These are a few of my favourite (vegan) things

Welcome to vegcurious – the blog for people who are curious about plant-based eating.

I’ve been looking forward to this post for a long time! I love most plant-based foods and accidentally vegan food, but there are some products that are just so exceptional I tell everyone who will listen about them.

In a previous post, I talked about products that are great substitutes for their non-vegan counterparts, and now I'm going to tell you about my favourite vegan products.

Full disclosure…sadly, no one is paying me to mention or promote these products. The blog below represents my personal opinions and what I truly love to eat. One day maybe someone will pay me to like their product…but today just isn’t that day. Sigh. Also, I Iive in Canada, but very close to the US border so some of these products are from Canada and some I purchased in the USA.

In alphabetical order…my top 10 favourite plant-based foods

Follow Your Heart (USA)/Earth Island (Canada) Blue Cheese Crumbles

I know…half of you are salivating at the thought of a vegan blue cheese that is virtually identical to its dairy counterpart, and the other half of you have already left due to an easily activated gag reflex. But, if you love blue cheese, you LOVE blue cheese and this blue cheese is truly incredible. It’s creamy, pungent, salty and visually identical to dairy blue cheese. So, if you’ve been longing for a vegan version of a wedge salad, Earth Island (and Hooray Bacon below) have you covered! (Note: This product is called Follow Your Heart in the USA and Earth Island in Canada.)

Gardein Fish-free Golden Filets (USA and Canada)

These show up weekly at my place for dinner in the form of fish tacos. The coating is crisp, the taste and texture is pure, flaky white fish, and each filet is the perfect size to fit into a small tortilla or taco shell. Top with coleslaw, chopped red onion and avocado and you will be in taco heaven! Not a taco fan? These little triangles of yum are perfect right out of the oven with a side of fries and some malt vinegar for dipping.

Hellmann’s Vegan Mayonnaise (USA and Canada)

A big shout out to Hellmann’s for creating a plant-based mayonnaise that is virtually idential to its non-vegan counterpart in every way. The taste and texture are identical and I challenge anyone to tell the difference in a blind taste test. You can use it anywhere you would use any mayonnaise including in my favourite plant-based egg salad recipe!

Hooray Bacun (USA only)

Let’s be honest…vegan bacon runs the gamut from salty cardboard to smoky cardboard, but this bacon is a gamechanger. I’ve tried them all (so you don’t have to) and let’s just say if the thought of real bacon freaks you out, you might want to stay away. But if you would give anything for a crunchy, salty, smoky, perfectly textured BLT that doesn’t harm animals or the planet, then get ready to meet your new best friend.

Hooray Bacun debuted at my place alongside some Just Egg for a lazy Sunday breakfast but quickly made it’s way onto topping vegan burgers, being crumbled into Caesar salads, sneaking into sandwiches of all kinds and onto my favourite homemade pizza. I stock up when I cross the border so I’m never without a few packages in the freezer.

Impossible Sausage Patties (USA only)

There are a lot of sausage patty options in the vegan food aisle but I’ve found that this one has the taste and texture of the real deal. I love doing a breakfast sandwich with a patty, a Just Egg frozen omlette and some Daiya Cheddar on a toasted English Muffin. It’s the perfect weekend breakfast or quick weekday dinner.

Just Egg - in both liquid and frozen omlette form (USA and Canada)

When this product hit the market it changed EVERYTHING. The liquid version makes incredible scrambled eggs, omlettes, quiche, frittatas and pretty much anything eggy you could want. I also love adding it to fried rice and making a batch of puffy, fluffy French toast for a lazy weekend brunch. I would tell you that it’s a great substitute in baked goods but we all know that you don’t need an egg substitute in vegan baked goods! (Confused? Check out my blog: Why you don’t need eggs in your diet.)

The frozen Just Egg Omlette is the star of some of my favourite breakfasts! Just 90 seconds in the microwave and you have a soft, fluffy, eggy folded omlette that’s perfect topped with vegan cheese and served in a mini tortilla or on an English muffin with a sausage patty or sliced tomato. It’s a handheld breakfast-to-go that’s packed with protein and overloaded with yumminess!

Miyoko’s Creamery Cultured Vegan Butter (USA and Canada)

I held off trying this one for a while. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews but it’s pricey and I was pretty happy with other less expensive vegan butters, but when I went on vacation last winter, I stayed at an Airbnb which meant grocery shopping for vegan food in a foreign country. I was shocked at the incredible selection and the prices were lower than at home. With Miyoko’s Butter on par with every other vegan brand in the supermarket, I decided that this was my chance to give it a try. I can now say that I totally get the hype. This butter is virtually indistiguishable from dairy butter. It’s not an excellent “vegan” butter, it’s an excellent butter! Some items are worth the splurge, and I think this is definitely one of them. (For other less expensive options, Becel Vegan Sticks and Becel Vegan Margarine are both excellent for cooking, baking and as a spread.)

Plant Ahead Feta (USA and Canada)

Available in solid brick and small cubes, this feta is next level! As most aspiring vegans will tell you, cheese is one of the hardest things to replace, but Plant Ahead has cracked the code! This plant-based feta hits all the right notes – it’s creamy, salty, tangy and the perfect texture for all your feta needs. I’ve added it to a Greek salad, put it on pizza, in pasta sauces and in sandwiches. And the best part is that all my nonvegan friends and family who have tried it have raved about it so I am 100% confident including it on the menu when having people over for dinner.

Sour cream – Trader Joe’s (USA) and Wayfare (USA and Canada)

We have a tie! While these products taste and look different from each other, they are both incredible plant-based sour creams. I’ve included them both because I know that Trader Joe’s is not available everywhere and Wayfare is in mass supermarket distribution.

The Trader Joe’s version is quite thick and has a layer of liquid on top so it does require stirring but the taste…perfection! The Wayfare brand is thinner, more like a dairy sour cream, and equally delicious. So boil up some perogies, bake up a potato or assemble a taco, you’ve now got the best plant-based sour cream to top them all!

Tunah (USA and Canada)

This is a strange one, but strange in a good way. It’s called “Tunah” because the intent is clearly to mimic tuna, but I don’t get any fish taste at all. That being said, I could not love this stuff more! It has the texture of chicken salad and a taste all it’s own but closer to chicken salad than tuna, IMO. I am never without a few tins in my pantry and love all the flavours – Garlic, Lemon Pepper, Sriracha and Original. I use it in salads, mix it with Hellmann’s Vegan Mayo in sandwiches and melts, and I toss it into casseroles. Is it tuna?…Not really. Is it delicious…OMG, YES!

This is just part one. I’ll be doing more blogs of my favourite things because there is nothing I love more than finding amazing plant-based products and telling everyone about them!

What’s your favourite plant-based product? email me at bevegcurious@gmail.com

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I hope this blog has helped you find your way to plant-based eating. Remember…the goal is not to be perfect. Do the best you can and enjoy the journey!

Note: It is strongly recommended that you consult with your primary care physician before making any changes to your diet. This blog is for educational purposes only and is not intended to recommend or endorse any particular product, diet or eating plan.

Next post: Why beans are so good for you!