As someone who has been dairy free for several years, there are some places it’s easier to travel to and some places where it’s harder. I’ve shared about my struggles but also how much being dairy free has changed my life and my health.
While traveling, I have found that Europe gets progressively easier over the years to be dairy free – for the most part! The UK, Spain, and Northern Europe are great. France is a little harder and Italy is one of the hardest places for me. So here are all the tips and trips for how to be dairy free when traveling in Italy, the things you should know ahead of time, and the things that help me.
Italy hasn’t heard of oat milk or basically any plant based milks.
This is more of an FYI, but honestly, no one in Italy seems to have heard about plant based milks, specifically oat milk. They will look at you like you’re insane for asking about it. I drink a latte with oat milk every morning and it’s very hard for me in Italy with coffee – it’s real milk or no milk. So traveling in Italy is difficult, especially when you’re not in the main cities. Some options I use for coffee when in Italy – either order straight espresso or if in the larger cities, find a Starbucks which will usually have some sort of plant-based milk.
Red Sauce on pasta is generally the best way to go.
When ordering at restaurants, you’re usually pretty good to choose the red sauces on pasta without worrying about dairy. Italy doesn’t do a lot of cheese on top of pasta like they do in the US so you’ll be good on that. One of my go to’s – pasta with a pomodoro sauce which is usually just a fresh tomato sauce. I actually find pizza is doable in Italy as well considering the cheese is usually in larger parts together and is easier to pick off if you still want a little taste of Italian pizza.
Take advantage of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Some of my favorite things in Italy are the parma ham and melon dishes as well as tomato salads and all the beautiful fresh produce and fruits. Take advantage of those items on menus that will all be dairy free!
Sorbetto – all day, every day.
I love ice cream and that’s one of the hardest things to forgo being dairy free for me. Enter sorbet! You’ll find gelato shops all over Italy and most of them will have a Sorbetto option!