Cooking for a family with allergies or special diets

Updated November 9, 2026

When one person is allergic to nuts, another doesn't eat meat and the youngest refuses anything with onion, it can feel like cooking three dinners. Usually one is enough — if you agree on some rules and pick meals that are easy to adapt.

This guide is about organising cooking at home. It isn't a substitute for advice from a doctor or allergist. If an allergy is severe, discuss the diet and what to do in case of a reaction with a specialist.

Step 1. One shared list of restrictions

For each person in the family, write down what they can't eat and what they simply don't like, and split it into three groups:

• Allergy — not even traces; everything matters: ingredients, utensils, frying oil.
• Intolerance or diet — for example lactose, gluten, vegetarian: the food is left out, but traces are usually not dangerous (check with a doctor).
• Tastes — "no onion", "nothing spicy": these can be served on the side.

Keep the list where everyone who cooks can see it: on the fridge, in a shared note or in an app.

Step 2. Meals that suit everyone

It's easiest when the base of a meal contains none of the allergens on the list and everything else is added separately. These adapt well:

• roast meat or fish with vegetables and potatoes;
• soups where everyone adds their own cream, cheese or herbs;
• rice bowls and tacos: a shared base and separate toppings;
• porridge and grains with different toppings;
• pasta with an allergen-free sauce and cheese on the side.

If a meal can be made allergen-free for everyone without losing flavour, make it for everyone. That's safer than a separate portion.

Step 3. Cross-contact

With an allergy, even traces of a food can be a problem. At home, a few simple rules help:

1. Cook the allergen-free portion first, then the rest.
2. Use a separate board and knife, or wash them thoroughly between foods.
3. Don't fry in oil that has already been used for the allergen.
4. Label containers of cooked food, especially when several people cook.

Step 4. Read the labels

In the EU and the UK, manufacturers must highlight 14 major allergens in the ingredients: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soya, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. "May contain traces" matters if someone has an allergy. Recipes of the same product can change, so check the label even on things you buy every week.

How Panilo does it

In Panilo you add the people you cook for once — kids, adults, grandma — and mark their allergies and dislikes. Every suggested recipe is checked ingredient by ingredient against the restrictions of everyone who'll eat it, and the app learns tastes and meals people are tired of. Panilo can make mistakes, so with a serious allergy, always check the ingredients yourself.

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