This post contains press samples. Any gifted items will be marked with a *
Ever since my month of going dairy-free, I’ve been really cutting down my dairy intake. Health-wise, it really did help, so this is going to be my first dairy-free christmas.
I’ve been searching the supermarkets high and low to find some of the tastiest bits and bobs because let’s be honest, the best thing about Christmas is the food!
Savoury Snacks
Okay, let’s start with savoury snacks. I’m talking nuts, crackers, cheeses and nibbles.
The best dairy-free cheese
I’ll be honest, I’ve struggled to find any dairy-free cheeses which I actually like. However, when I was at a friends house, she always has the nicest dairy-free cheese and I quizzed her on what she has!
It turns out it’s Violife cheese. I have to say, it tastes GREAT for dairy-free cheese and I’m a fan. It’s great for cooking with and not too bad on some crackers either!
I’ve currently tried the cheddar block and slices and can’t wait to see what else they bring out!
crackers & nuts
What’s Christmas without a big bowl of nuts eh?
Nutmad* have a great selection of activated nuts which you can get delivered straight to your door. I’ve been snacking on these whilst doing work and I have to say, I’m a fan.
They’re called activated nuts because they’re soaked in water to make the nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, manganese more easily digestible. That way you get even more health benefits from your snack!
Now, onto the crackers.
Something that’s really shocked me since being sort-of dairy-free is that so many crackers actual have milk in them.
The Tesco rosemary crackers are made without milk and are full of flavour. I’m such a big fan of these crackers; either with some Violife cheese or some hummus!
The sesame breadsticks are also dairy-free and brilliant for snacking purposes!
nibbles
If you’re having a Christmas buffet, then some of the things on this list will be great additions! I’ve not tried all of these but I thought I’d still do a little run down of some of the options!
Aldi have an Indian platter and a spring roll platter – both of which are vegan. I can confirm these are really good – we get them most years and they never disappoint.
Asda have a huge selection of platters. Their breaded boneless chicken platter looks like a really good diary-free platter! They also have vegan cocktail sausages and mini vegan mushroom burgers which sound gorgeous.
Tesco has a sushi platter which is dairy-free and would be a great alternative nibble for Christmas time. They also have sticky chilli cauliflower bites which sound delicious.
Sweet Snacks & Christmas desserts
Biscuits & Cakes
Panettone is one of my favourite things to have at Christmas and Sous Chef have a Go Vegan organic panettone*. It’s made from sourdough which gives it a lovely and light texture and has some delicious dairy-free chocolate mixed into it.
Something that I found in Asda was the Free From rhubarb gin and ginger shortbread which are amazing! They’re fruity and crumbly and the only downside is that there wasn’t a lot in the pack because we polished them off very quickly.
Sainsbury’s have ginger tiffin bites in their free from aisle which I am in love with. You really can’t tell that they’re dairy-free!
They’re not strictly Christmas snacks BUT the Tesco chocolate orange rice cakes are to DIE for! They’re £1.10, you get six big ones and they’re a great way to get that christmas chocolate fix!
I was really surprised at Morrison’s Free From range! It was really affordable and they had the cutest gingerbread men which look like they’d be good for decorating as well.
Christmas Pudding & desserts
I’m not the biggest Christmas pudding fan however you can’t have Christmas dinner without Christmas pudding can you!
Morrisons had two dairy-free Christmas puddings; a single small one and a big one for all the family. I got a small one and can’t wait to try it! As well as Christmas puddings, they also had a reindeer cake which would be perfect for a kids Christmas party.
ASDA also had great dairy-free dessert options. They have a chocolate caramel swirl and a chocolate torte both of which look lovely.
Gu desserts have recently brought out some free from desserts which you can get at most supermarkets. I tried the lemon cheesecake one which I wasn’t a huge fan of, mainly because it was coconut based which I didn’t realise until I tried it! However, both of the chocolate puds they have in the free-from range sound amazing and I’ll definitely be going to get some of them!
Ice cream
I LOVE ice cream but it’s definitely one of the things which causes me flare-up with my joints.
When I saw that Ben & Jerry’s do dairy-free ice-cream*, I knew I had to try it.
So far, I’ve only tried the chocolate fudge brownie which is amazing! It’s so chocolaty and tastes just like dairy B&J’s.
It’s also not made with soya. I know a lot of people struggle with it, I know I can’t have too much otherwise it makes me feel sick, so it’s brilliant that this is soya-free too.
I’m on the hunt for the dairy-free cookie dough ice cream as that is my absolute favourite so I’ll let you know once I’ve found it!
Mince pies
Every free-from aisle seems to have dairy-free mince pies, which is great because mince-pies are an absolute staple.
Tesco’s deep fill mince pies are delicious. The pastry is nice and crumbly and there’s plenty of filling. I definitely recommend these!
Chocolates
I find that dairy-free chocolate can be really hit and miss so I thought I’d do a breakdown of all the ones I’ve tried.
M&S have some brilliant dairy-free chocolate bars. There’s the chocolate nib one, the chocolate orange one (which tastes JUST like a terry’s chocolate orange) and the mint flavoured one which is just like an after-eight!
Sainsbury’s have a cute free from selection box however there does seem to be something missing from the taste. It’s nice, and has some chocolate orange things in there too, but it’s not got the depth to it.
I got very excited when I saw some chocolate money from The Plant Kitchen Co (Tesco) however they were SO disappointing. They weren’t sweet at all and had quite a nutty aftertaste.
If you’re looking for some really gorgeous dairy-free chocolates, Hotel Chocolate is the place to go. When I first went dairy-free, they were so helpful and they have such a wide range of chocolates! I picked up one of the dairy-free dark chocolate advent calendar’s which I cannot wait to start having!
Cooking alternatives & dairy-free drinks
Cooking alternatives
Let’s start with some cooking alternatives. I’m talking milk, creams and everything in-between.
I’m a HUGE fan of Oatly and their range is constantly growing which makes me so happy.
This week I’ve tried both their oat creme-fresh and the oatly single cream and both are brilliant dairy-free alternatives. They don’t seem to affect the taste of the meal and still give a real creaminess to everything you make.
Dairy-free drink alternatives
I’m a huge coffee fan and Perky Blender’s* have a great range of coffees, including some festive flavours and decaf options. You can get whole bean and ground coffee (and the packaging is super cute too!).
Oatly’s chocolate milk is my new favourite thing. I just heat it up and drink it but SO many people have recommended making porridge with it which I’m definitely going to try!
If you’re looking for some hot chocolate options, Hotel Chocolate have some dairy-free ones too including their chilli hot chocolate. Mix it with some of Oatly’s barista oat milk and voila the perfect hot chocolate!
What are your favourite dairy-free Christmas treats? Let me know in the comments below 🙂
Pin for later;
Leave a Reply