Vegan food review

I’m newly vegan (as of late May 2022) and have, historically speaking, been a very picky eater. This section of my capsule is for me to catalog the products I’ve tried and whether or not they work for me.

I’m in the Midwestern United States, so product availability may vary for you.

Meat substitutes

Tofu 👍

It’s quick and easy to work with, and honestly, I like the way it tastes. Not enough to eat it by itself, but still.

Costco black bean burgers 👍

The texture is weird if I pay attention to it, but they taste great.

Impossible Burger 👎

Tested on animals. Not vegan.

Beyond Burger 👎

Tested on animals. Not vegan.

Lightlife Smart Dogs 👎

“Hot dogs are barely real meat anyway,” I said. “How hard can it be to make a vegan substitute?” Anyway, these taste like garbage.

Since trying them, I found out that Lightlife is a subsidiary of Maple Leaf Foods, a slaughterhouse company that lobbies for ag-gag laws. They also put out misleading statements about how OTHER plant-based meats are full of scary chemicals. Not a good look, not a brand I want anything to do with.

Maple Leaf Foods Lobbied For ‘Anti-Whistleblower’ Law That Could Keep Out Activists

Dairy substitutes

Violife shredded cheese 👍

I’ve tried both the “Mexican” blend and the not-mozzarella (notzarella?) and they’re both really good. The taste is slightly jarring if you’re used to cow cheese, but I’ve gotten used to it.

Aldi Earth-Grown sliced cheese 👍

Have tried mozzarella and cheddar. Both are good.

Other substitutes

Avocado 👍

Mash it up and it works great in place of mayonnaise!

Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken Base 👍

I’m astounded how much this tastes like... just plain chicken soup base. It’s incredible.

Nutritional yeast 👎

With the way everyone raves over this stuff, you’d think it was the second coming of a Christ who’d actually come the first time. It’s just... not good.

Canned foods

Campbell’s Homestyle Healthy Request Harvest Tomato & Basil Soup 👍

Really freaking good. This is a staple in my kitchen. Make sure it’s the Healthy Request variety; the other kind has milk in it.

Progresso Tomato & Basil Soup 👍

This is... okay. Not as good as Campbell’s.

Gardein Plant-Based Chick’n and Noodl’ 👎

This was okay, I guess, but too expensive to be “okay, I guess”. Wouldn’t buy again.

Boxed foods

Daiya Deluxe Mac and Cheeze 👍

I like this, but it costs sooo much.

Upton’s Naturals Deluxe Ch’eezy Mac 👎

No thanks. The texture is weird and it doesn’t taste good enough to make up for it.

Frozen meals

Sweet Earth brand cauliflower mac 👍

Not sure why cauliflower has to go in everything, but it’s good in this.

Smart Ones angel hair marinara 👍

Normally I would just make pasta on the stove top, but I was stuck in a hotel room and desperate. This was good.

Alpha Beefy Chedd’r pot pie 👍

This is great, but sadly I was only able to find it once. No one seems to carry it anymore.