One of the many perks of being vegan is that you don’t have to give up bread. That being said not all bread is vegan and there are plenty of brands that include animal products in their bread recipes.
Quite often you may think that a bread is vegan friendly but when you read the ingredients you see that it has monoglycerides and diglycerides. These are just scientific names for fats. And while some fats can be vegan quite a lot are derived from animals.
Lecithin is another ingredient that can be vegan, derived from soybeans but can also come from egg yolks. Unfortunately, you can’t tell which just from the ingredient list so many vegans avoid any bread with these ingredients just in case.
So we have put together a list of the best 18 vegan bread brands so that you can buy them with confidence. There are of course many other brands out there, but we have chosen these for our guide because they offer clear information about their ingredients.
Let’s take a look at what vegan bread brands are available and what each of them can offer in terms of taste, and nutritional value.
Nature’s Own is a vegan bread brand that is packed with flavor and nutrition. Their 100% Whole Wheat has no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives and has 2 grams of fiber in every slice. It has no trans fats and no high fructose corn syrup.
Their Perfectly Crafted Multigrain bread has zero cholesterol, and is non GMO certified. It is a low fat food with just 2 grams of fat per slice.
One Degree doesn’t just make organic foods. Their whole approach is health focused and this doesn’t just apply to people. They also apply this philosophy to the soil and the crops that go into making their products.
Their vegan sesame sunflower bread is organic and contains sprouted Khorasan wheat. Each slice has 2 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. It contains no cholesterol and just 1 gram of fat per slice.
Simple Kneads have a delicious assortment of breads that are all vegan and gluten free. Choose from their pumpernickel bread, quinoa power grains, sourdough or cinnamon raisin sourdough.
Their bread is full of nutritious goodness including 3 grams of dietary fiber per slice. It contains no sugar as it is sweetened with raisin juice and also has no cholesterol. Each slice delivers just 90 calories.
These loaves are ideal for vegans, vegetarians and those following a gluten free diet. The majority of their ingredients are also organic.
This bread is taken from the bible, literally. Chapter 4 verse 9 of the book of Ezekiel which lists six grains and legumes.
When sprouted and combined these form a complete protein that closely resembles the protein found in milk and eggs.
Ezekiel bread contains 18 amino acids all from vegetable sources and is made from sprouted organically grown grains. It is rich in protein, minerals, vitamins, and fiber with no added fat and a nutty flavor.
Angelic Bakehouse is full of nutritious plant based breads that are completely vegan. Choose from whole grain, in rye, wheat or raisin or if you are following a low sodium diet one of their low sodium breads.
Their Sprouted Whole Grain Rye Bread contains seven whole grains and is lower in sugar and higher in fiber than leading whole grain breads.
One slice contains 1 gram of fat, 3 grams of fiber and 18 grams of whole grains.
Mighty Manna have an impressive line-up of vegan breads. All of their products are also organic with the majority of them being sprouted breads.
This is a unique bread that is not your typical sandwich making loaf. It has more of a cake-like consistency and is best served with soup or salads. It has no added salt, sweeteners or preservatives and is organic and Kosher certified.
A typical serving of Mighty Manna Sprouted Cinnamon bread has 5 grams of dietary fiber, just half a gram of fat and no sodium.
Bread doesn’t get much more simple than the Old Fashioned Spelt bread from Berlin Natural Bakery. Made with just three ingredients: organic whole grain spelt flour, filtered water and sea salt it is truly a natural bread.
The sourdough fermentation process creates a powerful and hearty bread which is also vegan. Each slice provides 2 grams of fiber and zero fat. There is no cholesterol in this bread and no sugar either.
This bread contains no preservatives but does have 160 mg of sodium per serving.
Most of Dave’s Killer Breads are vegan meaning they contain no animal products. The majority are also organic. But one thing they all have in common is that they are full of nutritious flavor.
Their Organic 21 Whole Grains and Seeds bread holds an impressive 5 grams of dietary fiber in each slice. That’s 17% of your daily value. One serving also provides you with 6% of your daily iron needs.
On the other hand there is 170 mg of sodium and 5 grams of sugar per slice.
This particular bread brand is known by three different names depending on the region you live in. They make up to fifty different types of bread, a lot of which are vegan.
Arnold’s Oatnut bread is free of animal products, high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors. The name comes from the combination of oats and hazelnuts in each slice.
Per serving, you will get 4 grams of protein, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 80 mg of potassium and 50 mg of calcium.
This classic white loaf from Ener-G is completely vegan as well as being gluten free. It has just 60 calories per slice and is great for making toast.
By microwaving it for between 10-30 seconds you can get that just baked taste.
Nutritionally, each slice will provide 7% of your daily value of fiber, and just 9 grams of carbohydrates. There is no trans fat but 1 gram of saturated fat per serving.
