Review: Tofurky Hickory Smoked Deli Slices

I was reluctant to try vegan deli meat because it seems so processed. But I thought about how a lot of lunch meat is already heavily processed, like bologna or olive loaf, and then plant-based processed meat didn't seem so bad.

I went with Tofurky for my first try because I think of them as the original for plant-based turkey. Their hickory smoked plant-based deli slices are available at most grocery stores.

If you still eat turkey and love it, this might not be close enough to replace it for you. But if you're already plant based and craving a sandwich, this should do the trick. I think it's definitely better than bologna.

The texture was spot on of how I remember thinly-sliced deli turkey. It doesn't have a strong taste, but tastes savory and a little bit smokey. I think it would work well for most sandwiches.

I quickly fried it in a pan so it didn't have a wet texture. I tried it on a sandwich with mustard and in a vegan egg sandwich with JUST Egg. They were so good I ended up making both again later in the week.

Tofurky Hickory Smoked Plant-Based Deli Slices ingredients:

Water, vital wheat gluten, organic tofu (water, organic soybeans, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride), soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), expeller pressed canola oil, natural flavors, sea salt, contains less than 2% of onion, carrot, celery, garlic, leek, lemon juice concentrate, cornstarch, garbanzo bean flour, white bean flour, rosemary extract, natural smoke flavor, calcium lactate, potassium chloride. 

Review: Tofurky Hickory Smoked Plant-Based Deli Slices

First impressions: Better than I expected

Taste: It tastes good and has a savory taste, but it's missing something to taste like turkey

Texture: Very close to traditional sliced deli meats

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sprouts has a line of bagged cookies in the cookie aisle and they're all vegan! They also have vanilla wafers, animal cookies, ginger snaps, lemon snaps, and sometimes oatmeal.

These bite-sized chocolate chip cookies remind me of Famous Amos cookies. The bite size is fun to snack on. They're crunchy but not too hard.

Another thing I love about these vegan cookies, is that they're also less expensive than a lot of other options (vegan and non-vegan). The regular price is $1.99 and sometimes they go on sale.

If you're looking for bigger and softer vegan chocolate chip cookies, Sprouts has some of those too in the bakery area of the store.

Sprouts Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies ingredients:

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, palm oil (sustainably sourced), cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, mono calcium phosphate) natural flavors, and soy lecithin. 

Review: Sprouts Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies

First impressions: Wow these are vegan? 

Taste: Chocolatey and satisfying

Texture: Light and crunchy

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Vanilla Wafers

These vegan vanilla wafers are part of a line of vegan cookies from Sprouts in the cookie aisle. They also have chocolate chip, animal cookies, ginger snaps, and lemon snaps.

Sprouts has even more vegan cookies in the bakery section if you want bigger and softer cookies.

I loved Nabisco Nilla Wafers as a kid, and was excited to find a vegan version. These are smaller and less uniform than Nabisco's, but have a similar vanilla flavor and satisfying melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Sprouts Old-Fashioned Vanilla Wafers ingredients:

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, palm oil, contains 2% or less of natural flavors, salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), and soy lecithin.

Review: Sprouts Old-Fashioned Vanilla Wafers

First impressions: Remind me so much of Nilla Wafers

Taste: Not too sweet vanilla flavor

Texture: Thin and crispy, softer in the middle

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Talenti Dairy-Free Sorbetto Layers - Coconut Chocolate Cookie

When it comes to finding vegan replacements of my favorite foods, ice cream has been the easiest so far. There are so many great vegan ice creams to choose from that I don't think I have a favorite. This coconut chocolate cookie sorbetto from Talenti is definitely up there in terms of decadent, chocolatey vegan ice creams.

Technically this is Sorbetto and not ice cream. Sorbetto is the Italian word for sorbet and is dairy-free. 

I usually picture fruit flavors when I think of sorbet, so I was intrigued when I saw this coconut chocolate cookie flavor. Talenti makes some other flavors as well. 

This sorbetto is so creamy and has a strong coconut taste. It goes really well with the layers of chocolate fudge and cookies. 

