It can be hard to come up with dinners every single night. I struggle with it myself at times! Add allergies to the mix and the challenge of coming up with easy weeknight dinners increases even more. That’s why I want to start sharing what we eat in a week. This post is a true capture of the gluten free dinners we ate last week. You’ll find 7 gluten free dinner ideas below.
Unlike most of my recipe blog posts, this blog post is a bit more casual. I’m really just trying to get your brain flowing with new gluten free dinner ideas. The recipes are not quite as detailed so if you do have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
These are recipes you can’t mess up. Take them as they are or use them as a jumping-off point to add in your own flavors and on-hand ingredients.
Keep Track of Your Favorite Meals
Don’t forget to keep track of your favorite meals in your recipe and meal plan journal created by Eat or Drink. Buy your copy here on Amazon. Coming up with meals every single day is tricky. That’s why it helps to write down your favorites all in one place. You can also use this journal to plan your weekly meals and come up with your grocery lists too!
About my Household
It’s worth noting the meal specifications that my household has. It’s my husband and me, my toddler, and our newborn. So 2 adult stomachs to feed and 1 little one. I do always like to make extras of each dinner with hopes of having leftovers for lunches.
I have to avoid gluten, dairy, beef, and peanuts always and try to limit my consumption of eggs and soy. My husband and little girl don’t have any allergies. So you’ll see meals that are always gluten free and dairy free at the core but often have the option to add in cheese or that could be made with real milk and butter.
My Week of Gluten Free Dinners
Below you’ll find each meal we ate last week. I’m a mom of a crazy toddler and a newborn so you’ll notice a lot of these meals are easy. And yes some of my weekday dinners include leftovers or leftover “makeovers”. I hope getting a glimpse of our gluten free dinners in a week will help you come up with some new ideas for your week!
Sunday: Crockpot Bean Soup
I love crockpot meals on Sundays because I can just set it up in the morning and forget it the rest of the day. This one couldn’t be easier because I used a packaged bean soup mix.
Ingredients:
- 10 cups water
- 1 can diced tomatoes with peppers and onions
- 1 can corn drained
- 3/4 cup brown rice
- HamBeens 15 bean soup and seasoning packet
- Optional: I found the seasoning packet to be a little bland so you can add a bit more seasoning to taste like garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, or hot sauce. My husband also topped his with cheese.
How to make it:
- Add all ingredients to a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for about 4 hours.
- Note: The package makes a very large amount. I actually froze half after it was cooked and also enjoyed leftovers for a few lunches.
Monday: Tater Tot Casserole
This is a meal everyone will get excited about. And it’s actually super easy to make! This is a good meal to make a double batch of and freeze 1 pan for another week.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 small onions or 1 large
- 2 cloves garlic
- Oil
- Garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional but helps add a creamy cheese flavor if you’re dairy free like me)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup milk of choice – I’m using unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons butter of choice
- 3 tablespoons gluten free flour of choice
- Bouillon to match your quantity of liquid (Check your bouillon package to see how much that would be, each one is a bit different. I’m using Orrington Farms chicken flavored broth base so I used 4 teaspoons.)
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- Enough tater tots to cover your baking dish
How to Make it:
- Set your oven to 400°F
- Dice and saute your onion and garlic in a small amount of oil. Add in your ground turkey and seasonings and mix while cooking.
- Set aside cooked meat in a greased 9xll baking dish.
- Create roux in your saute pan with your butter and flour. Very slowly add in your liquids mixing well with a whisk as you go. Add in your bouillon and heat your sauce mixing occasionally until it thickens up a bit.
- Add your frozen veggies and sauce to your baking dish and mix well.
- Top with tater tots and bake for about 40 minutes or until tots are golden and inside is bubbly.
Tuesday: Zucchini and White Bean Pasta
This is one of my go-to favorite pasta dishes. If you want a meat-free night the beans are a great protein. I’ve also made this pasta many times with sausage and it’s so good either way.
Ingredients:
- Gluten Free Pasta of choice (about 8 oz)
- 1 Zucchini
- 3 Garlic cloves
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano powder, and chili powder to taste
- 1 can white beans of choice
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
- 3 or so tablespoons of tomato sauce (I already had an open jar on hand and just added a little bit, I’ve also made this pasta many times without tomato sauce and just add extra olive oil)
- Optional: parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast on top
How to Make It:
- Dice and saute zucchini and garlic in a little bit of oil with all of your seasonings.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Before draining your pasta reserve some of the pasta water to create a sauce.
