Its one of the first things that someone mentions when you say that you are gluten free “Oooooooh… thats so expensive…” but is it really? Let’s check it out.

Let’s look at the worst, and most renowned for their expense… Gluten Free Substitutions. When we are looking to replace the comfort foods of what we used to enjoy before we are gluten free, we pay a premium. A steep premium. The average cost of purchasing a gluten free substitution (example frozen pizza) is approximately double the cost of the regular version. It may be substantially more depending on what you are purchasing.

A large reason for this increased cost is the price difference in gluten free flour. To make a gluten free flour work in a ‘gluteny’ way, it needs to have a variety of flours and usually a ‘gum’ to change the way it works. Xanthan gum is common in all purpose gluten free flours and is pricy. If I went to my local grocery store at the time of writing this and compared the price of 2.5kg of wheat flour ($4) to 2.5kg of gluten free flour ($32) that is a shocking price difference of 8x the cost. Its not hard to see how that adds up.

So it looks like eating gluten free IS expensive, right?

Not necessarily!

It all depends on what you choose to eat. Going gluten free is relearning to eat, and relearning to shop for food.

Gluten free replacements that are not ridiculously expensive: pasta, snack bars, taco shells. Today as I am writing it is $3.50 for Catelli pasta (regular) and $4.29 for gluten free. This is not insurmountable and does provide a staple comfort food, in a gluten free version. Made Good Bars are $3.99 while the Quaker granola bars are $3.79. Old El Paso hard taco shells are marked gluten free, and people have been eating those for years without noticing they were gluten free.

When starting to replace comfort foods, look first to the replacements that don’t cost a fortune. You will recognize these more and more.

Focusing on naturally gluten free foods is the best way to keep a grocery bill on budget! Believe it or not, most of the healthy foods at the grocery store are still available to you. Even though it feels like you can’t eat anything starting out, it turns out you can have a lot!

Meat is naturally gluten free, as are eggs. Unless the meat has been processed it is gluten free! (if it has an ingredient list, or the butcher shop has turned it into a schnitzel or added seasoning, check it to confirm). This is most of an entire section of the grocery store that you can still eat and there is a lot of variety in here. Once the meat is processed you do have to check the label.

Fruit and vegetables are all gluten free. Stick to that outer aisle of the grocery store and you will find the colour, flavour, and nutrients. Get whatever fresh fruit, herbs and veggies you want! You can save even more money by purchasing through local markets sometimes. I will often buy my produce from the small local market and just buy whatever looks good in there and then go to the grocery store for other items I might need after. Its a short stop but saves a lot of money.

Most dairy should be gluten free. Check the ingredients labels, and be especially careful to read cheese and shredded cheese labels as there can be sneaky ingredients in there. But this is another food group that is mostly open to you providing the same costs as a gluten eater pays.

Starches that you can eat : let potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice be your best friend for starchy sides. These will work perfect to fill you without breaking the bank. You are paying the same price for these as you did before you gave up gluten.

We all need convenience items in our diet! You’re busy, you’re not making everything from scratch. So get to know your companies and get to know your labels. A few companies I recommend to check out for going gluten free cost effectively in Canada:

• Made Good is great for quick snacks and all of their products are allergen friendly
• VH sauces are readily available at most grocery stores and you will notice that they are all marked ‘gluten free’. These are cost effective and often go on sale. Add one of these sauces to veggies, protein, serve over rice and you have a cost effective and savoury meal.
• McCormick’s brand (and the brands under them, like Thai Kitchen, Frank’s and so many others) are very transparent about the gluten free status of their products, read labels but know that the transparency and effort is being put in!
• Old Dutch : if you’re looking for salty snacks this company has an awesome gluten free declaration statement on their website that lets a consumer feel confident about the product they are receiving.

Allow naturally gluten free products and cost effective replacements to be the main focus of your diet and you will not see such ridiculous costs. You may even save money (as crazy as that sounds)

You will want to treat yourself from time to time, and you should! But know this is where the costs add up.

I like to try to mitigate this cost by eating out less. Since going gluten free I feel safer eating in my gluten free kitchen than risking cross contamination at restaurants. By eating out less I can enjoy luxuries at home without noticing a huge difference in overall spending. Its all about balance.

I have learned how to make awesome homemade pizza, and so many other things. Going gluten free has been a learning opportunity for me! And what I eat at home is generally better than take out anyway.

So is going gluten free expensive? Only if you choose for it to be expensive (ouch, I know that one kinda hurts). If you choose to focus primarily on naturally gluten free foods, and learn to shop the reasonable gluten free brand products, you’ll find that you can splurge on those gluten free comfort replacements without absolutely breaking the bank.

Its a learning curve, but you’ve got this.

Do you have any other favourite cost effective gluten free brands? Share them in the comments.

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If you’d like help in creating an affordable and easy gluten free meal plan for individuals or families, I can help with that. With options ranging from free to premium you’ll find the gluten free meal planning service to suit your needs. Check to see what’s on this week’s menu.