Butter Substitutes That Don'T Involve Dairy Or Soy.

[**Gretchen**]

Hi all. I do not have celiac, but a dear friend does and she recommended this site to me for my current food restriction difficulties. I do hope that you indulge me and don't vote me immediately off the island.

I am allergic to all sorts of things, including dairy. I am breastfeeding my 6mo old daughter, and recently discovered that she is allergic/sensitive to soy (rash, arched back after feeding, etc). Now, since I'm allergic to dairy, I've got a lot of soy in my diet and I'm trying to figure out how to replace it all. I've discovered a great appreciation of almond milk for most of my milk substitutions and know that rice milk ice cream is really not so bad. Other things will be easy.

The thing I'm struggling most to replace is butter. I've been using Earth Balance, but now that is obviously out. Any thoughts? Do they make a rice milk based butter?

I live in a city that doesn't have many vegan friendly grocery stores, but I do have a Whole Foods that should be handy.

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance!

[jnclelland]

Hi all. I do not have celiac, but a dear friend does and she recommended this site to me for my current food restriction difficulties. I do hope that you indulge me and don't vote me immediately off the island.

I am allergic to all sorts of things, including dairy. I am breastfeeding my 6mo old daughter, and recently discovered that she is allergic/sensitive to soy (rash, arched back after feeding, etc). Now, since I'm allergic to dairy, I've got a lot of soy in my diet and I'm trying to figure out how to replace it all. I've discovered a great appreciation of almond milk for most of my milk substitutions and know that rice milk ice cream is really not so bad. Other things will be easy.

The thing I'm struggling most to replace is butter. I've been using Earth Balance, but now that is obviously out. Any thoughts? Do they make a rice milk based butter?

I live in a city that doesn't have many vegan friendly grocery stores, but I do have a Whole Foods that should be handy.

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance!

Butter is tough, no doubt about it. It kind of depends on what you're using it for. I use olive oil for a lot of things (sauteeing, flavoring vegetables), and I also really like coconut oil, especially on toast. But I must admit that I haven't found anything else that really tastes like butter; I've just found other things to use instead.

Jeanne

[mushroom]

Hi all. I do not have celiac, but a dear friend does and she recommended this site to me for my current food restriction difficulties. I do hope that you indulge me and don't vote me immediately off the island.

I am allergic to all sorts of things, including dairy. I am breastfeeding my 6mo old daughter, and recently discovered that she is allergic/sensitive to soy (rash, arched back after feeding, etc). Now, since I'm allergic to dairy, I've got a lot of soy in my diet and I'm trying to figure out how to replace it all. I've discovered a great appreciation of almond milk for most of my milk substitutions and know that rice milk ice cream is really not so bad. Other things will be easy.

The thing I'm struggling most to replace is butter. I've been using Earth Balance, but now that is obviously out. Any thoughts? Do they make a rice milk based butter?

I live in a city that doesn't have many vegan friendly grocery stores, but I do have a Whole Foods that should be handy.

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance!

Hi Gretchen:

You will also find hemp milk and coconut milk ice creams at Whole Foods, Both very good, and you *may* also find there a spread made by Earth Balance that is soy free. But this one is not widely carried (Trader Joe's did not carry it) and I eventually found it at a health food store. It is marked on the front label "Soy free". It is really hard to find dairy and soy free spreads in the U.S. If you can find it (also not widely carried) Spectrum palm oil shortening is good for cooking, also coconut oil.

[RiceGuy]

I second the suggestion of coconut oil. It is solid at room temperature, just like butter, and melts in the palm of your hand. Most brands won't taste like much, and those that do aren't very fresh-tasting, because of the heat used in processing (regardless of the claims). Adding a bit of salt helps. You can also blend it with other oils to make it softer. I sometimes add both salt and some pure Stevia powder, which makes it sorta taste like coconut frosting. By far the best tasting one I know of is Open Original Shared Link. Nothing else compares, but it is more costly than the cheap ones you'll find in health stores.

I think Fleishmann's Unsalted is corn oil based, but it has trans fats.

[nmlove]

My baby girl reacts to dairy/soy too.

Earth Balance carries a soy/dairy free margarine. I like it for what I use it for. I've also made a margarine with a mix of oils. Go Dairy Free by Alisa Fleming has some great recipes. You might find some right on her website: www.godairyfree.org. I really like this resource because most of the time she doesn't use soy replacements and so far I've liked everything I've made from her book. When I need it I use spectrum shortening (from palm oil), coconut oil, coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk. The hardest thing for me are sauces with soy sauce in them because I love stir-fries and most have it in them (or the recipes do). I'm just going to have to break down and try a homemade version. Mostly though I try to stay away from dairy/soy foods unless I'm really craving something. I'm already doing enough cooking/baking gluten-free for my boys and keeping track of my three young ones.

[Ginsou]

I'm also dairy/soy intolerant and use Nutiva coconut oil as a substitute for butter on veggies.I've tried several brands,and this is the most flavorful for me. For baking purposes, I use Spectrum shortening, which is made from palm oil. Both products are expensive, and I buy them when on sale and stock up. I have used both Spectrum and canola oil in baking cookies and cakes, with excellent results.

Fleishman's unsalted margarine is made from soy....at least in the area that I have lived in for many years. Ditto for Earth Balance. Several people have mentioned that Earth Balance has a soy free product....I'd love to find this product, is it available on line? Must also be wheat/dairy free.

