If you are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease, I feel your pain. I know from personal experience how daunting it can be to find (and afford) gluten-free specialty items. The challenges are only compounded if you’re living in a foreign country or traveling. I hope this guide to where to shop gluten-free in Lake Atitlán can ease some of the stress of finding delicious food you can eat without getting sick.
Where to shop gluten-free in Panajachel
Panajachel has several supermarkets with a selection of gluten-free items as well as a café where you can buy pre-made gluten-free bread.
La Torre
La Torre is the largest grocery store in Panajachel, and possibly in all of Lake Atitlán. They offer a limited, but helpful, selection of gluten free flours, spices, and noodles.
Gluten-free flour: They sell a decent selection of gluten-free flours and gluten-free flour mixes. I like to buy their yuca starch and rice flour for use in baking. Look for Sencha, El Molinero, and Yaestá brands.
Gluten-free spices: Badia brand spices are certified gluten-free. La Torre usually sells a small selection. You can also buy Superb brand if you’re getting things like cinnamon stick, whole cloves, chiles, etc. Only their whole spices are gluten-free. Sassón spices come in three different packages: paper envelopes, cylinder spice jars, and plastic packets. Everything in the plastic packets is gluten-free and packaged in a gluten-free area. The paper envelopes and spice jars will say on them if they contain allergens.
Gluten-free noodles: You can also find gluten-free noodles in La Torre. My favorite brand is Barrilla.
Gluten-free tostadas: Tostadas are a delicious crispy snack that’s great for topping with guacamole, tomato sauce, dried cheese, onions, and parsley. Las Charras is a gluten-free brand of tostadas that I enjoy a lot.
Black Beans: Ducal brand black beans aren’t specifically labeled gluten-free, but I called the company when I moved back to Guatemala in 2018. They told me that their plain black and plain red beans are gluten-free. The flavored beans will say on the package. The beans with chorizo DO contain gluten, but are packaged on a separate line.
Flavorings: If you’re looking for imitation vanilla, look no further. Castilla brand has a whole line of imitation vanilla, almond, and other flavorings. According to their customer service agent, none of their flavorings contain gluten.
Snacks: If you’re looking for gluten-free chips, you can find some at La Torre. I often have good luck with Pro brand products. They sell various nuts, plantain chips, and yuca chips that are often gluten free. Be sure to check the package! You can also buy expensive imported chips at La Torre.
Crackers: My favorite gluten-free cracker brand is Saníssimo Salmas Crackers. These tasty crackers taste a lot like tortillas, but are a nice crisp base to top with cream cheese, cheddar, or jam.
You can also look for quinoa, lentils, dried beans, and rice at La Torre.
Where is La Torre Panajachel?
La Torre is located on Calle Principal, on the right as you’re coming into town from Sololá.
Chalos Supermarket
Chalos Supermarket has some specialty items, including a wide variety of rice, teas, and natural herbs. They also sell a nice selection of gluten-free Badia brand spices. They also sometimes stock gluten-free noodles, including Barrilla brand. (See above for more information)
I have bought their sushi rice and sushi nori. Although they aren’t labeled gluten free, I have never had any issues with either. Depending on your sensitivity, these might be fine for you as well.
You can also look for quinoa, lentils, dried beans, and regular rice at Chalos.
Where is Chalos Supermarket?
Chalos Supermarket is located on the corner of Calle Principal and Calle El Amate.
Sandra’s Supermarket
Sandra’s Supermarket has a huge variety of interesting food from all over the world. Their stock isn’t always the freshest (or the prices the best), but you can sometimes find things here you can’t find anywhere else.
Sandra’s supermarket sells a large selection of Badia brand spices (sometimes at better prices than Chalos), as well as glutinous rice flour, liquid aminos, natural nut butters, etc.
You can also look for quinoa, lentils, dried beans, and regular rice at Sandra’s.
Where is Sandra’s Supermarket?
Sandra’s Supermarket is located on Calle Principal, between Calle Santander and Calle El Amate.
Café Kitsch
Although Café Kitsch is technically a restaurant, not a supermarket, then do sell gluten-free sandwich bread. You can buy it from them by the loaf (usually frozen).
Where is Café Kitsch?
Café Kitsch is located on Calle Santander, on the bottom level of the Rincon Sai shopping center (below Café Moka).
Where to shop gluten-free in Sololá
I do most of my shopping at the Sololá market, where I stock up on a ton of fresh produce, chicken and meat from the butchers, organ meat from the off-cut butchers, and panela sugar from the small stores within the market. One thing I DO NOT recommend buying at the market is anything from an open sack. The vendors use the same scoops for rice and grains of wheat. Save yourself a stomach-ache and only buyed sealed grains.
