20 Grocery Store Chains To Shop At If You're Vegan

Grocery shopping can be a therapeutic experience for some and a nerve-racking experience for others. If you're like me, a plant-based eater, you likely are in the latter camp. Finding the groceries and pantry staples that you need to have a nutritious and nutrient-dense meal plan for the week is daunting — especially when processed vegan and plant-based products may come at a much higher price tag than other goods.

We've struggled over the years to find grocery stores offering a wide variety of vegan products that don't hurt our wallets. We've narrowed down some of the best grocery stores to buy from, whether you're shopping for a whole-foods plant-based diet of grains, vegan protein, and produce, or looking for more convenient options like frozen meals and snacks. Besides variety, we also looked for stores that were relatively inexpensive or had tons of sales on vegan staples. Lastly, we considered if any stores had special perks, such as having a cheaper generic vegan brand, or if they can offer a 100% organic shopping experience to customers. Here are some of our favorite places to shop across the U.S. and online.

Read more: 23 Whole Foods Baked Goods, Ranked

Aldi

Stock up on your quarters — we're going to Aldi! This quirky, budget-friendly grocery store is one of our favorites to shop at for both its low prices and availability of vegan items across all sectors. Some of the best vegan foods at Aldi include their non-dairy ice creams, made with either almond or oat milk, that rival the expensive vegan ice creams at other grocery stores. You can also find their line of Earth Grown meatless products, which are much cheaper than the brand names you'd find in a standard store.

Our biggest qualm with Aldi is that their produce does not last as long as what's offered at other grocery stores. The product selection is also not as comprehensive as it could be, and you won't find many name brands. But it's a fantastic option for stocking up on pantry staples and plant-based meat replacements.

Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is known for two things: its poorly designed parking lots and its selection of frozen food. Among the deep aisles of artisanal cheeses, snacks, and meats, you're bound to find many, many plant-based options. Some of the best vegan foods at Trader Joe's include its cheap tofu selection and its vegan soy chorizo, which can be used as a replacement for taco meat in chili, burrito bowls, and tacos. You'll also want to take a peek in the ice cream section to see the numerous in-house-brand pints of ice cream, like our favorite, Cold Brew Coffee and Boba Coconut.

The major drawback to shopping at Trader Joe's is similar to that of shopping at Aldi. It's difficult to find all the products you need in one shot. And, the produce tends to be a bit more expensive than at other grocery stores. But if you're a college student looking for meals to pop into your microwave and enjoy, Trader Joe's is your one-stop shop.

Whole Foods Market

If you're lucky enough to live near a Whole Foods (and have the money to shop there regularly), then it's a solid option for your vegan cooking needs. We love their extensive collection of non-dairy cheeses from the Miyoko's Creamery brand, as well as smaller, niche brands like Parmela Creamery and Misha's Kind Foods. The other key asset to Whole Foods is its impressive bakery selection — including vegan cupcakes, breads, and wraps — that many other store bakeries don't offer. There's also the Whole Foods hot bar filled with several plant-based options. Our favorites include the vegan spinach dal with melt-in-your-mouth greens and creamy coconut milk.

The primary drawback to shopping at Whole Foods is that the prices are astronomical, making it one of the most expensive grocery stores to shop at.

Walmart

Don't count Walmart out of the grocery store lineup. The biggest benefit to this supermarket (and super-everything, really) is that it is one of the most widely accessible and geographically dispersed stores. In the United States alone, it has more than 4,600 locations.

Walmart may not have the best selection of produce or fresh food, but there are plenty of plant-based meal options, desserts, and packaged foods on its shelves. Omni, a vegan seafood company, recently brought its plant-based meats to Walmart, including potstickers and spring rolls. You'll also find numerous types of Chao vegan cheese, Impossible Foods, and Beyond Meat products, along with plant-based pizzas to keep in your freezer. While Walmart may not be the cheapest grocery store to shop at for all your vegan goods, its convenience factor keeps it relevant.

Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market was a store made for the crunchy vegans among us. This outlet offers in-store brands of plant-based products, as well as popular vegan brands like Beyond Meat, Lightlife, and Gardein. We are also impressed by the store's selection of plant-based milks, yogurts, and dairy-free cheeses. The prices at Sprouts are on par with other grocery stores of its caliber, and it often offers super sales on its organic produce. It also will occasionally have "Extravaganza" sales with an entire department's products discounted, which can be a great time to stock up on your plant-based favorites.

Sprouts also offers a bulk bin section so you can stock up on favorites like oatmeal, coffee beans, nuts, and flour. Although this is an excellent way to reduce your plastic waste by avoiding single-serve containers, it is unsettling to see folks hold the communal scoop with their dirty hands, rather than having a lever-press system that's a bit more sanitary.

