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The Best Tasting Gluten-Free Products for Picky Kids

Our favorite gluten-free products
Our favorite gluten-free products

My daughter has a gluten sensitivity. She can eat a little wheat and be okay, but if she has it too often, she gets stomach aches and feels crummy. Unfortunately…her favorite foods are pasta, mac and cheese, and bagels! Uh oh!

And on top of wanting to eat all carbs all the time, she also is very picky. You can’t just make any old substitution and expect her to eat it. She won’t take, “isn’t this good enough?” as an argument. Needless to say, this has resulted in years of trial and error, not to mention stress on her poor mama.

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I have worked to create recipes that please her, and you will find lots of those on my website. For example, I have perfected gluten-free banana muffins and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. There will definitely be more of those to come! But sometimes a mama needs a break from cooking, or needs some gluten-free products to round out a meal. Today I want to share with you the best tasting gluten-free store-bought products we have found.

If I can take what I learned and help another stressed-out mama, I want to do it! Trust me, we have tried MANY products that did not make the list. I have thrown out dozens of things that she refused to eat. The girl is a tough customer! Now remember, I said that she has a wheat sensitivity. If you have celiac or another more serious condition like that, you would need to be more careful than us. None of these products contain wheat, but some of them may be made in facilities that may use wheat for other products. I have put an asterisk* on the products in my list that may not be okay for all. Please carefully check labels!

The best gluten-free products for picky eaters

Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. It will not affect your price. You may notice that some of the prices on Amazon seem high. That is often because the price quoted is for multipacks. Instead of one box, you will receive two, three, or even six. Read carefully before ordering. If you would prefer to buy online instead of heading to your local store, you should consider signing up for Amazon Fresh. Their prices are lower than the regular Amazon prices.

So here is what made the cut – now without further ado, our list of the best tasting gluten-free products out there!

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Bread

Udi's gluten-free bread

I am starting with bread because it was the hardest category in which to find something edible! Many gluten-free breads have a strange texture and are nothing like regular wheat bread. Luckily, Udi’s Multigrain Sandwich Bread tastes great! I enjoy eating this one too, alongside my daughter. It comes in two sizes, tiny slices and full-size slices. It is one of the only gluten-free breads that is available in full-size slices, which is nice because it looks more “normal,” which is important to my daughter. Some stores have it available in the refrigerated bread section, and some have it in the freezer. Once you buy it, it needs to stay refrigerated. I have found this one at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Safeway. The texture is best when it’s toasted. My picky daughter prefers it without the crust.

Trader Joe’s makes some good tasting gluten-free hamburger buns.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Bagels

Canyon Bakehouse gluten-free bagels

Canyon Bakehouse makes bagels in several flavors. We have bought the plain, blueberry, and cinnamon raisin varieties. They are all pretty good, but my daughter likes the plain ones best. They need to be toasted to be yummy. I buy them at Sprouts, and they are in the refrigerated bread section. Check the freezer aisle at your store. The award for worst-tasting goes to Trader Joe’s gluten-free bagels. I love Trader Joe’s, but those bagels are awful.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

Gluten-free mac and cheese

Trader Joe’s redeems itself already! Their frozen mac and cheese is great – my daughter likes it the best. If you want to get boxed mac and cheese, Annie’s is great. Annie’s Homegrown Rice Pasta & Cheddar is tasty. However, be careful! We tried several other versions of Annie’s gluten-free pasta and she did NOT like them.

Update November 2019: We have found two more Annie’s mac and cheese products that my daughter really likes! Whoo-hoo! Here they are:

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Pasta

We have had pretty good success with rice pasta. I’ve tried buying her corn pasta and quinoa pasta -neither of those pass the test. I’ve also seen various bean pastas on the market, but she gets stomach aches from beans, too, so I’m sure those wouldn’t work for us. Most rice pasta seems to be about the same. Trader Joe’s also has a rice and quinoa blend that is pretty good. She is pretty annoyed that she had to give up wheat pasta – nothing else is quite right, unfortunately, and wheat pasta is one of her favorite things in the world. I’ve been told several times, “I’m so sick of everything tasting like rice.” So I have found one psychological trick that works on her: spaghetti. If it’s long and fun, it’s better.

Gluten-free pasta

Tinkyada is good rice pasta, as is the Trader Joe’s rice pasta. When you cook rice pasta, make sure you drain it really well when it is done. Then toss it with olive oil so that it doesn’t stick together. Rice pasta can be much gummier than wheat pasta, so you have to be careful with it. I have also found that the leftovers don’t last as long as wheat pasta leftovers. While wheat pasta can still be okay up to five days later when refrigerated, rice pasta gets hard and unpleasant after a couple of days. So don’t cook more than you need.

All of the pasta and mac and cheese that I recommend are COMPLETELY gluten-free.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Crackers

Oh my gosh, have we bought a lot of crackers! There are LOTS of gluten-free crackers on the market, and lots of them are NOT good. Her favorites are Glutino pretzels (either twists or sticks), Glutino’s Bagel Chips, and Annie’s Gluten Free Cheddar Bunny Tails. These are the closest we’ve found to Goldfish. She loves Goldfish, and as of yet they don’t have a gluten-free product in their line. But Annie’s Gluten Free Cheddar Bunny Tails are pretty darn good.