Unbun bread is not only entirely plant based, but it is also grain free, gluten free, paleo and keto.
There are no preservatives or additives in their bread and no engineered products either. They also have a low glycemic index.
Unbun considers a single serving to be two slices of bread, so a single serving provides 8 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein. It will also give you 10% of your daily value of iron and 8% of your potassium.
Pros
Vegan
Gluten free
Grain free
Paleo and keto friendly
Cons
One serving delivers 20% of your daily value of sodium
Bfree breads are completely free of gluten, wheat, dairy and nuts. They are also non-GMO and of course, vegan.
They make pizza bases, burger buns, wraps, baguettes, pita bread and panini rolls.
Bfree’s panini rolls are 75 grams each. Per roll, they contain 2.1 grams of fiber, 1.1 gram of protein and 28.5 mg of carbohydrates. You will also get 2 mg of calcium and the same amount of iron from every roll.
Carbonaut Low Carb Seeded bread is gluten free, keto friendly and vegan. Not only is it healthy, but it is very tasty too.
This bread supports a healthy weight by limiting net carbs and encouraging your body to burn fat. No product from Carbonaut has more than 3 grams of net carbs per serving to keep your body in that fat burning mode.
One slice of their seeded bread has a massive 13 grams of dietary fiber, that’s 46% of your daily value.
Delba bread is a German three grain bread that is lactose free, vegan and wheat free. It is also very high in fiber.
As well as its impressive delivery of fiber Delba Three Grain Bread is also high in complex carbohydrates, and protein. The three grains in question are whole kernel rye, oats and barley. It also contains flaxseed.
It provides 20% of your daily value of fiber, and 8% of total carbohydrates. The bread contains vitamin A and C, as well as calcium, iron, thiamine, niacin and riboflavin.
Eatsane bread is a low carb food that is also vegan. It is a full sized loaf with good sized slices which can be used to make sandwiches. The bread is a nut and seeds loaf which is full of taste, texture and nutritional value.
Each slice has only 60 calories but has 3 grams of fiber. It’s also rich in vegetable protein, being made from almond and nut flour. There are no artificial sweeteners or preservatives in this bread.
Franz Bakery’s Great Seed bread is part of their organic range. They also have Classic and Premium ranges.
This particular loaf is full size and so the slices are ideal for making sandwiches. It contains an impressive list of ingredients which are all organic. The bread is packed with seeds and grains such as pumpkin and sunflower.
Nutritionally, there are 2 grams of dietary fiber in each slice of this bread and 4 grams of protein. You will also receive 6% of your daily value of iron and 2% of your calcium and potassium from each slice.
Happy Campers Buckwheat Molasses bread is gluten free and 100% vegan. It is also organic and full of whole grains.
This bread is made from an array of ancient grains such as quinoa, millet, amaranth, sorghum and buckwheat. Together they create a wholesome and nutritious bread that is free from eight major food allergens.
There is no added sugar and the bread is non-GMO. Two slices count as one serving and provide 6 grams of dietary fiber and 5 grams of protein as well as 12% of your daily value of iron.
All the bread at O’Doughs is vegan, gluten free and non-GMO. They are made with rice, flax, tapioca, potato, soy, and rice, tapioca flour rather than wheat, rye or barley.
So if you are avoiding gluten, or you just want a tasty bread this brand is ideal for you.
The company makes bread, bagels, buns, flatbread, and even double chocolate muffins. Their multigrain sandwich loaf has 4 grams of fiber per serving and 3 grams of protein. Each serving will also give you 6% of your daily value of iron, and the same of calcium.
Pros
100% vegan
Gluten free
Lots of variety
Good quantity of fiber per serving
Cons
Each serving has 15% of your daily value of sodium
Buyer’s Guide
When you go to buy bread either at the grocery store or online you want to know that what you are buying is a true vegan product.
Even though the majority of bread is actually vegan there are a lot of brands that have animal derived products in their ingredients.
So what do you need to know about shopping for vegan bread? Well first of all, you will look at the ingredient list, but you need to know what you are looking for. We can help you with what you should avoid if you are looking for vegan bread.
Of course, you want the bread you buy to be nutritious, so we will look at the nutrition profile of vegan bread and the impact this can have on your health.
Finally we will consider whether yeast is vegan and examine how important it is that your vegan bread is also organic.
So read on for all you need to know about buying vegan bread.
Ingredients
The first thing you need to do when you are buying vegan bread is to check the list of ingredients on the packet. You can do this whether you are in the grocery store or shopping online.
Most online stores will have a photo of the ingredients on their website. Or they will list the ingredients and nutritional information somewhere on the page. In the store find the panel on the packaging that has the ingredients listed.
Most of the ingredients will be self explanatory such as organic whole wheat flour, filtered water, salt, etc… You will be able to recognize these ingredients and know what they are.
