Imagine a shopping cart loaded with delicious and affordable vegan products. If you shop at Vons or Safeway, that cart can be yours. The two stores are treasure troves of vegan products, and we’ve put together a handy guide to finding all the best items.
Shopping can be an easy way to take action for animals who face miserable lives on farms and violent deaths in slaughterhouses. By filling your shopping basket with vegan items instead of products derived from animals, you can save nearly 200 animals a year. How’s that for making an impact?
You may be pleasantly surprised to find that many products not labeled vegan are “accidentally vegan,” so always check the list of ingredients. There are so many vegan items at the grocery stores that we can’t list them all on one page, so here’s just a sample of the fantastic items that you can find.
Bread
Don’t loaf around this aisle—there are delicious vegan breads to be had. Every PB&J calls for bread, so try Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread or Alfaro’s Artesano Style White Bread. All varieties of Dave’s Killer Bread are vegan except Honey Oats & Flax Bread.
Bring home the bagels by grabbing Thomas’ Bagels (try the Everything flavor).
Don’t forget Signature Select Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns—you’ll need them for your next backyard barbecue.
Bars
For a lunchtime sweet, grab some LÄRABAR Original Fruit & Nut Bars or load up on all the figgy goodness that is Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars.
Meals
From farfalle to penne to spaghetti, pasta is a super-staple, and there’s so much to choose from. Cooking vegan chicken Parmesan? Throw it on some Signature Select Linguine. Or keep it simple with spaghetti topped with Gardein Meatless Meatballs.
Keep an eye out for Daiya Cheezy Mac, available in Alfredo or Cheddar style.
Dressings and Spreads
Dress up your salads with Follow Your Heart Vegan Honey Mustard, Thousand Island or Annie’s Goddess Dressing.
If you’re in need of mayo, check out Follow Your Heart Vegenaise.
Snacks
Eat more fruit (snacks), such as Mott’s Fruit Flavored Snacks or Annie’s Homegrown Organic Fruit Snacks. Satisfy the kid in you by enjoying Betty Crocker’s Fruit by the Foot and Fruit Roll-Ups.
A trip down the chips aisle turns up many enticing options. A few solid choices include Lay’s (Original, Barbecue, or Limón flavors), SunChips, Fritos, or SkinnyPop White Cheddar Popcorn—yep, it’s vegan!
Make sure you pick up some party pleasers in case you host friends. Signature Select Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels are simply irresistible.
Breakfast
Use Bisquick Original Pancake & Baking Mix to whip up vegan pancakes, biscuits, waffles, and anything else that your baker’s heart desires.
Cereals
Serious mornings call for cereal, cold or hot. Cap’n Crunch and Life Multigrain Cereal are just two fantastic vegan choices.
If you like it hot, go for Quaker Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar, Apples & Cinnamon, and Cinnamon & Spice), or Cream of Wheat Hot Cereal.
Dairy-Free Necessities
Vons and Safeway stocks many great dairy-free milk options. Look for brands such as Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, Ripple, and Good Karma.
Butter up your breakfasts with Earth Balance, a delicious, dairy-free buttery spread that’s great on toast or for baking or sautéing.
Cream Cheese
If you’re going to bring home the bagels, spread ’em with Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Spread or Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. While you’re at it, pick up Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream for vegan taco night.
Yogurt
Follow Your Heart and Forager offer yummy yogurt options. Vons also carries dairy-free yogurt beverages by GoodBelly Probiotics and Califia Farms.
Cheese
Several top dairy-free cheese brands are available at Vons and Safeway. Daiya shreds make perfect pizza toppers, Follow Your Heart slices are great in a grilled cheese sandwich, and Field Roast Chao Slices make a tasty burger topping.
Burgers
In case you haven’t heard, Beyond Meat broke news cycles when its “bleeding” Beyond Burger busted into the burger scene and restaurants like Carl’s Jr.—and the meat case in Vons. Other phenomenal plant-based burgers include Boca Vegan Burgers and MorningStar Farms Meat Lovers Vegan Burgers.
In fact, did you know that Vons and Safeway carries its own brand of vegan burger, O Organics Plant Based Burger Patties?
Hot Dogs and Sausages
Fire up the grill, and load up on Lightlife Smart Dogs. Also, Lightlife Tempeh fries up nicely as vegan bacon.
Sandwich Meat
Make a veggie sandwich with Tofurky Deli Slices, available in Hickory Smoked, Peppered, and Oven Roasted varieties.
Freezer Aisle Staples
Gardein has a number of outstanding frozen entrées, including Meatless Meatballs, Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n, Beefless Tips, and Fishless Filets.
Several MorningStar Farms entrées are vegan (look for the “V” in a yellow box on the bag). Fry up the Chik Patties and serve spicy chicken sandwiches for dinner. MorningStar’s Chik’n Nuggets make a great game-day appetizer. Top a kale Caesar salad with MorningStar’s Veggie Meal Starters Chik’n Strips.
Frozen Meals
When you’re short on time, you can’t beat heat ‘n’ eat meals. Try any one of several Amy’s frozen entrées, such as the Veggie Loaf, Pad Thai, or Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada.
Pop some Vans Gluten Free Waffles in the toaster for breakfast, or scramble things up with Amy’s Tofu Scramble.
Ice Cream
We saved the best for last, especially since ice cream melts. Finding dairy-free ice cream at Vons is easy, but picking a flavor is the hard part. Pick out a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, Halo Top, or NadaMoo!
If you prefer a handheld frozen treat, try SoDelicious Mocha Fudge Almond Milk Bars or Enlightened Dairy-Free Bars.
Nothing beats a piping hot pie right out of the oven—get your mitts on a Claim Jumper pie, available in the freezer section in apple, cherry, blueberry, peach, and blackberry flavors.
A trip to the store isn’t complete without a run through the produce section, and it goes without saying that fruits and vegetables are obvious vegan must-haves.
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Once you’ve got a full cart, you’ll be ready to enjoy all the goodies that you found. If you’re wondering what to do with it all, browse hundreds of free vegan recipes to kick-start your inner chef.
Now that you’re all stocked up, take the pledge to go vegan for animals, your health, and the environment. Order a free vegan starter kit while you’re at it, or if you’re already vegan, order one for a friend.
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