Favorite Name Brand Foods
I might change the format of this eventually, but for now I wanted to get all my favorite vegan replacements and brands I love listed for you to reference. Let me know if there are any brands I didn't list that you like so I can check it out! You can look on each company website to find out where these items are carried in your area.
Go-To Brands:
** These brands have various products from vegan meat, dairy, frozen, dressings, snacks, and desserts to name a few categories. I will try to list my favorites from each brand, but I encourage you to look at each brands website to see all the delicious options we have nowadays.
1. Daiya
2. Trader Joe’s (I will do a post about all my favorite vegan things at TJ’s separately)
3. Follow Your Heart
4. Violife
5. Miyoko’s
6. Kite Hill
7. Field Roast (Chao by Field Roast as well)
8. Treeline Cheese
9. Smith’s Grocery/Kroger/ETC: Smith’s and the stores under their umbrella carry an in house vegan brand that is good.
Dairy Substitutes:
Milk: I have tried several brands and types of non-dairy milk and like a lot of them. What I don’t like is the waste of milk cartons and the added sugars and stabilizers they add to these beverages. Insert JOI (Just One Ingredient) my new favorite thing. They originally reached out to do a collab on my Instagram and it was love at first try. They make Almond and Cashew nut bases that you add to water to make your own milk on demand! You can also add the base directly to recipes to make any meal thick, creamy, and delicious. They use less packaging and trucks to make and deliver these tubs of goodness than traditional non-dairy milks. I love that they are shelf-stable and last for months. They come in organic and regular and I always have a discount code to share with my friends. If you use PLANTBASEDLIVIN at their checkout, you can get 10% off your order. We will occasionally collab for special events and I can get a higher discount which I will of course share with you. Their website and Instagram is AddJOI so make sure to look them up to learn more about them.
Cheese:
1. Follow Your Heart- slices, blocks, and parmesan cheeses. I am not a fan of their shreds for some reason.
2. Herbivorous Butcher- everything they make is incredible and it was one of the top five things I miss about leaving Minneapolis. I recommend the Havarti Dill and queso if you get the chance, but you can’t go wrong with anything you pick.
3. Violife- everything they make is awesome as well.
4. Miyoko’s Creamery- there is a reason Chef Miyoko is called the Queen of vegan cheese. She is just that and all her products prove that. Some of my regular go to’s are the mozzarella, (not the smoked one because they went too heavy on the liquid smoke in my opinion) the cream cheese, (minus the un-lox your dreams one because I’m not a huge lox fan) and all the cheese wheels are delicious and great for parties.
5. Daiya- Their entire plant-based food line is amazing and there are only a few things I am not a fan of across the whole board. The shredded cheese being one of them. I don’t know why I don’t like to cook with it but it’s okay on the frozen pizzas they make because otherwise the pizzas are great and it’s worth it. The slices, blocks, and cream cheese are often in my fridge.
6. Kite Hill- another awesome brand and I love everything they make especially the cream cheese and ricotta.
7. Chao by Field Roast- These cheese slices by Field Roast are so good even on their own of the package. They also make a couple of frozen make and cheese meals with the same cheese and they are great for quick meals.
Yogurt:
1. Culina (These are incredible but is kinda pricy for the size).
2. Follow Your Heart
3. SO Delicious Oatmilk
4. Kite Hill Greek and Almond Milk versions- both good but I prefer the greek one.
5. Forager Project
6. Trader Joe’s Cashew Yogurt- Not a fan of the texture of the coconut milk ones.
7. Le Grand
8. Daiya
9. Good Karma- my least favorite of these but are good if that’s your only choice.
Butter:
1. Miyokos- their butter is incredible realistic and great for special occasions. It can be a little pricy depending on where you buy it so I don’t always get it.
2. Earth Balance- Their butter tub is my go-to for everyday use and their baking sticks are great and act like dairy milk baking sticks.
Cream Cheese:
1. Trader Joe’s- This is my standard because it’s cheap and tasty, so I almost always have it in the fridge depending on my weekly meal plan.
2. Kite Hill- All flavors are great.
3. Violife- I’ve only had the plain but they also have a chilli pepper one too.
4. Miyoko’s-The plain and herb are good, but you know my thoughts on the un-lox one.
**Le Grand, Daiya, and Follow Your Heart also have cream cheeses that have positive reviews, but I haven’t tried them yet.
Sour Cream:
1. Follow Your Heart
2. Kite Hill
3. Forager Project
Meat Substitutes:
Hamburgers:
1. Impossible burger- this is currently only sold in restaurants and not allowed to be sold in grocery stores for consumers to buy directly. If you are looking for realistic tasting and looking hamburger patties, this is your patty.
2. Gardein
3. Sunshine Organic Burger
4. Boca Original Vegan Veggie Burger
5. Hilary’s Eat Well Burgers
6. Dr. Praeger’s
7. Amy’s Kitchen- they make 8 vegan burgers
8. Field Roast
9. Morning Star- not all their items are vegan (they will be by 2021) so make sure you look for the yellow “vegan” label on the packaging.
10. Gardenburger
11. Herbivorous Butcher
12. Sweet Earth
13. Trader Joe’s High Protein Patties
Hot Dogs:
1. LightLife
2. Field Roast
3. Tofurky
4. Herbivorous Butcher
Sausages/Brats:
1. Tofurky
2. Herbivorous Butcher
3. Field Roast
4. Gardein- their breakfast sausages are some of my favorites.
5. Lightlife
6. Beyond Sausage-made by Beyond Meat. I don’t like Beyond Meat burgers because something in them makes me sick, but I love their sausages. They are the most realistic sausages I’ve ever had so if that is not your style, I would recommend one of the other brands above.
Bacon and Breakfast Sausage:
1. Herbivorous Butcher- I always get the maple bacon and all-American breakfast sausage when I go but they are all good.
2. Gardein- both the spicy and original are good.
3. Field Roast- apple maple breakfast sausage.
4. LightLife- their Gimme Lean sausage makes the BEST biscuits and gravy and even fooled my non vegan family!
5. Sweet Earth- benevolent bacon
Deli Meat:
1. Herbivorous Butcher- Their turkey and pastrami are my favs. Make sure you pick up the ready-to-eat turkey dill Havarti sub if you every get to the Twin Cities. It’s exactly like my go-to childhood lunch request and its so big it makes two meals!
2. Tofurky- I could eat their peppered turkey by the pack. They are incredible.
3. LightLife
4. Field Roast
5. NoButcher (Located in Vegas)
Ground Beef and Chorizo:
1. Herbivorous Butcher- both are delicious.
2. Impossible Meat
3. Gardein beef crumbles
4. Tofurky- they have both
5. Trader Joe’s- love both and use their soy chorizo for tacos, nachos, or anything I want spicy meat in.
** LightLife has ground beef I want to try but haven’t yet. I’ve heard good things though.
Meatballs
1. Trader Joe’s
2. Gardein
3. LightLife
Bread:
1. Trader Joe’s- be careful with honey in their bread. Sometimes they will use it even when there is maple syrup in the ingredients. I love their sourdough bread which you can get sliced or whole loaf style.
2. Dave’s Killer Bread
3. Ezekiel
4. Thomas Bagels-thins, minis, and regular ones
5. Whole Foods 365 Brand
