Naturally Gluten Free Foods

The Naturally Gluten-Free Foods List

A whole-foods starting point for anyone new to eating gluten-free — plus the little cautions I learned the hard way.

Every food on this list is gluten-free in its natural state. Remember, though, that almost any food can become "glutenized" if it's cooked or mixed with gluten. The safest way to eat gluten-free is to eat unprocessed food. Prepackaged and commercially prepared items are where hidden gluten loves to hide, so the simplest path to a safe plate is to buy fresh, whole foods and prepare them yourself.

One habit worth building from day one: when a food is packaged, look for the words Certified Gluten-Free (with a certification seal such as the GFCO mark), which means it's been tested to under 20 parts per million of gluten. That single habit will save you a lot of grief.

Vegetables

If you love vegetables, you're in luck — they're naturally gluten-free. The key word is naturally: cooking can add gluten. Don't dredge veggies in wheat or other gluten-containing flour, and be careful with sauces, which often use wheat or barley as a thickener. Eating out, ask whether wheat, rye, barley, or oats have touched the dish. At home you can boil, sauté, steam, or stir-fry freely (and even fry, as long as the flour is gluten-free).

Artichokes

Arugula

Asparagus

Avocado

Beans

Beets

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Carrots

Celery

Corn

Cucumber

Eggplant

Garlic

Green beans

Kale

Lettuce

Mushrooms

Okra

Onions

Parsley

Peas

Peppers

Potatoes

Pumpkin

Radish

Spinach

Squash

Sweet potatoes

Turnips

Watercress

Fruit

Like vegetables, fruits are naturally gluten-free — it's cooking and preserving that can introduce gluten, so treat cooked or canned fruits with a little extra caution. Raw fruits are safe, including:

Acai

Apples

Apricot

Bananas

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cantaloupe

Carob

Cherry

Cranberries

Currants

Dates

Figs

Grapes

Guava

Honeydew

Kiwi

Kumquat

Lemons

Limes

Mandarin

Mango

Oranges

Papaya

Passion fruit

Peaches

Pears

Pineapple

Plantains

Plums

Persimmon

Quince

Raspberries

Strawberries

Tamarind

Tangerines

Watermelon

Meat & Poultry

Meat and poultry are naturally gluten-free too. Avoid breaded or fried meat unless you know gluten-free flour was used, and even with grilled or broiled meat, make sure it wasn't cooked on the same surface or in the same oil as breaded foods. Most commercial gravy contains gluten, so if you make your own batter or gravy, reach for gluten-free flour. Only buy certified gluten-free deli meats as well. 

Beef

Buffalo

Chicken

Duck

Goat

Goose

Lamb

Pork

Rabbit

Turkey

Quail

Veal

Venison

A note from my own kitchen: I've had my stomach react to a lot of different meats over the years, so our family is picky about sourcing. We eat red meat sparingly and choose pasture-raised; our poultry is genuinely free-range; and we have pork only once or twice a year from a source we trust. Richer meats we save for special occasions like Christmas or New Year's. None of that is a gluten rule — it's just how real, clean food sits best with my body. (Coach Ron Williams NEVER eats pork or scavenger meat.)

Dairy & Eggs

Eggs are gluten-free, and so is most dairy. Generally safe:

Butter*

Cheese

Eggs

Milk

Plain yogurt

*Check butter and flavored/processed cheeses for gluten-containing additives, and choose plain, unflavored yogurt to be safe.

Good news on blue cheese. For years many of us avoided blue cheese, worried that the mold cultures grown on bread made it unsafe. Testing has since put that worry largely to rest — even blue cheeses whose cultures were grown on gluten-containing media test below the safe threshold, so most celiac organizations now consider plain blue cheese gluten-free. As always, skip any variety that lists wheat, barley, or rye, and be careful with flavored or crumbled-in-dressing versions.

