I’ll admit…. I’m a sandwich lover! When I think of sandwiches, I often think of lunch. Lunch is one of those meals that I feel there is such a variety of ‘normal’ lunch foods. Typically, I use lunch to clean out the fridge from last night’s leftovers. However, many times lunch has to be packed or is an on-the-go meal. These 12 gluten-free sandwich recipes & ideas will help you prepare delicious and nutritious meals!
I was homeschooled for most of my education and attended a local college to get my Associates Degree, so there was never too many times when I had to pack lunch. Now that I work from home, I still don’t have to pack a lunch. And maybe that explains my obsession with sandwiches. I don’t get to have them as often as I would like, but I sure do come up with some tasty ideas when I do get to have a sandwich! I now associate sandwiches with camping, adventures, and day trips, since that is when I usually have to pack a lunch. This list of gluten-free sandwich recipes and ideas contains some of my favorite go-to sandwiches for cleaning up leftovers or packing on adventures!
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Okay, first I need to discuss my stand on gluten-free and grain-free sandwiches. Technically I try to stick to a grain-free diet, since that is the best diet for my health and inflammation. However, as I have improved in my health I do incorporate more gluten-free products into my diet. When I first went on an anti-inflammatory, grain-free diet I thought my sandwich days were gone…finished.
However, as is usually the case, I did some research and started experimenting with products and recipes. Now I have a go-to list of both grain-free bread options and gluten-free bread options that I like to use for making sandwiches. Here are some of my favorite grain-free bread options:
While grain-free breads are nice, and they work well when I am sticking to a low inflammation diet, I do sometimes crave the traditional sandwich with traditional bread. That’s when I pull out my favorite gluten-free breads. My favorite gluten-free bread brands include Canyon Bakehouse and Sami’s Bakery. Both of these brands make amazing gluten-free bread products. Canyon Bakehouse has a wider selection of gluten-free bread products and I do splurge on their products quite a bit (as you will probably see in the following recipes).
I use Canyon Bakehouse breads for a lot of the following recipes, but any grain-free or gluten-free bread can be used instead!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free, corn free)
Ingredients:
Assemble the sandwich by thinly slicing the grilled chicken and placing it on a slice of bread. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and bbq sauce. Place a slice of cheese on another slice of bread. Place both slices of bread in a toaster oven and toast until the cheese is melted. Once melted, sandwich the slices together and enjoy!
It is helpful to plan ahead and make up some grilled veggies at the same time that you grill the chicken. Leftover grilled veggies go nicely with this sandwich!
Side: grilled veggies (mix broccoli florets, carrot slices, mushrooms, parsnip slices, and summer squash), Boulder Canyon honey bbq chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: While I do enjoy the novelties of using store-bought condiments such as Woodstock bbq sauce or Primal Kitchen bbq sauce, I also enjoy making own condiments from scratch. A good recipe to base your homemade bbq sauce from is this BBQ Pulled Venison recipe.
(gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free, corn free)
Ingredients:
To assemble the sandwich, lay two slices of bread out on a cutting board. Butter the slices with butter or a dairy-free butter alternative. Add garlic salt as desired. Layer a cheese slice, some deli meat, and a leaf of lettuce onto one slice of bread. Sandwich together and enjoy!
If you want the cheese melted, omit the lettuce and toast the sandwich in a toaster oven until the cheese is melted. Add the lettuce leaf after toasting.
Side: add organic tomato slices, sliced red onion, homemade sprouts, or any other favorite veggie to your sandwich and serve with a side of plantain chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: Sliced deli meat is not exactly the most pioneer-ish food, but it will work in a pinch. Make sure you only buy meat from organic, non-GMO, sustainably raised sources. Alternatively, use your own farm-raised meat such as ham slices or beef slices.
(grain-free, gluten-free, nut free, egg free, corn free)
Ingredients:
Begin by cutting the pita in half. If possible, separate the two halves so you can fill each half. With Against the Grain pita I often can’t separate the layers so I just use the two halves of pita like two slices of bread. Butter each half and add garlic salt. Layer on the ham slices, a cheese slice, and a lettuce leaf. Sandwich together and enjoy!
