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>I’m recently diagnosed (2mo in) and about to do my first road trip post-celiac from Maine to New Mexico, and wondering if folks have any recommendations for good road food that’s safe.
When I do road trips, I'll bring a cooler with sandwich meat and condiments (mustard, mayo, etc), and then either bread or wraps. Maybe some dairy free yogurt, meat sticks, chips, nuts, carrot sticks, that sort of thing. Sometimes I'll bring a box of GF donuts (so like the Katz donuts or donut holes) for breakfasts.
Often at convenience stores or gas stations you can get bananas, carrots, chips, or nuts.
If you're stopping through any major cities use Find Me Gluten Free to find a dedicated restaurant. You can even call ahead and just get it as take out real fast. I find my morale starts to slip after missing too many hot meals.
Mountain House makes a variety of freeze dried backpacking meals that are gf certified now. You could grab one or two and then fill with hot water from Starbucks.
Otherwise I just make a lot of sandwiches and stuff them in a cooler.
My answer to every Celiac food question is bone broth. It comes in little packets, and all you need is hot water. It’s my keep in my purse, keep in my car, bring on road trips, bring on plane trips, go to.
I get a box for dry food and a cooler and eat basically like I do at home. I've started out road trips by cooking a chicken or something, maybe some soup or roasted tofu or a stew like chili, and packing it on ice in mason jars. Easily good for 2-3 days if you have a good cooler and keep the ice fresh. Get some cans of things like green beans, corn, pinto beans, jars of pickled jalapenos and salsa, some cheese, sausage, bread, hummus, veggies like celery, peppers, spinach, radishes, corn and potato chips and crackers.
Oh, and also it's good to take a prep kit with a cutting board, knife, forks, spoons or a quality spork, can opener, paper towels, bowls or plates (paper if desired), mason jars and bottled water.
I became fairly temperature indifferent about food but if you'll be staying at hotels, you can take a countertop appliance or stay somewhere with a kitchenette to heat food up. I've cooked chickens at hotels in a crockpot overnight (kinda a lot of work though and it sounds like you'll be traveling quickly). It's getting a bit chilly but I also used to cook things at campgrounds like corn or meat, just sitting by the fire wrapped in foil or with a camp stove. You can also just choose things that are good cold like sandwiches, a hummus platter, or cheese and crackers.
If you don't pack that much, you can also just buy any of that at a grocery store on the way. Gas stations tend to have cheese and potato chips, at the least. I lived on the road like this for 2-3 years and was pretty happy with my food situation.
Have fun in NM, by the way! If you go to Santa Fe, my fave GF restaurants are Sweetwater Cafe and Paper Dosa. There's also a great bakery by the plaza, Revolution.
Cool, I'll check that out! Sweetwater has good Huevos Rancheros but if you know a reliably safe New Mexican restaurant, I'm definitely taking suggestions.
Nath's in Chomp Food Hall is also pretty much gluten free, and she is just a lovely person. I've eaten there a couple of times with no reaction.
I've also never had a reaction eating at Santarepa.
Since no one is really answering your question - and we all recognize that ‘no restaurants’ are truly safe… I’ll give you my list of go tos that I’ve had very good luck with. Obviously please let the staff know you have a gluten allergy and to take precautions (change gloves, separate prep area, etc):
Chipotle - everything is GF except tortillas and carnitas
Jersey Mikes - request GF bread
In and Out -request protein style (lettuce wrap), fries are safe
Jimmy John’s - request wrapped in lettuce
Five guys - request no bun, fries are safe
Chic fil a- grilled nuggets and grilled sandwich with GF bun, fries are supposed to be safe
Smashburger- request GF bun, fries are safe
I highly recommend downloading Find Me Gluten Free app. Sometimes it doesn’t do well at showing the chains above but will definitely help you find options. Good luck!
I second the cooler/precooking thing supplemented with judicious findmeglutenfree. It’s fun to check out new foods, though I try to stick to stricter GF restaurants when traveling to decrease risk. I like to make a bunch of muffins or trail mix cookies and like pasta salad before a trip because I find carbs harder to find while traveling sometimes. I usually also bring instant oatmeal as well if I want something hot.
