Your First Vegan Shopping Trip

Congrats, you’ve decided to eat vegan! But where to start, and what to buy? Here you’ll find our flexible vegan grocery list. Vegan food is wonderful, nourishing, and varied. The fun part is making it entirely your own.

Shopping as a vegan can be daunting at first, especially when you realise how many ingredients lists you might have to read. But trust us: it becomes second nature, and you’ll quickly find some new favourites and update your routine. Now the only time we read labels is when an exciting new product comes out!

If you’re completely lost at first, it can be helpful to look for replacements for what you already eat. Enjoy burgers? Find a veggie burger you like the look of. Pasta night? Many pasta sauces and almost all dry pasta is vegan. Replace cookies with vegan cookies, milk with plant-based milk, etc.

Below you’ll find a basic vegan grocery list to get you started!

  • Plant milk – Soy, oat, rice, almond, coconut, even potato milk..! We can enjoy creamy, tasty milk made from a variety of plants. Try smaller cartons to find your favourites. You can also find vegan yogurt, ice cream, and more to replace other dairy products.
  • Plenty of colourful fruits and veggies – If you’re not yet in love with veg, don’t worry, we’ve got lots of bright recipe ideas to get you started!
  • Sandwich-fillers and spreads for your bread – From sandwich slices, to vegan cheese, to sandwich spreads, you should find some tasty vegan options at most supermarkets. Available almost everywhere are hummus, jam, peanut butter and other nut butters.
  • Grains and flours – Such as egg-free noodles, rice, oatmeal, quinoa, cornmeal, wraps, flour, lentil/chickpea flour for plant-based omelets.
  • Peas, beans, chickpeas, and other legumes – Easy on the wallet, full of protein and fiber, and at home in so many dishes. Frozen or canned are the quickest and easiest to cook with.
  • Tofu, tempeh, textured soy protein, seitan – Optional, but all really versatile ingredients to replace meat in so many dishes.
  • Seasoning – Don’t forget the flavor-makers! Herbs and spices make all the difference. Vegetable broth (stock), garlic, ginger, curry paste, barbecue sauce, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce…
  • Snacks! – The healthy: dried fruit, hummus/guacamole to dunk fresh veggies into, nuts and seeds, muesli bars without honey. And the not-so-healthy – chips (crisps), chocolate, etc.
  • Frozen foods – Optional, to have some frozen meat replacements like vegan burgers/sausages, or frozen fruits and veggies for convenience.

This shopping list includes many useful and versatile plant-based ingredients that it would be useful to have at home as you start your journey. But don’t feel that you have to run out and buy them all at once. You might even find that you have a lot of this at home. And many of the food staples you already buy, like bread, pasta, pasta sauce, etc. are likely to be vegan already!

It can also be easy to go overboard with new items and buy the whole store! This is just one of the reasons we recommend you check out our dietitian-approved vegan meal plan, and arm yourself with a personalised shopping list before you head out.

If you cook many of your meals from scratch, check out our how to veganize recipes post for useful ideas on vegan replacements in recipes.

What vegan foods will you buy first? Whatever you like to eat, we can help you find or make a vegan version of it!

To get the complete Challenge 22 experience, make sure you sign up to join our next free vegan support group!

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