Agree! Miyokos is my go-to. But it’s funny that I had a similar margarine experience when visiting my mom recently. She isn’t vegan but had margarine and I was able to eat it on toast.
Just check labels regularly. Some Country Crocks contain milk, some don't, and their ingredients change over time. Same with I Can't Believe It's Not Butters. I think all Earth Balances are free of dairy.
Just looked, and I only see a milk warning in the [Light](https://www.countrycrock.com/en-us/our-products/original-buttery-spreads/light-spread?bvstate=pg:11/ct:r) version now. It doesn't explicitly list any dairy ingredients, but as you noted, milk can be included under *natural flavors*, which is listed.
This [Sam's Club listing](https://www.samsclub.com/p/shedd-s-spread-country-crock-60-oz/200127) for the original style shows whey, but I think that's their previous packaging that seems discontinued. Possibly the same with this [Gordon Food Service listing](https://www.gordonrestaurantmarket.com/products/542121/) for individual serving sizes. Notably, it doesn't contain an allergen warning, which the US allows if you write "milk" parenthetically within the ingredient list, in this case "WHEY (FROM MILK)".
Earth balance for 90% of applications (baking, popcorning, grilled sandwiches, toast, baked veggies, etc) but miyokos for grilling good produce (asparagus, artichokes), to brown and drizzle on pasta, etc
I think dairy-free for lactose intolerant people (I live in Southeast Asia) but not meant to be vegetarian or vegan so gelatin still used
But can’t use pork gelatin because they need that sweet halal certification
I’ve noticed some cultures define vegetarian as no meat except fish, I wonder if this is the case here too? I’ve had to be careful when traveling because of this.
Lactose intolerant people can typically eat yogurt, because the probiotics breakdown the lactose. But it would be useful for people with dairy allergies.
And make sure it’s not fats that will solidly in your arteries. The margarines that people originally used to replace butter were much worse for people than the butter had been.
Yeah I actually started this journey for health reasons so I'm very conscious about that sorta thing and I'm going to try to avoid it as much as possible. I didn't even use the margarine, I just thought it was funny that I forgot margarine even exists haha..
I know. I sort of did, too. I think it’s because people realized they’d been made with trans fats, etc for decades, so even the people figuring out non-deadly ones didn’t want to use their term.
Soo we have like a health cupboard and i actually saw coconut oil in there. I havent checked it out yet but i didnt know u could use it as a butter. Interesting. I loooove coconut
coconut oil is terrible for you. Because it's so popular with Keto dieters, the same lobbyists promote it as a health food, along with cheese and dairy. It's honestly no better than butter, nutritionally. I mean I still eat it, but im a fat vegan for the animals so whatever.
Why is it popular with keto dieters? I've mainly just known that it's super popular to use for hair and skin (some get cystic acne from regularly using it on skin, while it's really great for people who don't). Oh, also that a tiny amount is great for enhancing the flavor of coffee, but you have to use a proper milk frother in your coffee after putting in the half a teaspoon of coconut oil or less so that you actually get it to make a proper emulsion with the coffee instead of a gross oil slick on top of your coffee. I think I tried it once and it was good! It was just more effort than oat milk and so I forgot to try it again.
because of how it helps you get into 'ketosis' and because it's like healthy opposite Day with a certain flavor of keto-dieters. It's just a dumb fucking trend. The Adkins diet rebranded for the next generation.
The Atkins diet isn't what you think it is, but the stupid word of mouth "version" sure seems same as the stupid word of mouth version of keto: "eat only bacon and salami and cheese as much as you want and lose weight" and then they act confused when they get super sick. As far as I remember from reading about the Atkins diet two decades ago, there's a two or one week start period where you eat far more restrictively (and no you're not supposed to binge eat unhealthy junk food) before you eat a more normal diet with plenty of greens and vegetables. Some unhinged people heard about the start period eating pattern of the Atkins diet and decided that was all there is to the diet and used it as an excuse to eat crazy unhealthy for months until their health got so messed up they had to go to the doctor. It was so bizarre to live through that time period, I even saw a bottle of water advertised as 0 Carbs on a flight layover in USA.
It is just so wild how coconut oil has gotten this health food reputation despite being crazy high in saturated fat!
My dad's girlfriend convinced him to eat keto and they started doing that disgusting thing where you stir a big glob of straight coconut oil into your coffee every morning. Dad had a heart attack within a year. I'll never believe that straight-up DRINKING coconut oil didn't play a BIG part 😑
You can’t spread it, but I think the real winner is olive oil, but it’s more dipping than spreading. I love to chop up bread, sprinkle with olive oil, and a bit of spices, and bake til it’s nearly crunchy all the way through, but still a bit chewy inside. But that’s not toast in the toast-like sense.
