7 Easy Gluten-Free Meal Plan Ideas

bowl with healthy and gluten free foods

Eating gluten-free is healthy, delicious, and not as difficult as you may think. Sure, you have to make substitutions in your daily diet, but when you choose the right alternatives, you’ll find that you’re not missing out at all.

Creativity is the driving force behind a gluten-free eating plan. Keep reading to get some inspiration for your GF meals.

Easy Gluten-Free Meal Plan Ideas

  1. Meat Matters

Meat lends itself well to many meals and, in small amounts, can support your gluten-free meal plan. Getting sufficient protein can keep you feeling full and satiated.

Gluten-based foods can be filler foods, in a way, since gluten is its own form of protein. In place of these gluten-filled foods, build your plate around a small portion of lean protein and plenty of fresh veggies for a satisfying, healthy meal.

  1. Get Your Snacks Ready

Snacking on a gluten-free diet isn’t hard, but you may have to get innovative. Fresh fruits and vegetables may be among your best options because they’re both nutritious and delicious.

However, many traditional snack options don’t fit into a gluten-free diet. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your favorite sweet treats or chocolate.

There are plenty of gluten-free snack options available when you know where to look. Research what you can have so you can include snacks in your meal planning efforts.

  1. Put Some Prep in Your Step

Meal prepping will help you keep to your gluten-free diet. Eating healthy meals is much easier when you’re prepared.

Waiting until the day of to put together breakfast, lunch, and dinner can leave you rushing and pressed for time, at which point unhealthy, processed foods become the more convenient option.

Prepping for the week can stop that from happening. If possible, set aside a day to cook up a bunch of delicious foods and portion them out into breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the week. Go ahead and store them in containers so that they’re ready for you to grab and go.

  1. Choose Versatile Foods

On the subject of meal planning, it’s important to choose versatile foods — which means that you can get creative.

Baking a whole chicken might seem like a lot, but you can turn it into chicken salad, chicken tacos, chicken soup, chicken stew, and you can even toss some chicken in your salad. You can do that with beef and pork roasts, as well.

Even if you decide to be a little luxe and cook up a batch of steaks on your prep day, you can reinvent the ribeye by adding it to salads and making it a part of Taco Tuesday — with gluten-free wraps or shells, of course.

Versatility isn’t limited to meat, however. A carton of eggs can stand you in good stead, as well. Most sauces aren’t gluten-free, for example, but you can do wonders with a few rich egg yolks.

You can pre-bake egg cups or muffins for breakfast and boil eggs to eat as a snack or to add to your salads.

  1. Be Inventive with Fruits and Vegetables

To make your diet more exciting and to ensure that you get all the vitamins and minerals you need, you can be more inventive with your fruits and veggies, too.

Not only can you use zucchini noodles and cauliflower rice to replace traditional pasta and rice, but you can roast, sauté, fry, or air-fry your vegetables, as well. As for fruits, turn to low-sugar berries when you want something sweet.

  1. Supplement with Smoothies
gluten free meal plan ideas
A Green Smoothie

Smoothies are perfect for filling you up between meals, especially if you include a gluten-free protein powder. You can include more fruits and vegetables in your diet with smoothies, as well. To save time, look for pre-made purees full of all-natural ingredients.

You can basically toss them into your blender with gluten-free additions to enjoy a cold but nutritious treat throughout the day.

RELATED: Best Green Juice to Buy and Everything You Need To Know in Between

  1. Don’t Forget the Cocktails

Many adult beverages are verboten when you follow a gluten-free diet – many, but not all of them. You can easily find GF alternatives so that you can still enjoy your favorite cocktail.

There’s no reason to give up your brunch-friendly Bloody Mary or your favorite after-work drink. It’s helpful to mix up your own drinks at home because you know exactly what’s going into them, plus you save tons of money when you skip the marked-up drinks at the bar.

Conclusion

As you can see, gluten-free eating plans have all the potential to be as delicious as any other diet. Adapting these eating plan ideas into your daily lifestyle will make you feel better. What are some of your top gluten-free recipes?

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