Costco

This is your sign to take the plunge and get a Costco membership. For those unfamiliar with the popular chain, Costco is a membership-based wholesale club with locations nationwide. It's the perfect wholesale club to join if you want to feed a large family or split your grocery bill between roommates. For example, you can buy a massive bag of vegan Unreal chocolates for significantly less per unit than a smaller bag. Or, stock up and save on plant-based snacks and chips for your children's lunchboxes.

We love going to Costco for items we need a lot of, like rice, quinoa, and frozen plant-based meats. While it may not be a practical choice for singles living alone, it's a worthwhile membership to purchase for someone who goes through a lot of plant-based foods.

King Soopers

King Soopers is a Colorado supermarket chain that is very accessible for plant-based eaters in the Centennial State. It carries an affordable line of products called Simple Truth, which covers everything from vegan pasta sauce to a meatless version of chicken broth. You'll also find a plethora of name brands here like Follow Your Heart, Silk, and Gardein. Additionally, we love that this store carries vegan protein powders and plant-based collagen mixtures to help us feel our best.

The prices for this supermarket are similar to other grocery stores, with the significant drawback of King Soopers being its small geographic range. However, Kroger owns it, so you're likely to find similar vegan offers at other stores also owned by the same parent company.

Stop & Shop

Stop & Shop is a northeastern supermarket chain, and it's our go-to option when Aldi doesn't have what we're looking for. Their produce section is extensive and offers both ready-to-cook foods like green squash noodles and cauliflower rice, as well as plant-based frozen meals from popular brands like Gardein. The chain also has an impressive plant-based deli section with tons of Tofurky and Lightlife products.

The major downside to this chain is similar to that of others — it isn't found nationwide. Its plant-based meat section also tends to be very pricey for items like frozen nuggets or burgers. But what this store lacks in low prices, it makes up for in variety and dairy-free ice cream. In short, Stop & Shop isn't our top pick, but it's always one that we can count on.

Ralphs

Ralphs is another grocery chain that offers vegan options, which fits with its California crowd of shoppers. The store has less than 200 locations across the state, making it one of the less prominent brands, but it still makes up for that with its extensive plant-based offerings. You'll find plenty of vegan soups, grains, and alternative milks available on their shelves.

Another thing that we love about Ralphs is that its website makes it easy to shop for vegan groceries by category, including meatless alternatives, snacks, and dairy-free products. You'll also find a section of their website with recommendations about shopping for a plant-based diet. It's clear that Ralphs has a very veggie-forward approach, which is not really shown by other grocery stores of this caliber.

Wegmans

Wegmans is primarily an East Coast grocery chain with just over 100 total stores, making it a very small brand on our list. But if you have the opportunity to go to a Wegmans on your drive through New York state or Pennsylvania, we highly recommend it. The chain's aisles are filled with plant-based options, including store-brand vegan oatmeal cookies, dairy-free ice cream, and meat substitutes. Wegmans is also home to many notable plant-based brands, including an extensive collection of Violife cheeses, O'Doughs bagels, and even vegan jerky.

One of the novelties of Wegmans is that the chain hosts in-store Market Cafe eateries, which feature vegan options. You can create your own sandwich or wrap with vegetable ingredients, while their prepared sushi section offers a vegan tofu and mushroom roll. Is there room to expand these offerings? Totally.

Target

Don't let your next Target run just be for Starbucks, a candle, and a cozy blanket. Instead, shop the store aisles for a ton of different vegan goodies. One of our favorite things to pick up at Target that's difficult to source at other stores is B**chin' Sauce: a nut-based spread perfect for dipping or even using as a salad dressing.

Many critics will say that Target is just an overpriced Walmart. Although we partially agree with this, there are some benefits to Target over other stores, including its line of plant-based goods called Good & Gather, as well as food personality Tabitha Brown's line of vegan groceries in stores. Brown's collection includes 40 vegan items, including soup, potato salad, vegan cream cheeses, and stuffed ravioli. The vegan inventory at Target is impressive for a store that seems to carry everything else, too.

Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer is the grocery store of choice for the Pacific Northwest. Its locations offer folks a whole host of vegan goodies. It carries Simple Truth brand-name products, including dairy-free spreads, milk alternatives, and deli slices. You can also purchase name-brand goods from popular vendors like Daiya, Violife, and Gardein, which give it about the same selection as other Kroger-owned grocery chains — just in a different region of the country.

We found that Fred Meyer also carries an extensive selection of frozen vegan meals from brands like Amy's and Purple Carrot. While we don't think these meal options are as creative and expansive as what you'll find at Trader Joe's or the Whole Foods hot bar, they do work in a pinch.

Publix

If you're a vegan in the South, head to your local Publix for groceries. The brand carries numerous GreenWise meat substitutes like "chickenless tenders" and meat-free burgers, as well as dairy-free yogurts and non-dairy peanut butter frozen desserts.

