Your Essential Christmas Eating Guide for Allergies and Intolerances
Your Essential Christmas Eating Guide for Allergies and Intolerances
Navigating the festive season with food allergies or intolerances can be challenging, but with the right knowledge and preparation, you can enjoy a delicious and safe Christmas feast. In this comprehensive guide, I will provide practical tips for hosting or attending gatherings and share mouth-watering recipes that everyone can savour. Don't let dietary restrictions dampen your holiday spirit – let's make this Christmas a time of joy and inclusive indulgence.
Planning Your Christmas Menu
Christmas is a time for indulging in delicious food, but for those with allergies and intolerances, it can be a challenge. Planning an allergen-friendly Christmas menu is a great way to ensure everyone can enjoy the festivities without worry. Here's how you can create a Christmas menu that is safe and delicious for everyone to enjoy.
Navigating Social Gatherings
Navigating social gatherings during the festive season can be a challenge, especially when you have dietary restrictions. Communicating your dietary needs effectively and considering bringing your own dish can help ensure a pleasant and stress-free experience for both you and your hosts.
Communicating Your Dietary Needs
When attending social gatherings, open and clear communication is key. Be confident in expressing your dietary requirements to your host. It can be helpful to explain the specific allergens or intolerances you need to avoid and the potential severity of your reaction if exposed to them. Assure your host that you are not expecting them to cater specifically to your needs, but that you want to ensure you can partake in the festivities safely.
Allergen-Friendly Recipes
When planning your Christmas menu, it's important to include allergen-friendly recipes that cater to your guests’ dietary restrictions. Consider dishes that are naturally free from common allergens, such as roasted vegetables, grilled meats, and fruit-based desserts. Look for recipes that use simple, wholesome ingredients to minimise the risk of allergen contamination.
Substituting Ingredients
For traditional Christmas recipes containing allergens, consider substituting ingredients to make them safe for everyone. For example, if a recipe calls for cow's milk, you can substitute almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk. Similarly, butter can often be replaced with dairy-free margarine or coconut oil. When baking, you can use gluten-free flour blends to accommodate those with gluten intolerances. By making simple ingredient swaps, you can ensure that all your guests can partake in the Christmas feast without compromising taste or texture. Check out my articles on dairy-free and egg-free substitutions for detailed information on ingredient substitutions.
Shopping for Allergen-Friendly Ingredients
Navigating the festive season with food allergies or intolerances can be challenging. However, with the right approach to shopping for allergen-friendly ingredients, you can create delicious meals without compromising safety or taste. Read my article here to find the best places to shop for food allergies and intolerances.
Now on for the fun part: all the delicious recipes!
Mince pies, chocolate and sweet things
Here are a few of my favourite recipes.
Mince pies:
Recipe here: It’s Gluten-free and egg-free ( can be adapted to dairy-free using vegan butter).
Recipe here: It’s gluten-free. Use vegan butter and plant-based milk to make it vegan.
Recipe here: It’s vegan and uses coconut oil instead of vegan butter, which is my preferred option.
Brandy sauce recipe here: Its a vegan butterscotch brandy sauce. YUM! You can, however, use this recipe and drizzle it over pancakes, waffles or cakes for an extra indulgent treat over the holidays.
Regular brandy sauce recipe: Swap the cream and milk for a dairy-free brand to make it vegan. I would recommend coconut collab double cream and rude health barista milk or tinned coconut milk, but please choose a brand of coconut milk without the additives as the gums stop it from thickening, and you will end up with a sauce that looks like scrambled eggs.
Look for coconut milk with just one ingredient - coconuts. You do not need to be eating inflammatory gums and rubbish. Try this brand of coconut milk here.
Gluten-free Yule log recipe - Also dairy free & low fodmap
Gluten free Christmas cake recipe
Chocolate
Hands up, who loves chocolate!! This was a big one for me 9 years ago when I discovered I couldn't eat dairy. There wasn't the range of dairy-free chocolates we have now. These options that I found are mind-blowing, and I highly recommend that you try them if you haven't already.
First on my list are my raw chocolate recipes. (click on the pictures below for the recipes). Raw chocolate has become increasingly trendy in the past few years, mainly because of the clean ingredients and the rise of dairy allergy sufferers. What is raw chocolate? Read this article to find out what the hype is all about.
My fave brands to eat that I highly recommend are:
Booja Booja - vegan, organic
Rhythm 108 - vegan - organic - gluten-free
Ombar- vegan - organic - gluten-free - soy-free
The raw chocolate company - vegan - organic - gluten-free - soy-free
Plamil chocolate - vegan
Cocoa libre - nut free - vegan
Where to buy?
Click on the above, and it will take you directly to the website other online retailers for sweet treats and chocolate:
Well easy - Use my code KAM10 at the checkout to recieve £10 off your order.
Yumbles - Allergy-friendly yummy treats & food hampers
Planet organic - Allergy friendly and free from food
Canapes, nibbles & starters
I love a nibble over Christmas. Take a look at these ideas. (click on pictures for recipes).
Dairy and gluten-free appetiser recipes.
Gluten-free starters BBC good food.
Gluten-free starters Delicious magazine.
Alcohol
This is probably the best part of Christmas, the alcohol. However, it can be a minefield if you are newly diagnosed with an allergy or intolerance. Always read the label. In the UK, you can find this on the bottles as certified vegan, organic or vegan they will always have a logo or the ingredients that have allergens highlighted in bold. If unsure, always contact the manufacturers.
Gluten-free alcohol list
Christmas dinner and all the trimmings
I have some great ideas here to make your Christmas dinner a success.
Stuffing recipe - add sausagemeat to this recipe if you are not vegan
Yorkshire pudding
Gluten-free Yorkshire pudding try this recipe
A roast dinner won't be complete without gravy.
Try this recipe. It’s vegan, dairy, and gluten-free if you use GF stock. I use Kallo or Marigold brand of stock. Use chicken or lamb stock if you're not vegan.
If you have a yeast allergy/intolerance, the stock I use is vegan, yeast-free, and gluten-free, so it ticks all the boxes. It’s a brand called Marigold.
Vegetables and side dishes that are allergy-friendly:
Jamie Oliver Christmas recipes
For more great vegan ideas for Christmas, look at this Pinterest board.
Desserts and sweet treats
Click on the pictures to go straight to the recipes.
Allergy-friendly dessert recipes on my Pinterest board.
Holiday food Pinterest board - lots of creative food ideas
If you want to bake dairy-free desserts, look at these two articles that will help you with dairy-free and egg-free baking and cooking.
Breakfast ideas
Since most of us are off during Christmas, I love to spend a little extra time making a lavish breakfast. All the pictures featured are plant-based and gluten-free. The turmeric scrambled eggs can be veganised simply by using organic tofu instead of eggs.
Take a look here for 150 great allergy-friendly recipes for breakfast ideas.
Vegan breakfast ideas by Vegan Richa here.
Happy cooking and Happy Christmas
I hope I’ve inspired you and you don’t feel like cooking will be a minefield this year. It’s my mission to share my delicious allergy-friendly recipes after years of eating utter rubbish that adorns supermarket shelves.
You can contact me here if you would like to learn how to cook these recipes and would love a 121 cookery class.
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