The Ultimate 7-Day Meal Plan for Allergy-Friendly Vacations
UPDATED March 2023
Hey there, I’m Corinna!
I help severe food allergy parents keep their kids safe without missing out on life at home, school, social events, and while traveling. I believe that food allergy families deserve safe & fulfilling life experiences, and it’s my goal to help you get there! I’ve managed food allergies for 16 years and overcome anxiety too.
I’ve helped thousands of food allergy mamas with my free Food Allergy Preschooler’s Empowerment Guide. You can sign up and get ways to help your child get ready for more independence,, PLUS I’ll keep you in the loop about the allergy lifestyle programs I offer and ways to connect with hundreds of other anaphylactic food allergy mamas like you! Hope to see you there!
Our family loves to travel and explore new places. We’ve been to UK, Spain, Italy, France, Ireland, Bahamas, Mexico, and all over Canada and the US with multiple food allergies (all before our kids were teens!). If you want to make your vacation as allergy-friendly and safe as possible, you can learn how we do it in my Food Allergy Travel Workshop.
We love to adventure and go to Disney too, but we sometimes just like to have a slowed-down, do-nothing (except swim and play) vacation too.
For these times, we love to book accommodations with a kitchen and a BBQ available. Of course, we take steps to clean and remove traces of allergens from the accommodation and make sure we have all the cooking essentials we need to avoid cross-contact while on vacation.
In this post, I’m sharing my BEST allergy-friendly vacation meal ideas that we love when we’re having a chill vacation. Read on for these delicious and easy ideas!
Allergy-Friendly Vacation Meal Ideas
(so you don’t have to spend the whole vacay in the kitchen)
If you’re planning a similar vacation, I’ve got the meal ideas you need to make your vacation easy and fun, without spending the whole time in the kitchen! Just scroll down for an abundance of allergy-friendly vacation meal ideas!
We have peanut, and tree nut allergies plus a gluten intolerance; but all of the ideas below will be flexible to remove eggs, milk, peanut, tree nut, and wheat. You may also be able to remove the other top allergens, depending on the products available in the area. ALWAYS double-check that all recipes and products are safe for your allergies.
Allergy-Friendly Breakfast Ideas:
I bring most of these items from home because I can bake them safely and easily transport them in Ziplock containers and freeze them once we arrive. Baked goods are easy to take from Canada into the US (or vice versa) and across international borders too.
If you’re bringing Sun butter or Wow butter, make sure to put it in your checked luggage (unless you pack it in a small container that fits within the liquid restrictions). We learned the hard way that it’s not allowed in carry-on in its regular container.
On our last trip to Mexico, we used a vacuum sealer which was amazing because it kept the baked goods fresh and they didn’t get soggy in the Mexican humidity. Just a note, though, this does squish the food a bit. If you go this route, try freezing the foods first to stop them from becoming too squished.
muffins (bake your own or try Udi’s or Kinnikinnick brands).
pancakes (pre-made plus bring syrup from home)
breakfast bars - Enjoy Life, Made Good and FreeYum are our favorites.
toast with safe bread from home (bring Sunbutter/Wowbutter)
oatmeal - Libre Naturals makes a great allergy-friendly & gluten-free version.
fruit (buy at location)
Allergy-Friendly Vacation Lunch Ideas:
Charcuterie (selection of ham, cured sausages, cheeses (if safe or omit) plus cut-up veggies and fruits. etc).
Add crackers (bring safe ones from home) and Wowbutter/Sunbutter. Just to clarify, I don’t buy the meats and cheeses from the store deli. I will always choose items that have an ingredient label that has been sliced in a factory. Deli meats that are sliced in the store may become cross-contaminated with other allergens.
Rice Noodle Bowls
Bring safe pre-made noodle bowls from home and try adding fresh veggies like green onions, cilantro, lemon juice, shredded carrots, etc. With a little love, boring bowls can become delicious options!
Taco Salad
In the menu below, I suggested tacos for day 2. You can use leftover ground beef from taco night to make a delicious salad. Optional extras: Buy an allergy-safe, pre-made ranch dressing from the grocery store, OR create a quick “ranch vinaigrette” using 1 tbsp white vinegar with 3 tbsp oil plus 1-2 tsp dill and garlic powder and 1-2 tsp fresh parsley plus salt & pepper to taste). If making the ranch vinaigrette, make a double batch if you plan to make the side salad with the shrimp in day 5 below.
Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato Sandwiches - BLAT
This becomes much easier when you make extra bacon when you’re cooking the Lemony Pasta Meal on day 3. Don’t forget to bring allergy-safe bread from home.
Pre-Made Pizza (store-bought, if safe for your allergies)
We have found that we can almost always find an allergy-friendly pizza. If needed, many pizzas in the gluten-free or vegan section may also be safe for most or all of the top allergens, including dairy (but always double-check). We will buy one of these for my daughter and then a regular pizza for the rest of us.
Leftovers
Leftovers are so easy and delicious and make the BEST vacation lunches. I bring a few different sizes of Ziploc containers to keep them until we can gobble them up.
Allergy-Friendly Snack Ideas For Vacation:
See this blog post for a list of 6 more delicious ideas
Tortilla chips + salsa
Made Good, Enjoy Life, OR Free Yumm granola bars
Apple sauce pouches
Super Seedz flavored pumpkin seeds
Mini pepperoni sticks plus crackers (bring allergy-friendly crackers from home)
Your favorite allergy-friendly junk food item (for us it’s potato chips)
Freezie pops
Allergy-Friendly Dinner ideas:
Here’s where we get a little fancier, but just barely. We want food to be simple, safe, and delicious, so we don’t go too crazy. I want to have a vacation too so dinners should be easy peasy.
