6 Easy + YUMMY Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Dinners!

Meal plans are a sanity saver in our home. If I don’t know what I’m making that night, I get super stressed super fast. Maybe it’s because of all the allergies in our home, or maybe it’s just my A-type personality. Maybe both?

Either way, these are my six go-to dinners. My toddler loves them and they’re free of nuts (other than coconut), dairy, gluten and sesame. Win, win!

I’m hoping this easy meal plan for 6 days of dinners can help your sanity too!

Dinner #1: Baked chicken and roasted veggies

Part 1: I chop up 3 sweet potatoes, 2 zucchini and 2 bell peppers (or whatever veggies you have on hand!) and toss them in olive oil and salt. (I tend to go heavy on the oil and salt. Just personal preference.) Then I bake them in a glass pan at 400F until soft (30-40 minutes), and then broil them for 5-10 minutes until crispy.

*Note: The veggies cook best when spread in a thin layer in a big pan. Sometimes I’ll even use two glass pans if I’m making lots of veggies.

Part 2: Once I put the veggies in the oven, I get frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer, pop them in a greased glass pan, and coat them with a thin layer of the following mixture: 1/3 C. Gillian’s Italian Wheat-Free Bread Crumbs, 1 Tbsp. olive oil and 1/4 tsp. salt. Then I bake them at 400F until cooked through (typically about 30-45 minutes, depending on meat size).

That’s it! The hardest part is chopping up the veggies, which you can totally do ahead of time. (I usually do it during my daughter’s nap, but you could also do it the night before.)

Dinner #2: Mexican Fiesta!

Part 1: Start cooking some Simply Nature Organic Quick Cook Brown Rice.

Part 2: Thinly slice 1 zucchini, 2 bell peppers and 1 onion. Drizzle them with olive oil and then sauté them in a cast iron skillet until soft. As they’re cooking, I shake on some cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and basil. I stir them regularly so they cook evenly.

Part 3: Pop open a can of Old El Paso Traditional Refried Beans, pour the beans into a bowl and mix in some plain oat milk until the beans reach the desired consistency. I like them to be soft enough to spread easily, without looking runny. I then microwave them for 1 minute at a time, stirring after each time, until they’re nice and warm.

Part 4: Steam broccoli until soft, then toss it in olive oil and salt. (Sensing a theme here with our toppings?? Haha! My doctor told me to eat more salt, and olive oil is a great way to add healthy fats to a dairy-free diet.)

Part 5: Then pull out some Park Street Deli Classic Guacamole (from Aldi), tortilla chips and a spinach-arugula blend of salad.

Part 6: Line everything up like a buffet and let each person pile it on their plates! You could even add sliced black olives, diced tomatoes and/or salsa for extra flavor!

Part 3: Chicken Curry Soup Over Rice

This is my OBSESSION. I just make a few changes to the recipe:

1. I use olive oil or coconut oil instead of ghee, since my daughter has a dairy allergy.
2. I use at least two sweet potatoes and at least two peppers. (The more veggies the better!)
3. I skip the cashews that it recommends for serving with the dish. It doesn’t need them anyway.
4. I double the chicken broth, since I’m making it more like a soup than a curry.
5. Then I make it again and again and again.

Part 4: Burgers Over Roasted Veggies

Grill up some burgers! We don’t use buns. Instead, we chop them up and eat them with a ton of veggies! I like to roast diced sweet potatoes and onions tossed in (you guessed it) olive oil and salt, as well as asparagus, which is super yummy when roasted in a cast iron skillet at 375F for about 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the stalks. Sometimes I’ll do roasted Brussel sprouts instead of asparagus! I also steam some broccoli and toss it in my classic olive oil and salt.

Part 5: Pasta with Meat Sauce

You can read about my favorite pastas here! I then cook ground beef until it’s brown and crumbly. Then I take a 28-oz can of plain tomato sauce (or two cans if you want a higher sauce to meat ratio) and add it to the ground beef. I also shake on some oregano, basil, salt and a dash of cinnamon (a trick I learned from an Italian mama). We have steamed broccoli on the side (because my daughter is obsessed with broccoli). A side of spinach-arugula salad blend is the perfect way to round out this meal.

Part 6: Breakfast for Dinner!

Usually I make these pancakes, with three substitutions. I use:

• gluten-free all-purpose flour instead of regular flour,
• plain oat milk instead of regular milk
• and coconut oil instead of butter.

Then I scramble some eggs, and if I’m feeling especially fancy that day, I’ll fry up some bacon too! (We love farm-fresh bacon…SO YUMMY – and supports local farmers.)

We top the pancakes with Sunbutter, Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread and/or pure maple syrup. SO GOOD. Lastly, we add some berries on top! Often I just put some frozen blueberries or raspberries in a mug with some water, and microwave them until soft. Then the water becomes like a fruit syrup to pour on pancakes alongside maple syrup.

Now I want to hear from you!

What are your favorite, easy, allergy free dinners? I can’t wait to try them!

XOXO,
That Allergy Mama