You may remember from my last health update that I am following a low histamine diet in addition to being gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free. It has been a challenging eight months, but I am managing. I have rounded up some recipes that I have enjoyed during this process and that I have found really helpful. Some of these require minor modifications, but if you’re on a low histamine diet, you’re probably really familiar with modifying recipes. Everything freezes and reheats (if needed) well, unless noted.
I pretty much only eat chicken and every once in a while, turkey. I live in a landlocked state, so fresh fish is not necessarily readily available, and I wouldn’t know who to trust to supply fish that has been frozen shortly after being caught. On the same token, I don’t know who to trust to not hang their beef and offer fresh quality cuts. So, I’m in all poultry-only diet for the time being.
Before I get started, my most common recipe substitutions include:
- Baking Powder – Trader Joe’s Aluminum Free Baking Powder
- Butter -> I make my own. See below
- Eggs -> Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. I can’t tolerate real eggs, so this does the trick for me
- Flour -> Gluten Free Flour – I seem to tolerate this one really well and the price point can’t be beat
- Self-Rising Flour -> I make my own. See below
- Milk -> I make my own. See below
- Oats -> Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Oats
- Oils -> Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Organic Coconut Oil (Refined or Unrefined depending on the recipe)
- Pasta -> Aldi’s Gluten Free Rotini or Penne. It is made from rice and quinoa
- Salt -> Pink Himalayan Salt
- Sugar -> Aldi’s Raw Unfiltered Honey, Aldi’s 100% Pure Maple Syrup, or Monkfruit Sweetener
Bread
- Pita Bread – This is such a good recipe. So far, it is my second favorite out of all of the recipes I have tried for bread. It does call for Expandex modified tapioca starch, however I used Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour with good results. Perhaps because I do not use real eggs, or perhaps due to the change in tapioca flour, mine do not rise as much as the recipe photos, but I do not mind
- Flat Bread
- Focaccia – I don’t know why the sparkling water works, but it does, and this is my favorite recipe. Ever since I discovered it, I make it and keep in the freezer in small portions. It reheats really well, I just put it in our toaster oven frozen for a few minutes and it tastes just as good as the day I baked it
- Naan – These are easy and delicious
- Oat Bread – I’ve only made it once and it did not rise. It was a very flat dense bread, but man, did it taste good. I will for sure try it again and report back on my results
- Sweet Potato Rolls – I am not a fan of sweet potatoes, but these turned out really good. The last batch I made I added some honey and I liked it. I want to make them again using a dash of maple syrup instead to see how they turn out
Breakfast
- açaí Bowls – açaí bowls have never been my favorite, and these tasted like they were missing a little something (maybe the banana and other yummy fruit toppings), and the fact that I also had to skip the sunbutter. I still do make it from time to time and freeze in ready to eat portions. Topped with the homemade granola does help. If you like açaí bowls, I’d give this one a try
- Blueberry Muffins – This one can be considered a dessert, but I listed it as a breakfast because they did not turn out to be as sweet as I would have liked to find them a satisfactory dessert. I used honey as a sweetener, and maybe next time I need to add a little more
- Blueberry Scones – Even with all of my substitutions (milk, butter, eggs, sugar), they turned out really good. I overcooked them a little, but that’s on me. I can’t wait to make them again
- Granola – I really like this granola. I make it without cashews (I can’t tolerate them), but I didn’t miss them. It is super tasty. I can’t tolerate yogurt of any kind, but this would be so good on a parfait
- Oat Pancakes – I omitted the cinnamon, but added frozen blueberries to the mix. I loved it, maybe next time I’ll add a different fruit I like to make extra and freeze them
- Pancakes – These are so good. I like to make extra and freeze them, as well
Dessert
- Blueberry Cookies – Mine have never turned out as beautiful as the recipe photos, but they taste so good! I omit the chocolate chips (bummer!!)
- Blueberry Muffins – These are my favorite out of all of the recipes I have tried for blueberry muffins. I omitted the lemon zest, and while it would have been delicious, I did not miss it
- Blueberry Oat Muffins – These are a little denser than the ones above, and they’re more filling. I find that to be a plus when I’m still hungry after a meal. These would also work well for breakfast since they’re filling
- Cookies – I can’t even describe these cookies. They’re so amazing!
