Five gluten free swaps

Posted: June 18, 2024 Updated: June 18, 2024

This post has been on my mind for a while, finding gluten free versions of products you miss. I have a few items I’ve come across in my notes – I spend a lot of time on coeliac and gluten free Facebook groups.

However, it wasn’t until I saw a huge Australian gluten free Instagram account (I’m talking 10K+ followers) that had no idea about GF Pringles!

I hate Pringles but I’ve known about these for months 😅.

So, I’m going to see how I go making a series of posts where I gather five different products I often see people seeking a gluten free version.

Pringles

Pringles are a chip style that has become that has become synonymous with the brand. To that point, I’m not really sure what I’d call them otherwise.

Tube chips? Wave crisps? 🤔 Don’t worry, I won’t go into marketing any time soon.

As far as I’m aware there are two three choices in Australia when you’re looking for a gluten free Pringles alternative.

Woolworths gluten free Pringles

The first is Woolworths home brand stacked chips (much better name than what I came up with). There’s two flavours, original and sour cream and onion. Both are gluten free by ingredient.

At around $2.20 for a 160g packet they are more than a third of the price of Pringles (a whopping $5.50 a 134g tube). To be honest, even if I wasn’t gluten free I’d be going for these. Those are crazy prices.

• Original, 160g. Allergen: Soy. May contain: Milk.
• Sour cream and onion, 160g. Allergens: Soy, milk.

Don’t worry about the statement on the packet ‘may contain naturally occurring glutamates.’ This is not gluten, but rather MSG – which is definitely gluten free but a product some people choose to avoid.

Good Crisp Company

The Good Crisp Co is the other brand of gluten free Pringles that you can definitely get your hands on in Australia.

I’ve come across them in my local organic store, but you can also buy them online from GF Pantry, FODshop and even Harris Farm supermarket. I also saw a FB post saying they’ve been spotted in IGAs in Melbourne.

Oh and if you absolutely love them you can order eight packets at a time on Amazon with a discounted price and free delivery.

The good thing about Good Crisp Co is that they have a lot of flavours. The even better thing, they are still cheaper per 100g than actual Pringles. I believe the price is around $3.95 – $4.95 depending where you buy. For once us gluten free folk and coeliacs are winning!

• Sea salt and vinegar, 160g. Nil allergens.
• Outback BBQ, 160g. Nil allergens.
• Classic original, 160g. Nil allergens.
• Sour cream and chives, 160g. Allergen: Milk.
• Cheddar cheese, 160g. Allergen: Milk.

If you’re reading this from overseas, UK or Europe then check out Schar’s Curvies. You can get them from grocery stores as well as Amazon.

Aldi gluten free Pringles

Bonus! I actually got to the point that this article was ready to publish, the next day I was walking through the chip section at Aldi and thought to myself “Aren’t those gluten free? Didn’t I take photos of them months ago?” Whoops!

Luckily I found them before publishing so no drama! At Aldi these are called Sprinter’s Snack Stack and they come in two flavours, original and sour cream and onion.

Given the similar flavours and the fact that they are also made in Malaysia I thought they might be identical to the Woolworths chips above. However looking closely at the ingredients and nutrition panel they are slightly different.

• Original, 160g. Allergen: Soy. May contain: Milk.
• Sour cream and onion, 160g. Allergens: Soy, milk.

At $1.99 per packet they are $1.24 per 100g they are even greater value for money than the Woolies version.

Aldi also sells a mini packet weighing in at 45g, which is cute for a lunchbox!

French onion soup

This one might be a bit generational, but I understand there’s a whole series of recipes that use this little sachet as a starting point.

Unfortunately most brands at the supermarket either contain or may contain wheat and gluten.

Aldi’s French onion soup

Luckily Aldi’s own French onion soup sachet is gluten free! This is definitely the most convenient way to get your French onion soup fix.

Allergens: Nil. May contain: Sulphites.

Gluten free French onion soup in bulk

If you are really keen though, or perhaps can purchase with a friend, you can buy a big tub on Amazon. Maggi sells a French onion soup base for professional food services. And unlike Maggi one at the shops, this one is endorsed by Coeliac Australia.