Adibe Productos de Soya
Sololá has its own soy factory, located in Molino Belén, as well as a small store across the street and up a short distance from the Despensa. Cut out the middle man and order your own batch of tofu or tempeh, or treat yourself to soy ice cream or soy milk.
Where is the Adibe Productos de Soya?
The Adibe Productos de Soya main location is in Molino Belen. Take the road towards La Escuela de Formación Agricola (EFA), then turn right onto a side street.
They also have a store near the Despensa. Once you reach the Despensa, it’s the fifth store heading away from the park, on the right hand side.
Restaurante Chinito Lai
I just discovered this store/restaurant recently, and if you’re willing to do a bit of sleuthing and translating, you can find a few gluten-free products here. For example, rice noodles for making Guatemalan Chao Mein.
Where is Restaurante Chinito Lai?
This little restaurant is on the main road out of Sololá, heading towards the highway. It is on the right hand side of the street (heading out of town), between 7th and 8th Calle, between FerroAgro and Comedor y Cafetería Santa Ana.
La Verdecita
La Verdecita is a variety store in Sololá which stocks a LOT of different things you can’t find elsewhere in town. If you aren’t celiac and don’t need to be as strict about possible contamination, you can find yuca flour here at cheaper rates than other supermarkets. Just ask for “yuquía”.
Where is La Verdecita located?
Tienda La Verdecita is located on the main road out of Sololá, between 9th and 10th Calle. It is sandwiched in between a tortillería and a ferretería and is painted dark green. It is on the right hand side if you’re facing away from the park.
Tienda Eben Ezer
This store is all about pastries and baking. It might seem like a strange place to find gluten-free items, but they occasionally stock coconut flour, almond flour, and other alternate flours. It could also be a good place to find other baking supplies, such as plain gelatin, corn starch, baking soda, etc.
Where is Tienda Eben Ezer located?
Tienda Eben Ezer is located on the corner of 13th Calle and 7th Avenida in Sololá, two blocks from the Parque Central (heading towards the cemetery).
Where to shop gluten-free in San Pedro la Laguna
If you’re in San Pedro la Laguna, I highly recommend visiting the Salud Para la Vida health food store.
Salud Para la Vida Health Food Store
Although I haven’t been there myself (yet!), I’ve heard that the health store in San Pedro La Laguna has an awesome selection of healthy, natural, and organic products. They sell in bulk, local and imported items, drinks, supplements, snacks, teas, herbs, etc. They also have a café with gluten-free options.
If you’re in the area, why not check them out?
Where is Salud Para La Vida Health Food Store?
Salud Para La Vida Health Food Store is located on the corner of Avenida de la Vida and Calle de la Salud in San Pedro la Laguna.
Lake Atitlán gluten-free money-saving tricks
If you don’t mind putting in a bit of extra work in the kitchen, save some money with these tricks:
Buy cooked yucca in the market (ladies sell them in baskets), sprinkle them with salt, and then fry them in olive oil until golden. The result? A delicious crispy carb. Yum.
Still want some dough? Buy or cook yucca, then mash it or put it through a food processor. Use some olive oil to keep it from gumming up under the blades. Add salt to taste. Then knead in enough rice flour to make dough that’s no longer sticky. Roll or pat it out and use it as the base for a gluten-free pizza.
If you’re looking for additional carb options, try “camote” Guatemala’s local sweet potato variety, starchy taro, known as “malanga”, or gúisquil root, a seasonal delicacy known as “inchital” or “chintla”. If you need recipes for some these foods, check out my post on 7 Unusual Vegetables and How to Prepare Them, featuring some of Chef Emily Kassia Fiedor’s fabulous recipes.
Guatemala’s corn tortillas are naturally gluten free. Even the tortillerías that use Masa Harina typically use Maseca brand, which is gluten free. Buy these as a great carb for tacos, black beans, cheese, or topped with peanut butter (United-states style). You can also use tortillas to make Mexican lasagna, tortilla soup, etc.
Things to watch out for when shopping gluten-free in Lake Atitlán
Consommé is a common ingredient used in Guatemalan cooking that contains wheat flour (at least 99% of the time).
I don’t trust most sausages, lunch meats, and hot dogs. Most of them contain up to 50% filler, and that filler is often wheat flour.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a decent number of options when it comes to where to shop gluten-free in Lake Atitlán. The selection may not be enormous, and you’ll always pay more for gluten-free grocery items, but sometimes it’s really nice to have pasta for dinner. Happy shopping!