The best vegan food makes ditching meat and animal byproducts taste good as hell. We taste tested a lot of vegan food this year—vegan pizza, vegan salad dressing, canned vegan tuna, vegan deli meat, vegan jerky, and more—but a few products were plant-based perfection. Whether you’re a longtime vegan looking for some new items to try or a newbie who’s trying out a totally animal-free diet for the first time, here’s the best vegan product we tried in 2023 and a close runner up.
Vegan jerky comes in a lot of different forms. Brands like Beyond rely on complex blends of proteins smashed into dehydrated little chunks, and while we like those versions plenty, there’s something so beautiful and simple about jerky made of dehydrated mushrooms. Pan’s original mushroom jerky is the best. In fact, Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling thought it was the best dupe for straight-up beef jerky. But don’t get us wrong—there’s big, big mushroom flavor, too. If you’re a fan o’ fungus, whether or not you’re vegan, you should try this vegan jerky asap.
If you’re a vegan who’s always wanted to try a pizza loaded with things like pepperoni and sausage, we have some pretty good news: This meatless meatlover’s pizza from Trader Joe’s is extremely good and just as satisfying and flavorful as a pizza loaded with real meat and cheese. My favorite thing about this pizza? One of the meats is veggie chorizo. So, in addition to mock versions of meats you’ll traditionally find on pizza, like pepperoni and Italian sausage, this pizza has a spicy, savory, paprika-rich vegan chorizo in the mix. The vegan cheese is pretty good, too; it’s much less soupy and gluey than the cheese on other vegan pizzas we tasted. We all know TJ’s is wont to discontinue items on a whim, but I really hope they keep this around. Rootin’ for you, vegans!
Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks.
Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown.
What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction.
Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home.
Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Why did you just have a runner-up and grand prize winner, instead of 10 of the best frozen foods?
As for Trader Joe’s, while they might seem to discontinue items on a whim, I don’t think that’s always the case. Some of their items are seasonal, such as peppermint and pumpkin spice Joe Joes and are only available for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, in order to make shelf space for them, they might need to temporarily discontinue some of their regular items. They might also need to discontinue items that don’t sell well and fill the shelf space with better selling merchandise. They might also no longer be able to get certain items such as their tea tree soap that they used to sell 2 to a pack or their goat milk soap. My late husband tried to use some in the shower and said that it wasn’t sudsing very well. We had a good laugh while I unwrapped it for him. He also tried to eat a cinnamon stick and told me the cinnamon cookies I’d bought we too hard to chew.
One of my favorite Trader Joe’s frozen foods is their Quiche Lorraine that’s microwavable, the only kind I’ve seen anywhere that is.
Gwynedd Stuart
Justine Sterling
Why did you just have a runner-up and grand prize winner, instead of 10 of the best frozen foods?
As for Trader Joe’s, while they might seem to discontinue items on a whim, I don’t think that’s always the case. Some of their items are seasonal, such as peppermint and pumpkin spice Joe Joes and are only available for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, in order to make shelf space for them, they might need to temporarily discontinue some of their regular items. They might also need to discontinue items that don’t sell well and fill the shelf space with better selling merchandise. They might also no longer be able to get certain items such as their tea tree soap that they used to sell 2 to a pack or their goat milk soap. My late husband tried to use some in the shower and said that it wasn’t sudsing very well. We had a good laugh while I unwrapped it for him. He also tried to eat a cinnamon stick and told me the cinnamon cookies I’d bought we too hard to chew.
One of my favorite Trader Joe’s frozen foods is their Quiche Lorraine that’s microwavable, the only kind I’ve seen anywhere that is.