Celebrating St. Patty’s Day with Gluten-Free and Vegan Dishes

Original photo courtesy of Inspired Eats.

The luck of the Irish can pertain to a lot of people on St. Patrick’s Day – but not if you suffer from a food allergy or have dietary restrictions. Corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, and beer can be tempting for someone with gluten allergy or anyone who adheres to a vegan diet, but those traditional Irish dishes won’t fare well for anyone who shouldn’t eat them.

Want to know a way to enjoy some popular Irish dishes on St. Patrick’s Day? Here are some recipes for vegan and gluten free dishes you can serve up this St. Paddy’s Day.

Beer

It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without a chilled beer, but for people with a gluten allergy, their beer choices are limited. If you’re really craving a cold one, Green’s Double Dark Beer has a comparable flavor and style to Guinness while remaining gluten free. The only downfall to choosing this style of drink is it might be a little difficult for you to dye it green!

Corned Beef

Vegan corned beef? The main ingredient of this sandwich is comprised of a kidney bean concoction rather than red meat, making it a perfect vegan substitute for this traditional Irish-American dish. To make the “corned beef” mixture, you’ll want to combine kidney beans, wheat gluten flour, dry yellow mustard, coriander, allspice, ginger powder, and other ingredients together into a meat-like loaf. After baking the loaf, to create a sandwich, slice thin layers off the loaf and add it to a non-stick skillet with beet powder and water. You can also add sauerkraut and deli mustard to your sandwich to add some extra flavor.

Shepherd’s Pie

A traditional shepherd’s pie contains meat, butter, chicken broth, and half and half, making it less than desirable for vegans to enjoy. However, this vegan shepherd’s pie has many of the staples of the traditional dish (potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic) with vegan substitutes for some essential ingredients, such as cheese and meat. Instead of traditional dairy or meat items, you can recreate this dish using soy cheeses, vegan meat substitutes, soy milk, and vegan mayonnaise instead of half and half.

For the Kids

Most of these recipes are ones that adults would want to enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day moreso than kids, but if your kids are looking for some special treats or snacks on St. Patrick’s Day, a food allergy or limited diet shouldn’t stop them from doing so. If you want to make a special holiday treat for your kids, consider making a health treat with a pot of gold as a reward at the end.

To create a gluten-free and healthy pot of gold for your kids, you’ll need strawberries, raspberries, orange slices, pineapples, kiwi, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes. Using they ROYGBIV model, line up the appropriate fruits in color order to create an arched rainbow. At the “end” of the rainbow (or the bottom of the plate), include gold coins for the kids to enjoy after they finish their fruit. Amanda’s Own Confections features gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut and tree-nut free chocolate coins to include as the gold, so you ensure that the gold coins won’t trigger reactions of their own.

Amy Nicole is a freelance writer for Hope Paige, a company that sells fashionable yet functional medical ID bracelets and jewelry.