Review: Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce

It can be hard to find vegan sauces. There have been so many times where I made a vegan meal and had no problem with the main ingredients, but didn't know what sauce to use. It seems like almost every sauce at restaurants has mayonnaise in it. 

So I'm glad that I tried Zhoug Sauce from Trader Joe's. They call it "a very spicy green herbal sauce with Yemeni roots." It's made from cilantro and jalapeños blended with oil and spices. It's an herbs + oil sauce like pesto and chimichurri (both of which I also love), but in my opinion the cilantro and spices in Zhoug Sauce work with a wider range of foods. 

This vegan sauce is so flavorful and you can use it on everything. The different herbs and spices work well with a lot of types of food. So far I've had it with tacos and falafel. It would also be good on sandwiches or as a dip. 

It is very spicy, so only use a little bit at first. Definitely don't eat a big spoonful all at once like I did. 

Zhoug Sauce ingredients: cilantro, canola oil, jalapeño peppers, chile flakes, garlic, cardamom, sea salt, cumin seed. 

Review: Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce

First impressions: Woah that is really spicy!

Taste: Bright and flavorful with heat that builds as you eat more. 

Texture: Similar to pesto, you might need to stir to mix in the oil thoroughly. 

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes, this is a staple in my fridge now. 

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was pleasantly surprised to find these vegan chocolate chip cookies on display with the rest of the freshly baked (non-vegan) cookies at Sprouts. They were the same price too! They looked so good I had to try them. 

Some vegan cookies can be dry or dense. These were soft and chewy like chocolate chip cookies should be. I would not guess that they're vegan if I didn't know. 

The only downside to these is after a few days they seemed to dry out faster than non-vegan cookies. So that just means you have an excuse to eat them quickly.

The egg replacer in these vegan cookies is chickpea flour, which happens to be my go-to egg replacer for baking. Chickpea flour can be used as an egg replacer in a lot of recipes, from baking to crepes to quiches. Chickpeas are the same thing as garbanzo beans, so you might see it called garbanzo bean flour in the store. I've even heard that aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) can be used to make a meringue, but I haven't tried that myself yet. 

Sprouts also has some prepackaged vegan cookies in the cookie aisle, including chocolate chip and vanilla wafers. 

Sprouts vegan chocolate chip cookies ingredients: 

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, ascorbic acid add as a dough conditioner), semi-sweet chocolate (organic cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], vanilla bean seeds), palm shortening, sugar, brown sugar, water, chickpea flour, salt, natural vanilla flavor, baking soda. 

Review: Sprouts Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

First impressions: These don't look vegan.

Taste: Sweet, chocolatey, satisfying 

Texture: Soft and chewy

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, my favorite vegan chocolate chip cookie so far. 

Worth buying again? Yes, I already have.

Overall: 5/5

Review: NadaMoo That Snickerdoodle Dough

I might have bought this because of the funny name, but it also turned out to be my favorite non-dairy ice cream so far. 

All of the NadaMoo vegan ice cream flavors that I've tried have been incredible. They're especially good at recreating the texture of dairy ice cream. This one is my favorite (so far). 

They found the perfect balance of sweet but not too sweet, and creamy but not too rich. There isn't a strong coconut flavor either like with some coconut milk products. 

Plus, vegan and gluten-free cookie dough pieces?! I would eat those by themselves. 

NadaMoo That Snickerdoodle Dough ingredients: Organic coconut milk, water, organic agave nectar, organic inulin, snickerdoodle cookie bits [white rice flour, cane sugar, butter alternative (oil blend (palm fruit, canola and olive oils), water, salt, natural flavor, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid (non-dairy), annatto extract (color)), tapioca flour, water, potato starch, egg replacer (potato starch, tapioca flour, leavening (calcium lactate (non-dairy), calcium carbonate, cream of tartar), cellulose gum, modified cellulose), ground cinnamon, salt, guar gum, natural flavor, xanthan gum, sodium alginate, organic tapioca syrup solids, organic guar gum, organic cinnamon, sea salt, organic locust bean gum. 

 Review: NadaMoo That Snickerdoodle Dough

First impressions: Wow, new favorite!

Taste: Lots of cinnamon, not too sweet 

Texture: Creamy, not too rich 

Can you tell it's vegan? No, I couldn't tell that it's gluten free either.
Better than other vegan options? Yes, one of my favorites so far. 

