My Dairy Free Shopping List (and Dairy Free Staples)

After 10 of sporadic dairy free living, I put together my dairy free shopping list. Here is a list of the best dairy free products and brands (as well as a few non-dairy alternatives).

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 items, produce, refrigerated items, canned goods, spices 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!

Dairy Free Bakery Items

• 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
• Trader Joe’s (most bagels, english muffins, and bread)

Frozen Dairy Free Items

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
• 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)
• Sweet Earth
• SO Delicious Ice Cream
• Tattooed Chef
• Van’s Waffles

Dairy Free Pantry Items

• Cereal
• Quinoa and Couscous
• Pasta
• Olives
• Peanut Butter
• Fruit and Grain Bars (365 Whole Foods, Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars)
• Cookies — Oreo, Made Good, Sweet Lorens, Tate’s Bake Shop, Back to Nature (some are DF)
• Condiments

Dairy Free Snacks

Looking for Dairy Free Snacks? Check out my Ultimate list of Dairy Free Snacks here!