[frustrated09]

Earth balance does have soy free buttery spread. (it's the red one). Container says , no soy, non gmo, gluten free, lactose free, vegan. Don't know if you can order on-line but the site listed is www.EarthBalanceNatural.com

[purple]

If you don't like the taste of olive oil you could try light olive oil. Karina from glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com uses it in her recipes. We use it often.

[burdee]

Earth Balance has a new dairy free and soy free spread. Look for a red EB container beside the traditional 'yellow' EB containers in the Whole Foods dairy case. The red container will be labeled dairy and soy free. Since I have dairy and soy allergies, I LOVE that Earth Balance spread.

SUE

Hi all. I do not have celiac, but a dear friend does and she recommended this site to me for my current food restriction difficulties. I do hope that you indulge me and don't vote me immediately off the island.

I am allergic to all sorts of things, including dairy. I am breastfeeding my 6mo old daughter, and recently discovered that she is allergic/sensitive to soy (rash, arched back after feeding, etc). Now, since I'm allergic to dairy, I've got a lot of soy in my diet and I'm trying to figure out how to replace it all. I've discovered a great appreciation of almond milk for most of my milk substitutions and know that rice milk ice cream is really not so bad. Other things will be easy.

The thing I'm struggling most to replace is butter. I've been using Earth Balance, but now that is obviously out. Any thoughts? Do they make a rice milk based butter?

I live in a city that doesn't have many vegan friendly grocery stores, but I do have a Whole Foods that should be handy.

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance!

[Ginsou]

Earth Balance has a new dairy free and soy free spread. Look for a red EB container beside the traditional 'yellow' EB containers in the Whole Foods dairy case. The red container will be labeled dairy and soy free. Since I have dairy and soy allergies, I LOVE that Earth Balance spread.

SUE

I did some research on line and found the red/white Earth Balance container that specified soy/dairy free. Have been happy using Spectrum and coconut oil, but must try EB! I'm presently traveling and will be in the Tucson,AZ area in February and will check out Whole Foods and other stores in that area for this product. I will also try to have my local natural food store order it when I return home.

[OptimisticMom42]

After months of using lard, olive oil, coconut oil... I've started using just plain old corn oil. It's cheap, easy to find and the taste is more familiar to me as my Mom used it for cooking when I was young. I tried it on a baked potato with salt and pepper. It was good!

[**Gretchen**]

Thank you all very much for your replies. Daughter broke out worse last night and the nurse practioner that saw her this morning isn't convinced it's soy (even though it's worse when I eat soy, it's worst right after she eats, and she does the arching back in pain thing....). We have her 6 mo regular appointment on Monday, so I'll bring it up again.

Also - I was able to find the soy free earth balance at our Whole Foods. I'm very excited to try it - my baked potato with olive oil just wasn't the same last night. I'm going to try some of the other oils posted here.

Thanks again for all of your help!

[Ginsou]

Thank you all very much for your replies. Daughter broke out worse last night and the nurse practioner that saw her this morning isn't convinced it's soy (even though it's worse when I eat soy, it's worst right after she eats, and she does the arching back in pain thing....). We have her 6 mo regular appointment on Monday, so I'll bring it up again.

Also - I was able to find the soy free earth balance at our Whole Foods. I'm very excited to try it - my baked potato with olive oil just wasn't the same last night. I'm going to try some of the other oils posted here.

Thanks again for all of your help!

While shopping at Albertson's Supermarket in California yesterday, I came across Smart Beat brand Smart Squeeze margarine spread that has no soy,lactose,or dairy. It tastes like butter, and has not bothered me...even my husband tasted it and wants me to purchase it because it meets American Heart Assoc. food criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol. The product is a margarine spread, not to be used for frying or baking. The ingredientsw are: water, food starch, modified(corn),salt*,natural flavor,contains less than 2% of sugar, artificial color, glucono-delta-lactone (to protect freshness),lactic acid, artificial flavor, vitamin A palmitate,beta carotene color,potassium sorbate, calcium disodium edta and TBHQ (to protect quality)

*adds a trivial amount of vegetable fat.

Distributed by GFA Brands,Cresskill, NJ 201-568-9300.

This product may have more ingredients than you want to put into your system, but perhaps could be used until Earth balance or a better substitute can be found.

[Merika]

Hi,

you mention vegan...

but after being dx'd celiac and then to have my son have a severe soy allergy, and then to have a daughter with a dairy allergy....

well let me say I cook with a lot of lard and olive oil now

lard is homemade, no funky ingredients, healthy and great for baking and cooking. And it's soy free and dairy free.

i'm allergic to coconut, so we only use that oil a little, though the kids both love So Delicious coconut ice cream and yogurt.

i'm also allergic (very) to palm, which i discovered in part after trying the palm oil shortening (which btw tasted disgusting in cookies I thought).

it took me a long time to get back to eating omnivorously, but i'm glad i did. it was just too darned restrictive (i was veggie for 12 years) with all the celiac and allergies, and i don't feel bad about it as i try really hard to "eat the whole animal"

hope that helps,

Liz

[Evangeline]

I use avocados on my potatoes or rice instead of butter. It can be quite delicious with a little sea salt, cumin and curry.

[Laura Wesson]

You don't need the high-fat foods at all - you can get used to a lowfat diet. It's healthier long-term and will help keep you slim. If you eat whole plant foods, you'll get plenty of the essential omega-6 fats. For example, quinoa has about 15% calories from fat. You may want to ensure you get plenty of omega-3's, by eating fatty fish, flax, etc.