Your Whole-Food Vegan Grocery List: Oil-Free Breads, Sauces, and Other Go-To Products
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Going plant-based is easier than you’d think, especially once your fridge and pantry are abundantly stocked with healthy vegan foods and staple ingredients. While whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are the foundation of ahealthful plant-based diet, that doesn’t mean you have to make everything from scratch. We’ve put together a vegan grocery list of the minimally processed products that the Forks Over Knives team relies on. Read on for the full list of oil-free vegan brands, or click to jump down to a specific category.
Baking
Breads and Tortillas
Crackers
Hummus and Dips
Instant Grains
Nondairy Milks
Sauces, Condiments, and Broth
Seasonings
Editor’s Note: Companies frequently change their ingredients and recipes. If you see something on this list that is no longer compliant with a whole-food, plant-based diet, please let us know.
Baking
Steer clear of excess sodium, fat, and sugar with these healthier takes on baking staples.
Crofter’s Just Fruit Spread
Ener-G Foods Baking Powder
Hain Pure Foods Featherweight Baking Powder
Kirkland Signature Creamy Almond Butter
Laura Scudder's Natural Peanut Butter
MaraNatha Natural California Almond Butter
New England Cranberry Fruit-Sweetened Dried Cranberries
Smuckers Natural Creamy Peanut Butter No Salt Added
St. Dalfour Fruit Spreads
Trader Joe’s Creamy Salted Peanut Butter
Breads and Tortillas
Breads are often loaded with sodium and refined sugar, and some contain whey, a milk derivative. Fortunately, you can find wholesome alternatives at most supermarkets (sometimes in the freezer aisles).
Alvarado Street Bakery(Sprouted Wheat Flaxseed Bread, Sprouted Wheat Rye Seed Bread, Sprouted Wheat Everything Bagels, Sprouted Wheat Sesame Seed Bagels)
Dave’s Killer BreadPower Seed, 21 Whole Grains and Seeds, Good Seed
Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Burger Buns
Ezekiel 4:9Sprouted Whole Grain Hot Dog Buns
Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Bread
Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Low Sodium English Muffins
Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain Tortillas
Ezekiel 4:9 Whole Grain Pocket Bread(pita)
Food for Life Sprouted Corn Tortillas
Guerrero Yellow Corn TortillasandWhite Corn Tortillas
Mission Yellow Corn TortillasandWhite Corn Tortillas
Crackers
Most store-bought crackers are long on calories and short on fiber and other health-promoting nutrients. Snack smarter with these brands.
365 Gluten-Free Oat & Seed Crispbread
Edward & Sons Brown Rice Snaps(Unsalted Plain Brown Rice Snaps, Unsalted Sesame Baked Brown Rice Snaps)
Finn Crisps(Thin Multigrain)
La Reina Unsalted Baked Organic Corn Tortilla Chips
Mary's Gone Crackers(all varieties)
RyvitaOriginal, Sesame, and Pumpkin Seed & Oats
Streits Whole Wheat Matzos
Wasa Whole Grain Crispbread
Hummus and Dips
Dips are often loaded with oil and sodium, and sometimes they contain dairy. These dips are all low in sodium, free of animal products, and free of oil!
Cedar’s Fat & Oil-Free Hummus
Oasis Zero Fat Black Bean Dip
Oasis Zero Fat Lentil Dip
Oasis Zero Fat Original Hommus
Roots Oil-Free Original Hummus
Instant Grains
Many manufacturers add oil, salt, and animal-derived ingredients (such as chicken fat) to pre- or par-cooked grains. These products keep it simple.
365 Yellow Polenta
Annie Chun’s Sprouted Brown Rice
Minsley Organic Cooked Brown Rice with Quinoa Cup
O Organics Brown Rice Cup
O Organics Frozen Brown Rice
Success Boil-in-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice
Nondairy Milks
When it comes to plant milks, the fewer ingredients, the better, so shop accordingly. These are some of our favorites, organized by type.
Soymilk
Pacific Foods Organic Soy Plant-Based Beverage Original Unsweetened
Unsweetened Edensoy Organic Soymilk
Westsoy Organic Unsweetened Plain Soymilk
Hodo Organic Soymilk
Oat Milk
Elmhurst Milked Oats Unsweetened
Thrive Market Organic Oat Beverage
Nut Milks
Elmhurst Milked Almonds Unsweetened
Elmhurst Milked Cashews
Elmhurst Milked Walnuts
Elmhurst Milked Hazelnuts
Tofu Products
It's a good idea to choose organic when buying tofu because you'll avoid exposure to glyphosate, a concerning pesticide that is heavily used in conventional and GMO soy farming. Below are a few tofu brands we like. To learn more about different varieties of tofu and how to use them, check out ourIngredient IQ: Tofu guide.
365 by Whole Foods Organic Tofu (Silken, Firm, and Extra Firm)
Hodo Organic Extra Firm Tofu
Wildwood Organic Tofu (Silken, Extra Firm, and Firm)
Sauces, Condiments, and Broth
While some of the sauces on this list are less pure than homemade, they are all vegan, oil-free, and substantially lower in sodium than competing products. And the Worcestershire sauce is vegan.
365 Organic Fat-Free Marinara
DeLallo Fat-Free Marinara Sauce
PLANTSTRONGOrganic Vegetable Stock (formerly branded as Engine 2)
Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Great Value Less-Sodium Soy Sauce
Kitchen Basics Unsalted Vegetable Stock
Miso Master Organic White Miso
Primal Kitchen Organic Unsweetened Ketchup
Robbie’s Natural Products Worcestershire
San-J Tamari Light
Simple Truth Tomato Ketchup
Simple Truth Organic Yellow Mustard
Tabasco
Whole Foods Red Enchilada Sauce
Seasonings
Keep these salt-free seasoning blends on your spice rack to add flavor without adding sodium.
Bensons Table Tasty
Bensons Supreme Garlic and Herb Seasoning
DAK Everything but the Salt Seasoning
Kirkland Signature Organic No-Salt 21 Spice Blend Seasoning
Mrs. Dash Seasoning Blends
Parma! Vegan Parmesan Original
To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.
This article was originally published on March 3, 2016, and has been updated.