The cookie pieces taste exactly like what you would expect coconut chocolate cookies to taste like. They're so good I would buy them if they were sold separately. 

I also love that I'm familiar with all of the ingredients. 

Talenti Dairy-Free Sorbetto Layers - Coconut Chocolate Cookie ingredients: 

Water, Sugar, Desiccated Coconut, Coconut Oil, Wheat Flour, Dextrose, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Rolled Oats, Chocolate Liquor, Brown Sugar, Canola Oil, Carob Bean Gum, Natural Flavor, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Pectin, Guar Gum, Baking Soda, Salt, Soy Lecithin.

Review: Talenti Dairy-Free Sorbetto Layers - Coconut Chocolate Cookie

First impressions: Creamy and indulgent

Taste: Strong coconut taste but not overpowering

Texture: Light and creamy

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? There's a lot of competition for the best vegan ice cream, but this is high on the list. 

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Archer Farms Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

Target's Archer Farms brand has a line of non-dairy ice creams. They were on sale so I bought two flavors. It's cool to see more companies making vegan products as plant-based foods become more popular. But I didn't like these. 

I tried Archer Farms Non-Dairy Mocha Almond Fudge and Vanilla Cake & Cookie Dough. Both had the same issue with the texture. They were too dense and hard to scoop. 

The Mocha Almond Fudge tasted ok but was too sweet for me. The Vanilla Cake was even sweeter and tasted like frosting. I didn't eat very much of either. 

They're made with almond milk, which could be part of why I didn't like the texture. It was too dense and not very creamy. The other vegan ice creams that I've tried and liked the most are made from coconut milk, like NadaMoo and Alden's. I also tried a cashew milk ice cream from So Delicious that was creamy and decadent. 

Review: Archer Farms Non-Dairy Mocha Almond Fudge

Taste: Strong coffee flavor. Tastes good but I don't like the texture. 

Texture: Too dense and hard to scoop

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? No

Overall: 3/5

Archer Farms Non-Dairy Mocha Almond Fudge ingredients:

Almond milk (water, almonds), cane sugar, organic tapioca syrup, fudge, (powdered cane sugar [cane sugar, corn starch], sunflower oil, cocoa, salt, sunflower lecithin), almonds (almonds, sunflower oil, salt), coconut oil, chocolate flake (powder cane sugar [cane sugar, corn starch], chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, natural flavor), coffee extract made with 100% Columbian coffee, pea protein, carob bean gum, gellan gum, sunflower lecithin. 

Review: Archer Farms Non-Dairy Vanilla Cake & Cookie Dough

Taste: Extremely sweet, tastes like frosting

Texture: Dense and not creamy

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? No

Overall: 2/5

Archer Farms Non-Dairy Vanilla Cake & Cookie Dough ingredients:

Almond milk (water, almonds), cane sugar, cake batter base (sugar, tapioca syrup, water, natural flavors, salt, pectin, organic annatto, organic locust bean gun, organic tapioca syrup, fudge (powdered cane sugar [cane sugar, corn starch], sunflower oil, cocoa, salt, sunflower lecithin), chocolate chip cookie dough (cookie dough [dark brown sugar, rice flour, natural oil blend [palm fruit oil, canola oil, olive oil], water, salt, natural flavor, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid [non-dairy, derived from sugar beets], annatto extract, potato flour, tapioca syrup, tapioca flour, sugar, less than 2% of the following: vanilla extract, guar gum, baking soda, baking powder), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla extract), vanilla bean cake (cane sugar, rice flour, soy-free buttery spread [oil blend [palm fruit, canola, and olive oils], water, salt, contains less than 2% of natural flavor, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid [non-dairy], annatto extract [color], coconut milk [water, coconuts], applesauce [apples, water, ascorbic acid [vitamin c], tapioca flour, potato flour, baking soda, sea salt, organic vanilla extract [water, organic alcohol, organic vanilla bean extractives], vanilla beans, cream of tartar), coconut oil, pea protein, carob bean gum, gellan gum, stabilizing salts (sodium phosphate, sodium citrate), sunflower lecithin.