sauces, and more!
But if you’re trying to avoid gluten, you’ll have to live with smaller options.
| 82. French mustard 83. Ground pepper 84. Honey 85. Horseradish 86. Jam (gluten-free) 87. Jellies 88. Salsa 89. Salt 90. Tapioca pudding | 91. Baking powder 92. Bicarbonate of soda 93. Cream of tartar 94. Basil 95. Allspice 96. Cinnamon 97. Cloves 98. Cumin 99. Nutmeg 100. Paprika |
Other Foods That May Contain Gluten
Before you put a grocery item in your cart, you will need to verify if these following foods may contain gluten. Reading the food label first!
Energy bars. May contain wheat
Granola bars. May contain wheat
Cream soup. May have flour as a thickener.
French fries. May be mixed with a batter that has wheat flour.
Potato chips. It might have wheat starch or malt vinegar seasoning
Artisan tortillas. Some may contain a wheat-based ingredient
Starch or dextrin. It could be made with wheat. This is commonly used in meat or poultry products.
Brown rice syrup. It probably uses barley enzymes.
Cheesecake filling. Some recipes call for wheat flour.
Eggs dishes. May have pancake batter scrambled eggs and omelets.
Takeaway
Gluten is a vital protein ingredient that makes bread and other baked goods stretchy, puffy, and chewy.
However, not all people cannot digest gluten properly without causing any harm to their digestive system. And they require a gluten-free diet to avoid adverse health effects.
Gluten-sensitive individuals can still enjoy a healthy and well-balanced diet with foods that are free from gluten.
There are many fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, some whole grains, fats, oils, sugars, certain beverages, and alcoholic drinks that are gluten-free.
You’ll just need to balance out all of these foods to make your diet healthy. (Related: Easy Vegetarian Meal Plan for Beginners)
Remember, if you’re on a gluten-free diet, stay away from products that are made of wheat, rye, and barley, following a gluten-free diet.
Look out for processed food products that might contain hidden gluten as well. You need to make sure you read any product’s label before you purchase or open the item.
And, don’t forget about gluten cross-contamination.
No matter how sure you are that this specific kind of food is free of gluten, only your highly sensitive gastro-intestinal tract will tell you that you have unknowingly eaten something that has gluten.
Check how the item was stored and see if it was placed near gluten-containing products.
All in all, emphasize eating more fresh, whole, gluten-free foods rather than opting for processed foods. Save your tummy. Choose gluten-free!