- Honey Oat Muffins – I made these recently and they weren’t as sweet as I could have hoped. They still tasted good, so next time I’ll try them again with a little extra honey
- Red Velvet Cake – This is heavenly. I baked the batter as cupcakes, to be able to freeze in portions a little easier. It is my favorite dessert to date, but I’m still unsure why this is considered a low histamine recipe. It has cocoa powder and vinegar. However, it does not give me a bad reaction, so I try to make it every once in a while, and limit how much of it I’m having at a time. I could and would eat this every day all day if I could. I do reduce the amount of cocoa and omit the frosting (no dairy for me)
How beautiful is this? 
Entrees
- Chicken
- Ginger Chicken Pilaf Tray Bake – I omitted the cardamom, black pepper, and bell peppers. I added some green beans, but next time I’m substitute with a different vegetable
- Greek-Inspired Chicken Pasta- Recipe coming soon
- Italian Chicken – Since I tolerate dried herbs well, I buy the Italian seasoning mix from Aldi. I then add some dried parsley and salt. I coat my chicken with the mix and pan sear it. I serve it any of my favorite sides
- Nuggets, Recipe One – I omit the paprika (can’t tolerate it), but it was still a good recipe
- Nuggets, Recipe Two – I omit the paprika, cayenne, and black pepper
- Tenders – No paprika, no black pepper, no eggs. I just tossed the chicken in a little bit of oil before hand to help the breading stick. This was my favorite way to make comfort food. I haven’t tried breading first and then freezing. I’m not sure how that would turn out. I might try it some time and air fry them while they’re still frozen
- Vegetarian
- Garlic Basil Pasta – great lunch option as it is quick and easy
- Butternut Squash Pasta – See sauce recipe below
Homemade
- Butter – I keep mine in the freezer and just use it as needed. I also add a pinch of turmeric for a little bit of color
- Greek Seasoning – I omit the Lemon Pepper and Cornstarch. I do sometimes add a pinch of Dill
- Instant Pot Apple Butter – I recently made this and it came out a little runnier than I’d like it to be. I’ll have to try it again when I run out. I made mine using maple syrup and omitted the spices (cinnamon and cloves). This is delicious with some bread. I recently had it with the oat bread, and it was so good
- Instant Pot Blueberry Jam – This one seemed a little counterintuitive for me, but it uses honey as a sweetener, no preservatives, and no lime/lemon juice. As usual, leftovers can be frozen in small ready to eat portions. I love using silicone molds. This is great to have on hand and pair with toast
- Oat Milk, Recipe One
- Oat Milk, Recipe Two – I like this recipe better, but it is a personal preference. I do omit the sweetener and vanilla since I use this for all of my cooking recipes I don’t want to alter the flavors. I also scoop the ground oats that are left over and have those with some sweetener and chopped fruit. So no waste here
- Self-Rising Flour
- Taco Seasoning – I liked the flavor this gave to the ground chicken, but then I struggled to make tacos since I can have no cheese, no salsa, no sour cream, no guacamole. I still haven’t found a way to eat Mexican food in a creative way
Salads
- Not much to offer here. I usually just have chopped lettuce, cucumbers, and artichoke hearts with olive oil, salt and a dash of garlic powder. I haven’t gotten around to trying new dressings as everything I find has some sort of vinegar or citrus. Hopefully soon I can come up with some delicious
Sauces
- Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce – This is such a good sauce. It makes me feel like I’m eating my own healthy version of Mac-and-cheese-just visually, it doesn’t taste like cheese. I omitted the black pepper
Side Dishes
- Corn Bread Muffins
- Corn-on-the-Cob – I usually just microwave mine. This way for chucked corn, or this way for corn still in its husk.
- Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts – I omit the paprika. If I’m in a rush, I will follow the recipe but instead of baking, I will pan sear the Brussels sprouts until they’re bright green in color
- Rice or Pasta – My favorite is Jasmine Rice that I buy from Aldi and the Pasta I use is the Gluten Free Pasta from Aldi, as well. Each cooked to packaging instructions and served with chicken and vegetables
- Sweet Potato Tots – Sweet potatoes are not my favorite thing to eat, but these are not bad (no ketchup, though)
- Vegetables (green beans, broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, etc.) sautéed with Italian seasoning, greek seasoning or just plain chopped garlic and salt
- Yuca – I am still unsure how my body reacts to yuca. Some days it’s great, others it’s questionable. I usually just boil it until it’s soft. It is usually a little dry so I chop up some fresh parsley, cilantro, and garlic and mix it all with some olive oil and drizzle it on top of the yuca. I like to pair it with the Italian chicken
I still have quite a few recipes saved on Pinterest that I haven’t tried yet, but I look forward to making them soon. Do you have any low histamine recipes that I should try?