Finding low fodmap foods that you love enough to crave might sound impossible, but it’s achievable with just a few ingredient swaps in your kitchen. The key to any diet is a balanced diet that doesn’t make you feel like you’re depriving yourself, and this is no different.
The low fodmap diet has become an increasingly popular method of managing irritable bowel syndrome and other functional gastrointestinal disorders, or FGID. The low-fodmap diet approach works by eliminating high-fodmap foods, but it doesn’t last forever.
Eventually, you’ll reintroduce foods to determine how they impact your IBS symptoms. This makes pinpointing what food groups are causing your gastrointestinal symptoms easier.
We’re sharing our favorite tips, tricks, and recipes to satisfy every type of craving on the low-fodmap diet so you can be successful while still eating what you want!
Low Fodmap Savory Comfort Foods
Pasta Alternatives
The world of pasta has come a long way in recent years, which is great news for anyone wanting savory food on a low fodmap diet. Using low-fodmap food to make pasta makes it easy to enjoy your favorite Italian dish without straying from the low-fodmap diet.
Chickpea pasta is one of the most popular options found at the grocery store that’s low in FODMAPs. Banza and Barilla offer chickpea pasta in various shapes and sizes to use in whatever recipe your heart desires. Soba noodles are made of buckwheat, which is another ingredient low in FODMAPs.
Quinoa pasta is a little harder to find, but most health food and organic-focused stores carry it in at least one brand. If you don’t mind a slightly different texture, try rice noodles! Typically located with the Asian ingredients, Vietnamese rice noodles do a fantastic job taking on the flavor of whatever sauce they’re served with.
Spaghetti squash is our final hidden gem for curing comfort food cravings while sticking to the diet. It’s simple to prepare, and you get many servings for a very low price point compared to other low fodmap pasta options.
No Fodmap Rice
Rice is an important part of lots of savory recipes, but it must contain FODMAPs, right? Wrong! White, brown, and basmati rice are free of FODMAPs. Stock up on your preferred type of rice for a quick, easy, and filling addition to any meal so you’re never left feeling hungry or unsatisfied.
Recipes for Comfort Food Cravings
As the low-fodmap diet grows in popularity, more people share their favorite recipes online! If you have a specific comfort food craving, chances are, there’s a low fodmap recipe just a short internet search away.
This chili mac is one of our favorite filling and crowd-pleasing low-fodmap recipes. Stuffed zucchini boats are a fun way to change up your weeknight dinner routine, or you can keep things classic with a low fodmap spaghetti sauce with your preferred pasta.
This low fodmap alfredo sauce is so good it stays in the recipe vault even when we aren’t eating low fodmap! Finally, slow cooker beef and potato stew is a stick-to-you-ribs kind of meal that you can prepare early and let cook all day for rich, savory flavors.
If you prefer to meal plan a bit more freely, you can do that while eating low fodmap foods! Stock your kitchen with your favorite low-fodmap proteins, vegetables, and bases like rice or low-fodmap pasta. Avoid processed and marinated meats, read ingredient labels, and start cooking! Cooking is the most challenging during the elimination phase of the low fodmap diet, but it will get easier over time.
Low Fodmap Sweets & Treats
Alternative & Natural Sweeteners
The base of any tasty dessert is a sweetener, but you’ll have to avoid processed sweeteners, including high fructose corn syrup and sugar alcohols like mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol, if you want to be successful on the low fodmap diet.
Luckily, there are plenty of sweeteners to cure your sweet tooth and fit into the diet. Pure cane sugar is the most popular type of sweetener, and it just so happens to be low fodmap too! Confectioners sugar, pure maple syrup, and palm sugar are a few other options.
Coconut and brown sugar can be enjoyed in moderation, but having more than a 1 tablespoon serving can have negative effects on your low fodmap diet.
Milk Alternatives
Another common ingredient in baking and dessert recipes is milk. Traditional cow’s milk is a high fodmap food, but you have options.
Lactose-free milk is suitable for the low fodmap diet as long as you don’t suffer from dairy intolerance. If you experience negative symptoms after consuming lactose-free products, you should consider eliminating dairy from your diet and consulting with a dietitian.