The 2kg tub is equivalent to 50 of the 40g sachets you’ll see in the supermarket. That’s a lot of delicious meals waiting to happen. It’s also quite a bit cheaper, not quite half price but pretty close (about 70 cents a ‘packet’).

If you’re after more soup powders the same Amazon store also sells gluten free cream of chicken and tomato soup. Both endorsed by Coeliac Australia.

Continental also make a whopper 2.2kg tub of French onion soup for food service. I’ve seen it for sale on both eBay and Amazon. Prices vary so it’s worth having a search, however Maggi seems to be more readily available.

Maccas chicken nuggets

Tegel, a NZ company known for their huge range of chicken products recently launched gluten free nuggets and tenders in Australia.

My Facebook feed lit up from the middle of 2023 with everyone saying the tempura battered nuggets are just like what you get at McDonalds.

Tegel’s gluten free tempura nuggets and tenders are exclusive to Woolworths.

I tried them out myself, having an entirely gluten free Maccas fakeaway – including the sweet and sour sauce!

Vegemite

Anyone who has been coeliac for a long time would know by now that Vegemite has actually released their very own gluten free Vegemite.

But did you know us gluten free folk had other yeast spread options before Vegemite helped us out? There’s quite a few you can buy and all of them differ slightly in taste and consistency. Plenty to try and discover what works for you or your happy little Vegemite.

Gluten free Vegemite

Probably the best moment I’ve heard was a lovely GF lady living in New Zealand who randomly discovered GF Vegemite was a thing. She was in the aisle at the supermarket when she saw it and actually swore with delight. She then had to turn to the strangers in aisle and explain her swears of happiness 😂.

Bonus: Some of the special release products from Vegemite are also gluten free. However, Vegemite tends to play down the gluten free status (I’m guessing because some people assume anything gluten free tastes awful 🤦‍♀️). The two products sound similar, Vegemite and Cheese and Vegemite cream cheese. Both have ND for gluten on the nutrition panel.

Mightymite

Mightymite contains the same vitamins that are in standard Vegemite, which is good as it’s a source of B12 and folate – something that can be lacking in a gluten free diet.

Get it from Woolworths.

AussieMite

AussieMite apparently exists, though you can’t tell from their non-functional website (at time of reporting). They do appear to be rebranding so keep an eye on their Instagram account and new look packaging.

Gluten free Vegemite alternatives that bit the dust

I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what is on the market, because what I was eating in Australia 15 years ago isn’t available now. I can’t even recall what it was 😅.

Omegamite seems to no longer exist. Same goes for Vege spread by Freedom Foods, and Ozemite, perhaps due to an incident where a contaminated batch was released.

So there’s also something called EveryMite but I don’t think it should be on the list. Why? It doesn’t even contain yeast! It does look brown and goopy and it’s marketed to be spread on toast so it gets a mention.

Jaffas

I honestly could not think of a more revolting chocolate, BUT I know other people like or even love orange flavoured chocolate.

Jaffas, for the uninitiated, are an Aussie classic chocolate made by confectionery company Allen’s. It consists of a ball of orange flavoured chocolate coated in a crispy sugar shell.

Original Jaffas contain straight up wheat so they are definitely not gluten free and they never will be.

So, what’s the alternative? A chocolate that basically looks exactly the same. They are dark chocolate orange balls by Melbourne-based The Confectionery House.

Gluten free Jaffas by The Confectionery House

You can buy these GF Jaffas from Happy Tummies, they have also been spotted in some independent grocers.

I will note they do have a quirky set of allergen labelling on them. It list allergens, may contains and then has a statement about the facility handling wheat. I think this is perhaps over the top? Surely if wheat products were a legitimate may contain then they’d be listed as such in that section.

Gluten free Jaffas at Good Food Bakery

On my most recent visit to the Good Food Bakery’s Deer Park location I spotted bags of gluten free Jaffas on the shelves. I’m not sure how many companies make these, so I suspect they are in fact from The Confectionery House, bought in bulk and bagged up for their customers.

I wrote to the Good Food Bakery and they confirmed yes, they are from The Confectionery House.

That’s a wrap, five products you can swap to enjoy them gluten free! Were you surprised by any products on the list? Let me know!

And let me know in the comments or even on Facebook if you’ve found an amazing gluten free swap. I’d love to hear about it and add it to the next article in this series!