Dairy Substitutes
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Here are some options to replace the diary in your diet.
A list of alternatives for dairy products, a la Monsieur Marcus and Madame Vigneault. Marcus is in quotes:
Butter: “Earth Balance and Soy Garden are excellent vegan margarines.”
You can also use coconut oil or other oils in place of butter for cooking. And you can substitute peanut butter, almond butter, jam, or hummus in place of butter for toast or bagels.
Yogurt: “WholeSoy, Wildwood, and Nancy’s all make soy yogurts. WholeSoy is probably the tastiest of the bunch and comes in 24-ounce containers as well as single-serving containers with fruit.”
So Delicious has a vegan yogurt available now, too, as does Silk.
Milk: “Soy, rice, almond, and even hemp seed milks are widely available, not just from natural food stores but also from just about every supermarket. They’re sold both in aseptic juice boxes at room temperature, and in conventional milk cartons in the dairy case.”
Some brand names to look for include the ones mentioned already above, like Wildwood, So Delicious, and Silk, as well as other brands and you can even find generic non-dairy milks.
Cheese: “There are several non-dairy cheeses on the market, but always check the label for casein or sodium caseinate. Casein is a milk protein that is used in some soy cheeses. Happily, two of the best non-dairy cheeses—Daiya and Wayfare—are vegan. Daiya comes shredded in 8-ounce bags, available in mozzarella and cheddar flavors. The stuff melts beautifully and is amazing on pizza and in quesadillas. Wayfare’s ‘We Can’t Say it’s Cheese,’ is a spreadable product, perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches and mac & cheese dishes. Both brands are widely available in the United States.”
More vegan cheeses: Sheese, Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese, Tofutti Vegan Cheese, Teese, and Vegan Gourmet. Take a look at some vegan cheese products here and here.
Ice Cream: “There are a number of excellent brands: Turtle Mountain’s “Purely Decadent” pints are outstanding, and conventional ice cream producer Double Rainbow makes several excellent varieties from soy milk. Also, both So Delicious and Tufutti make vegan versions of those junky but delicious ice cream sandwiches you ate as a kid—you won’t even be able to tell the difference!
Plus don’t forget about sorbets, which tend to be vegan and are lighter and often more flavorful than ice cream.”
Another name to look for is Dream. You can get Rice Dream, Soy Dream, and Almond Dream non-dairy ice creams at many standard grocery stores.
You can even make your own vegan ice cream. Here are three “cook”books for vegan ice cream:
Cream Cheese, Sour Cream, and Mayo: “Once again, you’re in luck. Both Follow Your Heart and Tofutti make superb vegan versions of cream cheese and sour cream, which are available at Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s, as well as many natural food stores. There are also several vegan brands of mayonnaise, including a sensational and widely-distributed product called “Vegenaise,” which is made by Follow Your Heart.”
Some Whole Foods carry a product called Miso Mayo that is vegan and very, very tasty. And there’s a vegan mayonaise called Nayonaise that’s been around since I was a little kid.
There are lots of recipes for making your own vegan versions of cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo as well. Try searching the recipe search here at Vegan Soapbox.
Coffee Creamer: “There’s no need to put cream in your coffee: Silk Creamer comes in three flavors and blends into your coffee just like cream.”
Plenty of people just add soy milk or almond milk to their coffee while some just switch to the lower calorie version: black coffee.
Pudding. “Bestselling cookbook author Mark Bittman concocted perhaps the best chocolate pudding recipe you’ll ever try, and it doesn’t contain a drop of milk.”
Hot Chocolate and Whipped Cream: You can use the chocolate versions of soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk, or rice milk and heat them up. Or take your favorite non dairy milk, add sugar and cocoa powder and warm over a medium flame. Then add some Soyatoo vegan whipped cream on top. They make a soy version as well as a rice version.
Read more about going dairy-free at vegan.com >>
I love everything on your list! I’d only add: So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer and their new Chocolate Coconut Milk Kefir. They are so good, they practically make me swoon!
We’re hard at work to bring more products to the store shelves. The sour cream is already out and cream cheese is on the way!
Thank you for the mention! I’ve linked back to you from the News section of our website.