Almonds, quinoa, macadamia, hemp, and rice milk are all low fodmap alternatives that can be found in most grocery stores. Pea milk made from pea protein is another choice, but beware, whole pea milk is not low fodmap! Always check the nutrition label to ensure it’s made of pea protein. The same rule applies to soy milk made from soy protein.
Coconut milk is a bit of a gray area. It can be okay in small servings but quickly goes into moderate or high fodmap territory, so it would be our last choice for a low fodmap milk alternative.
Flour Alternatives
There’s a common misconception that all gluten-free flours are low fodmap. Unfortunately, that’s not true. The best flour alternatives to use for making desserts, bread, and a variety of other dishes include quinoa, corn, millet, rice, buckwheat, sorghum, and teff.
Bob’s Red Mill is a super-reliable brand for low fodmap flours that isn’t hard to find. It can be easily ordered online if it isn’t at your local grocery store.
Dessert Recipes
It isn’t surprising that a lot of desserts include high fodmap foods. That doesn’t mean you can’t indulge during your low-fodmap diet, though! Finding premade desserts made exclusively with low fodmap foods is a serious feat, but making your own sweet treats offers never-ending variety during your diet.
From classic chocolate chip cookies or banana bread to a tangy lemon bar, your imagination is the only limit to low fodmap sweets. If you want something decadent without being too sweet, these chocolate and strawberry Magnum bars will surely become an instant favorite.
Don’t be afraid to change up recipes you already love to make them fit the diet too! For example, this sticky toffee pudding isn’t low fodmap but can easily become fodmap-friendly with a few ingredient changes.
Brownies are another timeless dessert that comes together quickly with low fodmap ingredients. It’s easy to make a big batch too, so they’re perfect for a potluck.
Finally, flourless chocolate cake is the gut-health-friendly dessert we’ve all been dreaming of. Dust the cake with powdered sugar and top with low fodmap fruits like strawberries or raspberries for a stunning, all-natural garnish.
Low Fodmap Breads & Cheeses
Bread Options
Let’s be honest; we can’t talk about cravings without mentioning the worst of them all, bread! From the free bread baskets at restaurants to the loaves in your pantry, bread is a carb-heavy, delicious food people have turned to for comfort for centuries.
There are very few bread options that have been certified low FODMAP. Luckily, almost every gluten-free or white bread type is low fodmap if you only have one slice. You should always check the ingredient label for high fodmap additives before eating, like high fructose corn syrup, especially if you’re in America.
Cobs Bread and Schar are certified low fodmap bread brands if you want to enjoy bread without the stress of checking ingredient labels.
Cheeses
If you’ve thought eating a low fodmap diet means eliminating all dairy foods, think again! There is a huge selection of cheeses that you can add to meals and keep on hand for a delicious snack when the mood strikes without consuming too many FODMAPs.
Some of the most popular low fodmap cheese options are:
- Colby
- Havarti
- Cheddar
- Cream cheese – avoid products that are flavored or “light.”
- Gouda
- Monterey jack
- Mozzarella
- Swiss
- Parmesan
- Brie
- Bleu cheese
Tips for Low Fodmap Shopping
If you’re having a serious hankering for one type of food, our policy is simple; cure the craving by feeding it. While that doesn’t mean you can’t eat whatever you want and still be on the low fodmap diet, it does mean you can find delicious alternatives that offer similar flavors and textures to what you’re craving.
When you’re shopping, take your time reading ingredient labels. Familiarize yourself with popular ingredients that are considered high fodmap foods, like high fructose corn syrup, lactose, garlic, and onions. If the thought of standing in a grocery store while you inspect food labels feels too overwhelming, the world of online grocery shopping is a major asset! Order your groceries for pickup or delivery so you can spend as much time as you’d like reviewing food labels before you buy.
Key Takeaways
- Sticking to the low-fodmap diet doesn’t require you to give up the high-fodmap food cravings you love.
- It just requires a little adjustment to turn those high-fodmap flavors into low-fodmap alternatives.
- Learning how to read nutrition labels and put the diet into action effectively may feel like a huge leap from how you’re currently eating, but you’ll get there with one fodmap-friendly choice at a time.