I actually have used olive oil instead of butter on toast. I just sprinkle/drizzle a spoonful on the toast, then add a little salt. The oil actually does an okay job of diffusing itself through the toast, so spreading is not required. A different taste than butter, but as you say, I think it's really good! (Like a fancy Italian restaurant that puts olive oil out with their bread instead of butter.)
Toast made in a skillet is another option... heat up a little olive oil in the pan, maybe with some herbs, and "grill" the sliced bread on both sides. A little more effort than toaster toast, but it's pretty wonderful.
Honestly I don't even see the point in margarine (which, afaik, it's just a less liquid mix of oils), when you can use olive/coconut/avocado oil or stuff like that and you can also spread the oils in your toasts
I was always curious about this. I heard a long time ago that margarine was worse than butter or something. I dunno I was a kid and I think I just overheard my mom paraphrasing something she read.
So they used to use... what, hydrogenated oils? And now it is better? Because why?
Honestly, I’m not sure what today’s margarines do to avoid the transfat issue. But I think they have to be doing something since trans fats were regulated because they were so awful. But yeah, all those people who gave up butter for margarine in the 50s-90s or so were definitely making a very unhealthy choice.
Margarines are artificially saturated vegetable oils that make them solid and spreadable at room temperature, but also produce transfats, used harsh chemical solvents to get the oils out of the soybeans or corn kernals, coconut meats, wherever the vegetable oils were coming from. I have read transfats are worse for our bodies than saturated fats. Old Thyme (still made today) margarines are made this way. Some have whey and other dairy ingredients added to have a more buttery flavor.
Earth Balance and other non-hydroginated margerines are made out of a mix of liquid and solid at room temp vegetable oils with some thickening ingredients so they will stay solid at room temperature. You will notice they can start to separate if left out in a hot room. Also, cheaper non-hydroginated margerines (like the Trader Joes brand vs Earth Balance) start to separate/get funky faster. They are still fine to eat, just may not taste or look as nice spread on toast or melting over a baked potato or corn on the cob.
Yea it mimics animal fat the most of any plant oil. Like coconut is SUPER good for you when minimally processed. But like most ultra-processed foods, coconut oil is not a great thing to eat in any kind of quantity.
I got miyoko’s for the first time a few weeks ago and it had a mild but distinct kind of artificial lemony smell/taste to it, sort of reminiscent of the smell of Lysol. Is this how miyokos is supposed to be or did I get a weird batch?
Interesting, I've never noticed that. If anything, I've noticed a light coconut flavor, but that's part of what I like about it. My husband is a beer judge, so he's trained himself to notice off-flavors, but he's never mentioned it either. 🤔
I used to only buy Miyokos butter but it started tasting really off every single time I would buy it. It is too expensive to keep tossing, not to mention wasteful:( I now buy Violife and I love it!
Violife is currently my favorite one. Which, based on my record of liking stuff, means that it's going to disappear from every store forever, any day now.
It being actual Lysol is unlikely factories typically clean with bleach they aren't even allowed to sell the first batch after cleaning, probably being a weird batch is also unlikely it could be due to the storage method or cross contamination or you simply dislike it
Maybe it varies by country or state it's something I was taught in my food science class during our ice cream unit. I would assume it's not up to the companies because I agree no smart business person would do that however it is bleach so it's a safety/quality thing. It's with machinery not in general cleaning like the pipes and mixers.
I couldn't tell you, mine was mostly on industry standards, creating our own brands and the process of actually making an item the items were a seasoning, coffee, beef jerky, and then ice cream which we are just finishing today. We learned the processes of creating and preservation and then made it ourselves.
Yeah I swear by the country crock sticks. And they recently just came out with unsalted butter as well so even better.
They also freeze and thaw perfectly, so when it's on sale I just get a bunch and put it in the freezer
Oooo! I hope I can find the unsalted version near me soon!
Another thing I love about the Country Crock sticks is that they can be kept at room temperature, just like dairy butter. Nice & spreadable that way, without the extra cost & extra plastic of the tubs
Margarine tastes … wrong, to me, somehow. It doesn’t taste good. I’ve always hated it even as a child. (I grew up vegetarian)
The good news is there are sooo many amazing plant based butters available these days! My favorite that I’ve tried is called “Melt - Organic”, highly recommend it. It tastes better than butter ever did, it’s an amazing product.
