Who Needs Meat and Dairy When You Have These Delicious Vegan Options?

With vegan meat, dairy, and egg options surpassing animal-derived foods in taste tests, many diners wonder, “If I can savor all the tastes I enjoy without harming animals, my own health, or the environment, why wouldn’t I do that?” Swapping out bacon, burgers, cheese, and more for healthier, humane plant versions is easy with the wealth of offerings available at your local grocery store. Here are just a few PETA staff favorites.

Vegan Replacements for Dairy 

Free from saturated cow fat and chock-full of nutrients, delicious dairy-free milks are so plentiful that it’s hard to pick just one. (Fortunately, you don’t have to.) Hemp, soy, rice, coconut, pea, cashew, oat, macadamia, and almond are just a few of the varieties that are ready to complement your morning cereal and coffee. Some of our favorite brands that make vegan milk include Silk, Califia Farms, Oatly, Planet Oat, Almond Breeze, Chobani, Good & Gather, RISE Brewing Co., Trader Joe’s, and So Delicious. You’ll also find coffee creamers in fun flavors from many of these brands, as well as Walmart’s brand Bettergoods, Violife, Starbucks, 365 by Whole Foods Market, Elmhurst 1925, and Ripple Foods. For homemade cappuccinos, oat milk offers rich, creamy foam, or look for “barista” blends from these companies. The best part? Every sip keeps families together. Buying plant milk means sparing cows from having their precious babies taken away on dairy farms.

Vegan cheese is reaching taste-tacular levels. Follow Your Heart’s Feta Crumbles, Miyoko’s Creamery’s Roadhouse Cheddar, Violife’s Just Like Parmesan Wedge, Treeline Cheesemaker’s Vegan Goat-Style Cashew Cheese and French-Style Herb Garlic Cashew Cheese, Nuts for Cheese’s Un-Brie-Lievable Fermented Cashew Wedge, Kite Hill’s Cream Cheese, Field Roast’s Chao Queso, and Babybel’s Plant-Based Cheese Bites are oh-so-gouda, and they’re just the beginning.  

Fan of fermented? Fortified vegan yogurts have all the active bacterial cultures plus calcium, vitamins, iron, zinc, and protein—without any of the cholesterol or cruelty to cows. Culina’s Greek-style yogurts, Yoplait’s Dairy-Free Oui in charming glass pots, Le Grand’s creative flavors, and Forager Project’s on-the-go options are just some of the ones we love.

PETA’s “I Scream for Vegan Ice Cream” Truck has been crisscrossing the country letting kids belt out their best shout in exchange for sweet vegan treats. Until it makes its way to you, check out refreshing fruit sorbets and dreamy dairy-free pints like Breyers’ Non-Dairy Vanilla, So Delicious’ Salted Caramel Cluster, Bettergoods’ Plant-Based Chocolate Oatmilk, Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Milk and Cookies or Strawberry Cheezecake, Halo Top’s Non-Dairy Vegan Candy Bar, Baskin Robbins’ Daquiri Ice, Oatly’s Banana Split, and so many more. And don’t miss out on other ice-cream-aisle delights like Tofutti’s Cuties ice cream sandwiches, KIND’s Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt & Nut Frozen Treat Bar, Magnum’s Non-Dairy Classic Frozen Dessert Bars, GoodPop’s Orange N’ Cream Frozen Pops, and Earth Grown’s (an Aldi brand) Plant-Based Peanut Butter Frozen Dessert Bar. And Daiya’s vegan cheesecakes are party-ready after a few minutes of defrosting.

It’s no yolk: Every chicken egg is loaded with saturated fat and more than double the cholesterol of a Big Mac. And as much as we love a good tofu scramble, the breakfast game was truly revolutionized the moment that JUST Egg was created. Now you’ll find plantastic ways to start your day, including WunderEggs’ Plant-Based Boiled Eggs; Hodo’s All-Day Egg Scramble; BeLeaf’s Vegan Fried Egg; JUST Egg’s pillowy, omelet-ready creations; and YoEgg, a spot-on selection down to the runny yolk. For baking and cooking, swap in egg replacers from Bob’s Red Mill, Ener-G, or AcreMade, or try flaxseeds, aquafaba, applesauce, bananas, or silken tofu.

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Vegan Replacements for Meat and Seafood 

For a beefy entrée that spares gentle cows, you must try Beyond Meat’s Burgers and Meatballs, Juicy Marbles’ and Chunk Foods’ steaks, Field Roast’s Field Burger, and Gardein’s Beefless Steak Tips and Ground Be’f. For road trip snacks, reach for jerky strips from Primal, Stonewall’s Jerquee, Jack & Friends, and more.

Attention “pescatarians”: Fish are highly intelligent and have numerous pain receptors. But you can “catch” an ocean’s worth of tasty vegan fish and seafood, such as Gardein’s Golden Fishless Filets and Crabless Cakes, Oshi’s omega-3 rich vegan “salmon” fillets, Nature’s Charm’s Vegan Calamari and Scallops, Mind Blown!’s Dusted Scallops and crab-like cakes, BeLeaf’s restaurant-favorite shrimp, Worthington’s flaky tuna, and May Wah’s Imitation Red Spot Prawn and Imitation Squid. And don’t forget the Cavi-art! It comes in dollops of black or orange.

Chickens are arguably the most abused animals on the planet, but vegan chicken is undoubtedly the best you’ll ever eat. Making regular appearances in PETA staff lunchboxes are chicken tenders from Beyond Meat and Gardein; crispy nuggets from NotChicken and MorningStar Farms; options for stir-fries by Daring Foods and Abbot’s; and sandwich-ready patties from Boca and MorningStar. Many companies also offer barbecue and buffalo varieties, and May Wah makes look-alike chicken legs!

Turkeys dance when reunited with someone they care about, and these fabulous animal-free turkey dishes might have you dancing in your seat. Of course, you can’t go wrong with the OG, Tofurky. Their deli slices changed the cold-cut game, and their holiday roast stuffed with rice and breadcrumbs and served with gravy has made staff members’ non-vegan family members reach for seconds and thirds. Field Roast’s turkey roasts are another holiday favorite. We’re also partial to Gardein’s excellent Breaded Turk’y Cutlets and gravy, Dr. Praeger’s Perfect Turk’y Burger, and deli slices from Unreal and Lightlife.

People who have spent time with pigs compare them to dogs because they’re playful, fun, loyal, and have frequently even saved human lives. We can do the same for them by choosing vegan bacon and ham, including vegan ham deli slices from Tofurky and Lightlife; hearty holiday ham roasts from Vegetarian Plus, Feed Your Head, and Field Roast; and crunchy bacon slices courtesy of Unreal Deli, Thrilling Foods, and Lightlife. Beyond Meat’s brats and breakfast sausages are winning over skeptics, and even Oscar Mayer now makes vegan brats! We also recommend flavorful plant pepperoni from Daiya, Tofurky, Prime Roots, and more. For cookouts or campouts, you can’t go wrong with Field Roast Frankfurters, Lightlife Smart Dogs, and MorningStar Farms’ Veggie Dogs and Corn Dogs.

For more tips, recipes, and information about going vegan, grab a free copy of our How to Go Vegan guide today.