MY favorite gluten-free cracker is Simple Mills Fine Ground Sea Salt Almond Flour Crackers. They are also grain-free and paleo-friendly. I think they’re delicious. I also like the rosemary version. My daughter isn’t thrilled by them, but she is okay with the cheese version, Simple Mills Farmhouse Cheddar Almond Flour Crackers.

All of the crackers on this list are COMPLETELY gluten-free, so safe for those who have celiac.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Cereal

Yummy gluten-free cereal is not too hard to find. Her favorite for years now is Nature’s Path Organic Pumpkin Seed & Flax Granola*. It is available at lots of stores- I have found it at Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and they have a great deal on it at Costco. She also really likes Cheerios, both regular and Honey Nut. Those are available everywhere! Trader Joe’s also has a tasty version called Joe’s O’s*.

Gluten-free cereal

Annie’s Homegrown makes several yummy gluten-free cereals. My daughter likes their Berry Bunnies*, Cinnamon Bunnies*, and their Cocoa Bunnies* (um yeah, those are treats, but sometimes a mama is feeling generous).

My daughter’s favorite of the sugary gluten-free cereals is Van’s brand. She likes their Blissfully Berry as well as their Cinnamon Heaven. Both of these are certified gluten-free.

As you can see, there are lots of good choices for tasty cereal, but several of them are made in facilities that also make things out of wheat. Remember, all the ones I placed an asterisk (*) on can be iffy. So please always read labels to be sure what you are getting. Happily, Cheerios has made an effort to make their cereal completely gluten-free, so that is a good choice (and delicious)!

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Waffles

Van's gluten-free waffles

Van’s Gluten-Free Original Waffles are the bomb-diggoty. Even my son loves these, and he doesn’t need to eat gluten-free. They are certified gluten-free, so safe for everyone. They also are egg and dairy-free, so they are a good choice if you have those allergies, too. We have tried their other flavors, and the original flavor is definitely both of my kids’ favorite.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Pizza

Gluten-free Pizza

The best store-bought gluten-free pizza we have found is Vicolo’s Gluten-Free Four Cheese Pizza. It is delicious, but is really hard to find. I got it at Whole Foods market, but only certain Whole Foods carry it. There is also a Vicolo’s gluten-free pizza crust available. Both products were in the refrigerated section near the deli.

Udi’s Gluten-Free Frozen Pizza is easier to find. I bought it at Target, and I think it is also available at Safeway and Sprouts. My daughter likes the Three Cheese version, but it is also available in other varieties.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Tortillas

Siete Cassava Flour Tortillas

We have eaten a lot of crummy tortillas around here! Thankfully, we found Siete brand. Siete makes several varieties, we have tried both the Cassava & Coconut variety and the Almond Flour variety. They are both good. I like to eat them too instead of traditional tortillas, as they are grain-free and paleo-friendly. They also make great grain-free tortilla chips.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Snacks

Gluten-free snacks

Pirate’s Booty is a favorite of many kids and is available EVERYWHERE. There are also good snack bars readily available. My daughter likes Clif Kid Organic Z Bar* – these are made in a facility that also processes wheat. They are also available at most stores. Annie’s Organic Crispy Snack Bars is another delish snack. They are basically rice krispy treats with puffed rice and quinoa. When she was younger, she loved Envirokidz Rice Bars, especially the Berry Blast flavor, which we called “Cheetah bars” because of the packaging. They have become harder to find lately. Sometimes I can find them at Sprouts, and sometimes at Whole Foods.

Best Tasting Gluten-Free Treats

Glutino Yogurt-Covered Pretzels and Kinnikinnick Vanilla Wafers are two of my daughter’s favorites. I’ve found both of them at Sprouts. Annie’s also makes several varieties of little cookies that are tasty. Those are widely available.

So there you have it! A list of the best tasting gluten-free products for picky kids! I would love to know about any products I missed! If you have suggestions, please mention them in your comment below! If you found this helpful, please pin and share!

If you are interested in learning more about healthy meal planning for families, the Ultimate Bundles Healthy Meal Planning Bundle includes gluten-free options. It’s on sale through September 17th, 2019. For only $37, you get more than $1000 worth of meal plans including recipes, grocery lists, and nutrition information! It’s a crazy good deal, chock full of ebooks, ecourses, printables, workbooks and more to help your family eat healthy – easily! Click here to learn more about the Ultimate Bundles Healthy Meal Planning Bundle 2019.

Looking for some of my gluten-free recipes? Try my:

Gluten-free oatmeal chocolate butterscotch cookies

Grain-free banana chocolate chip muffins

The best gluten-free products for picky kids
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8 Comments

  1. My toddler has wheat sensitivity and also dairy and nuts allergies. Thanks so much for putting this together. To share with your readers, we have also found King Arthur’s Gluten Free brand of pancakes to be delicious.

    1. You’re very welcome, Nicky! I’m so happy you found my list of gluten-free foods helpful. We haven’t tried the King Arthur brand – thanks for the tip!

  2. I love this list! My son and I both have celiac, so this very helpful! Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to try some of the recipes you mentioned in the post. GF Banana muffins AND chocolate chip cookie heaven!

  3. I totally agree with most of this. My daughter is like yours. Very picky. But she loves the Udi’s bread. We’ve never really tried the Annie’s mac and cheese. But she seems to enjoy the daiya one (since she’s gluten and dairy free). The glutino yogurt covered pretzels are so addictive. (Those are for me. She doesn’t eat them).

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