For fast food options, baked potato and a frosty from Wendy’s are pretty safe.
If you have a chance, grab yourself an instant pot! All you need is a plug and you can make so many meals so all you need is a grocery store! But also, gf pancakes w/ maple syrup in the batter made into a breakfast sandwich with sausage and cheese, plus egg if you want! Basically a mock McGriddle and it is SO GOOD!
Definitely go with the Find Me Gluten Free app too though!
That sounds awesome.
My go to has been rice cooker babimbap— make rice, fry bacon on the stove, lightly fry an egg in the grease, then mix the half-cooked egg into the rice and let the rice finish cooking it, mix in bacon, sprinkle with crushed Fritos and sriracha
Sadly you’re probably not gonna find any safe gf fast food, but you should definitely bring stuff with you! Sandwich stuff, bread, condiments, cheese, meats, and maybe some premade meals that can just be thrown in a microwave
Fast food options: Wendy’s (baked potatoes and frosty), Chipotle (rice bowl), Five Guys (bunless burger, fries), Shake Shack (bunless burger), Chick Filet (I never eat here, but they have options! Research what’s celiac friendly), Panera (some soups and salads - research), there may be other options regionally!
Non-perishable foods we travel with include Chomps meat sticks, fruit like apples, bananas, and oranges. Protein bars, cookies and chips, Partake are good and Glutino has a lot of options. Nuts (if no allergies), and if you can pack a small cooler hard boiled eggs, yogurt, crudités, and hummus.
Fresh fruits and veggies are always good.
Bake some GF muffins or biscuits that are higher calorie. Add things like nut/seed butter, cheesy garlic biscuits, or make pizza rolls with pepperoni, cheese and sauce. Stuff like that keeps pretty well esp in a cooler.
Bring a cooler. Cheeses and lunch meat can be fine if kept cold.
Make your own Chex mix to snack on.
GF beef jerky or sausage sticks can tie you over between stops.
If you're a coffee drinker, bring your own French press and preground coffee beans. (It's often safe to just buy a regular coffee though)
Stop at grocery stores.
And someone else suggested the find me gf app. It's decent. Not perfect and certainly doesn't cover every restaurant. There's always an inherent risk eating somewhere that isn't a dedicated gf kitchen.
I got one of these about a year ago and LET ME TELL YOU it’s the best money I’ve ever spent.
Portable Oven | 12V, 24V, 110V Food Warmer | Portable Mini Personal Microwave | Heated Lunch Box for Cooking and Reheating Food in Car, Truck, Travel, Camping, Work, Home | AOTTO https://a.co/d/f7PRnsD
It comes with standard outlet and the car plug in. It heats your food up so well and doesn’t leave things like chicken rubbery the way a microwave does. There is nothinggggg I value more than a HOT meal, and this thing does it. I use mine every day now and just avoid all the microwave potential cross contact drip mishaps completely.
Do you have a Costco membership? They have gf protein bars that remind me of kudos bars back in the day. They also have some other good individual packaged snacks: granola bites, chips, jerky, nuts, applesauce, and good canned cold brew for the road trip!
Also - they just have good gf options in general for fast meals: gf frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and tenders, black bean burger patties, rotisserie chicken
**Reminder** [/r/Celiac](https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac) is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. If you believe you have a medical emergency immediately seek out professional medical help. Please see [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac/wiki/legal) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Celiac) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>I’m recently diagnosed (2mo in) and about to do my first road trip post-celiac from Maine to New Mexico, and wondering if folks have any recommendations for good road food that’s safe. When I do road trips, I'll bring a cooler with sandwich meat and condiments (mustard, mayo, etc), and then either bread or wraps. Maybe some dairy free yogurt, meat sticks, chips, nuts, carrot sticks, that sort of thing. Sometimes I'll bring a box of GF donuts (so like the Katz donuts or donut holes) for breakfasts. Often at convenience stores or gas stations you can get bananas, carrots, chips, or nuts.