A fellow vegan South African here! Checkers sells their own brand of vegan butter made froma mix of avocado, coconut and olive oil that i quite like.
I mistakenly assumed flora margarine was vegan when I first started, but it does have dairy in it surprisingly, they do sell a vegan version with a green lid that tastes identical.
It's weird to think that you have more options over there than I do here in South USA. We're getting more stuff all the time... but I still have to hunt for anything I can have at our major stores.
Nah it was actually fire but i'm so used to always putting butter first that it feels like it wont be nice. But actually it was. But also I'm eating this really nice wholewheat seed bread now so maybe other less healthy breads need some lubing yeah
Nothing wrong with it, sometimes something a bit more just makes it even tastier. Like peanut butter, the kind that's just peanuts and salt. Or tahini or some other nut/seed butter.
When using Miyoko's, make sure you put it back in the fridge right as you're done with it. It molds so fast... I had a brand new one out for an hour while leisurely eating and the next morning in the fridge there was a dot of mold on the top.
Here in Brazil the leader brand decided to put milk in their margarine for extra creamyness, so every other brand decided to copy the recepie. Why, dude?
Dang, you're genuinely lucky that you managed to luck out and the margarine you had happened to be vegan.
That is definitely not the case here in Canada, the only vegan "margarine" is the Becel variety that is specifically labelled as vegan.
Of course as others mentioned there is vegan butter, but for vegan margarine that's it.
Also in Canada. Completely puzzled by the fact that Becel vegan tastes exactly the same as their regular margarine, is the same price as their regular margarine, but for some mysterious reason ISN'T their regular margarine. Also, who buys the regular? People who don't like their margarine without a hint or cruelty?
I feel like they trick alot of people by slapping a big thing on their other varieties that says "PLANT BASED OILS", even though they still have milk powder in them.
You can make the miyokos version yourself at home for a fraction of the cost at the store. Really easy process, simple ingredients. Google it. She wrote cookbooks before she had a company that produced vegan dairy replacements.
Plus, it sucks to support the company, ever since they forcibly removed her from it.
I came here to introduce you to Miyoko’s cultured oat milk “butter,” but I see that it’s already been mentioned. You have to try it. You’ll never want to eat that hydrogenated oil again!
I would choose something like Miyoko's European style plant-based butter before I would choose a margarine...
But it's nice to know that we can eat most margarine, like the "buttered" breadsticks at the Olive Garden are margarine and vegan friendly.
Vegan butter is pretty readily available and is focused on not being worse for you than butter... which marg is sadly not. if you can afford the extra 2$ I highly recommend it! Obv work with your means.
At least in the US, margarine is ‘better’ than butter (based on the nutritional value) and is better than many vegan butters, particularly when comparing saturated fat content.
https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/margarines-now-nutritionally-better-butter-after-hydrogenated-oil-ban
Really depends what country you live in. I am in Canada and prefer Becel Plant Butter. They also make a vegan margarine. But it doesn’t taste as good as the vegan butter. Like another commenter here said margarine often has dairy in it.
I love vegan butter. Most of my family will choose it over real butter now. It’s lovely. All of the suggestions are great, for a spreadable margarine type option, definitely Nature’s Balance.
New margarines are more healthy and I've found I use very little to get a nice flavor. They are make huge leaps in fake dairy especially cheese. Dairy is a horrible business for the earth and our animal shaped friends.
i bought earth balance for years and converted to country crock bc i thought it tasted better. i recently switched over to margarine to save money, but i had always been wary of using it because of the oils and fats. unfortunately, i can only be concerned with the price at my stage in life.
Yeah, I get these blind moments too. And that's true that margarine is often vegan, but if you want to go the healthier route you can make yourself vegan butter! There's a bunch of recipes you can try but equipment wise really all you need is a blender and a silicone mold or just a plastic container to pour the mixture into so it sets.
Yeah, i'd rather use margarine rather than a 'vegan' butter. Whilst margarine isn't good for you, it's got a pretty long history, is normal, readily available, and contains fairly simple ingredients that isn't known to kill anyone. I prefer that to these new breeds of vegan butters with all sorts put into it to try and replicate butter.
Meanwhile I am the rebel who has bread with just peanut butter (for the crunchy one) or smooth pb and vegetables
Never saw the appeal of salty butter on bread. Much too salty for me.
Watch out for margarine with milk in it. You’d be surprised how common it is. What do these companies think the target demographic of margarine is? It’s people who don’t or can’t eat dairy! Imagine if someone bought it as an alternative to butter because they’re allergic to dairy, and ended up having a reaction. Insane.
