Learn how to grocery shop for a dairy free diet
When we started eating dairy free, I found grocery shopping really frustrating. I never knew what to buy and I would spend endless amounts of time staring at ingredients lists only to get home and realize I bought the wrong thing.
After years of doing this, I’ve finally figured out my favorite products and dairy free grocery shopping is so much easier. I’ve put together a list of our go-to choices when we’re grocery shopping to help you navigate the chaos. We almost always have these products in our fridge or pantry on any given day.
They are definitely not the only options and they won’t necessarily be safe for everyone. Ingredients may change, please always check your labels and make sure the ingredients and allergy statements meet your needs before consuming any products.
- Smart Balance buttery spread
- Earth’s Balance vegan buttery sticks
- Spectrum Organic vegetable shortening
- Kirkland’s extra virgin olive oil
- Nutiva coconut oil
- Silk unsweetened cashew milk
- Aroy-D coconut milk
- Nature’s Charm sweetened condensed & evaporated coconut milk
- Native Forest powdered coconut milk
- Simply Balanced chocolate chips (we also buy this local brand that is dairy free)
- So Delicious frozen dessert
- Reddi-Wip non-dairy whipped cream
- Tofutti cheddar-style slices (not a fan of the mozzarella)
- Tofutti better than sour cream
- Daiya plain cream cheeze and Violife Creamy (original flavor)
- Daiya cheddar cutting board shreds
- Violife Greek white flavor (aka. vegan feta)
- CoYo coconut yogurt
- Bragg’s nutritional yeast
- Daiya deluxe cheeze sauce
- Follow your heart parmesan
- Kite Hill ricotta cheese
- Miyoko’s cheese spread
- Coffee-mate Natural Bliss almond milk creamer
- Progresso panko breadcrumbs
I will be adding and removing items from this list as we try out new products and discover new ingredients. Have a favorite item that’s not listed? Tell us in the comments so we can check it out.
P.S. Did you know that you can ask your grocery store to stock items that they don’t already carry? Most stores will be happy to do so if they know it’s something customers want. Just ask!
Our family, of which 4 of us are lactose intolerant, use Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup. I keep many cans in stock to use as a replacement in so many recipes. It’s a great substitute in green bean casserole, or as a gravy alternative mixed with Campbell’s beef consommé.
Oh interesting! I’ll have to check that out when I’m in a jam next time. Thanks for sharing!
Where do you purchase your raw cashews?
I usually buy mine at Fresh Thyme!
Can you tell me the brand of coconut milk you’re suggesting for a dairy free pumpkin pie. The only brand I’ve seen is Goya coconut milk at 9 grams of fat. Is this considered a rich amount? Please Help as I want to make the pie for Thanksgiving. Thank you in advance.
Sure! The Aroy-D brand that I buy has 17.5g fat per 1/2 cup serving, so it’s super creamy! I think the Goya brand is 1/4 cup servings at 9g of fat per serving, so it should be about equal!
So Delicious has many great products I love their yogurt and non-dairy whip topping
Field Roast makes Chao cheese slices that are really good
Enjoy life makes many things that are free of the top 8 or 10 allergens including chocolate chips, candies and chips.
A it of your recipes call for plain coconut yogurt (and you have the Coyo brand on this list). I’m having trouble locating any version of this near me (I went to 4 stores). are there other brands/options that you use or recommend? Thanks!
Try So Delicious Coconut Yogurt (the green one!). They have a plain unsweetened version that is available in a lot of stores, even Walmart!