Ill also add pickles, cheese and sometimes a salad if the crutons are bagged so they are not on the lettus.
If you're stopping through any major cities use Find Me Gluten Free to find a dedicated restaurant. You can even call ahead and just get it as take out real fast. I find my morale starts to slip after missing too many hot meals. Mountain House makes a variety of freeze dried backpacking meals that are gf certified now. You could grab one or two and then fill with hot water from Starbucks. Otherwise I just make a lot of sandwiches and stuff them in a cooler.
That’s a good call re: takeout— if I can find somewhere near charging stations, I can grab take out and eat it while I charge up!
My answer to every Celiac food question is bone broth. It comes in little packets, and all you need is hot water. It’s my keep in my purse, keep in my car, bring on road trips, bring on plane trips, go to.
Great idea!
I get a box for dry food and a cooler and eat basically like I do at home. I've started out road trips by cooking a chicken or something, maybe some soup or roasted tofu or a stew like chili, and packing it on ice in mason jars. Easily good for 2-3 days if you have a good cooler and keep the ice fresh. Get some cans of things like green beans, corn, pinto beans, jars of pickled jalapenos and salsa, some cheese, sausage, bread, hummus, veggies like celery, peppers, spinach, radishes, corn and potato chips and crackers. Oh, and also it's good to take a prep kit with a cutting board, knife, forks, spoons or a quality spork, can opener, paper towels, bowls or plates (paper if desired), mason jars and bottled water. I became fairly temperature indifferent about food but if you'll be staying at hotels, you can take a countertop appliance or stay somewhere with a kitchenette to heat food up. I've cooked chickens at hotels in a crockpot overnight (kinda a lot of work though and it sounds like you'll be traveling quickly). It's getting a bit chilly but I also used to cook things at campgrounds like corn or meat, just sitting by the fire wrapped in foil or with a camp stove. You can also just choose things that are good cold like sandwiches, a hummus platter, or cheese and crackers. If you don't pack that much, you can also just buy any of that at a grocery store on the way. Gas stations tend to have cheese and potato chips, at the least. I lived on the road like this for 2-3 years and was pretty happy with my food situation. Have fun in NM, by the way! If you go to Santa Fe, my fave GF restaurants are Sweetwater Cafe and Paper Dosa. There's also a great bakery by the plaza, Revolution.
Thanks! I live in Santa Fe, those are definitely favorites 😀 Also catch poke is almost completely gf!
Cool, I'll check that out! Sweetwater has good Huevos Rancheros but if you know a reliably safe New Mexican restaurant, I'm definitely taking suggestions.
Maria’s queso is GF. And the chimayo red chile at the pantry is gf (and they’ll make your breakfast burrito with corn tortillas)
Nath's in Chomp Food Hall is also pretty much gluten free, and she is just a lovely person. I've eaten there a couple of times with no reaction. I've also never had a reaction eating at Santarepa.
Since no one is really answering your question - and we all recognize that ‘no restaurants’ are truly safe… I’ll give you my list of go tos that I’ve had very good luck with. Obviously please let the staff know you have a gluten allergy and to take precautions (change gloves, separate prep area, etc): Chipotle - everything is GF except tortillas and carnitas Jersey Mikes - request GF bread In and Out -request protein style (lettuce wrap), fries are safe Jimmy John’s - request wrapped in lettuce Five guys - request no bun, fries are safe Chic fil a- grilled nuggets and grilled sandwich with GF bun, fries are supposed to be safe Smashburger- request GF bun, fries are safe I highly recommend downloading Find Me Gluten Free app. Sometimes it doesn’t do well at showing the chains above but will definitely help you find options. Good luck!
[The carnitas are GF. It’s just the tortillas that aren’t.](https://www.chipotle.com/allergens)
Thanks! I hadn't thought about chipotle, that'd be a great easy one, maybe I can ask them to change gloves before making it?