Keep in mind these amounts are for a family of four. You will have to adjust for your family size.
Day 1: Steak Tenderloin and Roasted Veggies.
Chop root veggies like mushrooms, zucchini, onions, and peppers and put in a foil package with baby potatoes. Drizzle with oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Cook on bbq at medium-high or in the oven at 425 degrees for 30-45 min until vegetables are soft.
Season steak with salt and pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper if you have it. Bbq for 4-5 minutes per side (depending on the thickness and desired doneness). Use foil to cover the bbq for the allergy meal.
Day 2: Ground Beef Tacos.
You’ll find the recipe for the taco beef in my free recipe ebook. You can get it here. .
On vacay, I just use ground beef instead of lentils and I mix the spices before the trip and bring in a small baggie like a homemade taco seasoning. If you have a milk allergy you can omit the cheese and instead top with avocados mashed with salt and lime juice to taste.
Day 3: Lemony Bacon Pasta (bring safe pasta from home) and Salad.
If you have a dairy allergy, omit parmesan OR substitute with 2-3 tbsp of nutritional yeast (bring from home). If you don’t have a safe white wine, substitute with chicken or veggie broth (whichever is safe for your family).
Day 4: Italian Sausage Rice Bowl.
If dairy is an allergy either omit parmesan cheese OR add 2-3 tbsp to taste of nutritional yeast.
Day 5: Easy Shrimp (or Chicken) with a Side Salad.
Marinate 1 lb shrimp (or chicken) in a mixture of 1 tbsp lemon juice plus 2 tbsp oil plus 3-5 cloves minced garlic plus 1/2 tsp salt and pepper (if you’re going to make the meal from day 6, then make double the marinade and store separately in the refrigerator to use tomorrow). Marinate shrimp or chicken for up to an hour. Place in a frying pan with 1-2 tbsp oil at medium-high. Fry just until all shrimp are pink and no longer translucent; then remove from heat. Fry chicken until all traces of pink are gone.
Use bagged salad and dress with additional ranch dressing/vinaigrette used for taco salad in the lunch section above.
Day 6: Chicken Tenders with Fries.
Buy enough chicken fillets from the meat department to feed your family. Marinate for a minimum of 1 hour in the rest of the marinade from day 5. Grill or bake until the juices run clear. Dip in a safe sweet and sour sauce OR sweet Thai chili sauce or leftover ranch dressing vinaigrette.
Bake frozen french fries on a cookie sheet as per package directions. Serve with ketchup or the same dip as above.
Day 7: Hamburgers with Caramelized Onions and Raw Veggies or Fruits.
If you have egg, dairy, or wheat allergy, specifically look for “all beef” patties made only with meat and no fillers - sometimes found in the meat department. Bring a safe bun from home, or omit the burger bun altogether. Look for small packets of ketchup and other desired condiments while out and about so you don’t have to buy a whole bottle of ketchup!
Chop a large onion into rings. Fry with some oil, and a little sugar or balsamic vinegar until brown and caramelized (about 7-10 minutes). Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan if the onions are drying out and still need a longer cooking time. Use to top burgers as well as other fixings like tomato, cheese (if safe), and lettuce.
What’s for Dessert?
We love to let our kids have a few more treats than usual on vacation. There’s nothing worse than seeing all the goodies around a vacation resort and not allowing my daughter to have ANY of them. Because of this, we ALWAYS bring some safe treats from home.
We usually take my daughter to the grocery store before we leave home and let her peruse the candy aisle. She chooses 2-3 things that she REALLY wants (and maybe I don’t normally buy them because they’re treats). These items will serve as her dessert and treats throughout the trip. Other things we might bring are pre-packaged, safe cookies.
Get It On Your Allergy Meal Plan
Now that you have a bunch of allergy-friendly vacation meal ideas, you’ll want to get it all onto a meal plan that you can bring with you so you know exactly what to pack and buy when you get there.
The cool thing is that once you have this meal plan completed, you can reuse it for every vacation! This makes planning simpler and saves hours before EVERY vacation. Imagine not having to worry about what to pack for food!
You can grab the exact Vacation Meal Plan Template as well as the whole food allergy travel planning package we use for all of our trips when you enroll in my Food Allergy Travel Workshop.
5 Simple Steps to Complete Your Ultimate Allergy-Friendly Vacation Meal Plan
1. Simply fill in the days you’ll be away and the dinners you plan to make using the ideas above. If you’re going somewhere that has many allergy-friendly restaurants and you know you’ll be eating out a lot (i.e. Disneyland or Disney World), you can even stretch the 7-day meal plan out to two weeks.
2. Print the recipes you need and attach them to the meal plan.
3. Enter ALL the ingredients into the list (even the ones you’ll be bringing from home). Highlight the ones you will bring from home.
4. Go back and decide on your breakfast and lunch items and add those ingredients to the grocery list. Don’t forget snacks!
5. Use this master list to pack everything you’ll need from home and have a list of what to buy when you get there.
Pro Tip - KEEP this same meal plan and reuse it over and over. Put it in a plastic “page protector” and just make a copy of it for every vacation. OR If you have an iPhone, take a picture of the meal plan. Cross things off right on the pic with the edit —> markup feature on your phone. This way you don’t have to bring the physical copy with you. Using either of these methods, you’ll never have to plan meals for vacation AGAIN!!
Conclusion
Now that’s what I call a vacation! Having everything planned so all you need to do is shop once and then you can enjoy your vacation to the fullest.
If you want more ways to simplify and make your allergy-friendly vacation safer and easier, check out my Food Allergy Travel Workshop. You’ll get all my best tips after traveling around the world with multiple severe food allergies and all the trip planners and packing lists you need for your food allergy family.
What do you think? Will this meal plan make your vacation easier? Let me know in the comments.
