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Vegan/Vegetarian Products You Love and Recommend Trying!

Marie 2

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I was just wondering as I ate some Chao Brand jack cheese, vegan, that if you have it in the UK. I was then going to ask if you did, you should try it! I thought about the fact that among my vegan friends when we try something new we are excited about we text it to someone to try it out!

So I thought I would start a thread that everyone can recommend products they like to others and if they want to they can add a favorite way of making/eating it to everyone here !
 
I will start it out with Chao Vegan Jack Cheese, made by Field Roast company. It was voted the best vegan cheese from a poll taken on a USA vegetarian site. It really does taste like cheese, really really good!
 
For vegans in transition - nutritional yeast. In Holland & Barrett, The Grape Tree and Amazon and probably all of the packaging-free whole food shops. Ftequently sold as Engevita. Adds to most savoury dishes, is loaded with protein and B group vitamins.

Don't know if they have it abroad, but in the UK Kinnerton's dairy free chocolate is once of the nicest I've found. I get it in Sainsburys or Asda.

Also, Linda McCartneys site will tell you if a product is vegan or veggie if you're not sure.


@Marie 2 - going to keep my eye open for that cheese! And if it's good, I know now that my favourite way of having it will be cheese grilled on toast with fresh tomato slices under the cheese, a little bit of nooch on top and maybe some liquid smoke or mushroom ketchup on top. (If mushroom ketchup, don't add any salt to the food - it's quite salty).
 
Do you have Follow Your Heart Products or Daiya?

Yea Grilled cheese with tomato, pickles and onions is really good too!

I will keep an eye out for that chocolate, the one I love is Sjaaks brand which is now an all vegan company, They make a dark chocolate bar with almonds which is my favorite.

Endangered Species has a Panther Bar that is a 88% cocoa bar that’s really good too.
 
We might have those products. I will make a note of the names and have a careful scout round the shops.

Have you tried that Oumph stuff? I haven't but I see it advertised in Vegan Life and wondered what it's like. It's a protein main meal food.

One thing I have noticed in the supermarkets I use is that the vegan sections are expanding a lot - compared to a while ago we have two or three times as much choice, with more every time I visit. Amazing!
 
I’m a massive fan of the Vivera range - they do an amazing kebab “meat” substitute, I use that a lot. When my menfolk have steak, I’ll have a Vivera one, they’re really good too. And they do a version of bacon lardons, which makes me very happy. Their burgers are pretty good too.

Farm Foods do a pretty good vegan meatball - nice texture, cheap as you like and really low in carbs.
 
I haven't been to Farm Foods for absolutely yonks! I don't know why; we always used to go about once a month.

I eat some of the Vivera range, and I like Frys pies and sausage rolls. Not their other products though. I like Linda McCartneys pulled jackfruit burgers but I know you can't eat them @Mel dCP

Vivera's cheeses are OK but I keep trying for bettter tasting ones.
 
Also M&S has a great range out - Plant Kitchen. Some fantastic ready made salads for lunches on the go. And the hot meals are good. I tried the lasagne though and that wasn't nice; far too much sauce and not enough innard. Better with home made.

Sainsburys Love Your Veg range is well worth exploring too.
 
I just know it's nice to hear what other people like, because you will see something and wonder, but if you know someone else has said it's good it helps you make a decision to get it.

I haven't ever seen the Oumph or Vivera, it seems like we have a lot of different companies in each country. I bet that will slowly change as the supermarket section is expanding fast like you said WuTwo and I bet there will be more products starting to go back and forth.

Follow Your Heart and Daiya are major big here in the states, both companies make all vegan items, they are in the regular supermarkets now, so I bet you might get them one day. They both make excellent cheeses of all kinds. Follow Your Heart is best known for its Veganaise and then they added cheeses and dressings of all kinds and make an egg substitute. I actually had trouble eating it scrambled because it smelled and looked like egg so much. Daiya makes cheeses, cheesecake,mac and cheese, pizzas, dressings, and?????

@Mel dCP Daiya and Follow Your Heart both make a vegan low carb ranch dressing. if you can ever find it! They are both good!
 
I have seen Daiya cheeses in Sainsbury’s, but have never heard of Follow Your Heart. I’ve started to see Gardein stuff in the frozen section in Sainsbury’s, but it’s eyewateringly expensive and too carbs for my chosen WOE.

I’m not vegan but do eat mostly plant based due to allergies to meat of all kinds and cow’s milk. I do eat fish, eggs and goat/sheep dairy, just so you know. I’ve just discovered I’m allergic to jackfruit now. Clearly my immune system hates me So I don’t know a great deal about vegan cheeses, as I eat small amounts of goat/sheep cheese.
 
Oooh - I'll get some Daiya cheese, just to try it out. Thanks!

I knew Sainsburys did Gardein because my husband actually bought some! (No wonder we're brassic) It was nice but as you say, a bit carby. I had a home made mixed pepper stir fry with it, no carby stuff.
 
@Mel dCP...I thought for some reason you didn't eat egg either, but I knew you ate fish. Goat yogurt is really good, my hubby loves it. The daiya cheeses are tapioca based and they have quite a few varieties of flavors, more than goat cheeses usually have. Not sure how low carb you go, but a slice can be 5 carbs so might not work?

Some of the Gardein items are lower carb, they have a huge variety, it's just finding the different ones, but yea, not cheap.

Yves fake meats, their bacon slices are really good it's less than 1 carb per slice, they have several varieties of fake meats and I think most are low carb. And Tofurky fake meats are less than 1 carb per slice too. Not sure if they are over there. Yves is a Canadian company and Tofurky is a USA company.
 
I use the Alpro soya yogurt, and buffalo if I can find it - I don’t tend to eat the stuff on its own, but I do use it in cooking. 5g carb for a slice of cheese is too much for my 30g daily goal - but I’ve found variations of the goat and sheep cheese to suit most things. Hard, soft, blue, smoked... plus buffalo mozzarella. I did have a Sainsbury’s own brand vegan cheese with cranberries in at Christmas though, that was nice. Carb limit went out the window there

We do have Tofurkey here but again it’s really expensive. I do have vegan Quorn chicken and ham slices a lot, they’re half price at the moment so I bought all of it! I usually pop in on a Friday on the way home from work and choose three cake meat things for the week ahead.
 
Antje77 said:
Does it look like this one sold in the Netherlands is the same as yours? It's sold in my local supermarket I think
Click to expand...
Yes! I love that one. I’ve got the Greek flavour version this week as it was on special offer. Might have it tonight with olives, mint and some roasted courgette.
 
Just tried Vivera 'feta' cheese which wasn't bad but not punchy enough for my liking. I'm now marinating the rest of the pack in olive oil, garlic and oregano and will see what that is like. I put Vivera by mistake - it was really Violife! The marinated version did taste much better so will do that next time, too.
My favourite cheese substitute is Tyne Chease which is a fermented nut product. It comes in various flavours and is delicious. However, not readily available other than at vegan fairs or online and incredibly expensive. Has anyone tried making their own fermented nut cheese?

Sainsbury's own brand Shroom sausages are so uncannily meaty I thought I'd been given dead animal sausages by mistake!
 
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Yeah, I've had those Shroom sausages. Bit off puting really, but great if you're in transition and struggling, or like Mel dCP allergic to meat but still want it.

I was going to get one of those books about making cheese but wasn't sure if it'd be worth the outlay.

I can't justify spending a lot of money on my food, so perhaps the Tyne Chease (although it sounds tempting) might be off limits.
 
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