A lot of the best gluten free breakfast foods at the grocery store are naturally gluten free—bacon, oatmeal, eggs (if you can afford them). As for the breakfast foods that typically contain gluten—toast, english muffins, cereal (if you can afford it)—there are a ton of gluten free options nowadays, but not all of them taste good. But if you’re gluten free, you already know that.
Anyway, that’s where we come in. In our taste tests, we’ve tried gluten free bread (for toast!), gluten free english muffins, and gluten free cereal. And we recently sat down for a dedicated taste test of things we might’ve missed, like gluten free breakfast sandwiches and pancake bites. Some stuff was bad. A lot of stuff was mediocre at best (we think you deserve better). But if you want to actually enjoy the first meal of the day, let us guide you to the best gluten free breakfast foods.
- Brazi Bites Blueberry Waffles
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A lot of gluten free waffles are VERY dry and crumbly. We had to have drinks nearby during this taste test because these things will turn to dust in your mouth like a vampire turns to ash in the sunlight. Prior to our most recent gluten free breakfast foods taste test, we’d only found one brand of gluten free waffles we were willing to endorse (Full Circle) and, unfortunately, their products are really hard to find, so we were excited to find Brazi Bites. They’re nice and moist and tender. They’ll be even tastier with butter and syrup, but you won’t choke to death if you eat them on their own or slathered with peanut butter. Their traditional buttermilk waffles are good, but blueberry is better—the pleasant fruit flavor covers up any weird eggy aftertaste. The best gluten free breakfast foods can pass for non-GF foods, and these waffles really are that good.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Schar Gluten Free Artisan Baker White Bread
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You can’t have a Grand Slam-style gluten free breakfast without gluten free toast (especially if you take your eggs sunny-side-up or over-easy), and this Schar gluten free white bread is the most convincing gluten free bread we’ve ever tasted. It’s a touch sweet, it’s nice and pliable, and the slices aren’t itty bitty. This is the perfect gluten free bread for making gluten free French toast.
Read the full ranking of the best gluten free bread
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Trader Joe’s Gluten Free English Muffins
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Glutino makes very good gluten free English muffins, but they can’t quite top Trader Joe’s version. They look weird, like shiny little domes, but they have great chew, and are exactly as soft and as fluffy as you’d want them to be. The best gluten free breakfast foods are good enough to satisfy people in the household who do eat gluten—and I don’t think I would turn down a Benedict made with these babies.
Read the full ranking of the best English muffins
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Chocolate Chex
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There’s a lot of excellent gluten free cereal that doesn’t even necessarily advertise that it’s gluten free, and Chex is consistently one of our favorite brands (as long as you don’t accidentally pick up wheat Chex). All of their rice-based options are GF, and Chocolate Chex are the best of the bunch. They’re sweet and have such a rich cocoa flavor even though half of the Chex squares in the box are nude. If you love chocolate cereal but can’t bring yourself to buy Cocoa Pebbles, this more grown-up option is one of the best gluten free breakfast foods.
Read the full ranking of the best gluten free cereal
Credit: Merc / Target
- Feel Good Foods Banana Pancake Bites
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Feel Good Foods pancake bites are more like pancake balls. (Ever have aebleskiver? They’re kind of like that.) They’re fat and puffy and, good news, they’re gluten free. The buttermilk version is fine—it just doesn’t have a lot of flavor. If you’re eating these as an on-the-go breakfast and butter and syrup won’t be involved, the banana flavor is the way to go. Don’t worry: This isn’t fake, cloying banana flavor. It’s very mild. It’s very natural. It’s almost like the banana is just there for moisture and a touch of sweetness. I am not GF, but I would eat these all the time.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Start Right Waffle Sliders Sausage & Cheese
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My go-to McDonald’s breakfast order is a Sausage McMuffin, which differs from most of the other breakfast sandwiches in that it doesn’t have egg on it. Sometimes you’re just not in the mood! Breakfast doesn’t have to involve eggs—especially in this economy. This gluten free waffle sandwich, which contains just a sausage patty and some melty American cheese, is a revelation. The waffle has just a touch of maple-y sweetness. If, like me, you think McGriddles are too sweet, you’ll still like this. The cheese is salty and melty and the sausage tastes really good and savory. Of all the gluten free breakfast foods we tried in our dedicated taste test, this was the one product I kept eating after the taste test was over. The cheese gets in the waffle nooks! Repeat: The cheese gets in the waffle nooks!!
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rudi’s Gluten Free Breakfast Sandwiches Egg & Cheese Frittata with Sausage
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We love Rudi’s gluten free garlic bread, so we were excited to try their take on brioche. And, okay fine, the bun on this gluten free breakfast sandwich isn’t a whole lot like brioche, but it does taste like a nice sturdy potato roll, and that worked for us. The bread is a little bit chewy, but it’s still tender. The egg is a little bit dry, but it’s nicely seasoned. The sausage has a nice kick of black pepper. We can’t recommend the bacon version of this gluten free breakfast sandwich (the meat tastes very strange), but the sausage version is a delight.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Red’s Egg’wich Turkey Sausage, Egg & Cheese
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Sometimes the easiest way to make a food gluten free is to simply remove anything that might contain gluten. In this case, Red’s went ahead and said t’hell with bread—let’s just make eggs the bun! Now, I’m not going to lie: This sandwich looks kind of gross. The egg is speckled with pepper so it’s a weird grayish color that isn’t very appealing. Plus, you have to get over the fact that you will be holding egg instead of bread. This looks horrendous so we were pleasantly surprised when it tasted good. The egg is nicely seasoned. The sausage is savory and since it’s sausage, it’s lower fat and calories than pork sausage. If holding egg in your hands won’t bum you out, this is one of the best gluten free breakfast foods to buy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
Best Gluten Free Waffles
Rating:
10/10
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Best Gluten Free Bread
Rating:
9.5/10
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Best Gluten Free English Muffins
Rating:
7/10
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Best Gluten Free Cereal
Rating:
10/10
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Best Gluten Free Pancake Bites
Rating:
9/10
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Best Gluten Free Breakfast Sandwich
Rating:
10/10
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Best Gluten Free Breakfast Sandwich on Bread
Rating:
8.5/10
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Best Gluten Free Breakfast Sandwich Sans Bread
Rating:
8.5/10
Sporks