The store also offers a comprehensive selection of Ben & Jerry's dairy-free ice cream flavors, as well as dairy-free cheesecake from Daiya and cookies from Enjoy Life. Like other stores, the selection of dairy-free milk is extensive, and it offers just as many different brands of vegan cheese. The produce selection at Publix is considered to be middle-of-the-road; it carries some local fruits and veggies, but also offers more tropical options like green plantains and malanga blanca that may not be as accessible at other stores.

Kroger

Kroger is a trustworthy shopping option for anyone, but its stores really cater well to the needs of customers with plant-based diets. The produce tends to be cheap, while the inventory of plant-based products from in-house and name brands is rather extensive compared to other grocers. Plus, these stores are highly accessible and geographically distributed, which means you'll likely have one in your nearby community — or one of the other grocery-store chains that Kroger owns.

Like other brands, Kroger does an excellent job of organizing their stores with a specific section of plant-based products for easy shopping. Granted, many of the specialty foods in this section tend to be overpriced, so you're better off scouring the digital circulars for the best deals on your vegan favorites.

ShopRite

ShopRite is based in the Northeast, so you may not have a chance to shop at one if you live outside the region. But if you have the opportunity to stop in, use it as an opportunity to fill your cart with plant-based meats and meals from brands like Gardein and Impossible Foods. The store also offers niche brands that are difficult to find at other stores, like MingsBings wraps and No Bull veggie burgers. Its in-house brand, Bowl & Basket, doesn't cover a lot of vegan processed food products, but it does include low prices on vegan staples like rice, nuts, and beans.

It is considered to be more affordable than other grocery chains, like Whole Foods and Wegmans. We regularly find ourselves visiting ShopRite for their extensive sales.

Albertsons

Albertsons has one of the best vegan inventories of all grocery stores, but you're going to be paying a lot for it. Shoppers have noted that Albertsons tends to price much higher than other stores on a range of products, and not just the vegan ones. Therefore, it's a great grocer to go to because it has over 2,000 stores across the country — but it may be suitable for only picking up the niche products you can't source from anywhere else for cheaper.

One thing that Albertsons does particularly well is carry an extensive offering of organic goods. Its in-house brand, O Organics, offers a range of organic produce, snacks, and pantry staples, as well as some crossover vegan products like plant-based pesto (free from Parmesan) and vegan mac and cheese offered for a lower price than the name-brand Annie's. We've found that their selection of these organic-certified products is impressive, and puts it leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

Natural Grocers

Natural Grocers is unlike any other store, because all of its products (yes, all of them) must be certified organic to be stocked on the shelves. The downside to their policy of such high scrutiny results in the store not carrying products that contain things like monosodium glutamate (MSG), animal-free milk proteins, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). So, it's fair to say that this store bars some of our favorite vegan products, which is unfortunately one of the reasons why we wouldn't go there for all of our grocery needs.

But, there are some upsides to this company. For example, this store takes shopping a step up by offering cooking demonstrations to the community in its demo kitchens. You'll also see that their supplements are independently lab-tested to ensure that the dosage is correct and the bottle doesn't include unlisted additives or chemicals.

Thrive Market

Thrive Market is an online grocer that sells organic, non-GMO food to folks with memberships. These memberships cost as little as $5 a month with an annual billing plan. The store boasts guaranteed price matching for great deals on your plant-based favorites, as well as easily accessible vegan, nut-free, and gluten-free products. You can also set up recurring deliveries, which makes it super convenient to regularly order your favorite products to your door.

Although Thrive Market does offer a ton of vegan goodies from brands that you may not find at a conventional store, it really only pays for itself if you order off the website regularly. We've all watched money trickle out of our bank account for subscriptions we never use.

PlantX

PlantX is one of few exclusively vegan grocery-providing websites. It offers, by far, the most comprehensive selection of niche plant-based products from vendors, including The Very Good Butchers, No Evil Foods, Alternative Baking Company, and Fix & Fogg. These products include both shelf-stable options and cold-shipping items, which arrive at your doorstep ready to pop into your refrigerator or freezer.

The primary reason we use PlantX for the goods we can't find at other grocery stores is because they ship across the country, and their prices are affordable compared to other vendors. We wouldn't necessarily use the brand for our pantry staples, like plain pasta, flour, and sugar, but we have used it for ordering goodies for loved ones during the holidays, or creating plant-based gift baskets for special occasions.

BJ's Wholesale Club

BJ's is another bulk wholesale club that requires the purchase of a membership to shop there. In comparison to Costco, BJ's tends to be smaller (both in size and selection) and offers more name-brand products. Plus, there are significantly fewer BJ's locations compared to Costco.

Although we would take a trip to Costco for the food court any day, BJ's does offer some great deals for plant-based buys. We can stock up on massive bags of Violife vegan mozzarella or plant-based butter for holiday baking. Another recent purchase from BJ's we're loving is the Beyond Meat plant-based seared tips, which is sold for a great value compared to the measly package we get at our local store. If you can split a membership among your family or friends, we'd highly recommend it.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.