28 Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Brunch Recipes (Vegan option too)

Brunch–the best meal of the day, and usually saved for the best days: days off and holidays! Nothing like getting to sleep in and do a later breakfast (aka brunch!). Only the best breakfasts foods make the cut for a brunch menu (sorry corn flakes!) and I’ve never said no to a brunch, nor do I intend to. However, since having to cook for a gluten free and dairy free diet, brunch has become a lot more difficult since those are key ingredients. So, I like to host my own and make my own renditions of my past favs. You’ll see tons of muffins, fluffy pancakes and even some store bought ideas so that you can have a delicious brunch at home to rival even the best brunch spots in town. Enjoy my list of 28 gluten free dairy free brunch recipes below (with all of them having a vegan option too!)

Most recipes below are easy recipes, meant for the home cook. I have a big sweet tooth, so many are sweet, especially since I feel like the sides (usually a salty meat and savory eggs) round them out. Unlike some list articles, where authors group as many brunch recipes as they can to reach an impressive “1000 brunch recipes” list, and they haven’t tried half of them, this list ONLY features recipes I have made personally, all from my site. They’re tested, tried and true–all your family members will love them for their next weekend brunch!

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GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE BRUNCH FAQS

When is a good time for brunch?

Any day is a good day for brunch. Typically, brunch is eaten during the hours of 11-3, but I’ll even do as early as 10am. You can have brunch on special holidays like Mother’s Day Brunch and Easter Brunch–as well as just because it’s a weekend and you have friends in town. Brunch often I say! You don’t need special occasions to enjoy delicious breakfast items midday! As a mom of four kids, Monday-Friday (and let’s be honest usually Saturday too because of soccer!) are hectic, busy mornings. I love to enjoy a delicious gluten-free breakfast by slowing down and really enjoying it with good company. It’s the first meal of the day, so it’s nice not to not blow through it every once in awhile.

What should I have in my pantry to be ready for a brunch?

It’s good to have some staples on hand at all times, so that you can throw a last minute brunch together if needed. Remember, it doesn’t have to be Martha Stewart style, but it is nice to have several dishes, hitting some of the main food groups like: carbs, fruit, veggies and protein. Here are some things I suggest having on hand for the next time the need to host a gluten-free dairy-free brunch that comes up last minute:

• Juice–keep a shelf stable kind in your pantry
• Green onions–you can use those as a garnish on other things to use them up
• Garlic–the jarred kind lasts quite awhile in the fridge
• Chocolate chips–need I say more?
• Hash browns in your freezer
• Frozen protein–like bacon or breakfast sausages, those will keep for awhile
• Gluten-free all purpose flour
• Sugar–both white and brown sugar
• Baking powder and baking soda
• Vanilla
• Eggs
• Fresh, frozen and canned fruit (an assortment is always good!)
• Your favorite plant-based milk
• Gluten-free oats
• Cinnamon and nutmeg are great staples too!

What gluten free flour blend do I recommend?

Overall, I always recommend my gluten-free homemade all purpose flour blend. This will work for all of the muffins (so no buying tons of specialty blends!). However, if you want to buy a pre-made store bought all purpose gluten-free flour blend, look for flour blends that are mostly rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour). It’s fine if the flour mixture also has sorghum. I find Great Value, King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Mix are usually interchangeable.

If your blend has xanthan gum already in it, then omit it, if the recipe also calls for it. I do not ever call for almond flour, because we have nut allergies. And, I’m not a fan of lesser known flours like cassava or coconut flour, so, less types to buy! #GlutenFreeFloursAintCheap #Winning

If you can have regular wheat flour, then go ahead and use that 1:1, and they’ll just be dairy free (make sure to omit the xanthan as well.)

What if I have egg allergies too?

I totally get it. My son has a milk allergy, wheat allergy and used to have an egg allergy. So, most of my recipes were developed to be egg free. However, if you can have eggs, feel free to sub them back in. It should work either way. You’ll see depending on the recipe, I sometimes use Ener-G egg replacer (a store bought replacer), apple sauce, or flax eggs. I’m not a big chia seed fan. I find each has their own perks and depending on the flavor and texture, I’ll show you which I think goes best in each recipe. The nice thing about omitting the eggs, is that then the muffins become gluten free vegan muffins as well, helping even more people to enjoy them.

What dairy product swaps do you recommend?

Here are my favorite dairy products swap. Note that these are talking in general. If you’re following a recipe, I would follow it exactly. You really can’t go off book with specialty recipes. They’re already walking a tight line with moisture content, texture and taste, so don’t go swapping things in and out and make them as written if you want the desired outcome. Thankfully there has been a lot of progress made and there are more dairy free options than there used to be.

• Heavy cream–Country Crock Plant Cream
• Spreadable butter–Earth Balance Original Vegetable Buttery Spread
• Butter sticks–for sweet recipes: Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (they have a soy-free version too!) and savory recipes: Country Crock Plant Butter Olive Oil
• Milk–rice milk
• Cream cheese–Tofutti better than cream cheese
• Sour cream–Tofutti sour cream
• Cheese–sorry, I have yet to find one I like. They all melt terrible and taste fake. When you want a baked in cheesy taste, nutritional yeast works well, and I use it in a few recipes.

What muffin cups do you recommend?

