My Favorite Gluten-Free Brands & Products

If you’ve been hoping to stock up on toilet paper and water and come up empty, I feel ya! Seems like every store has been cleaned out of those essentials.

But when I’m prepping in my house, it looks a little bit different because I’m planning not just for my family’s dietary needs, but for mine as well! And the great thing about being gluten-free right now is that most of everything I love and need is still in stock.

So I’m giving you a quick rundown of the gluten-free products, baking essentials, and foods I consider essentials!

BAKING & COOKING ESSENTIALS

It’s like when they say “Wear all brown but make it fashion!” This is my version of that, “Make chocolate chip cookies but make them gluten-free!” haha. I think there is this belief that gluten-free = not good but we’ve come so far! And there are so many great brands and products out there that make it really easy to adhere to. But the biggest hurdle you’ll have to tackle is baking and cooking supplies/ingredients. And lucky for you, I’ve been doing this GF thing for quite a few years now and all of my favorites are listed below!

Flour:

There are 2 flours I trust for almost everything: Cup4Cup & Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix. But Pamela’s is my all-time fave – I never ever let myself get low on this. I use it for pancakes, waffles, banana bread, pumpkin bread, topping for casseroles, etc. my kids prefer it over any other pancake mix gluten-free or not!

MAKE PANCAKES A BREEZE WITH THIS PANCAKE BATTER BLENDER AND DISPENSER

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Other flours I recommend:

• King Arthur Gluten-Free  Measure for Measure Flour
• Namaste Foods Organic Perfect Flour Blend – works so well in my muffins!
• Grandpas Kitchen – makes great sugar cookies

And I’ve got some awesome recipes like our crepes, chicken pot pie, and these super yummy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!

Seasonings:

Most seasonings are gluten-free. Make sure to check the packaging. But if it’s a stand-alone seasoning, you’re usually good!

CHICKEN BOUILLON | BEEF BOUILLON

Shirley J Seasonings are some of my absolute favorite gluten-free seasonings. They’re made local here in Utah and I use them 90% of the time when cooking! And McCormick also makes some gluten-free versions of old favorites:

• Beef Stew Seasoning Mix.
• Brown Gravy Mix.
• Chili Seasoning Mix.
• Meat Loaf Seasoning Mix.
• Taco Seasoning Mix.
• Turkey Gravy Mix.

If MSG is an issue check out Orson Gygi. Their bulk seasoning is phenomenal and they have great dry onion soup mix, veggie dips, ranch powder, etc.

Pasta:

Barilla gluten-free pasta is my fave. Cook it al dente with a little salt and olive oil. Or,  you can try one of my favorite Pasta Salads.

Box Mixes:

Sometimes you need to whip up a birthday cake at the last minute or want a fool-proof muffin in the morning. These boxed/bagged goods are the best of the best and are gluten-free as well!

• Krusteaz Supreme Double Chocolate Brownie Mix
• Bob’s Red Mill Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
• Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread and Baking Mix – so good
• King Arthur Gluten-Free Muffin Mix
• Simple Mills Almond Flour Cake Mix
• Birch Benders – this can be picked up at Costco as well! Not my favorite but it’s great in a pinch.
• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Crust makes the BEST breadsticks and cinnamon rolls – – – – – – – – – > Recipe Linked HERE
• Gluten-Free Heaven Donut Mix – This is only available through their website and it is SOOOOO good!

SHOP ALL MY GLUTEN-FREE FAVORITES

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Sauces:

• Shirley J’s WhiskBliss Gluten-Free is a dream in sauces and soups! If you prefer not to use a thickening agent or mixture or don’t have one available, you can always use a bit of cornstarch to thicken sauces and soups as well.

Dressing:

The great thing about dressing is the basic mixtures or transparent dressings are usually naturally gluten-free. Here are a few more of my favorites:

• Hidden Valley Ranch Homestyle Ranch Mix & Dressing – the homestyle is what makes it MSG and GF
• Olive Garden Italian Dressing – you can find this at most stores!

• Brianna’s Dressing – I use it on this salad and it’s a family favorite!
• Kikkoman makes a gluten-free soy sauce and all La Choy Soy Sauce is gluten-free and just what you need to make my fried rice.

• Stubb’s Original BBQ Sauce and Sweet Baby Rays are both gluten-free and our go-tos for anything BBQ-related!

Crackers, Cookies, & Chips, Oh My!

Now on to the really important stuff! haha Seriously though, this is the stuff that kept me sane. When I first went gluten-free, I thought I had resigned myself to dull food and even worse snacks. But over the years, so many great companies have sprung up and are creating some of the yummiest snack foods and some of my favorites!

At the very tip-top of my list are Goodie Girl cookies – best ever cookies. They taste just like Girl Scout Cookies! They’ve got Mint Slims, Chocolate Creams, and Fudge Striped which make the ABSOLUTE BEST S’MORES!!!!

• Tate’s Bake Shop Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies – these are those thin, crispy chocolate chip cookies that you can eat one after another!
• Simple Mills Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies – these taste like the Famous Amos snack packs that you put in kid’s lunches.

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• Kinnikinnick makes quite a few gluten-free snacks and my favorite are their Vanilla Wafers which go great in my gluten-free Banana Cream Pudding recipe!
• Pamela’s Honey Grahams

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• Whisps are one of my favorite toppings for salads, soups, and just to snack on. They come in 5 flavors and are great to travel with. I used them here in my Pasta Fagioli.

There are a ton of great tortilla chips: Late July, Siete Chips (they also make amazing tortillas, taco shells, and sauces), and Juanitas are my 3 favorites! All 3 would go awesome with my cowboy caviar!

And of course, PopCorners! They are my absolute favorite and the kettle corn are my favorite flavor!

Bread

Bread is probably the biggest change you’ll notice when/if you are gluten-free but I have found the best bread! Franz Gluten-free bread is so good. It’s not brick-like (happens a lot with gf bread) and is so good with sandwiches, toast, and your kids won’t be able to tell a difference.

Other Bread I Recommend:

• Sam’s Choice – this is the in-store brand from Walmart and it’s not bad!
• Udi’s – this is my least favorite of the 3 but is actually really good on grilled cheeses

Cereal:

• Chex – even if you’re not a cereal fan, these are awesome in Scotcheroos!
• Cheerios
• Malt-O-Meal Crispy Rice and Fruity Pebbles are both gluten-free and are what I used to make these Rice Crispy treats!

And I have an apocalyptic amount of Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal cups! They’re so good, healthy, easy to take on the go and gluten-free!

Protein Shakes

I don’t love protein but I do love Clean Simple Eats protein! It’s a great meal replacement and both Braun and I make them in the mornings. In fact, my whole family loves it! It’s gluten-free and comes in a ton of great flavors as well! Use code TARATHUESON to get $15 off their winter meal plan!

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I’ll keep on adding to this list as I discover more gluten-free favorites! There are so many great options out there that really make being gluten-free simple! And if you have any gluten-free favorites that didn’t make my list, tell me in the comments below!

Xx Tara