These are some staple ingredients and things that help out my vegan cooking a little bit. A lot of these ingredients are a must have for vegan kitchens, but some are my own preferences on vegan cheeses, butters and milks! Many items may seem completely foreign to the non-vegan cook, so I created this guide to help out a little bit!
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional Yeast AKA “nooch.” It is a yeast that is is grown, harvested and dried with heat. This process makes it inactive. It does not grow life, so it is not used for baking. It is sold in a yellow “flaky” form at most grocery stores. It is rich in “B” vitamins that is often lacking in vegan diets. This is great for a lot of “cheesy” recipes. It adds depth and great flavor to almost anything. I often use this in my Vegan Cashew Parmesan recipe. Add it to anything-even popcorn! It’s great!
Aquafaba
This is the “juice” or liquid from cooked garbanzo or chickpea beans. I mostly buy canned garbanzo beans and just save the liquid from these. The liquid gets thick and frothy when beaten! You can keep it in your fridge for up to a week. If needed longer you can freeze it in Tbs servings using an ice tray for future use! I often use this as an egg-replacer. It works great in my Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Recipe and my Vegan Caesar Salad recipe. It’s nice and thick. It can also be whipped up into meringues!
“Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base”
This stuff is fantastic! It is a vegetable broth with a chicken broth like flavor! It is a little more mellow than some of the very rich and hearty vegetable broths. It add this to rice dishes, noodles, tofu, marinades, dressings and much more! I love it in my Cilantro-Rice Recipe. I highly recommend that you keep this in your kitchen to help out seasoning many of your vegan dishes!
Black Salt
This is a special salt that contains traces of sulphur. The sulphur offers an “eggy” taste, so it might be a little overwhelming when its on it’s own, but when cooked in recipes it gives a great flavor! I often use it in tofu scrambles, and it can be found on my blog in my Caesar Salad Recipe.
Tahini
Tahini is a sesame seed paste. It is somewhat bitter, but it is a wonderful compliment to many ingredients. I use it with lemon to make a sauce and even with some bananas to make some banana ice cream! It is incredibly versatile and I use it in many dishes mediterranean or not.
Tofu
Tofu is something I love for a little extra protein and a variance in texture! It’s great for curries, stir-fries, lettuce wraps, in sandwiches, and much more!
If you are new to tofu and are a little scared of it, no worries! Tofu is fantastic and can be quite easy to cook with once you know what you’re working with! I mostly use firm or extra-firm tofu. Tofu is stored in water and often holds a lot of water in it! The best thing to do to ensure crispy tofu is to drain it ahead of cooking it. To do this, I remove it from the packaging and place it on a plate. Then I put a piece of paper towel or cloth on top and then place a cast iron skillet on top to drain the liquid! If you have no cast iron skillet- no fear! Just place something heavy on top that will give a good amount of pressure. I drain if for at least fifteen minutes to get a lot of the moisture out. Then you can pat dry and fry in some oil in a pan or even bake for some crispy results!
You can also use some silken tofu or non-firm tofu for recipes like vegan ricotta cheese, a tofu scramble, or a vegan tofu quiche.
Cashews
Cashews are an absolute dream for a vegan (as long as you don’t have a nut allergy!). They give way to creamy sauces and vegan cheeses alike! I use them in my Creamy Tomatillo Dip recipe, my Vegan Cashew Parmesan, and in my Tofu Ricotta. I will use many recipes on my blog that require cashews. I think it is always helpful to have some raw cashews in you cupboard, and I ALWAYS, have my Vegan Cashew Parmesan made in my fridge for a quick cheesy/salty addition to any recipe!
White Miso Paste
This stuff is some real magic. It is great for making soups, salad dressings, offering flavor to sauces, and even for making homemade vegan cheese. It offers a lot of complexity that gives a real umami flavor. I highly recommend keeping some in your fridge and experimenting with it a bit! You can also find it used in my Miso Fettuccini Recipe. That is a super simple recipe and a great showcase of the power of the miso paste!
Store-bought Vegan Cheeses
My favorite vegan cheese vary from time to time, but these are my favorite for the time being! Additions may be added in the future depending on my fancy at the time! Please feel free to comment your favorite vegan cheeses in the comments below!
- Trader Joes (NEW!) Cashew Mozzarella– this stuff is amazing! It’s relatively new. For the longest time Trader Joes did not carry a vegan cheese that I liked for topping pastas or making pizzas, but FINALLY it has arrived! I highly recommend that you try this cheese! You won’t regret it!
- Daiya’s (NEW!) Cheddar and Mozzarella made with Chickpeas! Both of their new cheeses that are made with Chickpeas are incredible! The old Daiya had a strange taste and did not melt well- these melt great, and taste delicious!
- Follow Your Heart- ALL OF THEM! All of Follow Your Heart’s Cheeses are great! They taste fantastic! Of them, I would highly recommend the Parmesan (tastes like the real thing!!!), the cheddar (slightly pungent smell but tastes great melted or in macaroni and cheese), and the mozzarella is great on anything!
- Chao- I love the Chao slices. They don’t melt as great, but taste great right out of the package. I especially like the Tomato Cayenne slices they sell!
- Tofutti Cream Cheese– a classic! It’s great and delicious! Tastes like the real thing. Put it on your bagel, and even stir it in some pasta for a creamy taste!
- Miyokos Mozzarella– this is delicious! I love it for plopping bits of cheese on top of pizzas and pastas. The negatives are that it is kind of expensive, and doesn’t melt too hot. It comes in a wheel form, so it is good for spreading or “plopping.” The positive is that it’s really delicious. So delicious it’s great right out of the packaging!
Store-bought Vegan Milks
When it comes to vegan milk, there are many options to choose from now-a-days. Many people are finding that they are lactose intolerant and non-dairy milks are rising in popularity! It is wonderful to have options, but can be confusing when you are in an isle of seemingly endless non-dairy milk options.
Some milks like soy and almond are often sweetened. A lot of them will say “original” on the front. That most likely means that they have a little bit of sweetener in there, which is not bad if you are using it for cereal, a latte, or a sweet recipe, but if you using it for a savory recipe it can cause some problems. If you want to use a non-dairy milk for a savory recipe make sure that you look for an unsweetened label. Also, I often just buy unsweetened and use it in sweet and savory recipes alike! You can always add a little bit of sweet, but it’s impossible to take it away if it’s already mixed in the milk!
Here are some of my go-to Vegan Milks:
- Oatly’s Low Fat Milk– I love oat milk high fat and low, but I find that the lower fat is a little bit thinner and easier to work with in recipes, and less filling for cereals. It’s refrigerated, so you must use it sooner than later.
- Trader Joe’s Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk– this is a GREAT milk! I find that it has such a neutral taste and is a similar consistency to regular milk making it easy to work with and it’s organic! It’s refrigerated, so you’ll need to use it sooner than later.
- Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original– This is a great almond milk that is unrefrigerated before opening which is a great option to have stocked up in your cabinets! I always have this in my pantry!
Vegan Butter
Vegan butter is a nice little miracle, and it really does taste like the real thing! Here are two that I use on the regular!
- Miyokos Vegan Butter– This is my all-time favorite vegan butter. It comes in block form, so you can put it on a butter plate on your table and feel nice and homey and maybe even a little fancy! It’s organic and has a European feel to it! It’s dreamy and I’m in love! Use the unsalted version for baking needs!
- Earth Balance– This is an old classic. I used this before I even became vegan. It’s delicious and works well for cooking and baking. The original is great, but they now offer an organic version as well which is a big win for me!