Gluten Free Shopping (UK)

Evening everyone!

I'm settling into the idea of being gluten free (I can't believe how much more energy i have when i avoid gluten) however want to now start adding occasional food substitutes back into my diet (i.e. gluten free pastas, bread, celebration cakes / desserts I can take to a family meal...). I'm happy to make my own goods (bread etc) to keep costs down but wondered if anyone could tell me which UK supermarket has the best deals gluten free wise (both finished product and the likes of flours)?

Thanks ever so - my baking cupboard looks a little lost right now!

Replies

  • Hi - I'm settling in too. Can't believe the health improvements already!

    This weekend I've been shopping around. I like the range of Gluten free in Sainsburys, but Tesco often have the same things and its a juggle between the two. Either seem pretty good to me. :) There's a cereal I love ( Maple Sunrise ) and they both seem to compete on offers for it.
  • Lady_Clarington
    Lady_Clarington Posts: 76 Member
    Thanks! My local Tesco seemed a little limited - but I guess I'm still lost wandering the isles! I'm going to do an internet delivery so will use Sainsburys and see what I can find.

    I found this blog that lists cupboard essentials which is helpful!
    http://glutenfreevegan.net/food/gluten-free-veganresources/store-cupboard-essentials/
  • fattybumclaire
    fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
    Hello there - good luck with the gluten free diet. I have been gf for about 3 years now and find cooking at home easy but still really struggle when eating out.

    To keep costs down try and avoid gf labelled food, instead of buying special (by special read flipping expensive) flours, try subbing for different ingredients.

    I make an awesome chocolate torte using a tin of pureed chestnuts, lemon drizzle cake using cold mashed potatoes, almond and orange cake using whole oranges and ground almonds.

    I coat chicken and fish in well seasoned fine polenta plus a little olive oil, then bake in the oven for fab chicken nuggets or fish fingers.

    Pancakes can be made using just bananas and eggs plus a little soft fruit - literally NO flour.

    Peanut butter cookies can be made with pb, sugar and 1 egg - really yum :)

    Besan flour (garbanzo, chickpea) is really cheap in the foreign aisle in asda/tesco, this is the flour that is used to make onion bahjis, fritters etc and is gluten free and really high in protein.

    When you do want to buy finished gf products, I can recommend ds ciabbata, they come in a vacuum pack of 4 and are really handy. Warburtons make lovely flatbread/wraps, they are again expensive but they actually bend when you try and roll lol.

    Also, I find that aldi label their food really well, their dark chocolate is gf, a lot of their crisps are too. The bratwurst sausages and the jars of hotdog sausage are gf but a heck of a lot cheaper than normal gf sausages.

    Let me know if you are interested and I can dig out my recipes for you :)

    xx
  • Lady_Clarington
    Lady_Clarington Posts: 76 Member
    I think I'm going to have to go to Aldi when its quiet (ha!) And have some serious browsing time to work out all the labels - its our local supermarket so would be super useful. Its a shame I'm too tight fisted to see if there's an app where you can scan barcodes on your phone and it tells you if its gluten / dairy / etc free as I have very little patience especially in supermarkets (which really need a fast and slow lane as I often end up feeling like a salmon going against the tide of shoppers who like to have their mothers meetings in the middle of the isles).

    Lemon drizzle cake with potato? That sounds amazing! I would never have thought of using potato instead of flour! I'd be really grateful if you could share a few recipes.

    I haven't tried eating out yet - it was stressful enough with grandma sat in her comfy chair winding everyone in the kitchen up!
  • fattybumclaire
    fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
    Lemon drizzle cake

    175g unsalted butter (or pure spread if u need dairy free)
    200g sugar
    200g ground almonds
    2 tsp baking powder (make sure it is gf, not all brands are)
    250g plain cold mashed potato
    finely grated zest of 3 lemons

    Drizzle

    juice of 2 lemons
    75g sugar

    Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add eggs, almonds, baking powder and potato stir well then add the lemon zest.

    Bake @ 180C for about 35 - 40 minutes, check after 25 with a skewer.

    Leave the cake in the tin, pierce all over with a skewer (deep but not all the way to the base), combine the lemon juice and sugar and drizzle all over before it has time to dissolve. Leave to cool completely before serving. :)
  • fattybumclaire
    fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
    Chocolate chestnut torte

    oil for greasing
    120g dark chocolate (aldi do a lovely one, 75%cocoa solids)
    200g of chestnut puree ( approx half a tin, I freeze the other half for another baking day)
    4 eggs, seperated
    200g sugar

    Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale, add chestnuts and beat well. In a seperate bowl, melt the chocolate. In another bowl (yes lots of washing up with this one but its worth it) whisk egg whites until stiff peaks. Fold the chocolate into the chestnut/sugar/yolk mixture and stir well. Put a small amount of whisked egg whites into the mix to let it down, then return all of the mixture into the egg white bowl, gently stir to incorporate without loosing air.

