If you have celiac disease and are interested in a trip to New Zealand, but are worried about finding gluten free foods in NZ- don’t be concerned. I have celiac disease and recently spent three weeks road-tripping around the South Island.
Numerous quality gluten free products were found during my shopping at grocery stores like New World, FreshChoice, and Countdown in New Zealand, and I`m sharing my favorites so you can enjoy them too on your upcoming trip.
I will mention that, as someone with celiac disease exploring New Zealand’s South Island, I found it challenging to find celiac friendly eateries outside of Queenstown, Wanaka, and Christchurch (though Nelson was acceptable). That implies you’ll be cooking for yourself – which is great for two reasons. First, it’s more affordable than dining out. Second, it takes control of your health and eliminates the probability of getting gluten exposure on vacation, which nobody desires. Be certain to book lodgings with cooking facilities, and I recommend purchasing your own cookware and dishes when you arrive to eliminate cross-contamination. You can find cookware and dishes at “The Warehouse” – a shopping centre resembling Walmart/Target in New Zealand.
To explore the gluten free dining options at eateries in New Zealand, check out my guide to Gluten Free Wanaka and Gluten Free Queenstown.
If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand, check out my guide to Gluten Free New Zealand and my trip recap for an idea of budget, itinerary, and other gluten free travel tips for New Zealand.
Also check out my 10 strategies for Fearless Gluten Free Travel to help you navigate exploring with celiac disease anywhere worldwide.
My Favorite Gluten Free Foods I found at Grocery Stores in NZ
New Zealand is a paradise for people with celiac disease looking for gluten free items – clear labeling and many options make it easy for us. Here are some of the best products I found during our three week road trip around the South Island, where we cooked for ourselves around 90% of the time.
Whitestone Cheese: Award-winning local cheese from New Zealand`s South Island available at New World and Fresh Choice supermarkets. We sampled many varieties throughout our trip (we enjoy cheese, sue us) like the Probiotic Camembert, Haloumi, and Feta. They offer an endless assortment of regional cheeses. Bonus: They have a cheese tasting room at the Wet Jacket winery just outside of Queenstown. Worth a visit! You can tour their factory in Oamaru with cheese tastings.
Pic’s Peanut Butter: This brand offers quality peanut butter that is gluten free. They additionally make Boysenberry Jelly, which had an excellent flavor and combined nicely with many of the cheeses from Whitestone that we sampled. It can be found at most of the grocery stores we visited. Gluten Free.
Lisa’s Hummus & Spreads: You can dip the Peckish Crackers into one of their hummus’ or spreads, or use it as a topping for your sandwich. They provide many different and interesting flavors to select from. The Pumpkin & Kumara was our top choice, and the Pumpkin with Chunky Basil Pesto was a wonderful sandwich spread. You can find them at all three of the primary grocery chains. Gluten Free.
Barker’s Sauces: During our initial shopping excursion, we picked up the “Really Useful Chipotle” sauce. Later we tried the Central Otago Plum and Harissa varieties as well. They offer a wide selection of flavors to choose from, and the sauces can be applied to stir-fries, sandwiches, or consumed straight from the container. Don’t pass judgement. Most are gluten free (double check the back panel – the salsa was the only one I discovered was NOT gluten free). The Plum and Chipotle were quite good, but the Harissa had an excess of liquid and I wouldn`t purchase it again.
Tio Pablo: This company offers authentic Mexican staple foods within New Zealand. We kept corn tortillas and pepita salsa on hand regularly, perfect for tacos. We prepared tacos at least 5 times during our trip since they make for an easy meal after extensive daily exploration. Breakfast, chicken and veggie tacos sufficed. Available at select FreshChoice and New World supermarkets, as well as Soul Food stores in Wanaka and Queenstown.
San Remo Wheat-Free Pasta: Meals can be easily prepared after a lengthy day. A variety of gluten free pasta options can be found at all major New Zealand grocery stores, but this selection was the best. Ceres Organics Wheat-Free Spaghetti was also excellent but harder to locate, so stock up when seen! Barilla was the only pasta sauce seen labeled as gluten free.
