As a vegan, one of the questions I get the most from people is how I can live without cheese…or…milk…or ice cream… You get the picture! I wasn’t that surprised to find out that dairy is literally addictive!
Well, the answers is, it’s SUPER EASY! First of all, cutting out dairy forced me to get creative in the kitchen, which I’ve always loved to do. I’ve developed recipes for cashew nacho cheese, thousand island dressing and even macaroni and cheese!
There’s also an abundance of amazing vegan products on the market these days. Even if you aren’t sure where to find them in your local area, it’s super easy to order vegan products online (notice I’ve included links for all of my suggestions below). You can even subscribe to a variety of delivery services such as VeganCuts so that you can constantly try new products without even having to seek them out.
My Favorite Vegan Dairy Products:
Milks & creamers
- Trader Joe’s Soy Creamer (by far THE BEST nondairy creamer I’ve tried – and that’s coming from someone who used to absolutely require half and half in my coffee!)
- Trader Joe’s Organic Almond Milk (carrageenan-free)
- Pacific Foods Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk (carrageenan-free)
- Soy Dream Chocolate Flavor (yummy on cereal, mixed into a milkshake or on its own)
Cheeses
- Miyoko’s Creamery (THE best vegan cheese available!)
- Treeline Aged Artisinal Treenut Cheese (fancy – great for dinner parties!)
- Daiya Mozzarella Shreds (blend into tofu scramble, burritos, pasta or grilled cheese)
- Cashew Nacho Cheese (great as a dip for chips or a topping for tacos, burritos, tofu scramble, etc)
- So Delicious Mac & Cheese (pizza flavor is delish!)
Spreads, Dips and Sauces
- Follow Your Heart Vegenaise (great for sandwiches or other recipes like my vegan crab cakes!)
- Follow Your Heart Ranch Dressing (good for salads and also as a dip)
- So Delicious Coconut Milk Greek-style Yogurt (made with cultured coconut milk)
- Tofutti Sour Supreme Sour Cream
- Annie’s Naturals Goddess Dressing (I usually make my own salad dressings, but it’s nice to have some of this in the fridge for emergencies!)
- Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Spread
Ice Creams & Desserts
- So Delicious Ice Cream (Mocha Almond Fudge flavor is my absolute favorite!)
- Trader Joe’s Soy Creamy Ice Cream (vanilla and cherry chocolate chip are both delicious)
- Jell-O Instant Pudding & Pie Filling (vanilla, chocolate, banana cream and lemon varieties are vegan)
- Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Ice Cream
Butter
Vegan butter is available from brands like Earth Balance. However, they contain palm oil, which is an ingredient that is not environmentally sustainable or 100% ethical. For that reason, I choose to cook with coconut oil and use other things instead of butter such as peanut butter or hummus. That being said, it’s possible to make homemade vegan butter. If you try the recipe, let me know how it turns out!
So…like I said…it’s beyond easy to ditch the dairy when going vegan. If you’re still not convinced about the reasons you might want to make the leap, please check out my post about why dairy doe And then, read about vegan sources of calcium.
