Missing pasta, rice, & cereal while on the Autoimmune Protocol? These Grain Substitutes on the Paleo AIP will help you enjoy your diet again!
Sometimes another side of broccoli or roasted sweet potatoes just doesn’t cut it for your Autoimmune Protocol diet. I totally get it! Meal burnout is a real thing, sister.
In fact, food monotony and nostalgic cravings are two of the top reasons for falling off the dietary part of the protocol. I hear it loud and clear from nearly all of my AIP coaching clients in our initial discovery sessions: “I am so sick of X Y Z and I just want pizza / spaghetti / cereal / insert favorite carb-y craving here!!”
Let my healthy swaps nix that hankering for the foods that you miss so that you won’t fall off of the AIP elimination wagon, my friend. Read on!
Veggie Noodles
You’ve likely heard of these already, and I’d bet you’ve already eaten at least 5 bowlfuls of “zoodles” (the cute nickname for spiralized zucchini) if you’ve been using Grain Substitutes on the Paleo AIP for a hot minute. I thought they would still be worth a mention even though they are quite common.
Veggie noodles are placed here at the top of my grain-free list since getting our nutrition from whole foods that are factory-processed as little as possible is one of the goals of the AIP. I am still a big fan of spiralized produce of all sorts! You can not only spiralize zucchini, but also sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, apples, you name it! The more firm the piece of fruit or veggie, the easier it is to spiralize.
Don’t own a spiralizer? You can grate your veggies instead on a cheese grater and get little “orzo” shaped veggie pasta this way, or slice them into matchstick shapes for mock “egg noodles!”
Here’s a popular casserole of mine that uses a spiralized veggie.
Baking Flours
The great news about being on the Paleo AIP in this day and age is there are so many baking flour alternatives! You can make breads, cookies, pastry, crumbles, breading – you name it – thanks to the wide variety of pantry staples available.
Here are some of my favorite AIP baked treats which use alternative flours.
Below is a list of the grain-free flours I keep on hand in my kitchen at all times for creating various baked confections:
- Cassava flour
- Coconut flour
- Tigernut flour
- Arrowroot starch (aka arrowroot flour)
- Tapioca starch (aka tapioca flour)
- Green banana flour
Sweet potato flour and plantain flour are also worth a mention. Though I don’t use these very often as they are more costly and not widely available. Also, not many recipes I’ve found online or in cookbooks use them.
Sweet Potato Pasta or Cassava Pasta
Whether you choose Japchae (a Korean sweet potato starch noodle), Slimdown 360 pasta made with sweet potato fiber, or Jovial cassava pasta (my personal favorite), you’ll be in authentic, starchy noodle heaven!
I consider these pastas to be great for an occasional treat, rather than used as a daily staple. They are more costly and are less-nutrient dense than home-spiralized veggies, but when you really want that true noodle experience, I say go for a box and enjoy life!! They all have a genuine pasta mouth feel, texture, and flavor to them and are super special.
Cauliflower Rice or Plantain Rice
Looking for a rice substitute? Look no further than riced cauliflower or riced plantain.
Pre-packaged cauliflower rice (fresh or frozen) can have a slightly sulfuric flavor to it since manufacturers tend to use the whole head – stem and all. The stem is the tough and more flavor-rich part. Opting to use just the florets and grating or food processing your own cauli rice at home will lend you a milder, less sulfuric, and more neutral-flavored rice substitute.
If you’re in need of a sticky rice substitute, try using grated plantain flesh instead of white rice! It holds together a lot like sushi rice, and is great for using as a filling for sushi handrolls or to serve a rounded scoop alongside tropical fare like kalua pork with green onions and coleslaw. (Try this ginger dressing for your next batch of coleslaw – you’ll love how zingy it is!)
Both cauli rice and plantain rice should be cooked before eating, and can be sauted, steamed, microwaved, or baked.
Tigernut Muesli
Wait…something I don’t have to cook myself!? YES, PLEASE.
This tigernut muesli by AIPeazy is one of my favorite AIP products to come about. All I have to do is pour the muesli into a cereal bowl, add coconut milk or my homemade tigernut milk, and boom. An instant, tasty, nostalgic breakfast, snack, or treat that I can eat with a spoon!
Prefer to make your own grain-free snack? I’ve got you covered with my AIP Trail Mix Bark.
Grain-Free Cereal
This is officially my FAVORITE AIP product ever to hit online shelves!
Lovebird cereal-free “cereal” is so authentic (think of that oat-laden o’s cereal from your childhood). It’s an instant pick-me-up snack that reminds me of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid while sitting on the floor eating my bowl of “happy-o’s.”
I love them so much that I even made an AIP grain-free granola recipe using a box of Lovebird.
Which one of these Grain Substitutes on the Paleo AIP sounds the most comforting to you?
Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear which one is your favorite