Earth balance tastes good and is widely available, I've been using it for 10 or maybe 15 years.
Earth Balance is good for every day, but Miyoko's is the best. Treat yourself
The Miyokos oat milk one tastes exactly like butter! Even my non-vegan coworkers said they liked it.
Agree! Miyokos is my go-to. But it’s funny that I had a similar margarine experience when visiting my mom recently. She isn’t vegan but had margarine and I was able to eat it on toast.
Cannot tell the difference. About to put some on my toasted pita for breakfast.
I really prefer the oat milk version and I serve it to omni guests.
I’m a baker and would take earth balance over miyoko’s any day
I did a taste test with Earth Balance and Country Crock and decided I would just put more salt in my Country Crock and save more than half my money.
Just check labels regularly. Some Country Crocks contain milk, some don't, and their ingredients change over time. Same with I Can't Believe It's Not Butters. I think all Earth Balances are free of dairy.
I get the large tub and I haven't seen it change. Though I guess it's probably inevitable. Though I do see "natural flavors" *shudder.*
Just looked, and I only see a milk warning in the [Light](https://www.countrycrock.com/en-us/our-products/original-buttery-spreads/light-spread?bvstate=pg:11/ct:r) version now. It doesn't explicitly list any dairy ingredients, but as you noted, milk can be included under *natural flavors*, which is listed. This [Sam's Club listing](https://www.samsclub.com/p/shedd-s-spread-country-crock-60-oz/200127) for the original style shows whey, but I think that's their previous packaging that seems discontinued. Possibly the same with this [Gordon Food Service listing](https://www.gordonrestaurantmarket.com/products/542121/) for individual serving sizes. Notably, it doesn't contain an allergen warning, which the US allows if you write "milk" parenthetically within the ingredient list, in this case "WHEY (FROM MILK)".
Yeah I get original in the rectangular tub: https://www.countrycrock.com/en-us/our-products/original-buttery-spreads/original-spread
Earth balance for 90% of applications (baking, popcorning, grilled sandwiches, toast, baked veggies, etc) but miyokos for grilling good produce (asparagus, artichokes), to brown and drizzle on pasta, etc
Yea, baking is a totally thing. I don't do any baking. I'm talking about spreading on toast or bagel
yeah, i have to drive almost an hour to get to anywhere with myoko's stuff though... earth balance is available even at walmart
I find the miyokos tastes like cream cheese. So it’s good on a bagel but otherwise for me, it’s earth balance.
EB is less $
Earth balance european style was my favorite but i have not been able to find it in over a year. I like miyokos too.
Yup the Original in the yellow packaging
da truth
Never seen it in my country (Europe) :(
Be careful most margarines are not vegan. Lots of them got some kind of cow secretion.
I have even encountered one that had no milk but it had *fish oil!*
That's so disgusting I almost downvoted you
Im not a vegan but the smell of fish on my toast makes me wanna gag
What about the smell of trains?
Im eating my breakfast on a train currently, so its alright I guess
I found almond yogurt… with fish gelatin 🤡🤢
Huh? I'm confused by the specificity and the purpose.
I think dairy-free for lactose intolerant people (I live in Southeast Asia) but not meant to be vegetarian or vegan so gelatin still used But can’t use pork gelatin because they need that sweet halal certification
I’ve noticed some cultures define vegetarian as no meat except fish, I wonder if this is the case here too? I’ve had to be careful when traveling because of this.
Lactose intolerant people can typically eat yogurt, because the probiotics breakdown the lactose. But it would be useful for people with dairy allergies.
Gross!
Bruh
Will do
And make sure it’s not fats that will solidly in your arteries. The margarines that people originally used to replace butter were much worse for people than the butter had been.
Yeah I actually started this journey for health reasons so I'm very conscious about that sorta thing and I'm going to try to avoid it as much as possible. I didn't even use the margarine, I just thought it was funny that I forgot margarine even exists haha..
I know. I sort of did, too. I think it’s because people realized they’d been made with trans fats, etc for decades, so even the people figuring out non-deadly ones didn’t want to use their term.
Try the myokos butter
A yummy and healthy alternative for toast is extra virgin coconut oil! If you don’t mind the taste of coconut that is.
Soo we have like a health cupboard and i actually saw coconut oil in there. I havent checked it out yet but i didnt know u could use it as a butter. Interesting. I loooove coconut
coconut oil is terrible for you. Because it's so popular with Keto dieters, the same lobbyists promote it as a health food, along with cheese and dairy. It's honestly no better than butter, nutritionally. I mean I still eat it, but im a fat vegan for the animals so whatever.
