When people think of veganism, they often think of limited food options or eating a diet that consists entirely of vegetables.
However, this is not true at all! There are many food products that you probably consume right now that are vegetarian, but you don’t know it.
Check out the list of amazing foods below that you didn’t know you were vegan – chances are, you’ve eaten most of them!
Original Fritos
This delicious salty chip has completely simple ingredients, which you’ll find is completely vegan! Fritos only contain 3 things to make: corn, corn oil, and salt. However, due to variations in taste, not all other fries are vegan.
So when it comes to adding some variety to your chips, be sure to check out the ingredients in other Fritos flavors.
In addition to original Fritos flavors, other vegan fries include Scoop Fries and BBQ Fritos.
Jell-O Pudding Mix
Most people think that pudding is not vegetarian because of the dairy ingredients. However, if you make Jell-O pudding with non-dairy milk, you have nothing to worry about!
It’s important to note, that the instructions tell you to use full-fat milk, otherwise, your pudding will be runny – which is true. So when you want to make your pudding vegan friendly, use half of your preferred non-dairy milk and you’ll be fine!
Additionally, note that only certain flavors of real Jell-O powder are completely vegan: vanilla, chocolate, lemon, pistachio, and banana.
To make it even better, not only are they vegetarian, but these flavors are gluten-free and soy-free.
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
If you have a chocolate craving, don’t worry because Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup is vegan-friendly! In total, they have flavors of 3 syrups: real chocolate, strawberry, and caramel.
Of the 3 flavors, only real chocolate and strawberry syrup are free of animal dairy products. Their caramel flavor, however, contains skim milk and is therefore definitely not vegan.
So the next time you’re craving some tasty yet animal-friendly chocolate flavor, look no further than the classic chocolate brand, Hershey’s!
Ritz Crackers
You might think that because of the buttery taste of Ritz crackers, they must contain dairy or some other animal product. But surprisingly, the outer coating is made of oil and fat from soybeans!
Besides the ingredients, no animal products are used during production. As with some of the previous products mentioned, they have a variety of flavors that are also vegan, such as Roasted Vegetable Crackers, Whole Wheat Crackers, and Bacon Crackers.
Yup – bacon-flavored Ritz has no animal products!
Bisquick, Betty Crocker, and Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix
Craving pancakes? If you follow the instructions, adding milk and eggs will add animal products. But if you find alternatives, like replacing eggs with almond milk or banana, all three of these pancake mixes are completely vegan.
When you break it down into ingredients, it’s surprisingly simple – these mixes mostly consist of flour, sugar, yeast mixture, and salt.
In general, most pancake mixes will already contain buttermilk, which sets these three vegan-friendly mixes apart from others.
Dum Dums
Vegans also crave lollies – that’s where Dum Dums come in! Dum Dum has 16 flavors with the original seven being lemon, lime, orange, coconut-pineapple, cherry, grape, and butterscotch.
But even with the large variety of flavors, they come in, none of them contain animal products. Most of the ingredients are artificial, as well as sugar and colors.
Additionally, they contain no wheat or gluten. Gluten-free vegetarians? Keep me too!
Cracker Jacks
This classic American snack is a symbol of millennial childhood. Personally, I was always excited to eat Cracker Jack, especially for the reward inside! But little did I know, I was eating a vegan snack.
With a caramel coating on the outside, you’d think this crunchy mixture would contain butter—but it’s just sugar, corn syrup, molasses, and soybean oil.
And of course, the popcorn and nut pieces are just that – popcorn and nuts!
Skittles
If you don’t think of Skittles as vegan, you’re not entirely wrong. They contain animal products, and may still contain some Skittles products in circulation from older, vegetarian batches.
Fortunately, these days they are now clearly vegan, although you should still check the packaging. If the packaging says “suitable for vegetarians”, then you should find a different package!
Otherwise, most flavors will be safe for you to enjoy in the rainbow!
Oreos
This may not come as a surprise to everyone, but there are still many people out there who don’t know that Oreos are vegetarian! You might have thought that Oreo filling – that creamy white goodness – must contain dairy.
However, Oreo is not allowed by the FDA to call the filling “cream” when there is no dairy; So they officially call the filling “cream”. It is made with sugar, canola oil, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, and soy lecithin.
Like Skittles, Oreos originally used animal products in their cookies but have been vegan and kosher since 1997, using vegetable oil instead.
Sour Patch Kids
This is a surprise on the list. Gummy candy is usually made using gelatin, which is not vegan!
But when you will look at the ingredients, you’ll be surprised, they use sugar, corn syrup, corn starch, tartaric acid, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, and food colors.
Although they come in different flavors, they all generally contain the same ingredients, so there’s no need to worry about filtering which ones you buy.
If you want, you can get them all! Vegan or not, there are certainly plenty of dishes out there that are surprisingly vegan friendly, and therefore enjoyable for everyone.
Which of these surprised you the most?
