Foods You Didn’t Know Were Vegan
Becoming vegan or eating a plant-based diet means giving up some delicious foods. It's crazy how many products are made with eggs, dairy, gelatin, and animal byproducts. Luckily, there are some amazing products that are vegan-friendly even though they aren't marketed as vegan products.
Keep reading to find out which products you could keep eating if you ever decide to take the plunge and go vegan. You might realize that the vegan lifestyle isn't as difficult as you might have thought.
Oreos
Have no fear, vegans, your favorite chocolate sandwich cookies are made without any eggs, milk, or animal byproducts.
If you need to dip your Oreos in milk, you could always opt for almond milk instead. An Oreo can have more than one best friend.
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Pillsbury crescent rolls only taste like they're drenched in butter. In reality, these doughy treats get their buttery flavor from salt and vegetable oils.
This picture is making me want a crescent roll right now. Something about the smell of them baking is just heavenly.
Sour Patch Kids
Sour Patch Kids don't get their gummy texture from gelatin. These candies are made entirely out of plant-based ingredients.
Now you can enjoy eating these child-shaped sweets without worrying about harming actual living things. No pigs were harmed in the making of these gummies.
Duncan Hines Buttercream Frosting
This buttercream frosting doesn't have any butter or cream in it. Duncan Hines uses vegetable shortening instead of dairy products. Most Duncan Hines frosting flavors and cake mixes are vegan.
Vegan products can have a longer shelf life, and they're usually more ethically sourced.
Jell-O Instant Pudding
Regular Jell-O contains gelatin, which is made out of pig parts. Jell-O Instant Pudding & Pie Filling doesn't contain any gelatin.
It's thickened by ingredients called tetrasodium pyrophosphate and disodium phosphate. I don't know what any of those things are, but I know that they're vegan. Just make sure you mix the pudding powder with some kind of non-dairy milk.
SuperPretzel Soft Pretzel
A lot of soft pretzels are made with egg, or at the very least they're brushed with an egg wash for extra shine. SuperPretzel brand pretzels are egg-free.
Gluten, yeast, and soda give these baked goods their delectable chewy texture. If you're vegan and you want a pretzel, these SuperPretzels won't get you in a twist.
Ritz Crackers
Ritz crackers have a super buttery taste, but they're actually made with absolutely zero butter.
The grease that gets all over your fingers when you eat them is completely vegan. Those cheese filled Ritz crackers aren't vegan though. You might want to steer clear of those.
Trader Joe's Soft-Baked Snickerdoodles
Trader Joe's definitely knows how to make vegans happy. These sugary cookies are made without any butter, eggs, or animal fat.
They're not exactly healthy, but they are entirely plant-based. I don't think I could be vegan if I couldn't eat snickerdoodles. There are some things that are just essential for life.
Nutter Butters
Nutter Butters may have the word "butter" in their name, but there definitely isn't any butter in their recipe.
For all you peanut lovers out there, you can still enjoy peanut butter and Nutter Butters as a vegan. Just another reason to eat more plant-based products.
Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix
The actual Aunt Jemima pancake mix doesn't contain any eggs or dairy. The recipe on the back of the box does call for eggs and milk though.
You can swap eggs and milk for flax seed eggs and nut milk when you make your vegan pancakes.
Chocolate Teddy Grahams
Both cinnamon and chocolate Teddy Grahams are vegan-friendly. I've heard that some people enjoy Teddy Grahams like cereal— in a bowl with milk.
That just doesn't sit right with me. Teddy Grahams are meant to be eaten head first. That whole thing about whether or not vegans can eat animal crackers— they can.
Krispy Kreme Fruit Pies
Vegans don't get to experience the ooey gooey goodness of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Those things are made with eggs. But Krispy Kreme fruit pies are don't need any eggs to make them delicious.
Vegans can enjoy these completely guilt-free. Which pie do you like best? Cherry, apple, or blueberry?
Life Cereal
Life cereal and Life cinnamon cereal are some of the only mainstream vegan cereals on the market. Other vegan cereals include Cap'n Crunch, Reese's Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, Rice Krispies, Puffins, and Kashi Vanilla Whole Wheat Biscuits.
Just don't eat them with regular dairy milk. Almond milk will work just fine.
Campbell's Mushroom Gravy
I bet you never knew that Campbell's made a vegetarian gravy option. Their mushroom gravy is actually delicious.
Campbell's has figured out how to get all of the richness of meat gravy only using flour and water (and mushrooms of course). No animal fat or cream required.
Sara Lee Frozen Pies
You actually don't need any eggs to make pie crust. Most pie crust recipes do call for cold butter, but you can easily use vegetable shortening instead.
Sara Lee pies leave out the eggs and all dairy products so vegans can have a piece of the pie too. A lot of frozen supermarket pies are vegan.
Potato Chips
This one is sort of a no-brainer. Potato chips are just fried potatoes flavored with spices. Some chips companies might fry their potatoes in animal fat, or use dairy products in some of their more creamy chip flavors.
Lays barbecue chips are definitely safe for vegans to eat.
Stacy's Pita Chips
Most bread is vegan and most chips are vegan, so it makes sense that pita chips would also be vegan. The salted and simply naked pita chips are the best in my humble opinion.
Stay clear of the parmesan flavored ones though. Those are made with real cheese.
Papa John's Garlic Dip
Papa John's garlic dip is creamy and delicious, so you think it would be full of dairy products. In reality, this dip is entirely dairy-free.
Vegans can enjoy this garlic dip with cheeseless pizza or breadsticks, I guess, as long as those breadsticks aren't covered in butter.
Laffy Taffy
Laffy Taffy is another delicious chewy treat that doesn't contain any gelatin. Whether you like the mini taffies, you the long thin ones, you can enjoy these with the knowledge that no animals were harmed in the making of these candies.
I loved the big strawberry ones with sprinkles on top when I was a kid.
Unfrosted Pop-Tarts
Pop-Tart frosting contains gelatin which definitely isn't vegan. The unfrosted Pop-Tarts are deliciously vegan though.
I know it's not the same without the frosting, but you could always make your own vegan glaze or slap on some of that vegan Duncan Hines buttercream frosting.