I like to toast my pita sandwich after assembling it, but I leave out the lettuce until after the sandwich has been toasted.
Side: steamed veggies (peas, carrots, pearl onions, Brussels sprouts, broccoli florets), plantain chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: I use Daiya dairy-free cheese slices in a lot of my sandwiches since both Anna and I have a dairy intolerance. However, I do better when I can consume raw cheese, which is what I use when I don’t want to have the dairy-free cheese. If you raise your own dairy animal, try and make your own homemade cheese to use in sandwiches!
(gluten-free, nut free, corn free, dairy-free)
Ingredients:
Slice an english muffin in half and place both halves in a toaster oven. Heat a cast iron skillet over low heat with a teaspoon of bacon fat. Allow the sausage to start cooking. You can prepare your eggs using your preferred method, whether it be sunny-side up, scrambled, or over-easy. Season the eggs with garlic salt. While the sausage and eggs are cooking, toast the english muffin.
Assemble the breakfast sandwich by layering the eggs, cheese, and sausage. Enjoy with a side of steamed peas!
Side: steamed peas
Modern Pioneer Tip: Sausage or bacon are the two meats that I like to use in a breakfast sandwich. I only buy organic, non-GMO bacon and I would love to raise my own bacon (aka pigs). For sausage, I am very careful about reading the ingredient list on sausages to make sure they don’t contain added sugars, preservatives, or other chemical-based ingredients. I also like making my own sausages to use in breakfast sandwiches!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free, corn free)
Ingredients:
First prepare your tuna salad. Get out two slices of bread and lay them on a cutting board. Put down a bed of lettuce, then add a slice of cheese, and lastly pile on the tuna salad on one slice of bread. Sandwich the other slice on top and enjoy!
If you want a tuna melt, omit the lettuce and cook the sandwich in a warm cast iron skillet or toaster oven until the cheese is melted. Add the lettuce after the sandwich is warmed.
Side: home-canned veggies (carrots, beets, green beans), Good Health gluten-free veggie straws
Modern Pioneer Tip: When buying canned fish, make sure you buy a sustainable, eco-friendly brand. For tuna, I like to buy Wild Planet or Safe Catch tuna. I also buy tuna that is canned without salt and in water.
(gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free, corn free)
Ingredients:
Make up the egg salad ahead of time. On one slice of bread place a leaf of lettuce, a cheese slice, and pile on the egg salad. Add salt and pepper. Sandwich another slice of bread on top and enjoy!
Side: homemade coleslaw, Good Health gluten-free veggie chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: Having a stash of hard boiled eggs stored in the fridge is a great way to preserve fresh eggs. They can be eaten plain, made into a salad, fed to your chickens or dogs, or be made into deviled eggs. Boiling and peeling fresh eggs is easy when you use the method outlined in this egg salad recipe!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free, corn free, egg free, yeast free)
Ingredients:
Start heating a cast iron skillet over low heat with some bacon fat or butter. Prepare two slices of bread by buttering both sides. Add garlic salt and two slices of cheese to one bread slice. Place the other slice on top. Once the pan is warm, place the sandwich in the pan. Cook until the one side is golden brown, then flip and wait until that side is browned too.
Enjoy warm!
Side: homemade soup (vegetable soup, tomato soup, butternut squash soup), Lesser Evil paleo puffs
Modern Pioneer Tip: Make grilled cheese sandwiches in a cast iron skillet! I love cooking in my cast iron skillets and it’s a great modern pioneer lifeskill to master. I apply a little bacon fat to the pan before cooking my grilled cheese sandwich. Then all I have to do when my sandwich is done is wipe out the pan with a damp cloth!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, corn free, nut free)
Ingredients:
Lay out two slices of bread on a cutting board. Butter each slice with butter or a dairy-free butter alternative. Add garlic salt to taste. On one slice of bread layer a leaf of lettuce, a slice of cheese, and some deli meat. Slather some homemade pesto on the other slice. Sandwich the two slices together and enjoy!