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: The Complete Cookie - Peanut Butter

Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie is a vegan cookie that's more like a nutrition bar. I thought peanut butter might be a good flavor to balance out the added protein. I did like this better than the white chocolatey macadamia Complete Cookie, but it still has an aftertaste that reminded me of a PowerBar. 

The texture was soft and made me think of the peanut butter Grandma's cookies at first. After eating a lot of it though it started to feel dense and dry. 

If you're craving a cookie, this might not hit the spot. But it's not bad when you consider it has 16 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber while being eggless and dairy free. If you're on a road trip or stopping for a quick snack at the gas station, this will probably be more filling than other options. 

Peanut butter Complete Cookie ingredients: Enriched Wheat Flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Chicory Root Fiber, Peanut Butter, Protein Blend (vital wheat gluten, pea protein, rice protein), Invert Sugar, Vegetable Glycerine, Cane Sugar, Peanuts, Palm Fruit Oil, Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Flavors, Baking Soda, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum.

Review: Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie Peanut Butter

Taste: Strong peanut flavor, sweet, slight nutrition bar aftertaste 

Texture: Soft, dense, a little dry 

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe, you can tell it's a nutrition food

Worth buying again? I would eat this again but it's not at the top of my grocery list

Overall: 4/5

Review: NadaMoo Strawberry Cheesecake

NadaMoo is one of my favorite vegan ice cream brands that I've tried so far. And I love strawberry cheesecake ice cream, so I was excited to see their dairy-free strawberry cheesecake. Like all NadaMoo ice creams, it's gluten free.

The ice cream is strawberry and cheesecake ice creams swirled together. The strawberry had a bit of a yogurt taste to it and intense strawberry flavor. The cheesecake ice cream tastes surprisingly close to cheesecake for being vegan.

It was a little sweeter than I prefer, but I usually like things to be less sweet than most people do.

The texture was a little denser than the other flavors, and the pint didn't look as full. It was super creamy though. It was also rich and more filling than some other ice creams.

The only thing it was missing is cheesecake bites. It has pieces of pie crust that I was expecting to be cheesecake. So compared to Ben & Jerry's strawberry cheesecake, this was not what I expected. But if you know to expect pie crust pieces, it's pretty good.

NadaMoo Strawberry Cheesecake ingredients: water, organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, organic tapioca syrup, organic inulin, strawberry puree (water, sugar, strawberry flavor with other natural flavors, locust bean gum, guar gum, and citric acid), almond meal, organic guar gum, natural flavors, light brown sugar, sweet white rice flour, tapioca flour, brown rice flour, sea salt, arrowroot flour, non-GMO canola oil, organic locust bean gum, organic coconut oil, red beet extract (color), annatto extract (color), sorghum flour, xanthan gum, ground cinnamon. 

Review: NadaMoo Strawberry Cheesecake

Taste: Strong strawberry and cheesecake flavors. A little sweet. 

Texture: Rich and creamy 

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? The snickerdoodle is my favorite so far. 

Worth buying again? I would try other flavors first. 

Overall: 4/5

How to Make Vegan BBQ "Pulled Pork" Style Jackfruit

Have you tried jackfruit yet? It's the ultimate vegan substitute for shredded pork. I was so surprised by how similar the texture is to pork. And even though it's a fruit, it doesn't have a strong flavor by itself and will take on the flavor of the sauce or seasoning you use.

I love finding fruits or vegetables like this that make perfect vegan alternatives for meat. (Oyster mushrooms is another example worth checking out.) While I love the Beyond Burger and how popular faux meats are becoming, it's nice to have less processed options too.

I'll walk you through how to make bbq "pulled pork" style jackfruit. It's also great in tacos or other recipes that would use shredded pork or chicken. I want to try tamales or enchiladas next.

You can buy the whole fruit at some grocery stores, but it's easier to buy it canned. You can find it at Trader Joe's. One can made four sandwiches for me.

Drain and rinse the jackfruit and pat it dry with a towel. It will look like triangles.

Shred the jackfruit pieces. It's easiest to use your hands. You can also use a fork or knife. Now it should look more like shredded pork.

Saute the jackfruit with a little bit of oil, salt, and pepper. You can also add garlic and onions or other seasoning at this stage if you want. Cook it on medium-high heat until it starts to brown a little bit, about 10 minutes.

