Categories: Gluten and Dairy Free

Gluten and Dairy-Free Substitutes for Popular Frozen Meal Brands

We’ve come a long way since the first frozen dinner, also known as a TV dinner, because people typically consumed it while watching television. As the story goes, Thanksgiving turkeys led to the invention of the frozen dinner by a well-known company that still exists today.

History of the First Frozen Dinner

There are conflicting accounts on who invented the first frozen dinner, but we know Swanson gets the credit. Many believe that in 1953, Swanson salesman Gerry Thomas conceived the idea of frozen dinners after the company had 260 tons of leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. Frozen meals also solved the problem of “what’s for dinner?” when millions of women became working mothers in the 1950s. Although the sons of Swanson’s founder also claimed credit for the invention, the American Frozen Food Institute inducted Gerry into their “Frozen Food Hall of Fame” as the inventor of the TV dinner.

Gluten and Dairy-Free Frozen Meals

My introduction to frozen gluten and dairy-free meals was by Amy’s Kitchen. My favorite thing about Amy’s Kitchen is that they offer a wide variety of allergy-friendly meals, including chili, soup, wraps, and many international meals, such as Vietnamese bah mi wrap, Thai green curry, pad Thai, lasagna, and rice and bean burrito. A helpful feature on their website is that you can filter meals to search for gluten- and dairy-free meals. Go to the top of the site to Our Foods>Special Diets and then select gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, soy-free, etc.

Many other allergy-friendly brands have popped up, including The Tattooed Chef, Purple Carrot, Kevin’s, etc. You can read more about them here:

Just be aware that these brands also make meals with gluten or dairy, so please read ingredient labels carefully.

Frozen Pizza

Unfortunately, there aren’t many gluten- and dairy-free pizza options, as most brands sell gluten-free or dairy-free pizza but not both. Amy’s Kitchen discontinued its gluten-free roasted vegetable pizza with no cheese, although it still makes the wheat crust version.

Undoubtedly, Daiya holds the monopoly, as it is the only brand I found to be free of both allergens. Daiya also makes delicious flatbreads, which can be served as a meal or cut into smaller pieces as an appetizer.

If You’re Craving This, Here’s the Gluten- and Dairy-Free Version

The following allergy-friendly frozen meal options include Indian food, burritos, vegan chicken, and comfort foods like country fried chicken and meatloaf.

If You’re Craving This	Here’s the Gluten- and Dairy-Free Version
Saffron Road Coconut Curry Chicken	Saffron Road Madras Curry
Stouffer’s Classic Meatloaf	Amy’s Veggie Loaf
Evol Fire Grilled Steak	Purple Carrot Maple Chipotle Veggie Bowl Tattooed Chef Buddha Bowl Evol Warrior Be Powerful Bowl
Banquet Mega Bowls Country Fried Chicken Marie Callender’s Country Fried Chicken & Gravy	Daring Penne Primavera Plant Chicken Bowl Kevin’s Roasted Garlic Chicken
Frontera Chicken Enchiladas	Amy’s Vegan Gluten Free Bean & Rice Burrito Amy’s Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada Starlight Plant Based Chick’n Taquitos
Chef Bombay Chicken Tikka Masala	Deep Indian Kitchen Plant-Based Coconut Chik’n Curry
Frozen Pizza	Daiya pizza (various flavors) Daiya flatbread (various flavors)
PF Chang Beef & Broccoli	Healthy Choice Beef Chimichurri

Conclusion

If you’re pressed for time, a working parent, or want an international meal, plenty of frozen meal options have improved since the invention of the first TV dinner in the 1950s. And to think, we have leftover Thanksgiving turkeys to thank.

Fun Food Fact

Many of today’s famous brands have invented food storage and heating devices. For example, Campbell’s invented microwave-safe trays. Clarence Birdseye invented a machine for freezing packaged fish using flash-freezing technology and patented the method for quick-freezing vegetables. His successors at Birds Eye Foods invented the quick-steam technology for frozen veggies via microwave.