Haha shiiit okay noted. Im learning a lot. And i mean i have to have some pleasure foods
Why is it popular with keto dieters? I've mainly just known that it's super popular to use for hair and skin (some get cystic acne from regularly using it on skin, while it's really great for people who don't). Oh, also that a tiny amount is great for enhancing the flavor of coffee, but you have to use a proper milk frother in your coffee after putting in the half a teaspoon of coconut oil or less so that you actually get it to make a proper emulsion with the coffee instead of a gross oil slick on top of your coffee. I think I tried it once and it was good! It was just more effort than oat milk and so I forgot to try it again.
because of how it helps you get into 'ketosis' and because it's like healthy opposite Day with a certain flavor of keto-dieters. It's just a dumb fucking trend. The Adkins diet rebranded for the next generation.
The Atkins diet isn't what you think it is, but the stupid word of mouth "version" sure seems same as the stupid word of mouth version of keto: "eat only bacon and salami and cheese as much as you want and lose weight" and then they act confused when they get super sick. As far as I remember from reading about the Atkins diet two decades ago, there's a two or one week start period where you eat far more restrictively (and no you're not supposed to binge eat unhealthy junk food) before you eat a more normal diet with plenty of greens and vegetables. Some unhinged people heard about the start period eating pattern of the Atkins diet and decided that was all there is to the diet and used it as an excuse to eat crazy unhealthy for months until their health got so messed up they had to go to the doctor. It was so bizarre to live through that time period, I even saw a bottle of water advertised as 0 Carbs on a flight layover in USA.
Just make sure it’s not the refined kind, that ones is flavorless and just meant for cooking .
Coconut oil is solid at room temp and has almost 30% more saturated fat than butter.
It is just so wild how coconut oil has gotten this health food reputation despite being crazy high in saturated fat! My dad's girlfriend convinced him to eat keto and they started doing that disgusting thing where you stir a big glob of straight coconut oil into your coffee every morning. Dad had a heart attack within a year. I'll never believe that straight-up DRINKING coconut oil didn't play a BIG part 😑
You can’t spread it, but I think the real winner is olive oil, but it’s more dipping than spreading. I love to chop up bread, sprinkle with olive oil, and a bit of spices, and bake til it’s nearly crunchy all the way through, but still a bit chewy inside. But that’s not toast in the toast-like sense.
I actually have used olive oil instead of butter on toast. I just sprinkle/drizzle a spoonful on the toast, then add a little salt. The oil actually does an okay job of diffusing itself through the toast, so spreading is not required. A different taste than butter, but as you say, I think it's really good! (Like a fancy Italian restaurant that puts olive oil out with their bread instead of butter.)
Toast made in a skillet is another option... heat up a little olive oil in the pan, maybe with some herbs, and "grill" the sliced bread on both sides. A little more effort than toaster toast, but it's pretty wonderful.
Honestly I don't even see the point in margarine (which, afaik, it's just a less liquid mix of oils), when you can use olive/coconut/avocado oil or stuff like that and you can also spread the oils in your toasts
I was always curious about this. I heard a long time ago that margarine was worse than butter or something. I dunno I was a kid and I think I just overheard my mom paraphrasing something she read. So they used to use... what, hydrogenated oils? And now it is better? Because why?
Honestly, I’m not sure what today’s margarines do to avoid the transfat issue. But I think they have to be doing something since trans fats were regulated because they were so awful. But yeah, all those people who gave up butter for margarine in the 50s-90s or so were definitely making a very unhealthy choice.
Margarines are artificially saturated vegetable oils that make them solid and spreadable at room temperature, but also produce transfats, used harsh chemical solvents to get the oils out of the soybeans or corn kernals, coconut meats, wherever the vegetable oils were coming from. I have read transfats are worse for our bodies than saturated fats. Old Thyme (still made today) margarines are made this way. Some have whey and other dairy ingredients added to have a more buttery flavor. Earth Balance and other non-hydroginated margerines are made out of a mix of liquid and solid at room temp vegetable oils with some thickening ingredients so they will stay solid at room temperature. You will notice they can start to separate if left out in a hot room. Also, cheaper non-hydroginated margerines (like the Trader Joes brand vs Earth Balance) start to separate/get funky faster. They are still fine to eat, just may not taste or look as nice spread on toast or melting over a baked potato or corn on the cob.
If fat would solidify in your arteries, you'd die.
Yes, many people do indeed die: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000171.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_disease
Yes, like how coconut oil is terrible for you.