The problems occur when the ingredients begin listing things according to their scientific name. That’s where most of us get lost. How many of us know what monoglycerides and diglycerides are? Let alone what they are made from.
This is where you need to know a little bit about what kinds of ingredients are vegan, which definitely aren’t and which may or may not be.
If it sounds confusing that’s because it can be. So we’re going to try and set things out for you so that when you next go shopping for vegan bread you will know exactly what to look for on the packaging.
First we will look at those confusing monoglycerides and diglycerides. Then we’ll talk about gelatin, casein and lecithin.
Monoglycerides & Diglycerides
Monoglycerides and diglycerides are types of fatty acids found naturally in some foods. However, in other foods they are deliberately added for texture, to improve shelf life or enhance the quality of the product they’re being added to.
Bread and other baked goods frequently have monoglycerides and diglycerides added to them. They can come from animals or from plants.
Most often they are added as emulsifiers to prevent water and oil from separating in the mixture. Monoglycerides and diglycerides make up 70% of emulsifiers in the food industry.
The FDA allows them to be added to bread and other foods to thicken, strengthen dough and to help dissolve and mix ingredients. They are generally recognized as safe or GRAS under FDA approval.
For vegans the problem is there is no way of knowing if the monoglycerides or diglycerides listed on the label of a loaf of bread have been derived from plants or from animals.
A lot of vegans will not consume anything that has glycerides in as they cannot tell which they are.
Lecithin
Lecithin is another emulsifier and has been used in food production for hundreds of years. It has several sources including egg yolks, soy beans, sunflowers, canola and corn.
Much like glycerides it is added to foods such as bread to enhance and improve the quality and texture. It is also used as a flavor protector and an antioxidant. In bread, it is used to enhance the elasticity of baking dough.
As it will typically be listed on packaging simply as lecithin it is often difficult to ascertain whether the source is animal or plant. However, some vegan bread manufacturers will label it as soy lecithin or similar to indicate that it is indeed vegan.
Any food product that contains gelatin is most definitely not vegan. Gelatin is a substance that is derived from the parts of animals that contain collagen such as bones and skin. These are boiled down, and the resulting liquid becomes gelatin when it cools.
It is used in foods to thicken and create structure and form, think of Jello or thick desserts such as panna cotta. The gelatin gets thicker as it cools and causes the food to become more firm and gelatinous.
There are however vegan alternatives to gelatin. Pectin is often used as a substitute, it is made from the starch that naturally occurs in apples and some other fruits.
Agar agar is another alternative. This comes from the cell walls of red algae and is white or semi-translucent. It is widely used in making puddings.
Carrageenan or Irish moss is another gelatin alternative that is made from seaweed. It is used in the same way as gelatin but is completely vegan.
Casein & Whey
Casein is a protein that is found in milk. In fact, it is what gives milk its white color and cow’s milk comprises 80% casein protein. Buffalo and sheep milk has an even higher casein content.
If casein is listed on the list of ingredients for bread then it is not vegan. It is one of the main components of cheese and is what gives cheese its stretchy characteristics. However, its main use is as a food additive.
Early in 2022 a Dutch company, Fooditive developed the first vegan casein from peas using fermentation. It is the first time that vegan casein will be available for use in the food industry.
There are however lots of plant based protein powders available which can replace casein as a food additive in vegan products.
Whey and casein are not the same things but are sometimes confused. Whey is the watery substance that is left over after the cheese making process. It doesn’t contain a lot of protein or fat but is often used as an additive to bread.
This would obviously exclude that bread from being labeled as vegan.
Nutritional Value
After ensuring that the bread you are looking at is definitely vegan and has no animal derived products hidden in the ingredient list you should look at the nutritional value.
If you have already been checking out the ingredients then you won’t have to look too far for the breakdown of the nutritional value of the bread as the two are usually quite close together.
One of the most important elements of the nutrition available in vegan bread is the fiber. In the majority of brands that we have looked at the average amount of fiber was 2-3 grams.
Some were a little higher, Unbun had 8 grams of fiber. But some like Delba bread were a lot higher than average at 20% of your daily value of dietary fiber and Carbonaut at 13 grams of fiber per serving.
Another important dietary component is protein. The average amount of protein per serving was around 3 grams for the vegan breads that we looked at.
Some like Eatsane bread were high in vegetable protein as it contains almond and nut flour. Other breads such as Bfree were quite low in protein with just over 1 gram of protein per serving.
Vitamins and minerals are another essential nutrient to be found in bread especially calcium, vitamin D and iron. Arnold’s Oatnut bread has 50 mg of calcium per serving and Dave’s Killer bread supplies 6% of your daily value of iron per serving.
Health Benefits
With all this talk of fiber, protein and vitamins it is important to consider just how healthy the bread you are buying will be.