A caring word about raw milk. Our family personally chooses clean, pasture-raised dairy and uses it sparingly — that's our choice, made with our eyes open. If raw (unpasteurized) milk is part of your life, please know the real trade-off: raw milk can carry bacteria like Listeria, Salmonella, and certain strains of E. coli that pasteurization exists to kill. The danger is greatest for infants and young children, pregnant women, and anyone with a weakened immune system — and health authorities strongly advise those groups against it. I also used to believe pasteurizing "killed all the nutrition," and I've since learned that isn't true: pasteurized milk keeps essentially all of its protein, calcium, and vitamins. Whatever you decide for your own family, please talk with your pediatrician before giving any raw dairy to a baby or young child.

Grains & Flours

Grains are the tricky part. You already know that bread, flour, tortillas, pasta, and anything made from wheat, barley, and rye is off limits. But there's a whole world of naturally gluten-free grains and flours to enjoy:

Almond flour

Amaranth

Arrowroot

Bean flour

Besan (chickpea)

Brown rice

Brown rice flour

Buckwheat

Cassava

Corn flour

Cornmeal

Cornstarch

Cottonseed

Dal (lentil)

Flaxseed

Job's tears

Manioc

Millet

Milo (sorghum)

Pea flour

Polenta

Potato flour

Quinoa

Rice

Rice flour

Sago

Soy flour

Tapioca flour

Taro flour

Teff

Yucca

(Don't let the name fool you — buckwheat is completely gluten-free.)

A quick word on oats. You'll notice oats aren't grouped with wheat, barley, and rye — and that's on purpose. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but they're so often grown and milled alongside wheat that ordinary oats are usually cross-contaminated. Only oats labeled Certified Gluten-Free are safe for celiacs. 

One more thing worth knowing: a small number of people with celiac react to oats even when they're perfectly pure, so it's wise to reintroduce them slowly and with your doctor's guidance — especially in your first several months of healing.

How we handle grains at home: we buy them whole, then grind them and let them sprout or ferment (like sourdough) before eating. Soaking, sprouting, and fermenting break grains down so the body can assimilate them more easily and unlock minerals that would otherwise stay bound up. (One important caveat: sprouting or souring does not make wheat, barley, or rye safe — those still contain gluten no matter how they're prepared.)

Packaged & Prepared Gluten-Free Foods

Avoiding gluten doesn't mean you can never have bread, crackers, or pasta again. As awareness of celiac disease has grown, so has the shelf of specialty gluten-free products. My honest counsel, though, is the same one I live by:

Use products with only one or two ingredients. The closer to how it came from the earth, the better.

I'll be candid: I've actually been made sick more often by things labeled "gluten-free" than by whole foods, so I buy them rarely — for a birthday, or when I need to bring something to a gathering. When you do buy packaged, look for Certified Gluten-Free, and remember that many companies make both gluten-free and regular items, so keep reading labels, checking websites, or calling to confirm. Some items will say "gluten-free", and then indicate processed in a facility that also processes "wheat" etc. Many people who try to buy and cook for you may make this mistake. 

The brands I'd jotted down back when I first wrote this — 1-2-3 Gluten-Free, Authentic Foods, Barkat, Chebe, Dr. Schär, Ener-G, Glutino, La Tortilla Factory, Pamela's, and others — are a starting point only. Companies, recipes, and certifications change constantly, so please verify each one's current gluten-free certification before you trust it.

Hidden Sources Worth Watching For

Some sneaky ones surprised me over the years. Gluten can turn up through shared equipment far from the obvious places: floured conveyor belts and prep surfaces, seasoning and rice mixes made in facilities that also handle wheat, and coatings or fillers you'd never suspect. When in doubt, choose single-ingredient foods, and when a label leaves you guessing, ask the manufacturer directly.

A helpful tool for shopping trips into the packaged-food world: keep a trusted gluten-free scanner app (or an up-to-date gluten-free shopping guide) on your phone.

Lots of love,

Steffanie

Shared from my own kitchen and experience to help you get started — this isn't medical advice, and it hasn't been evaluated by the FDA. If you're newly diagnosed, please lean on your doctor and, if you can, a registered dietitian who knows celiac disease; and if you haven't been tested yet, do that before going gluten-free so the results are accurate. Real, whole food is a beautiful foundation — and good medical care walks right alongside it.