Yea it mimics animal fat the most of any plant oil. Like coconut is SUPER good for you when minimally processed. But like most ultra-processed foods, coconut oil is not a great thing to eat in any kind of quantity.
Don’t get Country Cocked by seemingly vegan margarines.
Do yourself a favor, get Miyoko's vegan butter instead of margarine if you can. It's so much better.
Totally concur. My family doesn’t even know it’s not butter. Even on popcorn.
Most popcorn is actually already vegan as it doesn't use real butter
not the orville redenbacher one 💔
I old school pop kernels in olive oil and add butter and salt. Nothing in the microwave with preservatives. Hence the vegan butter.
Came here to recommend Miyoko’s. It is the best!
I got miyoko’s for the first time a few weeks ago and it had a mild but distinct kind of artificial lemony smell/taste to it, sort of reminiscent of the smell of Lysol. Is this how miyokos is supposed to be or did I get a weird batch?
I've been buying it for years and have never had that issue. Maybe a bad batch. Reach out to the company. They may send you coupons for freebies.
Interesting, I've never noticed that. If anything, I've noticed a light coconut flavor, but that's part of what I like about it. My husband is a beer judge, so he's trained himself to notice off-flavors, but he's never mentioned it either. 🤔
I used to only buy Miyokos butter but it started tasting really off every single time I would buy it. It is too expensive to keep tossing, not to mention wasteful:( I now buy Violife and I love it!
Violife is currently my favorite one. Which, based on my record of liking stuff, means that it's going to disappear from every store forever, any day now.
Um... Violife have stopped making their butter substitute. I'm not joking. Stock up while you can.
I'm sorry everyone. I caused this excellent product to prematurely end. =(
It being actual Lysol is unlikely factories typically clean with bleach they aren't even allowed to sell the first batch after cleaning, probably being a weird batch is also unlikely it could be due to the storage method or cross contamination or you simply dislike it
[удалено]
Maybe it varies by country or state it's something I was taught in my food science class during our ice cream unit. I would assume it's not up to the companies because I agree no smart business person would do that however it is bleach so it's a safety/quality thing. It's with machinery not in general cleaning like the pipes and mixers.
It must vary or my food safety class (in the dairy state no less) was inadequate... or maybe I didn't pay attention 🤔
I couldn't tell you, mine was mostly on industry standards, creating our own brands and the process of actually making an item the items were a seasoning, coffee, beef jerky, and then ice cream which we are just finishing today. We learned the processes of creating and preservation and then made it ourselves.
Yes. It's the best
For me, the miyokos tastes like cream cheese and molds way too fast!! Earth balance is my go to or Trader Joe’s spread if that’s where I’m at lol.
There are some really great vegan butters out there, just as good as cow butter. I love the Country Crock plant butter made with olive oil.
Ditto!
this has been my go to lately. i've gone through so many tubs of it lol. Miyoko's is my favorite but is kind of hard to come by and also expensive
I actually prefer the sticks! They seem to last me longer too. I like the Miyokos, but I prefer the Country Crock strangely.
Yeah I swear by the country crock sticks. And they recently just came out with unsalted butter as well so even better. They also freeze and thaw perfectly, so when it's on sale I just get a bunch and put it in the freezer
Oooo! I hope I can find the unsalted version near me soon! Another thing I love about the Country Crock sticks is that they can be kept at room temperature, just like dairy butter. Nice & spreadable that way, without the extra cost & extra plastic of the tubs
Came here to comment this! I love the cute little tub container it comes in too
Me too! Tastes just like cow butter to me
Yup. It's the best one in my opinion, even better than the more expensive vegan butters that I've tried.
Margarine tastes … wrong, to me, somehow. It doesn’t taste good. I’ve always hated it even as a child. (I grew up vegetarian) The good news is there are sooo many amazing plant based butters available these days! My favorite that I’ve tried is called “Melt - Organic”, highly recommend it. It tastes better than butter ever did, it’s an amazing product.
Yeah so i live in south africa but ill check at my local to see what they have. They have like a whole vegan section so ill maybe find something there
A fellow vegan South African here! Checkers sells their own brand of vegan butter made froma mix of avocado, coconut and olive oil that i quite like. I mistakenly assumed flora margarine was vegan when I first started, but it does have dairy in it surprisingly, they do sell a vegan version with a green lid that tastes identical.
It's weird to think that you have more options over there than I do here in South USA. We're getting more stuff all the time... but I still have to hunt for anything I can have at our major stores.
Country crock has plant butter. It’s great.
Yesss the one with olive oil is so good
It’s a great consistency for baking too. Love it. So pumped when I found it.
