Birthdays are such important milestones, and it’s fun to have a special celebration! If you have food allergies to think about, it can be daunting to plan a party that’s safe and inclusive. It doesn’t have to be difficult! Take a look at my best tips and plan your next allergy friendly party the easy way.
As a mom to a teenager with food allergies, we’ve thrown our share of birthday parties through the years. Not only for my son, who is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, and sesame, but for other family members as well. We always make sure that our parties are safe for my son. So that’s a lot of allergy friendly celebrations over the years!
I know it can be tricky to figure out how to celebrate in a fun and safe way, especially if your guests have different allergies or dietary needs than you do.
Here’s what I’ve learned over the years, as well as how we currently do parties at our house.
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Identify the Food Allergies and the Comfort Level
Figure out what the comfort level is for you and for your guests. For us, we follow the same rules that we do everyday. We don’t do shared lines or facilities for any of my son’s allergens. We also don’t try out new foods on the day of a celebration. There’s no reason to take a chance.
If you have guests with different allergies, you will need to ask them what their comfort level is. Everyone is different! It’s smart to ask these questions well in advance of the party. If you’re serving food that you make, ask if your guests are comfortable with that. They may prefer to bring their own food, or stick to prepackaged, allergy safe items.
Practice New Recipes in Advance
If you’re going to try a new recipe for the party, take a practice run well in advance. It can be hard to adapt a new dessert for your needs, so if you are making any substitutions, you need to try the recipe out as well as your modifications ahead of time.
I try to anticipate any modifications that you may need when I share a recipe, and indicate in the post how those modifications may or may not work.
If you need some ideas of where to start with homemade birthday treats, look at my top 9 allergen free chocolate cupcakes, my first birthday party smash cake, and my giant chocolate chip cookie cake.
If you need to avoid food dyes, try my this beautiful, naturally purple frosting on these vegan cupcakes with blueberry icing.
Gather Allergy Friendly Ingredients Ahead of Time
If you’re dealing with food allergies, you know it’s crucial to have the right ingredients on hand. If you can’t find your trusted brand of gluten free flour, sugar, or vegan buttery spread, you will be in trouble when you go to make your favorite allergy friendly brownie bites or any other dessert.
Make sure you order or shop for your ingredients ahead of time, and then you will be ready to go when it’s time to start cooking and baking. Read my post about how to stock an allergy friendly pantry to learn about my favorite allergy friendly shelf stable products.
Consider Packaged Allergy Friendly Treats
Depending on the comfort level of you and your guests, it might be nice to just do prepackaged allergy friendly items. Food allergy families often trust brands like Made Good, Good Crisp, Jonny Pops, 88 Acres, Surf Sweets, and others. Your trusted brands may be different from mine. Always call the company and read labels to make sure a product is safe for you.
Having everything in a package means that all your guests can clearly see and read the label. This can help both the host and the guests relax and just enjoy themselves rather than worrying about a potential reaction.
Keep the Menu Simple
If you’re serving a meal, keep it simple and customizable. Something like tacos can be a great option. You can make different kinds of meat, like turkey taco meat or Mexican chicken, and then you can set out all the toppings and guests can customize their meal to suit their needs. Simple toppings like lettuce, guacamole, and homemade fresh salsa can be safer options rather than dairy cheeses and store bought hot sauce and salsa.
Don’t Forget the Favors
Favors can be a fun part of any party, but make sure you consider the potential allergens that can be in some items.
Play-Doh contains gluten, lip balm can contain tree nuts and sesame oil, some art supplies can contain allergens, and even band-aids can contain sesame oil in the adhesive. As far as decorations go, balloons can contain latex, so if you’re dealing with that allergy, you will need to use mylar balloons.
Favors like Lego mini-figures, pencils, pens, mini-notebooks, figures with parachutes, cars, tiny stuffed animals, or books can all be great options.
Have Your Epi-Pens on Hand
Whether you’re hosting the party, or a guest at a party, always, always, always have your Epi-Pens on hand! Don’t leave home without it. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and you won’t need it, but you do need to be prepared.
I hope these tips are helpful! Now that I’ve been a food allergy parent for many years, I enjoy parties more than I used to. I hope you will be able to enjoy your celebrations more, too!
If you’re looking for a complete allergy friendly party menu, you can read my ebook, Party Food, which is available in my Quick Start Kit.
You’re not in this alone! 🤍 Join my food allergy community and get the newest recipes, tips, and tricks for food allergy families. You can still eat delicious food, even with allergies and intolerances.
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