- Once the zucchini is cooked to your liking add your pasta and beans into the pan along with the diced tomatoes. Mix well then add in some tomato sauce, olive oil, and a little bit of pasta water to create a nice sauce. Add more of your seasonings until you reach your desired taste.
Wednesday: Air Fryer Chicken Legs and Rice
This meal is incredibly versatile and can be made in a million different ways. I’m going to share how I made my chicken legs in the air fryer tonight, but of course, you can make them in the oven. Enjoy your chicken legs with any side. I served mine with rice and sweet potato tonight.
Ingredients:
- 7 chicken legs
- Oil
- Garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, oregano, salt, and pepper (I did not measure but I’m very generous with my seasonings)
- Serve with your favorite sides – tonight I chose rice and sweet potato
How to Make It:
- Preheat your air fryer by turning it to 400°F for 10 mins while you prepare the chicken.
- Pat your chicken legs dry with a paper towel.
- Drizzle each side of your legs with oil and generously season each side. Use your hands to rub the oil and seasoning around to every part of the chicken leg.
- Place in your air fryer and bake for 15 minutes at 400°F, flip your chicken, and bake for an additional 10+ minutes. Depending on the chicken size you may need more or less time. Chicken only needs to cook to an internal temp of 165°F but I like to take dark meat like chicken legs to about 175°F for a better texture.
Thursday: Leftovers
Nothing too thrilling on Thursday. We just made our own plates of leftovers. I had some chicken and sweet potatoes. I did revamp Ivy’s chicken and sweet potato into a quesadilla and she really enjoyed it.
Friday: Breakfast for Dinner
This is a classic favorite that’s making its way back into our meal rotations. It’s cheap, easy, and everyone loves it! Plus it’s easy to customize for all of our allergy needs. My husband and daughter can enjoy their dinner with some toast and top their eggs with cheese. While I just have mine as is.
*Sorry I didn’t remember to take a picture of this meal! But I think you can easily imagine the breakfasty goodness. 🙂
Ingredients:
- Corned beef hash
- Eggs
- Hash Browns (we’ve done homemade but this time we’re just using frozen Southern Style O’Brien Hash Browns from Walmart)
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Onion Powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Oil
- Fruit of choice
- Optional topping: cheese and/or ketchup
Directions:
- In a large saute pan add in your corned beef hash and press into an even layer. Cook on medium-high for 5 or so minutes then flip and repeat (we cover it to avoid grease popping). I cook mine for quite a while until crispy, the best technique is don’t mix or flip too much. Try and only flip it once or twice with a spatula.
- In another pan saute up your hash browns in some oil and add in the seasonings to taste.
- Once the corned beef hash is done, use that pan to cook your fried eggs.
- Serve the eggs on top of everything and enjoy this meal with some fruit on the side.
Saturday: Sausage Rice Bake
This meal was kind of random. I was originally going to use the sausage for a soup recipe. My husband didn’t want soup, so here we are. Random sausage rice bake. It was great!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground sausage (This time I’m using the Festive Turkey Breakfast sausage from Walmart. It’s only $1.82 and goes great in casseroles)
- 1 onion
- Olive oil
- 1 box (2 bags) Success Rice (I don’t usually buy this but I had a coupon that made it FREE – you could just use plain already cooked rice)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons gluten free flour
- 2 cups broth
- 1 cup milk
- Season to taste: I used nutritional yeast, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper
Directions:
- Saute your onion for a few minutes in oil then add in your sausage and break up. If your sausage produces liquid drain that out so you can continue browning the sausage and not steam it.
- Cook your rice according to package instructions.
- Set aside the sausage, onion, and rice in a greased 9×11 baking dish.
- In the pan from the sausage, add in your butter and flour on medium heat and mix well for a couple of minutes.
- Turn down to medium-low and drizzle in about a 1/4 cup of broth while whisking. Continue adding the broth slowly while whisking until there are no more flour chunks. Then add in your milk and mix well. Bring to a boil, add in your seasonings, and cook for a few minutes to let it thicken.
- Pour the sauce over your sausage and rice and mix well.
- Bake at 400°F for 30-40 minutes.
Sunday: Leftover Quesadillas
Here’s a little bonus meal because I forgot to photograph our breakfast for dinner. Sunday I turned the sausage and rice casserole into delicious quesadillas!
Ingredients:
- Gluten Free Tortillas – Mission brand is my favorite
- Leftover casserole
- Oil
- Optional: Cheese of choice
Directions:
- Heat up your quesadilla in a pan with a little bit of oil until the outside is crisp and the filling is warm.
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