Eating gluten-free can seem pretty straightforward at first. You avoid traditional pastas, breads, and baked goods. I’ve been eating gluten-free for about four years, ever since discovering that I had a gluten intolerance.
(You can read my post about my story with digestive health if you’re interested.)
But I’m still finding out about hidden gluten in foods I would’ve assumed were gluten-free!
If you have a food sensitivity to gluten, you’re gluten-intolerant, or if you have celiac disease, it’s really important for you to be informed about all the foods that contain gluten so you can avoid them.
There are so many delicious and healthy gluten-free alternatives!
Whether you’re newly trying to cut gluten out of your diet, or whether you’ve been avoiding gluten for a long time, I bet there are at least a few foods that contain gluten on this list that will surprise you!
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But first, what is gluten?
Gluten is a name for proteins found in wheat (including wheatberries, durum, semolina, spelt, farro, graham, einkorn and more), rye, and barley.
Most commonly, people think of breads, pastas, and baked goods when they think of foods that contain gluten. But gluten also helps foods maintain their shape and give them texture, so it’s added to many other foods that you may not expect.
17 Surprising Foods that Contain Gluten
1. Oats
Although oats in themselves are gluten-free, many facilities that produce oats process them in containers that have also been used to hold glutenous grains. Any oats that may have had this kind of cross-contamination will not be labeled gluten-free.
However, some brands go through extra measures to ensure their oats remain uncontaminated, and are labeled gluten-free. Bob’s Red Mill is one excellent brand with gluten-free oats options.
Side note on oats: Did you know soaking oats overnight in a special ingredient makes them easier on the tummy and more nutritious?
2. Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is made from… soybeans, right? Well, that’s only partly right.
Soy sauce is made from a paste of fermented soybeans mixed with grains, which is often wheat. You can find soy sauces that are labeled gluten-free.
I personally prefer to use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. Coconut aminos have a similar umami flavor to soy sauce, but with a lot less sodium, and it’s gluten-free and soy-free.
Coconut aminos are paleo and Whole30 compliant, as well.
3. Processed Meats
Some processed meats like hot dogs and deli meats have added gluten for filler and texture. Check ingredient labels before you purchase!
4. Canned Soups
Many canned soups contain flour or other forms of gluten as a thickener, so be sure to check ingredients before you buy.
The only brand of canned soup that I really buy anymore is Amy’s Organic Soups. Several of them are gluten-free and dairy-free. My favorite is the Split Pea!
Better yet, make your own soups! Check out my post for 10 Paleo Gut Healing Bone Broth Soups.
5. Baking Powder
Baking powder is made with baking soda, cream of tartar, and some sort of starch or flour. Some baking powders are made with glutenous flours.
So always check the ingredients of baking powder before purchasing!
If you’re interested in a baking powder that is free of both gluten and corn, you can very easily make your own with just three ingredients: cream of tartar, baking soda, and arrowroot powder.
6. Sauces, Salad Dressings, Marinades, and Condiments
Sauces like barbecue sauce, salad dressings, marinades, and condiments like mustard made all may contain gluten. Check ingredient labels for wheat flour, malt vinegar, barley, rye, or other glutenous ingredients.
7. Flavored Potato Chips
If you’re into flavored potato chips, check the ingredients if you’re avoiding gluten. For example, Lay’s Barbecue chips contain malted barley flour, so they are not gluten-free.
Another example is the Hawaiian Sweet Maui Onion Kettle Style Potato Chips, which lists straight up wheat gluten in its ingredients list.
I personally like to swap out potato chips for roasted plantain chips (I love the ones at Trader Joe’s and they’re gluten-free and paleo compliant!) or homemade veggie chips.
8. Cornbread
Sorry if you thought cornbread was only made from corn, but it almost always also contains wheat flour as well, unless it’s specifically made gluten-free. Here is a delicious Old Fashioned Gluten Free Cornbread recipe if you’d like to try it!
If you also avoid corn, you can also find “cornbread” recipes that are actually free of both gluten and corn, but mimic the taste. Here’s a yummy Paleo Cornbread Minus the Corn recipe.
9. Bouillon Cubes, Taco Mixes, and other Spice Blends
Gluten is often added to bouillon cubes, taco mixes, and other spice blends as a filler, for texture, or as an anti-caking agent. Be wary of modified food starches, as they are sometimes made with gluten.
Check for spices that are specifically labeled gluten-free, and check ingredient labels for those that are not.
10. Restaurant Omelettes
Some restaurants, including IHOP, add pancake batter to their omelettes to make them extra fluffy. Obviously, this is an issue for anyone ordering omelettes thinking they’re gluten-free!