Hansell’s Soups: Shelf-stable soups ideal for road trips! We tried the Thai Pumpkin as a side for one of our stir fry dinners and found it to be great! Extremely easy – just toss in a pot, heat, and enjoy. Not all are gluten-free (notably the Miso Soup), though most are and indicate so on the front of the package.
An excellent gluten free food option we discovered in New Zealand was Heller’s Meat & Veggie Sausages. We kept these in our refrigerator during our whole trip as they were truly outstanding among the gluten free foods available. They ingeniously combine meat like pork, chicken or beef together with vegetables to create delicious sausages. The Sunday Roast Chicken variety was our favorite. When cutting into them you would find whole peas or carrot pieces inside. We enjoyed using them in stir frys and on pasta, or even as a complete meal. We purchased them from New World and FreshChoice grocery stores. They are gluten free and Heller`s also offers a selection of non-veggie sausages without gluten as well as some good gluten free lunch meats for sandwiches.
Freedom Farms: These meat products we sampled were the finest we tried, and their message is also notable! Why shouldn`t farm animals have pleasant lives? The Manuka honey ham was superb – get it for sandwiches to bring along on all the hikes or excursions you`ll likely be doing! Check out their sausages too, though I only spotted them once during the entire trip.
Gluten Free Snacks to Fuel Your NZ Adventures
PopFiction Popcorn: We obtained this at our initial stop and retained some on hand as a ideal driving snack for the rest of the excursion. The Cheddar and Bit-O-Butter were equally pleasing. Gluten Free.
Bumper Bliss Balls: A great hiking snack. These portable snack balls are crafted from dates and nuts, plus some flavoring. The Apricot Almond version was quite pleasing (better than the Cacao Vanilla, which had a distinct alcoholic taste. As someone with extensive experience working in the food industry, I feel like that’s an easy fix!). Apparently they also produce brownies, bars, and sticks, but I only ever saw the balls. Found at all major supermarkets. Gluten Free and tasty.
Tom & Luke’s SnackaBalls: Evidently Kiwis enjoy their date and nut-based balls! These are very comparable to the Bumper Bliss and Frooze Balls (another remarkably similar product), just a somewhat alternate version. Made from whole foods and gluten free. Loved the Lemon Coconut and Chocolate Mint.
Leda Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies: Gluten Free chocolate chip cookies that are crunchy and crispy. Enough said. I found them at New World and FreshChoice and devoured two packs in 20 days.
The Best Gluten Free Crackers I Found in NZ
Peckish Gluten Free Crackers: Great crispy rice-based gluten free crackers in an assortment of flavors. Perfect for a DIY cheese plate. Herb and Garlic and Paprika were the effective flavors.
Fantastic, Easy-to-Find Gluten Free Sourdough Bread
Gluten Freedom Bread: The finest gluten free bread I tried in NZ. It’s described as “artisan sourdough” (their words not mine) and it’s excellent. Honestly, I’d have difficulty identifying it as gluten free if it was a blind tasting. It comes in intriguing flavors like Cracked Black Rice & Polenta and Sweet Potato Sourdough. They also have gluten free pizza crusts and hamburger buns. We bought it at New World, FreshChoice, and Countdown (they all had a different selection though). Grab some of their gluten free sourdough bread for sandwiches on your NZ adventure.
Gluten Free Chocolate
I can’t live without some delightful dark chocolate, and when I travel, I try to find the best local gluten free chocolate to enjoy as a treat after supper. Or for breakfast. Or lunch. All three, maybe?
A notification: Most of the chocolate I came across in NZ was indeed not gluten free, because it is manufactured on the same apparatus as gluten-containing chocolates. Isn’t it nice to not have to worry about that?
- Enjoy lunch or dinner at Drop, a 100% gluten-free restaurant and one of my favorite gluten-free eateries in all Europe!
- See if you can catch a performance at the Budapest Opera House.
That’s the conclusion of your travel! Head back to the Ferry Terminal (same location you arrived at) and take the ferry returning to Seattle.
Do you have a favorite gluten free NZ product? Let me know in the comments and I will add it to the list!
