Understanding Our Dietary Tags

We tag every recipe to help you quickly find meals that work for your dietary needs. Here's what each tag means and what to watch for.

Important: We do our best to tag recipes accurately based on the ingredients listed. However, ingredients from different brands can vary. If you have a food allergy or sensitivity, always check the labels on the specific items you're using. When in doubt, skip it.

Gluten-Friendly

This recipe is made without ingredients that typically contain gluten (wheat, barley, rye). No pasta, no flour, no bread. However, we use the word "friendly" rather than "free" because some canned and packaged items — especially canned soups, sauces, and seasoned beans — may contain gluten depending on the brand.

If you have celiac disease or a serious gluten sensitivity, check every label. Look for "wheat" or "wheat flour" in the ingredients list, or look for a "Gluten-Free" certification on the packaging.

Dairy-Free

This recipe contains no milk, butter, cheese, cream, or cream-based products like cream of mushroom soup. Note that some canned items and non-dairy alternatives may contain trace dairy — check labels if you have a severe allergy.

Vegetarian

This recipe contains no meat or fish. It may contain eggs, dairy, or honey.

Vegan

This recipe contains no animal products at all — no meat, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey.

Egg-Free

This recipe does not use eggs as an ingredient.

Nut-Free

This recipe does not use peanuts, peanut butter, tree nuts, or nut-based products.

The "Contains" Line

Every recipe also lists the major allergens it contains, based on FDA guidelines. These are: Dairy, Eggs, Gluten (Wheat), Peanuts/Tree Nuts, Fish, Soy, Shellfish, and Sesame.

If a recipe contains an allergen but can be modified to avoid it, we include a note in the recipe explaining how. Look for notes like "Egg-free?" or "Gluten-friendly version" at the bottom of each recipe.