One of the questions I get most often is some version of: “But what do you actually eat?” Fair question. When people hear gluten-free and vegan together, they sometimes picture a sad plate of plain lettuce. My grocery cart tells a very different story.
I also have a teenage daughter at home, one who is not gluten-free or vegan, so our kitchen has to work for both of us. The good news: most of what I buy is so flexible that it crosses over without anyone feeling like they got the short end of the dinner deal. Here’s what I keep stocked.
Produce: fresh and frozen
I always have potatoes in some form. My daughter loves them, and they are endlessly versatile; mashed, roasted, pan-fried, thrown into soups. Potatoes are one of those ingredients that bridge the gap between what I eat and what a teenager happily eats.
Avocados are a permanent fixture too. They do so much work in a plant-based kitchen; creamy, rich, satisfying in a way that makes you forget you were expecting cheese. In tacos especially, sliced avocado or a quick smashed guacamole fills the same role that cheese plays for most people. It’s not a compromise; it’s genuinely better.
Beyond fresh produce, I keep a well-stocked freezer. Frozen vegetables get an unfair reputation, they’re picked at peak ripeness and flash-frozen, which often makes them nutritionally comparable to fresh. More importantly, they’re already washed, chopped, and ready to go. On a weeknight when dinner needs to happen fast, a bag of frozen broccoli or mixed vegetables can be the difference between cooking and ordering pizza.
Pantry protein: beans, tofu, and meat alternatives
Canned beans are one of my most-used ingredients, and I buy a wide variety, black beans, chickpeas, cannellini, kidney. Here’s my habit: I add beans to recipes that don’t necessarily call for them. Making soup? Beans go in. Pasta sauce? Beans go in. It’s an easy, inexpensive way to boost protein and fiber in almost any dish without changing the flavor profile in a noticeable way.
Tofu is always in my refrigerator. It is one of the most misunderstood ingredients in American cooking, and also one of the most useful. Pressed and pan-fried, it’s crispy and satisfying. Silken tofu blends into smooth sauces and dressings. Crumbled and seasoned, it becomes a scramble. If you think you don’t like tofu, there’s a good chance you just haven’t had it cooked right yet, and I plan to cover that in a future post.
For ground beef situations (tacos, pasta sauce, chili) I reach for Impossible meat, specifically the low-fat version. It browns, crumbles, and seasons exactly like you’d expect. One important note here: always read the label on meat substitutes. This is not optional if you’re also avoiding gluten. Many popular brands include wheat as a binder or flavoring, and it’s not always obvious from the product name. I’ve learned this the hard way. Impossible is currently gluten-free, but formulations can change, so I check every time.
The ingredient I’d rescue from a fire: nutritional yeast
If I had to pick one ingredient that changed how I cook, it would be nutritional yeast, “nooch” if you’re already in the club. It has a savory, cheesy, almost nutty flavor that makes it genuinely useful rather than just a vegan novelty.
I use it as a parmesan substitute on pasta. I sprinkle it on popcorn. I stir it into sauces to add depth and a little thickness. And importantly for anyone eating fully plant-based: most nutritional yeast is fortified with B12, a vitamin that vegans need to be intentional about since it’s found almost exclusively in animal products. It’s not a complete solution on its own, but it’s a genuinely helpful daily source.
Pasta: but make it count
Gluten-free pasta has come a long way since the gummy, falling-apart versions of ten years ago. I buy it regularly, but I’ve made a deliberate choice to go with chickpea or lentil pasta whenever possible. The texture is excellent and holds up well to sauces, but the real reason is protein. Regular rice-based gluten-free pasta is mostly just carbohydrates. Chickpea and lentil pasta adds meaningful protein per serving, which matters when you’re building meals without meat.
Dairy alternatives I actually trust
The dairy alternative market has exploded, and not everything out there is worth your money. After years of trial and error, I’ve landed on two that earn a permanent spot in my refrigerator.
For coffee, I use Silk flavored creamers. They behave like creamer should, they don’t separate, they add the right richness, and the flavors are genuinely good. My morning coffee routine is fully intact.
For cooking, specifically mashed potatoes, which my daughter requests regularly, I use Ripple‘s half-and-half. Ripple is pea protein based, which means it has more substance than most plant milks. In mashed potatoes, it produces a result that is creamy and rich in a way that oat milk or almond milk simply doesn’t achieve. If you’ve been disappointed by dairy-free mashed potatoes in the past, try swapping in Ripple. It’s a meaningful difference.
The bigger picture
What I’ve found over the years is that eating gluten-free and vegan is less about restriction and more about substitution and adaptation. Most of what I cook started as a normal recipe that I’ve adjusted over time. The ingredients above are the tools that make those adjustments possible.
In future posts, I’ll get into specific meals, techniques, and how some of these staples actually come together in the kitchen. But if you’re just starting out, this list is a solid foundation. Stock these, and you’ll always be able to make something good.