Football season is in full swing, and whether you’re into the action or not, everyone can agree on gathering around a spread of hot vegan snacks. We’re talking about the snacks to fake out your omnivore friends—think plant-based sausages, gooey vegan queso, and spicy jalapeño cheese dip. As if we needed another reason to look forward to game day, here are 12 meaty, cheesy vegan snacks to make your Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays infinitely more appetizing—win or lose.
Whole Foods Market
1 Whole Foods Vegan Combo Pack
You can host a football watch party and not dirty a single dish with this plant-based platter. Whole Foods is offering catering trays with vegans in mind. This comprehensive snacking tray includes Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, Cocktail Meatless Meatballs with marinara sauce, and vegetable crudités with hummus. This spread will certainly last your party through overtime.
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Morningstar
2 MorningStar Farms Veggitizers
This long-standing vegetarian staple harnessed real star power to launch the latest products of its Veggitizer line. Actor Tahj Mowry is the face of the new Veggie Chorizo Nacho Bites and Veggie Chik’n and Cheese Taquitos. While some MorningStar products contain egg or dairy, both of these game-time apps are vegan.
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Loca
3 Loca Queso
It’s not a party until somebody brings the queso. Beyond the melty, velvety texture and amped-up cheesy taste, we love this dairy-free queso for its ingredient list, which is something you can’t say about most quesos—vegan or otherwise. This bright orange, slightly spicy cheese blend is made from potatoes and other veggies, so be liberal when you dunk, scoop, and slather your favorite snacks with it.
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Field Roast
4 Field Roast Appetizers
When you need some snacks in a pinch, reach into your freezer and scan your condiment drawer. Field Roast’s frozen mini corn dogs and buffalo wings (formerly known as Fruffalo wings) are easy and satisfying solutions to the half-time hangries. Serve with mustard and vegan ranch.
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Emma Choo
5 Gardein Mini Crabless Cakes
Crabcakes may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think “football,” but they fit the category perfectly. They’re meaty, creamy, crispy, and fried. With or without tartar sauce, these mini crabless cakes will be gobbled up before the second quarter.
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Kite Hill
6 Kite Hill French Onion Dip
Perfection is attained in the form of a ruffled potato chip plunged into a thick French onion dip. Not even chips and guac emit the same pleasure of this divine pairing. Kite Hill’s almond milk-based French onion dip replicates the tang and bold onion taste we crave in this flavor-forward dip. Find it here
Jule’s Foods
7 Jule’s Cheddar Jalapeño Dip
Note quite queso, this spicy spread is thick and potent. Scoop it up with raw veggies, schmear it on a sliced baguette, or dip in toasted pita chips. Just be warned: with a blend of jalapeño peppers and cayenne pepper, those with sensitive palates should dip lightly.
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The Modern Pod Co.
8 The Modern Pod Co. Hummus Pods
These poppable vegan snacks don’t contain any plant-based meat or cheese, but one bite and you could be convinced you were snacking on a Tostino’s pizza roll—minus the burst of mouth-searing oil and mystery meat pepperoni. Made with seasoned hummus packed into a tender dough, these individual bites are a delicious way to eliminate double-dipping. Varieties include Zesty Lemon, Sriracha Lime, Smoky Chipotle, Tangier Red Pepper, and Mediterranean Olive. |
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Amy’s Kitchen
9 Amy’s Vegan Cheese Pizza Snacks
No matter how many times we bite into a pizza roll too soon and scorch our taste buds, we never learn. These gooey, molten-hot vegan snacks always beckon us to bite before a safe internal temperature has been reached. Are they worth it? Always.
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Nowadays
10 Nowadays Nuggets
For a heavier snacking tray that leans more toward a meal, a mound of vegan chicken nuggets is just the thing. There are dozens of plant-based nuggets on the market these days, but lately we’ve been enjoying Nowadays’ version. Not only are we impressed with its solid nutritional profile (ingredients we can pronounce, only 3.5 grams of total fat, and 13 grams of protein), their texture is on point and they’re perfectly two-bite-sized for heavy snacking purposes.
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Good Planet
11 Good Planet Foods Snackable Wedges
Reminiscent of the Laughing Cow single-serve cheese wedges, this trio of vegan snackable, triangle-shaped cheeses are the perfect way to avoid the communal dip situation in a mixed crowd. Flavors include Original, Smoked Gouda, and Pepper Jack. Arrange a medley of these foil-wrapped cheeses on a tray with raw veggies, chips, and toasty pita triangles, and your snack-providing duties will be fulfilled.
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Quinn
12 Quinn Plant Based Cheezy Style Nuggets
Stuffed with creamy, non-dairy cheese spread and encased in a salted, crunchy pretzel exterior, could these snacks surpass the addictive nature of peanut butter pretzels? They may just have an edge. Fill a bowl with these gluten-free pretzel bites and watch as your guests’ expressions go from ones of surprise to pure delight at this unexpected cheesy filling.
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Tanya Flink is a Digital Editor at VegNews as well as a writer and runner living in Orange County, CA.