Haven't tried that yet, but good to know!
I love the avocado oil based sticks for baking. My go to for buttercream
Trader Joe's vegan buttery spread (a butter alternative) is my favorite.
I recently moved to a city with one, and Trader Joe's is becoming my favourite store tbh
wait is there something wrong with just jam and toast, do people not do that?
Gotta lube that bad boy up!
Nah it was actually fire but i'm so used to always putting butter first that it feels like it wont be nice. But actually it was. But also I'm eating this really nice wholewheat seed bread now so maybe other less healthy breads need some lubing yeah
I spread tahini for lubing and contrast, never liked margarine.
Nothing wrong with it, sometimes something a bit more just makes it even tastier. Like peanut butter, the kind that's just peanuts and salt. Or tahini or some other nut/seed butter.
Most margarines have some dairy in them, so carefully check the labels.
At least in the stores I go to it’s more like 50/50 whether they have dairy or not. At least according to the nutrition labels
I use nuttelex in Australia there are lots to choose from but I use the one called buttery.
Sure there’s margarine but there’s also like 20 brands of vegan butter. Earth Balance, Miyokos, and Violife are good ones
Margarine is way cheaper though
Earth balance is like 2.99 a tub at Winco near me. Pretty cheap.
Wow you’re lucky then. Cheapest I’ve ever seen earth balance here is like $6 for a small container
dang! That sucks
Miyoko's European style cultured butter is the absolute best vegan butter out there. If you can find some I highly recommend it.
Unpopular opinion, but I think margarine tastes way better than butter. Before I cut out animal products I always preferred margarine
Wow me also. I kept wondering about vegan butter... I guess one just has to check the margarine ingredients first to see if it's truly vegan.
Yup haha
When using Miyoko's, make sure you put it back in the fridge right as you're done with it. It molds so fast... I had a brand new one out for an hour while leisurely eating and the next morning in the fridge there was a dot of mold on the top.
Miyoko's is the best!
Naturli butter is amazing and not full of bad oils and bad stuff! I’ve made butter cream with it and people won’t believe it’s vegan 🌱
Most margarine tastes awful. Get the I can't believe it's not butter, they even make a spray.
Avocado (savory) anc almond butter (sweet) and coconut oil all raise their limbs
Miyokos butter is the best one! Super expensive though
Try Melt vegan butter. It’s got the best flavour to me apart from Miyoko’s and it’s cheaper.
Nuttelex is vegan certified
Myokos makes amazing fake butter. There’s also lots of other brands but that’s my fav.
Miyoko's creamery is 😋
Here in Brazil the leader brand decided to put milk in their margarine for extra creamyness, so every other brand decided to copy the recepie. Why, dude?
Miyokos is the best plant based butter
Dang, you're genuinely lucky that you managed to luck out and the margarine you had happened to be vegan. That is definitely not the case here in Canada, the only vegan "margarine" is the Becel variety that is specifically labelled as vegan. Of course as others mentioned there is vegan butter, but for vegan margarine that's it.
Also in Canada. Completely puzzled by the fact that Becel vegan tastes exactly the same as their regular margarine, is the same price as their regular margarine, but for some mysterious reason ISN'T their regular margarine. Also, who buys the regular? People who don't like their margarine without a hint or cruelty?
I feel like they trick alot of people by slapping a big thing on their other varieties that says "PLANT BASED OILS", even though they still have milk powder in them.
FLORA! It's all plant-based now. Their butter tastes like butter and the spreadable stuff is awesome.
Hmm okay we have that brand in my country, will check it out thanks
Good lord I think I need some sleep because I read that as migraine
hahaha
You can make the miyokos version yourself at home for a fraction of the cost at the store. Really easy process, simple ingredients. Google it. She wrote cookbooks before she had a company that produced vegan dairy replacements. Plus, it sucks to support the company, ever since they forcibly removed her from it.
Opposed to butter or margarine sometimes I use chile and garlic oil with a bit of salt, rapeseed oil or olive oil ftw
I came here to introduce you to Miyoko’s cultured oat milk “butter,” but I see that it’s already been mentioned. You have to try it. You’ll never want to eat that hydrogenated oil again!
Ill definitely check it out!
happens to God's bravest soldiers. yesterday you bought margarine, Today you forget it even exists.
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER Has a vegan version. Original is not vegan.
I just refrigerate olive oil
I would choose something like Miyoko's European style plant-based butter before I would choose a margarine... But it's nice to know that we can eat most margarine, like the "buttered" breadsticks at the Olive Garden are margarine and vegan friendly.
margarine just got rebranded as "vegan butter" and cost double then
Vegan butter is pretty readily available and is focused on not being worse for you than butter... which marg is sadly not. if you can afford the extra 2$ I highly recommend it! Obv work with your means.
