How to cook gluten-free food the whole family will love

If a member of your family has coeliac disease or is gluten intolerant you might be tempted to make two different meals, but there’s no need, says Becky Excell…

“Multiple dishes for the same meal is an age-old issue, often with the 'one awkward person' (me!) being the person who has to end up eating a separately prepared meal from everyone else,” says Excell. We all know our weekly food shop is far more expensive than it used to be, in fact the Office of National Statistics says it increased by 25% between January 2022 and January 2024.

Unfortunately, for those on a gluten-free diet, it gets worse with Coeliac UK explaining ‘the weekly food shop suitable for a gluten free diet can be as much as 35% more expensive.’

There are ways to cut down on the time, money and effort required if cooking family meals though, says gluten-free chef Becky Excell…

Make gluten-free mains the norm

“This was the case in our house for many years after I started a gluten-free diet and it can be extremely time consuming, stressful, more expensive and result in a lot of washing up. It also often makes the person with dietary requirements feel like a problem or a hassle!

“For me, the solution has always been to just make the entire dish gluten-free and nine times out of 10, not only is it possible, but nobody would notice the difference.

For example, no one would ever know my Yorkshire puddings were gluten-free. Nor my gluten-free flatbreads (pictured above). So naturally, there's no need to make a 'special batch' just for one person. That way, everyone's happy and normality is restored!”

There are, of course, many dishes that are naturally gluten-free and will appeal for family meals such as this Hot honey chicken and sweet potato traybake, and this salmon traybake.

Pair pricier gluten-free substitutes with budget ingredients

When buying your gluten-free specialist ingredients consider whether you’ll be able to use them regularly in your cooking to make them worth the spend.

“Some gluten-free ingredients can cost considerably more than their gluten-containing counterparts, but it's likely that most of the dishes you love eating at home only require a small amount of those costly ingredients - such as gluten-free soy sauce, gluten-free plain flour or cornflour (for thickening sauces) or gluten-free breadcrumbs,” says Excell.

Then, it’s a case of pairing these pricier ingredients with budget ingredients.

“Some of the most family-friendly dishes are those which are largely comprised of affordable ingredients like tinned tomatoes, tinned beans, potatoes and other veg, which is why you see them in so many family meals and it’s so common to see them on our plates.

“Luckily, with a few gluten-free swaps it’s easy to turn these regular ingredients into family friendly meals.”

Family favourites that are easy to make gluten-free

“My favourite budget-friendly family-style meals include…”

One-pan gluten-free lasagne

“Family life can be hectic enough without throwing making a lasagne from scratch into your evening plans. Yet when you crave all the comfort of this legendary, layered pasta dish but lack the time to make it happen, this fast-tracked version is here for you!

“The key is to avoid overcooking the pasta, otherwise it can easily break when the dish is stirred. Once the lasagne sheets are cooked al dente, don't cook them for any longer and continue with the next steps of the recipe.

Gluten-free chilli

“A good chilli con carne or veggie chilli are great and filling. For these, use gluten-free stock cubes and avoid packet chilli con carne spice blends as they often contain wheat.”

Gluten-free cottage pie

“I like to reduce the cost by using half mince and half lentils and once again use gluten-free stock cubes. Some recipes call for Worcestershire sauce and you can buy a gluten-free version but once again, think about if you’ll use it regularly.“You probably will want to use a little gluten-free flour to thicken the gravy.”

Gluten-free curry

“I love making dishes in the slow cooker as it saves money in itself and you can make a large amount of food at once. A chickpea and potato curry is incredibly cheap, filling and delicious and one of my favourites. I always make extra and have portions in the freezer for when I don’t have time to cook.”

Use cooking methods that suit the size of your family

“One of the questions I'm most commonly asked is how to scale up a recipe for a crowd - so if a dish serves 2-3 people, how would it be best to make it serve 6-8? If you have a big family this is something you’ll be wondering, too.

“Of course, doubling the quantities for the recipe is an obvious start! But with a stir-fry for example, it isn't so easy to just double everything needed and proceed with the recipe as normal.

“Not only would your wok likely not be big enough for that quantity of food, but even if you did, it's then almost impossible to get that crispy, trademark wok-fried finish due to the large quantity. For recipes like this, they're either best cooked in two separate batches or instead, outsourcing the main bulk of the dish to your oven or air fryer; for example, you could roast or air fry all of the veg required, then simply chuck them into the wok at the end. Though this is quite a specific example, I feel it best exemplifies some of the considerations you might not otherwise think about when practically scaling up a recipe for larger families.”

Don’t forget about (gluten-free) puddings

“I’ve come up with a recipe for chocolate brownies – an absolute classic family favourite that everyone enjoys, whether they're gluten-free or not. You can either slice it into nine for a dessert size portion or slice into 16 for fudgy brownie bites.”

And, whether it’s a birthday cake or just a batch of cookies to eat in front of the sofa, there are easy ways to make gluten-free options.

“If you're totally new to gluten-free baking, one thing you need to know is a good gluten-free plain/self-raising flour blend in combination with a little xanthan gum is a great substitute for wheat flour in 90% of all gluten-containing recipes like cookies, cakes, traybakes, pancakes and pudding recipes.”

Originally published August 2024