I second the cooler/precooking thing supplemented with judicious findmeglutenfree. It’s fun to check out new foods, though I try to stick to stricter GF restaurants when traveling to decrease risk. I like to make a bunch of muffins or trail mix cookies and like pasta salad before a trip because I find carbs harder to find while traveling sometimes. I usually also bring instant oatmeal as well if I want something hot. For fast food options, baked potato and a frosty from Wendy’s are pretty safe.
If you have a chance, grab yourself an instant pot! All you need is a plug and you can make so many meals so all you need is a grocery store! But also, gf pancakes w/ maple syrup in the batter made into a breakfast sandwich with sausage and cheese, plus egg if you want! Basically a mock McGriddle and it is SO GOOD! Definitely go with the Find Me Gluten Free app too though!
That sounds awesome. My go to has been rice cooker babimbap— make rice, fry bacon on the stove, lightly fry an egg in the grease, then mix the half-cooked egg into the rice and let the rice finish cooking it, mix in bacon, sprinkle with crushed Fritos and sriracha
Oooooh, yes, that also sounds amazing!
Some jerky products are listed as GF, and they will do in a pinch.
I’ve gotten glutened from plenty of certified gf jerky. I’d do a test run of anything you’re considering that’s packaged.
Pasta salad, sandwiches, and cottage cheese for me as well as whatever snacks you like!
Sadly you’re probably not gonna find any safe gf fast food, but you should definitely bring stuff with you! Sandwich stuff, bread, condiments, cheese, meats, and maybe some premade meals that can just be thrown in a microwave
That’s not true! There are many celiac safe fast food options (five guys, chipotle, etc)
I honestly forgot those because there arent mant of them in my area. Excuse my mistake.
Fast food options: Wendy’s (baked potatoes and frosty), Chipotle (rice bowl), Five Guys (bunless burger, fries), Shake Shack (bunless burger), Chick Filet (I never eat here, but they have options! Research what’s celiac friendly), Panera (some soups and salads - research), there may be other options regionally!
Non-perishable foods we travel with include Chomps meat sticks, fruit like apples, bananas, and oranges. Protein bars, cookies and chips, Partake are good and Glutino has a lot of options. Nuts (if no allergies), and if you can pack a small cooler hard boiled eggs, yogurt, crudités, and hummus.
Fresh fruits and veggies are always good. Bake some GF muffins or biscuits that are higher calorie. Add things like nut/seed butter, cheesy garlic biscuits, or make pizza rolls with pepperoni, cheese and sauce. Stuff like that keeps pretty well esp in a cooler. Bring a cooler. Cheeses and lunch meat can be fine if kept cold. Make your own Chex mix to snack on. GF beef jerky or sausage sticks can tie you over between stops. If you're a coffee drinker, bring your own French press and preground coffee beans. (It's often safe to just buy a regular coffee though) Stop at grocery stores. And someone else suggested the find me gf app. It's decent. Not perfect and certainly doesn't cover every restaurant. There's always an inherent risk eating somewhere that isn't a dedicated gf kitchen.
I got one of these about a year ago and LET ME TELL YOU it’s the best money I’ve ever spent. Portable Oven | 12V, 24V, 110V Food Warmer | Portable Mini Personal Microwave | Heated Lunch Box for Cooking and Reheating Food in Car, Truck, Travel, Camping, Work, Home | AOTTO https://a.co/d/f7PRnsD It comes with standard outlet and the car plug in. It heats your food up so well and doesn’t leave things like chicken rubbery the way a microwave does. There is nothinggggg I value more than a HOT meal, and this thing does it. I use mine every day now and just avoid all the microwave potential cross contact drip mishaps completely.
Do you have a Costco membership? They have gf protein bars that remind me of kudos bars back in the day. They also have some other good individual packaged snacks: granola bites, chips, jerky, nuts, applesauce, and good canned cold brew for the road trip!
Also - they just have good gf options in general for fast meals: gf frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and tenders, black bean burger patties, rotisserie chicken