August 1, 2025

My Go-To Dairy-Free Products

After 6 years of dairy-free living, I have found my consistent go-to dairy-free products that I re-stock time and again in my kitchen. This is simply a round up of my favorite products and ways I use them daily in my kitchen.

Top 5 products I use in my dairy-free kitchen on a tan counter.

Sometime last year I began writing product reviews for when I tried something new on the market. While I have had fun trying out the different plant-based options hitting the shelves it has revealed a number of truths to me.

  • I am a creature of habit. Unless forced to try something else I always default to my go-to.
  • Sometimes a go-to is a go-to for a good reason.
  • Having a consistent product you know, like, and trust makes you day to day life easier.

Much like with my product review posts, I feel it’s important for you to know that none of these brands are sponsored, I receive no commission sharing these products with you.

These are simply my go-to dairy-free products that I reach for time and again. I’m sharing these with you in with the intention that it might make it easier for you to pick a product the next time you are at the grocery store.

Oat Milk

A close up of a carton of oat milk on a tan counter.

When it comes to non-dairy milk I default to oat milk. No specific brand but I do typically pick up an unsweetened and unflavored variety.

That said, since trying Malk’s Oat Milk I have been pretty happy with their cleaner option for oat milk.

Why is Oat Milk My Go-To?

There are a few reasons oat milk completes my grocery cart week after week:

  • Readily available and easy to find.
  • Substitutes in both baking and cooking without altering the flavor of the dish.
  • Great for baking desserts you want to share with others since it doesn’t have nuts.
  • Decently long shelf-life.

My Typical Uses for Oat Milk

I could probably link to well over a hundred different recipes on this site just to show you how simple it can be to use oat milk in cooking and baking.

Some of the most consistent ways I replace traditional milk with oat milk in my daily life include:

Country Crock Plant Butter

A top down image of two different types of country crock plant based butter on a tan counter with a small dish of butter and a butter knife to the right.

I have been a consistent user of the Country Crock Plant Butter line since I first started baking with vegan butter. Some of the main reasons I find myself gravitating to it include:

  • Reasonable price
  • Readily available
  • Neutral flavor
  • Nut-free options

To be fair though, since going dairy-free and replacing my usual butter with the Country Crock Plant Butter over 5 years ago, I haven’t taken the time to really try any of the other brands on the market to compare.

Daily Uses for Plant Butter

This is one of the most versatile products I have on the list because I use it for just about every meal I make.

Cream Cheese Alternative

An open tub of dairy-free cream cheese with a spreading knife on a tan counter.

I feel like dairy-free cream cheese can often be a miss. Either the texture is too grainy or the flavor is just a little bit off. Thankfully Kite Hill makes a plain plant-based cream cheese that ticks most of my boxes.

This isn’t a weekly buy for me but it’s frequent enough that I probably pick up a tub each month. I have tried other brands on the market but have time and again been disappointed primarily with the smell and mouth feel.

The Kite Hill Cream Cheese Alternative is my go-to cream cheese because it:

  • Softens quickly
  • Has a creamier texture than most other brands
  • Is neutral in the flavor profile
  • Mixes, cooks, and bakes well in recipes

I should note that it does separate on occasion and needs to be stirred before using but it works well in a number of different recipes.

Typical Uses for My Go-To Cream Cheese Alternative

There are a number of different ways to use this plant-based cream cheese alternative.

Heavy Whipping Cream

A red and white carton of plant cream on a tan counter.

By the time this post drops (well into my three months of maternity leave content) I will have reviewed three different heavy cream alternatives and time and time again I keep coming back to the country crock plant cream.

This is easily my favorite plant-based heavy cream alternative for a number of reasons:

  • Its readily available at my local grocery store.
  • The price is just right.
  • Whips like a dream.
  • Makes the softest no-churn ice cream base.
  • Has a neutral flavor profile which won’t alter the taste of your final product.

Typical Uses for Heavy Whipping Cream

While I do not use this product daily, I pick up a carton weekly to make a batch of no churn ice cream for the freezer. Some of my most frequently made recipes with Country Crock Plant Cream include:

Nut Pods Coffee Creamer

A blue and white carton of nut pods creamer on a tan counter by a blue coffee cup.

There have been a number of different coffee creamers shared on the site over the years but I consistently find myself using nut pods almond and coconut based creamers time and again.

I like the unsweetened aspect of this coffee creamer as a way to cut the acidity of my morning cup of coffee without taking away from the flavor of the coffee. I know that’s not normally how people approach their coffee creamer, just my personal preference.

That said, this coffee creamer does tend to split when you pour the hot coffee over the cold creamer. To reduce the separation that happens when I pour my morning cup of coffee I simply heat the coffee creamer for about 8 seconds in the microwave before topping it off with coffee.

Stacks of milk, butter, cream cheese, and creamer on a tan counter.

If you found this round up of my top 5 dairy-free products helpful feel free to leave a comment below!

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Filed Under: Dairy Free Tips, Product Review