If you’re ordering omelettes at a restaurant, be sure to double-check with your server that they’re gluten-free.
11. Deep Fried Foods
Deep fried foods are at risk for cross-contamination when they’re fried in the same fryers as foods that contain gluten. I personally can eat french fries, for example, without a reaction. But if you’re highly sensitive to gluten this is something you’ll need to be aware of.
12. Gravy
Most gravies are made with wheat flour, so they are not gluten-free. This means you should be careful when you’re ordering things like mashed potatoes, turkey, or anything else that might be served with gravy.
If you want to make gluten-free gravy at home, try this Easy Paleo Gravy recipe!
13. Coffee Drinks
If you are ordering coffee drinks with lots of ingredients, like Starbucks Frappuccinos, make sure you know whether they’re gluten-free. For example, Starbucks java chips (the chocolate chip chunks) are not gluten-free, and neither are the caramel syrups, because caramel coloring often contains gluten.
If you’re concerned about cross-contamination, the same blenders are used for all Starbucks blended drinks, so even if you’re ordering a drink with java chips or caramel syrup, your drink may not be safe from gluten contamination.
Psst! If you’re a Starbucks fan, check out my post: 10 Little-Known Starbucks Hacks from a Barista where I share the money savers and secret recipes I learned from being a Starbucks barista for two years.
14. Sushi
Although some sushi is legitimately gluten-free, watch out for sushi rice that has been made with vinegar derived from a glutenous grain, and watch out for sushi containing soy sauce.
15. Barley and Malt
Barley is one of the main foods that contains gluten, but it might be in more foods than you realized. Some coffee substitutes, like chicory coffee, might contain barley. Pickles made with malt vinegar also contain gluten, and so do chocolates or candies that contain malt.
16. Candy and Candy Bars
While there are a lot of gluten-free candies and candy bars, there are also a lot of them that do contain gluten. There are some that contain gluten that are obvious, like Pretzel M&M’s, but there are also less obvious candies that contain gluten, like Milky Way and Twizzlers.
Read this Gluten-Free Candy List for details on which specific candies you can indulge and which to avoid.
17. Meatballs and Meatloaf
Many meatloaf and meatball recipes include breadcrumbs in the ingredients, which obviously contain gluten.
Kelsey from Little Bits Of shares a delicious Tomato Basil Turkey Meatloaf recipe that is gluten-free (and paleo, and Whole30)!
16 comments
Wow – #10 really surprised me. I can’t quite see how pancake batter would even help eggs, but it must! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to reference this when I go shopping.
I was really surprised by that one too, Kristen! I’m so glad you found this helpful 🙂
This is great! I have been gluten-free for about 10 years now, but I didn’t know how sushi and spice blends. Thank you for the information!
I’m so glad you found it helpful! I know I learned a lot researching for this post too 🙂
Actually, the drizzle at starbucks is gluten free! It only contains gluten in some countries other than America.
Hi Lizzie, thanks for the input! I’ve seen varying information on this so I appreciate your comment 🙂
Starbucks tends to carry 2 different types of caramel drizzle. One is GF, one is not. I have seizures when I ingest gluten and it happened to be after drinking a caramel macchiatto after having Many without a reaction. That’s when I investigated and found out that they use 2 different suppliers for their caramel drizzle. I would recommend staying away from it, to be safe.
Thanks so much for sharing this helpful information, Julie! Great to know.
Twizzlers??? That surprised me a lot.
I know! It’s crazy all the things it sneaks into.
Omelettes I had no idea about. Everything else I knew, I was born with Celiac, It might also be helpful to include non food ideas that people might not think about. Such as Shampoo, toothpaste, certain over the counter medications, even cosmetics…. ect. Gluten goes far beyond the food we eat.
Thank you so much for adding this comment! You are totally right and in a future post I’d love to explain and include these examples as well. 🙂
You also have to look ip allergy lists for restaurants for their fries many contain gluten and for those who have dairy issue many have milk in them too. Restaurants also use chicken that is kept moist with milk.
Packaged Shredded cheddar cheese also will have gluten in it often as they put a anticaking product that often contains gluten in it.
Watch when you buy walnuts in bag already shelled they use flour to roll the nuts in to stop them from sticking when packaged.i could not imagein what was bothering my stomach and the only different thing I ate was the nuts and we read package and found the problem SO B E CAREFUL
Another reason with sushi—imitation crab has gluten (and the soy sauce..not many use tamari sauce in America)
Many ice creams have gluten too 🙁