    There is no raising agent in this one so the aim is to get as much lift from the egg whites as possible.

    Pour into a greased tin, bake for 30 - 40 minutes at 180C. It is quite a fudgy texture when cooked.

    Really lovely served with a homemade choccie sauce poured all over, or some cream if you are allowed :) Can be served warm or cold.
  • fattybumclaire
    fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
    Onion Bhajis

    1 1/2 cups gram flour ( also called besan, chickpea or garbanzo)
    1 tsp baking powder
    salt & pepper to taste
    2tsp ground coriander
    2tsp garam masala (OR curry powder)
    2 tsp ground turmeric
    1tsp chili powder
    2tbsp finely chopped coriander

    3-4 onions sliced
    1/2 cup of cubed potato (about 1/2 cm)

    3/4 - 1 cup cold water

    oil for deep frying (not olive oil as it cant cope with the high temp)

    Mix all of the dry ingredients together, add enough water to keep it all together but not too sloppy. Deep fry for a few minutes each. Serve with mint/cucumber/yoghurt dip and a side salad.
  • blupanda12
    blupanda12 Posts: 54 Member
    I'm in the USA, but my favorite non-specialty store for GF shopping is Stop & Shop. I can't tell if they have a UK location, since work blocks most stuff on websites. As to GF pasta/bread substitutes, we prefer the brand "Shar", which is Italian. I used to order it off Amazon, but then our local Stop & Shop started carrying it. We get all our pasta and sandwich breads from them. There's lots of recipes online for sandwich bread, but I am short on time so it is wonderful to be able to buy it, even though it is more expensive compared to the regular breads. For deli meats, bacon, and condiments, we use Boar's Head which guarantees all their meats and cheeses gluten-free, and marks all their condiments. Wishbone salad dressings also mark everything, so I almost exclusively buy them. Since cheese is naturally gluten-free, I get store brand most often.

    My family loves a store called Wegmans, not sure if they are in the UK either. They are amazing about marking clearly Gluten Free, and have pretty awesome store brand baking supplies too. They are not near me though. I stopped shopping at Aldi because the US Aldi sucks now when it comes to quality, at least in my area.

    Not much of a baker, but some of these recipes sound amazing! Good luck to you and feel free to ask questions! My husband has Celiac, so we've been gluten-free for 4 years now. I'm still learning every day :)

    ETA: Forgot to mention, we used Aleia's brand gluten-free bread crumbs. She has regular, italian seasoned, and panko style on our local shelves. Fantastic!
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    Since cheese is naturally gluten-free, I get store brand most often.

    I'm sure this is what you meant, because your husband has Celiac Disease, but DON"T buy pregrated/shredded cheese; often wheat starch is added to keep it from sticking together.
  • blupanda12
    blupanda12 Posts: 54 Member
    Yes, good point - I pay attention to the shredded cheese more than bricked cheese. My local store brand does not happen to add wheat starch, so we are safe there.
  • Lady_Clarington
    Lady_Clarington Posts: 76 Member
    Wow I didn't know that about shredded cheese.

    Thanks ever so for the recipes. Its going to be a wet cold weekend and I forsee lots of baking! :D
  • Lady_Clarington
    Lady_Clarington Posts: 76 Member
    Lemon drizzle cake

    175g unsalted butter (or pure spread if u need dairy free)
    200g sugar
    200g ground almonds
    2 tsp baking powder (make sure it is gf, not all brands are)
    250g plain cold mashed potato
    finely grated zest of 3 lemons

    Drizzle

    juice of 2 lemons
    75g sugar

    Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add eggs, almonds, baking powder and potato stir well then add the lemon zest.

    Bake @ 180C for about 35 - 40 minutes, check after 25 with a skewer.

    Leave the cake in the tin, pierce all over with a skewer (deep but not all the way to the base), combine the lemon juice and sugar and drizzle all over before it has time to dissolve. Leave to cool completely before serving. :)

    Afternoon! I've just started to make this recipe and realised in the instructions you've written "add eggs" but (unless I'm being a bit simple - entirely possible! ) I can't see eggs in the ingredients list.
    Should there be eggs?

    Thanks ever so!
  • fattybumclaire
    fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
    ooops, sorry lovely. Yes there are 4 eggs in that recipe.....trying to read my own handwriting is always problematic lol.

    xx