Gluten-Free Tailgate Parties
Tailgating is one of the great American past times. Did you know the first tailgate party may date back to at least the 1800s? People continue to carry on the tailgating tradition, combining sports and cars with food and drink, in parking lots across the country.
If you’re living gluten-free, any situation where food and drink are involved can pose risks of cross-contact with gluten. We looked at the most common foods served at a tailgate party and identified potential risks. We also came up with some fresh gluten-free tailgate party appetizers that are surefire crowd pleasers!
Risks of Cross-Contact
Cross-contact happens when gluten shows up in gluten-free cooking, food preparation, or serving environment. Most cross-contact is accidental and avoidable. Here are some ways cross-contact can happen when tailgating:
- Grills – Whether someone rolls out the Hibachi or did the grilling at home, grills can be used for not only meat or vegetables but could be used to warm or toast burgers and hot dog buns, leaving behind gluten-containing crumbs.
- Frying oil – When gluten-free food is fried in the same oil as gluten-containing breaded food, the risk of cross-contact is high.
- Bowls of chips – While a bowl of gluten-free chips may seem safe, if people in your party are reaching into bowls of gluten-containing snacks then reaching into the gluten-free bowl, they could deposit gluten from crumbs on their hands.
- Double-dipping – It’s not only hands that can carry crumbs. Anyone dipping gluten-containing food into the same dip used for gluten-free dipping can cause cross-contact.
- Sharing utensils – If the same spoon, fork, tongs, or scoop are used for serving both gluten-containing and gluten-free food, cross-contact is inevitable.
Gluten-Containing Foods
Identifying gluten in some foods is easy. Other foods—particularly ones that are a mix of ingredients—could be harder to detect. Unless you can verify on the food packaging that the product is labeled—or preferably GFCO-certified—gluten-free, avoid eating these foods:
- Buns for burgers and hot dogs
- Soft and hard pretzels
- Sandwich bread and other bread products
- Breaded fried chicken and other fried foods
- Pasta salads, macaroni and cheese
- Cookies and crackers
- Snack mixes
- Some barbeque sauces
- Some sauces, dressings, and dips
Even if you can verify the gluten-free nature of packaged foods, the risk of cross-contact still exists if there are gluten-containing foods nearby. Keep gluten-free foods separate from anything with gluten along with containers and utensils dedicated to entirely gluten-free fare.
Gluten-Free Ideas
Looking for gluten-free appetizers that can satisfy your fellow tailgaters whether they eat gluten-free or not? Look no further! Try these recipes for your next tailgate party.
Seven Layer Taco Dip from What the Fork Food Blog
Beans are naturally gluten-free as are the other ingredients in this dish including avocado, tomato, olives, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
Roasted Avocado Bacon Guacamole from There is Life After Wheat
A twist on the traditional guacamole with the addition of bacon and sour cream. Even more of a twist? You roast the avocados in the oven next to the bacon! If you use imitation bacon, read the ingredients to make sure it doesn’t contain gluten as some imitation meats do.
Gluten-Free Mini Corn Dog Bites from Hungry Hobby
This recipe is simplified by using a gluten-free cornbread mix to wrap around slices of gluten-free hot dogs of your choice—beef or turkey, for example. Again, watch out for gluten if you opt for an imitation meat product.
Happy gluten-free tailgating!