Add your favorite barbecue sauce. If you're cooking for other people who are vegan, check that the barbecue sauce is vegan because not all of them are. Lower the heat and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes (15 is ok if you're really hungry).

Now it's time to build your sandwich. This is good by itself or you can also top with vegan coleslaw.
It's good leftover too, just reheat in the microwave.

Review: Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie - White Chocolaty Macadamia

The Complete Cookie from Lenny & Larry's is a giant vegan cookie with added protein,  fiber, and other nutrients. They have a lot of flavors including traditional favorites and some fun, unusual flavors like chocolate donut and apple pie. 

Is it the best cookie ever? No. But for a vegan cookie that's basically a protein bar, it's not bad.

The first ingredient is their protein blend, and you can tell. It has a little bit of a nutrition bar, health food taste. I consider it a delicious vegan protein bar, but wouldn't compare it to other vegan cookies. 

It's really big and dense. I liked it at first, but it was hard to finish. I might like a smaller version more. I see on their website that they also have smaller, crunchy cookies. Those might be better.

As far as the white chocolaty macadamia flavor goes, I thought the white chips and macadamia nut pieces were too small and that there weren't enough of them. When I think of white chocolate macadamia cookies, I picture big pieces of both.

I generally prefer less processed foods with shorter ingredient lists. But the long list here makes more sense because of the added protein and fiber. Plus most vegan baked goods will have extra ingredients in order to replace the eggs. 

Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie White Chocolaty Macadamia ingredients: Protein blend (vital wheat gluten, pea protein, rice protein), enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable glycerine, chicory root fiber, cane sugar, invert sugar, palm margarine (palm oil, palm fractions, water, salt, emulsifiers [sunflower lecithin, distilled monoglycerides], natural flavor, citric acid, mixed tocopherols [antioxidant], vitamin A, beta-carotene [color]), white chips (sugar, palm kernel and palm oil, natural flavor, sunflower lecithin [emulsifier], salt), oligofructose, macadamia nuts, sunflower lecithin, natural flavor, salt, baking soda, cultured dextrose, xanthan gum, guar gum. 

Review: Lenny & Larry's The Complete Cookie White Chocolaty Macadamia

First impressions: Wow, this is big.

Taste: Some nutritional aftertaste, not too sweet, hint of cinnamon. I would like to have had more white chocolatey pieces. 

Texture: Soft, but a little dense. 

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes. 

Worth buying again? I liked the peanut butter flavor more

Overall: 4/5

What did you think? Leave your own review here!

Review: Hail Merry Cookie Dough Bites

Vegan cookie dough bites! What a great idea! 

I loved eating raw cookie dough as a kid (and adult). Vegan cookie dough makes a lot of sense. You don't have to worry about uncooked eggs, and they won't be baked so it's less important to find the best egg replacer so they rise properly. 

I really wanted to like these. They looked adorable. 

But they didn't taste as good as I hoped they would. They tasted like dry, coconut balls. I didn't finish eating them, and it's a small package. 

All of Hail Merry's products are vegan, gluten free, and grain free. I wonder if a vegan cookie dough with wheat flour might have a closer texture to what I was expecting. Although I'd like to try their other products, and am glad there's a company that caters to people who can't eat those ingredients.

Hail Merry Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites ingredients: Organic Maple Syrup, Almond Flour, Organic Shredded Coconut, Organic Chocolate Chips (Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Liquor, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Vanilla, Celtic Sea Salt.

Review: Hail Merry Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

First impressions: "Cute! Oh... not very good though."

Taste: I mainly tasted coconut, and wished it had more chocolate.

Texture: Dry

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe not, but you can tell it's gluten free. 

Worth buying again? I wouldn't buy this again but still want to try their other products. 

Overall: 3/5

Review: Earth Balance European Style Buttery Spread

Earth Balance has several varieties of their vegan buttery spread. I've been using the original for years as my go-to vegan butter substitute. I recently tried the European Style and compared it to the original. I'm not sure what specifically makes it European, but overall I did like this better than the original.

The European Style was very similar to the original Earth Balance but a little thicker, creamier, and slightly more yellow. As you can see, they look almost the same.

I also liked the taste more, but it was a subtle difference. It was closer to a buttery taste. I'd like to compare them for baking too. 