Call me cheap, crazy or both–they would would probably fit. But, as you’ll see in my pictures, I just don’t bother with them. I find them end up sticking to the muffins and it’s one more thing I have to buy, and the gluten free and dairy free muffin lifestyle is expensive enough. I just grease my muffin tin and bake them straight in the pan.

What muffin pan do you use?

I use the USA Pan Bakeware Cupcake and Muffin Pan. I had a darker metal muffin tin and felt like the bottoms of my muffins were starting to turn too brown. 

What milk alternative do you bake with?

I prefer rice milk, because I find other plant milks have a stronger taste that is harder to cover up. However, using oat milk, in some of the oat muffin recipes might let you get away with it more. Plus, we have nut allergies, so we don’t use almond milk or cashew milk like a lot of others do. Most non-dairy milk are fairly interchangeable, like soy milk and coconut milk, so while I haven’t recipe tested with other kinds, I would assume you’d be fine. If you can have regular milk, and just need the muffins to be gluten-free, you can always swap it in at a 1:1 ratio.

Are these brunch recipes allergy friendly?

Every tasty brunch recipe below is free of: wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, peanuts and tree nuts. Many of these muffin recipes are also soy free, making them top-8-free as well. So, yes! Definitely.

Do your own homework–keep yourself safe

Only you can keep yourself safe. I might use brands or ingredients you’re not comfortable with for your own situation, and that’s OK. Please keep yourself safe and only go by what your doctor recommends. I go by label alone, but know some allergies are so severe, they have to speak to manufacturers about cross contamination. If you’re making these for someone with food allergies, be sure to check with them to see their comfort level.

Don’t see a brunch recipe you’d like? Let me know and I’ll be sure to add it to the queue of recipes I’ll be testing. I test each recipe to make sure that they’re extra yummy even though they don’t have the typical wheat, dairy and eggs. My family and I personally eat these recipes and have enjoyed some of them for years. I know you will too!

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MUFFIN RECIPE SECTION:

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Gluten Free Dairy Free Cinnamon Swirl Muffin Recipe (my husband’s personal favorite!)

Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe

Dairy Free Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Recipe (perfect fall breakfast!)

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Gluten Free Dairy Free Blender Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin (Will make your own oat flour!)

Gluten Free Dairy Free Healthy Double Chocolate Muffin recipe

Gluten Free Dairy Free Cinnamon Applesauce Muffin

Gluten Free Dairy Free Brown Sugar Oatmeal Muffin recipe. (My most popular muffin recipe on my site!)

Gluten Free Dairy Free Sunbutter, Banana & Honey Muffin (Can use peanut butter if you don’t have nut allergies)

Dairy Free Gluten-Free Banana Muffins 

Gluten Free Dairy Free Peach Muffin recipe.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffin

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Gluten Free Dairy Free Double Chocolate Chip Muffin (Great for using up overripe bananas)

PANCAKE RECIPE SECTION:

The Best Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pancakes

Spiced Apple Pancakes

Gingerbread Pancakes

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Chocolate Pancakes

MISCELLANEOUS RECIPE SECTION:

Egg Free Gluten Free Dairy-Free Breakfast Casserole

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Gluten Free Dairy Free Breakfast Tacos

Gluten Free Vegan Orange Rolls (from a mix!) (can make into cinnamon rolls too!)

Egg-free & Dairy-free Frittata Cups

Bacon Breakfast Potatoes

Buckwheat, SunButter and Banana Waffles

Lemon Bread with Lemon Glaze

Baked Double Chocolate Donuts

Gluten Free Vegan Banana French Toast

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Pumpkin Scones

GLUTEN-FREE DAIRY-FREE STORE BOUGHT ADDITIONS:

Don’t forget to these essentials to round out your brunch offering:

DRINKS

• Safe milk of choice
• Juice (don’t forget the orange juice! Or, make a Miami Vice Smoothie)
• Coffee
• Hot chocolate (if you can’t find a safe one, here’s a slow cooker dairy free hot cocoa)

SIDES:

• Fresh fruit, like: berries, melons, and citrus 
• Protein of choice (bacon, sausage, ham slices–I’ve never had an issue buying protein that has wheat or dairy in it, but be sure to read labels just to be safe)
• Dairy-free yogurt (we like So Delicious and Silk)
• Hashbrowns (be sure to read labels. some do have wheat or dairy)

CARBS:

While gluten-free dairy-free bakery items can be hard to find and expensive, it’s worth noting that they’re there. I would prefer my recipe, but sometimes it’s nice for a guest to be able to bring something that you can trust because it’s store bought and you can read the label, or because sometimes you’re in a pinch.

• Udi’s has gluten-free muffins in the freezer section
• Kinnikinnick Foods has bagels, donuts and muffins in the freezer sections
• Katz Gluten Free has various donuts, pastries and muffins
• Depending on where you live, some grocery stores will have their own brand of gluten-free items (like Aldi’s or Trader Joes)
• Canyon Bakehouse has bagels and English muffins (though, finding a fruity cream cheese spread is difficult. In lieu of this, you can use a “regular” or “plain” flavored dairy-free cream cheese–like Tofutti or Violife and then layer on a sweet jam or jelly on top to sweeten it up.)

And there you have it, the perfect way to kick off the perfect weekend with plenty of brunch options for you to choose from. Your guests will marvel and you’ll all leave full and satisfied.

Don’t forget to pin all of these amazing brunch recipes (that just happen to be gluten free dairy free too!) to Pinterest so that you don’t lose them. While you’re there, check out my other vegan and gluten free boards!