Side: homemade salad (organic romaine lettuce, fresh carrots, dairy-free cheese, radish slices, etc…), Terra chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: I mentioned earlier that I like to make my own condiments and sandwich fillings from scratch, and homemade pesto is one condiment that I love making from homestead ingredients! When my basil plant is thriving during the summer I make several batches of homemade pesto and freeze some to use throughout the winter. The dairy-free and nut free pesto recipe that I use in these grilled cheese egg sandwiches is my favorite!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, egg free, corn free, tree nut free, yeast free)
Ingredients:
Assemble the sandwich by spreading peanut butter on one slice of bread and jelly on another slice of bread. Sandwich the slices together and enjoy!
Side: veggie sticks and gluten-free garlic humus (I like carrot sticks and celery with humus), Plant Snacks cassava chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: I love making my own jams and jellies as a modern pioneer life skill, including elderberry jelly (made with honey) and dandelion jelly (made from dandelion petals)! They are a great alternative to store-bought, sugar-laden jellies. This peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a great way to put those homemade products to use!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, tree nut free, corn free)
Ingredients:
Assemble the sandwich by spreading honey on one slice of bread and peanut butter on another slice of bread. Sandwich the slices together and enjoy! Adding banana slices makes a delicious addition too!
Side: veggie sticks and humus or peanut butter (celery and carrots are really good with peanut butter!), Enjoy Life lentil chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: Use re-usable silicon stashers or homemade re-usable bags to store your sandwich in if you are packing it for a travel lunch. They are sustainable alternatives to plastic bags and plastic wrap!
(gluten-free, dairy-free, egg free, nut free, corn free, yeast free)
Ingredients:
Lay two slices of bread on a cutting board. Stack thinly sliced pieces of steak on one slice of bread. Salt and pepper to taste and add bbq sauce if desired. Place a slice of cheese on the other slice of bread. Put both slices in a toaster oven and toast until the cheese is melted. Sandwich the slices together and enjoy!
Side: roasted veggies (beets, carrots, mushroom, parsnip, sweet potato) or veggie fries (carrots, sweet potato), plantain chips
Modern Pioneer Tip: Here’s where I put in my two-cents about wild game! I love hunting with my family and harvesting wild whitetail off of my family’s hunting property. I encourage you to try hunting wild game, processing the game yourself, and learning to cook wild game as a modern pioneer life skill! You don’t even have to start big, try hunting some small game first, such as grouse, squirrel, or rabbit.
(gluten-free, corn free, dairy-free, nut free)
Ingredients:
Lay two slices of bread on a cutting board. Butter both slices with butter or a dairy-free butter alternative. Stack shredded chicken or turkey on one slice. Season with salt and pepper. Add your favorite sauce to the meat. Place a cheese slice on top and sandwich the other slice of bread on top of the cheese. Toast until the cheese melted. Enjoy with other leftovers!
Side: homemade applesauce, organic mashed squash (I like buttercup squash the best), Thanksgiving leftovers, Fit Joy pretzel twists
Modern Pioneer Tip: This sandwich idea is kind of my catch-all sandwich go-to recipe. It is a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge so that no food goes to waste (of course, healthy leftovers can be fed to your flock too!). Whether it be after a large holiday meal or just cleaning out week-day meal leftovers, throwing some leftover meat between two slices of bread can turn into a delicious sandwich!
These 12 gluten-free sandwich recipes and ideas should give you a good start to creating delicious, nutritious, and simple sandwiches for lunch, on-the-go, or adventures! And of course, sandwiches aren’t just limited to lunch time. I love making a breakfast sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Steak sandwiches or bbq grilled chicken sandwiches make a hardy dinner option too. A lot of the grain-free and gluten-free breads that I use can be stored right in the freezer. All I have to do is pull a few slices out of the freezer to unthaw when I want a sandwich! While I love all the sandwiches that I included in this list, my favorites are probably classic peanut butter and jelly and deli ham sandwiches! What is your favorite sandwich?
Also, we love sharing ways how we are living a more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle with our modern pioneer newsletter community, so feel free to join us!
by Alexa
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