The ingredient list is the same as original Earth Balance, except for a different coloring ingredient. 

Earth Balance European Style Buttery Spread ingredients: Vegetable oil blend (canola, palm, and olive oils), water, salt, pea protein isolate, sunflower lecithin, natural flavor, lactic acid, beta carotene (color). 

Review: Earth Balance European Style Buttery Spread

First impressions: Very similar to original Earth Balance

Taste: Rich and buttery

Texture: Thick and creamy

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, but maybe not enough to pay more for it. It's about the same price but the container is half the size of the other Earth Balance flavors. 

Worth buying again? I would buy it again if it was on sale or I was making something special. 

Overall: 5/5

Review: Coffee Mate Natural Bliss Caramel Almond Milk Creamer

Coffee mate has a new line called natural bliss that includes non-dairy coffee creamers. They have almond milk, coconut milk, and even an oat milk coffee creamer. They also make a plant-based half and half made with half almond milk and half coconut cream.

My boyfriend picked the caramel flavor because he wanted something caramelly for his coffee. He makes his own espresso and usually adds flavored syrup, but was out, so he decided to try this vegan coffee creamer. 

He said he couldn't tell this was vegan, and would have guessed it was a dairy creamer. If you usually use dairy creamer, this would probably be good enough to replace it. If you use something thicker like half and half, this might not be quite thick enough.  

He used this in iced coffee and it still mixed in well, just like dairy creamer or milk would. 

Coffee mate natural bliss caramel almond milk creamer ingredients: Almond Milk (Water, Almonds), Cane Sugar, Coconut Oil, Pea Protein, Natural Flavor, Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Gellan Gum, Guar Gum.

Review: Coffee mate natural bliss caramel almond milk creamer

Taste: Not too sweet, a subtle caramel flavor, hint of cinnamon.

Texture: About the same as dairy creamer, not as thick as half and half.

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, we also tried a popular natural brand and didn't like it as much.

Worth buying again? Yes, we already have.

Overall: 4/5

Review: OCHO Organic Coconut Bar

This vegan chocolate coconut candy bar is exactly what you would expect: simple, chocolate-covered coconut. 

The chocolate is very thick but doesn't taste too bitter because of the coconut. They complement each other well. It's a chewy and satisfying vegan candy bar. 

 

I couldn't tell this was vegan and wondered if Mounds bars are vegan. I looked it up and they are not vegan because they use milk in the chocolate (even though it's dark chocolate). 

OCHO Candy is an organic candy company. All of their products are organic and gluten free, but not all are vegan. 

OCHO Organic Coconut Bar ingredients: Organic dark chocolate (organic cacao beans, organic evaporated cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin), organic tapioca syrup, organic coconut, organic sugar (organic cane sugar, organic tapioca starch), water, sea salt, organic soy lecithin, organic vanilla extract. 

Review: OCHO Organic Coconut Bar

First impressions: Reminds me of Mounds.

Taste: The dark chocolate is balanced by the coconut so it doesn't taste as bitter. 

Texture: Thick chocolate coating, chewy coconut inside. 

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes, and I would try their other products too. 

Overall: 5/5

Review: free2b Rice Chocolate Sun Cups

Most vegan candy uses dark chocolate, which is naturally vegan. But as someone who loves milk chocolate, I appreciate when companies make a vegan milk chocolate. This is especially true as I search for vegan peanut butter cups. To me, milk chocolate and peanut butter go better together than dark chocolate. 

These vegan sunflower seed butter cups from free2b use rice chocolate, which seems closer to a semisweet than milk chocolate, but it still not as intense or bitter as dark chocolate. It wasn't quite as satisfying to me either though. 

The free2b brand is free from 12 common allergens, so that's probably why they used rice instead of nuts. They also use 67% Fair Trade ingredients. All of their products are vegan, gluten free, and allergen friendly. It's nice to be able to recognize a brand and know that anything you pick will be vegan. 

As far as comparing the sunflower seed butter to peanut butter, these tasted a little more bland to me. Although I didn't notice as much of a difference with the Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter Cups. Interestingly, they have the same ingredients other than the rice chocolate instead of dark chocolate. 

One thing I did like a lot about these is the name. "Sun cups" sounds better and is much easier to say than, "sunflower seed butter cups." 

free2b Rice Chocolate Sun Cups ingredients: rice chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, rice syrup powder), sunflower seeds, powdered sugar (evaporated cane juice, tapioca starch), cocoa butter, sea salt. 