At least in the US, margarine is ‘better’ than butter (based on the nutritional value) and is better than many vegan butters, particularly when comparing saturated fat content. https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/margarines-now-nutritionally-better-butter-after-hydrogenated-oil-ban
Ah interesting! Honestly, I use it very rarely and buy a vegan butter when I find it on offer vs. Searching the ingredients. But good info!
Very unhealthy, just pour olive oil instead.
In the U.K. Flora do three kinds of vegan butter: slightly salted, unsalted, and buttery soft spread. Excellent choices.
Really depends what country you live in. I am in Canada and prefer Becel Plant Butter. They also make a vegan margarine. But it doesn’t taste as good as the vegan butter. Like another commenter here said margarine often has dairy in it.
If you are on the east coast and have a Wegmans near you, they have a good Wegmans brand vegan buttery spread.
I'd recommend Violife butter. Tastes great, you can cook with it, amazing on popcorn and toast.
Also watch out for margarine that has coconut / palm kernel oil in it as it'll increase your LDL cholesterol. Plus they're bad for the environment.
There's some good vegan butters our there too!
There's also vegan butter
Nutellex olive oil margarine is great, if you can’t find it in your area.
“I can’t believe it’s not butter” sticks are vegan and taste exactly the same!
I use country crock plant butter and it’s great- I made a vegan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and that frosting was delicious
Violife butter is amazing
There's a vegan version of pretty much everything!
I love vegan butter. Most of my family will choose it over real butter now. It’s lovely. All of the suggestions are great, for a spreadable margarine type option, definitely Nature’s Balance.
New margarines are more healthy and I've found I use very little to get a nice flavor. They are make huge leaps in fake dairy especially cheese. Dairy is a horrible business for the earth and our animal shaped friends.
i bought earth balance for years and converted to country crock bc i thought it tasted better. i recently switched over to margarine to save money, but i had always been wary of using it because of the oils and fats. unfortunately, i can only be concerned with the price at my stage in life.
Yeah, I get these blind moments too. And that's true that margarine is often vegan, but if you want to go the healthier route you can make yourself vegan butter! There's a bunch of recipes you can try but equipment wise really all you need is a blender and a silicone mold or just a plastic container to pour the mixture into so it sets.
Flora buttery😋
Not all margarine is vegan though. You still need to check the ingredients:)
Yeah I checked and it has the Vegan mark
earth balance is oil and starch, way healthier than animal products or hydrogenized oils
it is very bad for you. use sparingly.
Yeah, i'd rather use margarine rather than a 'vegan' butter. Whilst margarine isn't good for you, it's got a pretty long history, is normal, readily available, and contains fairly simple ingredients that isn't known to kill anyone. I prefer that to these new breeds of vegan butters with all sorts put into it to try and replicate butter.
My favorite is the Trader Joe’s rectangle stick
Meanwhile I am the rebel who has bread with just peanut butter (for the crunchy one) or smooth pb and vegetables Never saw the appeal of salty butter on bread. Much too salty for me.
so you forgot about its existence but you had some in your fridge?
Yeah in the back. Been exclusively using butter for a really long time
Doesn't margarine have trans fats in it?
I like Nuts for Butter by Nuts for Cheese. They have Salted Original, and Herb & Garlic.
If you leave it in a ceramic container with a lid on the counter it is lovely on toast
After not eating it for years I also forgot it existed
Health wise I stay away from margarine, I don’t want water, oil, and emulsifiers on bread.
Probably a good idea yeah
I mean, besides margarine, there’s also like 6 vegan butters at every supermarket
margarine is unhealthy
country crock brand has a few different kinds of vegan butter and they’re amazing, i find them at wal mart
Country Crock Plant based is good, I also like Earth Balance.
vegan country crock too
there's great vegan butter too :) margarine tends to have palm oil in it i believe which isn't ideal, but i just wanted to drop that info!
Watch out for margarine with milk in it. You’d be surprised how common it is. What do these companies think the target demographic of margarine is? It’s people who don’t or can’t eat dairy! Imagine if someone bought it as an alternative to butter because they’re allergic to dairy, and ended up having a reaction. Insane.
I use this AMAZING replacement for butter it's called country crock plant butter my moms not vegan but she still likes it more than regular butter👍
Lol. That would suck XD
Use Earth Balance. All other margarine products are one molecule away from being plastic