Where to Shop this Veganuary

Words: Shamim de Brún
Images: Social Media

Veganuary means shopping in aisles you’ve never even considered. Stocking up on vegan stuff seems like it would be a pain, but it hasn’t been for the past few years. As vegan enthusiasts’ market share grows, so does the supply. So here are some places to pick up the staples around Dublin.

Nourish is a health food galaxy, and you can find a vegan version of anything there—mayonnaise, biscuits, cheese, brownies. You can shop in-store or online. Their website has a vegan filter, or you can search by the word vegan and pull up reams of options.

Evergreen is an online-only Irish food shop with a vegan food tab. They sell anything your little vegan-curious heart desires, including the Oatly cream, which makes perfect pasta sauces every single time.

Asian food is synonymous with vegan cooking. Most Asian recipes don’t contain the eggs and dairy typical throughout European cuisine. While some focus on the meat, there is a stronghold that doesn’t. You can buy online from Asia Market, but any trip to an Asian supermarket will give you serious vegan game without much work.

Soul Bia is a “free-from” shop where you can shop by your diet. It covers everything from paleo to vegan and stocks all the Irish made essentials as well as vegan classics like Vego. Vego is the hazelnut spread Nutella wishes it was. It’s got no milk or palm oil in it and tastes like a nutty chocolate oasis

Supermarket Options

Supermarkets are also much more well equipped to fortify the casual vegan than ever. Below you’ll find a list of the bits and bobs to look out for at every major supermarket chain in the country.

Tesco stocks a vast range of vegan products. They have an own-brand ‘Plant Chef’ range and a vegan ‘Wicked’ line. Tesco is also typically the best spot to pick up the accidentally vegan things we’ve been eating all our lives like Cheese and Onion Hunky Dorys or Skittles, Bacon Fries, Hobnobs and beyond.
Marks and Spencer offer over a hundred vegan products in their ‘Plant Kitchen’ range, and usually, in January, they have a whole vegan three-course meal to look out for. Their vegan kievs are an easy make that taste better than the cardboardy ones we all remember from childhood.
Lidl has a range of own-brand vegan products, Vemondo. They come out in force every January. This year they include Vegan Chicken Style Burgers, Mini Schnitzels, Vegan Fish Fingers, Vegan Cold Cuts, and in the freezer, they have Bulgar Mix, Lentil Curry, and Chilli Sin Carne. Almost everything is under three euros. Lidl’s digestives are a milk-free vegan find for the ages and are only fifty cents.
Aldi has weird and wonderful vegan products in their vegan own-brand ‘Plant Menu’ range. Things can be very transient in Aldi, but the impulse buy isles are always full of vegan goodness in January. This year they have vegan Chocolate Orange Brownies and Banana Blondies, and their version of Biscoff spread which is the most decadent delicious jar of joy in all the lands.
Dunnes Stores stock an extensive range of vegan food products and have a range of own-brand vegan ready meals. They also carry vegan magnums that you will swear are made of dairy. They’re so creamy.
Iceland is an unusual one, but they have made an Irish comeback. They carry a year-round range of own-brand vegan products in their freezer section. Bonus points because they’re all palm oil-free and are in fully recyclable packaging. Iceland reliably carries Linda McCartney’s sausages, the GOAT of meat-free sausages.
Supervalu is hands down the best supermarket for Irish made vegan products. You can access a complete list of their vegan products on their website by searching the word vegan. They carry most, if not all, of the Irish vegan products listed above. While not noted for their affordability Supervalu does run a great special of a Veganuary.