Review: free2b Rice Chocolate Sun Cups

First impressions: Not amazing but not bad.

Taste: Not as bitter as dark chocolate, but doesn't taste quite like milk chocolate either.  The sunflower seed butter is a little bland compared to Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter Cups. 

Texture: A little softer than I expected. 

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe
Better than other vegan options? I like the Trader Joe's version better. 

Worth buying again? I probably won't buy these again, but would try their other products. 

Overall: 4/5

Review: NadaMoo Cookies & Creme

NadaMoo has by far the best texture of any non dairy ice cream I've ever tried. It looks just like traditional ice cream. The texture is both creamy and fluffy, and the scoops have the classic wavy line pattern. 

For the cookies and creme flavor, I was expecting more tiny cookie pieces throughout. Instead there are bigger cookie pieces and lots of vanilla space. 

UPDATE: When I tried this again in August 2020 there were more tiny cookie pieces. Maybe they changed that or it could vary by batch.

I’d like to try some of their other flavors because the texture is so on point. NadaMoo has almost 20 flavors, and they're all vegan and gluten free. 

I bought 3 different pints of ice cream when I got this, and this one was the lightest pint when I picked it up. Maybe there is more air whipped in and that's why the texture is so light and fluffy. 

NadaMoo Cookies & Creme ingredients: 

Organic coconut milk, water, organic agave nectar, chocolate cookies (cane sugar, butter alternative (oil blend [palm fruit, canola, and olive oils], water, salt, natural flavor, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid [non-dairy], annatto extract [color]), sweet brown rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, cocoa pwder [alakalized], natural flavor, salt), organic inulin, organic tapioca syrup solids, organic guar gum, sea salt, organic locust bean gum, natural flavor. 

Review: NadaMoo Cookies & Creme

First impressions: "Woah it looks just like non-vegan ice cream!"

Taste: Not as rich as some other ice creams. The cookies were more subtle compared to other brands.

Texture: Seems identical to traditional ice cream. Creamy but still light and fluffy.

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, I think this might be the best vegan ice cream brand I've ever had. Although there are a few strong contenders. 

Worth buying again? Yes, I can't wait to try their other flavors!

Overall: 5/5

Review: So Delicious Salted Caramel Cluster

A classic conundrum that many vegan adjacents are familiar with, is craving caramel and chocolate but wanting to choose a vegan option. Luckily, I found a solution. So Delicious Salted Caramel Cluster is on a level of deliciousness I didn't think was possible for vegan ice cream.

If you've had a rough day or just want to treat yourself to something decadent, I highly recommend grabbing a spoon and diving in to the chocolate chips and caramel swirls in this non-dairy ice cream. 

I was blown away by how much the caramel tasted like "real" buttery caramel. It was so rich and satisfying. It's made with tapioca syrup, molasses, and cocoa butter. 

This is the first cashew milk ice cream I've tried. It was creamy and not too dense like some other vegan ice creams can be. The texture was not quite as close to dairy ice cream when compared to NadaMoo (a very high bar), but it's still a delectable vehicle for the caramel and chocolate. I'll have to try other flavors to see how the ice cream itself compares to other plant-based ice creams. 

So Delicious Dairy Free Salted Caramel Cluster Cashewmilk Frozen Dessert ingredients: Cashewmilk (filtered water, cashews), cane sugar, caramel sauce (organic tapioca syrup, water, pea protein, organic molasses, natural flavor, organic cocoa butter, sodium citrate, salt, pectin), chocolate chips (cane sugar, coconut oil, cocoa, chocolate liquor, natural vanilla flavor), organic coconut oil, organic tapioca syrup, roasted cashews (cashews, canola oil), pea protein, sea salt, guar gum, natural flavor, locust bean gum. 

Review: So Delicious Salted Caramel Cluster

First impressions: "Omg." "Wow." "The caramel is delicious."

Taste: Rich, decadent, very sweet

Texture: Not too dense, but maybe a little too soft for my preference

Can you tell it's vegan? Probably not, but the texture might give it away for serious ice cream aficionados

Worth buying again? Definitely!

Overall: 5/5

I'm not the only one who gave this vegan caramel ice cream 5 stars. Read more reviews on their website.