Are you looking for a list of non-dairy staples to buy at the grocery store? Here is my everyday Dairy Free Shopping List with the best non-dairy dairy staples, bakery, frozen items, and canned goods.
My Dairy Free Shopping List
Want to get started on a dairy free diet but don’t know where to begin? Start by cleaning out your cabinet of items with hidden dairy ingredients. Then grab my dairy free shopping list for the best non-dairy dairy staples, bakery, frozen items, and canned goods and head to the store!
Dairy Free ‘Dairy’ Items – Milk and Butter
The best place to start when converting your fridge to dairy free is with MILK. Here are dairy free milk options (and my thoughts on each kind):
- Almond Milk– Unsweetened + original, our go-to for cereal
- Oat milk- I keep a non-perishable carton of unsweetened, non-flavored oat milk for baking/cooking. It is the best non-dairy milk substitute I’ve found!
- Soy Milk– Not my favorite, but popular with others.
- Coffee Creamer – You can always use a DF milk, but I like an actual non-dairy creamer.
When it comes to butter substitutes, there are quite a few wonderful and tasty options. Most dairy free butters usually look and taste like actually dairy-based butter, but they’re closer to margarine products because they’re made with plant-based oils.
- Earth Balance Butter Sticks – great for baking
- Earth Balance Whipped – melts nicely on pancakes, toast, etc.
- Miyoko’s Creamery Plant Based Butter – free of palm oil or lactose—with the perfect hint of sea salt
- Country Crock Plant Butter – easy to spread
Non-Dairy Cheese
The number of non-dairy cheese brands has quadrupled since I first went dairy free ten years ago. There are plenty to choose, each with different tastes and meltability. I recommend trying them all until you find a favorite!
- Violife – one of my favs for shreds (mexican and cheddar)
- Miyoko’s – the best for mozzarella – get the liquid for your pizza
- Follow Your Heart – another fav, esp parmesan
- Chao Creamery – try the slices for sandwiches
- Kite Hill – the best cream cheese and sour cream in the market
- Daiya – least fav, tastes like corn
- Country Crock – plant based heavy whipping cream (def recommend)
- SO Delicious – try the cool whip
Note: Many dairy-free ‘dairy’ products are made with a nut base ( mostly cashews for their meatiness). If nut allergies are a concern, then always check the ingredients first! Here is a list of dairy ingredients when managing a milk allergy.
Dairy Free Bakery Items
Did you know many pre-packaged bakery items contain dairy? However, fresh bread (and bagels) are usually dairy free. Just make sure to check the ingredient list of your favorite bread before buying it at the store.
- Dave’s Killer Bread (English Muffins and bagels too!)
- Sourdough (fresh never contains dairy!)
- Abe’s – muffins, breads, etc. Don’t miss out on their frozen birthday cake!
- Thomas‘ Plain Bagels – don’t buy the english muffins, they contain dairy
- Trader Joe’s (most bagels, english muffins, and bread)
Frozen Dairy Free Brands
I have found so many prepared foods in the freezer aisles containing hidden dairy ingredients. The following frozen food brands are usually dairy free – but always double check the labels!
- Abe’s Birthday Cake (vanilla is SO good!)
- Alexia (french fries, tater tots, etc.)
- Amy’s – (vegan pizza and burrito)
- Applegate (breakfast sausage and chicken nuggets)
- Bell & Evans (organic chicken)
- Dr. Praeger’s (ex. Perfect Burger)
- Katz (frozen desserts like Twinkies)
- Sweet Earth (frozen meals)
- SO Delicious Ice Cream
- Tattooed Chef (frozen meals)
- Van’s Waffles (blueberry is DF)
Non-Dairy Staples for the Pantry
- Cereal (most kinds are non-dairy)
- Condiments – mayonnaise is naturally non-dairy!
- Cookies – Oreo, Made Good, Sweet Lorens, Tate’s Bake Shop, Back to Nature (some are DF)
- Duncan Hines Brownie Mix
- Fruit and Grain Bars (365 Whole Foods or Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars are non-dairy)
- Olives
- Pasta
- Peanut Butter – the butter does not mean dairy
- Quinoa and Couscous
- Simple Mills Baking Mixes
Dairy Free Snacks
Looking for Dairy Free Snack ideas? Check out my Ultimate list of Dairy Free Snacks here!
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