Here are 17 Snacks You Never Knew Were Vegan

Enjoy the taste of bacon without eating actual bacon.

vegan snacks including oreos, sour patch kids, fritos, and nutter butters
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist

What do a lot of your favorite snacks have in common? Quite a few of them are vegan! They weren't created specifically for vegans, but happen to be dairy-, egg-, and animal-free anyway, so everybody can enjoy. Stock up your pantry with a couple of these familiar and delicious treats below. 

airheads are vegan snacks to try
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Airheads

This extremely chewy snack with incredibly tongue-staining capabilities is made from approximately five different forms of sugar. That's good news for vegans, since sugar contains no animal products. It's also good news for dentists.

vegan snack bac'n
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Bac'n Pieces

That these intensely red granules—which add a bacon-y smokiness to anything they're sprinkled on, and which sadly aren't Bac-Os (RIP)—don't contain animal by-products is a marvel of food science. For best results, apply directly to tongue.

vegan snack doritos spicy sweet chili
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Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili

While the more ubiquitous Doritos flavors Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese contain whey, this zestier, dairy-free variety is suitable for consumption by the plant-based set—and anyone else who savors spicy sweetness. You know who you are.

famous amos peanut butter sandwich cookies vegan
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Famous Amos peanut butter sandwich cookies

Amos' chocolate chip cookies are more famous, but these peanut butter-filled treats are just as delectable. Plus, each cookie sandwich is technically made from two cookies with a thick swipe of peanut butter in the middle—a win whether you are vegan or not.

fritos bag vegan snack
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Fritos

The only ingredients found in the original Fritos are corn, corn oil, and salt, which is a refreshingly small number of ingredients for such a popular salty snack. Notably, not one of those ingredients is derived from a living creature. Watch out for other Fritos flavors, though, especially anything that contains the phrase "natural flavorings" in the ingredients list. No one knows what "natural flavorings" means and there is no guarantee it is animal product-free.

Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups vegan
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Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups

These rivals to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the darlings of health-food fanatics from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, despite a trust hiccup a little while back when the company suddenly added a note to its packaging that read "contains milk." Now that the reason for that has been cleared up, everyone's free to go back to shoving these delicacies into their faces.

lay's classic potato chips vegan
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Lay's Classic potato chips

Vegans can rejoice knowing that they, too, can continue to get super-salty potato grease mush stuck in all their molars. Just be sure to stick to the classic, salted version.

Lindt chocolate bars vegan
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Lindt chocolate bars

Being vegan doesn't mean giving up chocolate. No one should ever be asked to do that. The 70% cacao bar from Lindt is there to take care of any chocolate cravings without involving any animal products. Things start to get dicier once you go down to 60% cacao, so definitely stick to the darker stuff.

vegan Maple bacon Kettle Chips
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Maple bacon Kettle Chips

How are they vegan if they have bacon in the name, you ask? Simple: smoke flavor, salt, and paprika, mostly. This flavor does contain the aforementioned and suspicious "natural flavors," but if the editors of PETA are willing to eat them, you should be too.

vegan Sara Lee/Marie Callender's frozen pie
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Sara Lee/Marie Callender's frozen pies

Make sure to double check the ingredients list, but a number of flavors—including the beloved apple—are great for folks who don't like to eat animal in any shape or form, but love warm fruit in a flaky crust.

vegan nutter butter
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Nutter Butter cookies

They're gritty, sweet, and salty, and they don't really taste like peanut butter, but hey, they're safe for vegans, and they're shaped like peanuts, so you can't go wrong.

vegan oreos in a package
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Oreos

Although the widely accepted method of eating these delights involves a twist and a milk dunk (they're promoted as "Milk's Favorite Cookie" for a reason), the sweet creme-stuffed cookie contain zero dairy products.

vegan ritz crackers
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Ritz Crackers

Don't let the rich buttery taste fool you—these are completely butter-free. They're great with budget meats and cheeses or vegan-friendly toppings like peanut butter and Bac'n Pieces.  

vegan sour patch kids
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Sour Patch Kids

Sure, you can't have M&Ms or Skittles or trays of nachos with disconcertingly neon yellow cheese dip when you go to the movies as a vegan. But you can have Sour Patch Kids. They're free of gelatin, but still coated in enough sour crystals to make your tongue slightly raw.

vegan swedish fish candy
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Swedish Fish

There are plenty of (gummy) fish in the sea for hungry vegans looking for snacks without gelatin, namely Swedish Fish, the underrated candy of champions. 

vegan thin mints
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Thin Mints

A sleeve at a time, straight out of the freezer, or with your mom—no matter how you chow down on this seasonal favorite you can rest easy knowing no animals were harmed in the making of these minty chocolatey delights. Also, take note: Some versions of Lemonades and Peanut Butter Patties are vegan, so long as they come from ABC Bakers and are marked as such.

vegan unfrosted pop tarts
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Unfrosted Pop-Tarts

Pop-Tarts can be a vegan's best friend if they are the unfrosted strawberry, blueberry, and brown sugar-cinnamon varieties. When there's no icing, you appreciate the pastry for what it is: an utterly delicious flaky-ish, fake-tasting breakfast treat that's totally vegan-friendly. It's almost more surprising that the icing does actually contain real milk products.

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Carrie Dennis is an NYC-based writer and editor who will pet your dog with or without permission.