How to Make Vegan Versions of Your Favorite Brand Name Foods

We all have our favorite meals, snacks, and desserts with a well-known name or brand attached. Upon embarking on a more plant-based diet, you find that, suddenly, your old favorite foods are things you can no longer indulge in. While you may not be able to buy these products you once loved, you can certainly make them yourself. From Chipotle burritos to Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies, check out these 15 ways to make vegan versions of your favorite name brand foods:

1. Chipotle-Style Burrito Bowl

Chipotle is convenient to purchase when you’re starving and in a hurry or on the road. Though you can certainly go though the Chipotle line and get a vegan meal, you can also make your own burrito bowl or burritos at home. Check out this article on How to Make the Perfectly Layered Chipotle-Style Vegan Burrito.

2. Burger Like Bobby Flay’s Crunchburger

Food blogger Rhea Parsons came up with a fantastic, ooey-gooey and crunchy eggplant burger, with inspiration taken from Bobby Flay’s signature dish, The Crunchburger. Her version is called the The Vegan Eggplant Crunchburger.

3. Biscuits Like Pillsbury

In my youth, my siblings and I used to love baking cookies and biscuits using pre-made dough in cans, such as the kind from Pillsbury. It was so easy to pop the dough pieces in the oven, but I would not buy it at the store now with my current eating habits. To mimic that fluffy, buttery biscuit taste, try putting in effort for biscuits-from-scratch. Check out these 6 Flaky and Perfect Vegan Biscuits.

4. Snickers Bars

Snickers bars are one of the most satisfying and filling candy bars, and they were my favorite growing up. As a healthier, plant-based eater, making homemade Snickers bars is completely possible! Using all raw ingredients, you’ll make a nougat, then blend a caramel layer and let them freeze for a bit. Then, make a raw chocolate coating and cover each layer in the chocolate. Yum!

5. Cadbury Creme Eggs

These candy bar eggs used to be a favorite during Easter time when I was growing up. The hard chocolate coating tastes delicious with the smooth, creamy filling. To make your own, you’ll need agave nectar, vegan powdered sugar, Earth Balance butter, vanilla extract salt, food coloring (though you could omit this if you choose or try using beet juice instead), semi-sweet chocolate chips, and coconut oil.

6. Thin Mints

It’s hard not to purchase Thin Mint cookies from the Girl Scouts when they set up a table near your office or knock on your door with their uniforms and friendly smile. For a cruelty-free version, try these Vegan Thin Mint Cookies and for all you raw vegans, try these Raw Protein Thin Mints.

7. DQ-Style Ice Cream Cake

In childhood, this was a favorite stop on the road for many of us to get that DQ ice cream, and you may have attended several birthday parties featuring an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Replicate it with this DQ-Style Ice-Cream Cake.

8. Taco Bell-Style Crispy Potato Soft Taco

Forget sitting in the drive-though at a fast-food restaurant. Instead, make your own Taco Bell-style taco complete with those amazing crispy potatoes. It’s super easy to put together. The Spanish rosemary, pepper and parsley taste great all together.

9. Cinnabon-Like Cinnamon Rolls

There’s something  heavenly about sinking your teeth into a warm cinnamon roll that’s dripping in creamy, sugary white frosting. If you’ve been to a mall food court that has a Cinnabon, you know the smell is so enticing you almost can’t pass it up. Recreate that in your home with these Vegan Cinnamon Rolls.

10. Cake Batter Doughnuts Like Krispy Kreme

These doughnuts are very sneaky. They look like Cake Batter doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, but the secret is they’re actually healthy! To sweeten, you use no sugar, but instead opt for apple cider vinegar, nut milk and vanilla.

11. Tofu ‘Shrimp’ Scampi Like Bubba Gump

Shrimp is high in cholesterol and sodium, but if you make a vegan version, you can enjoy a much healthier shrimp scampi, restaurant-style. Tofu is a great plant-based protein for making this Tofu ‘Shrimp’ Scampi.

12. Soft Pretzels Like Auntie Anne’s

This is another place whose amazing smell wafts through the mall. For a cruelty-free soft pretzel recipe, try these Sourdough Pretzels, which are just as fluffy and delicious as any you’d find with dairy!

13. Cheese Pizza Like Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut has an ooey-gooey, crispy, cheesy pizza on the menu, but vegans cannot partake. Not any more! Make your own vegan pizza complete with vegan cheese at home. (Of course, we do have to give Domino’s props for offering a vegan pie at their restaurant.)

14. Burger King-Style Burger

Is fast-food your guilty pleasure? Do you find yourself sitting in the drive through at Burger King to get your hands on a whopper or a veggie burger? For a healthier, vegan choice, try this homemade rendition instead, which calls for puy lentils to get the correct patty texture.

15. Cherry Garcia Ice Cream Like Ben and Jerry’s

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream has a best-selling, delicious Cherry Garcia flavor, named after the famed Jerry Garcia (1942-1995) of the Grateful Dead. For a vegan version, use coconut milk. Delicious!

Lead image source: Cadbury Creme Eggs