While many brands do a good job of including sources of fiber, protein, and iron there are other ingredients that you should check out to make sure you are getting the best possible nutritional value.
One of the things to look out for when checking ingredients is the amount of sodium and sugar. Sodium is not the same as salt, and we do need sodium in our diet. However, the average American only requires 2800 mg of sodium per day.
Keeping this in mind some of the breads that we looked at had quite high levels of sodium. O’Doughs bread for example had 15% of your daily sodium value in one serving. Bfree bread had 285 mg of sodium per 75 gram roll.
So keep an eye on the sodium content of the bread you are considering. But also check out the amount of sugar in each serving.
The average amount of sugar per day for men should not exceed 36 grams while for women it is much less at 24 grams.
Some vegan breads such as Franz Bakery’s loaf had 3 grams of sugar per serving while Dave’s Killer bread had 5 grams per serving.
While these amounts may not seem much, remember that a serving in most cases is just one slice of bread. Most people eat more than one and bread is not the only source of salt and sugar in a vegan diet, so it is worth monitoring for the sake of your health.
As we are talking about bread here, yeast is a vital component of baking that bread, so it is worth looking into exactly what yeast is.
Yeast is a leavening agent, and it is what causes bread to rise when it is baked. It does this by producing carbon dioxide, CO2 .
Unlike baking soda or baking powder which do a similar job but do so through a chemical process, yeast acts in a biological way.
It is a member of the fungi kingdom just like mushrooms and molds. So these organisms are neither plant nor animal.
So in the strictest sense there is no exploitation of animals in the use of yeast, so it is acceptable for vegans to eat it.
This is because although yeast is a living organism it is a single celled organism and the definition of an animal is a multicellular organism. Yeast also doesn’t move or reproduce sexually which are the other definitions of what constitutes an animal.
However, veganism is about choices and some people will choose not to eat yeast based on the fact that it is alive.
How Important Is Organic?
The best environmentally friendly diet is a vegan diet which is based on organic food. Those who choose to eat organically are more likely to be averse to eating animal products, so it makes sense that vegans prefer organic food.
So why is it important to eat organically rather than just sticking to vegan products? The majority of vegans are health conscious as well as having an objection to the exploitation of animals.
It shouldn’t be surprising that they therefore prefer foods that are not artificially fertilized, sprayed with pesticides and genetically modified.
Intensive farming that relies on chemicals to replenish the soil will predictably produce foods that are lower in vitamins and minerals.
For those who choose to eat as healthily and ethically as possible this is not a difficult decision. Depleted soils cannot produce the kind of healthy, nutrient rich foods that organically farmed soil will.
There is obviously also the question of the long term effects on the human body of consuming foods that have been grown in chemical enhanced soil and regularly doused in pesticides.
So organic is important. For our health, for the planet and for our future. And if you have the option, locally produced organic food is the best choice for vegans and non vegans alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Best Vegan Bread To Eat?
The best vegan bread is the one that you enjoy eating and that best suits your lifestyle. There are so many brands available it’s impossible to choose one as the ‘best’ but there is a vegan bread to suit everyone.
Some are sandwich loaves, others are more cake like, so it does depend on your personal preference. Many people go for taste while others will choose based on nutritional value.
Is Ezekiel Bread Plant Based?
Ezekiel bread is completely plant based. It comprises four grains and two legumes which when combined create a complete protein. This protein closely resembles the protein found in milk and eggs and contains essential amino acids.
Which Common Breads Are Vegan?
For every kind of bread that you can buy in the grocery store or online there is usually a vegan alternative. This means there are vegan sandwich loaves, buns, flatbreads, pita and baguettes from many different sources.
Is All Sourdough Bread Vegan?
Most sourdough bread is vegan, but there are some that may contain non-vegan ingredients such as eggs, milk, or honey. Check the label if you are unsure or if the bread is not clearly labeled as vegan.
What Makes Bread Vegan?
The majority of bread is vegan as the main ingredients are typically flour, water, oil, salt and yeast. However, some recipes can include things that are distinctly not vegan such as yogurt, eggs and milk.
Vegan bread is therefore any bread that contains no animal products.
Is Vegan Bread Healthy?
Vegan bread is as healthy if not healthier than other types of bread as it is often organic too. There are a lot of nutrients in vegan bread including healthy whole grains and seeds.
Vegan breads which are made from sprouted grains are particularly healthy.
Why Is Honey Not Vegan?
Some breads contain honey, but these are not vegan as those who follow a vegan diet do not agree with the way honey is made and the exploitation of bees.
Hi, my name is Brett White, and I have a passion for cooking, and following a raw diet. Eating raw has completely changed how I view food, and has led me down a much healthier and happier path in life over the last three years.
Through Addicted To Veggies, I want to share with you my favorite raw recipes. From brownie recipes, to recipes containing pumpkin, my site is full of delicious and wonderful options to consider.
