Being a vegan can sometimes be quite difficult. You may have switched to veganism for all of the right reasons, but sometimes you might miss the flavors of your old snacks.
When choosing a vegan lifestyle, it can be hard to find snacks that are suitable for your diet. You may want to still enjoy the tasty treats that you have loved in the past, and you might be wondering what foods you can still eat.
If you are anything like us, then savoury snacks are the way forward. We love snacking on things like chips and Doritos. Doritos are one of the world’s favorite brands of tortilla chips, and come in a variety of different flavors and styles.
Doritos are made from ground corn that is mixed with salt and vegetable oil, with the addition of the different added flavors.
As Doritos are made of tortilla, you may think that they are vegan, but you could not be further from the truth. Out of Doritos’ wide variety of different flavors, only three are actually suitable for vegans. So which ones are vegan?
Which Doritos Are Vegan?
Out of the twenty one different flavors of Doritos, only three are actually vegan. These are the Spicy Sweet Chilli, Lightly Salted Tortilla Chips and the Blaze Flavored Doritos. Only these three types of Doritos are vegan as they contain no animal based ingredients or by-products.
But, you may not have noticed these flavors on sale at your local store, as they are not always the most popular. Luckily, we have Amazon, so that we can keep our own stash available to enjoy whenever we need them!
The combination of the spicy and sweetness of these Doritos is what makes them so delicious, and once you start eating them you will not be able to stop.
Plus, they taste better knowing that no animals were harmed in making them! This has been confirmed by PETA, so you know that the ingredient list is reliable, and you can snack to your heart’s content.
With the Lightly Salted Doritos flavor, there is no evidence that these flavored Doritos are not vegan friendly, as the ingredients are corn, vegetable oil and salt. These chips also go really well with a variety of different dips and sauces!
Blaze Doritos are also a popular flavor, which are in fact vegan friendly. This has also been confirmed by PETA, so you can munch with confidence!
Which Doritos Are Not Vegan?
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Dorito flavors are still not suitable for vegans, as they have animal products or dairy products in the ingredient list.
The most common non vegan ingredients found in Doritos are cheese, buttermilk, whey, and sour cream; which are all found in the Blazin’ Buffalo and Ranch Doritos, making them unsuitable for a vegan diet.
In addition, the Cool Ranch Doritos are also unsuitable because of the milk and dairy products found in the ingredient list and the recipe.
Other Dorito flavors such as the Jacked Ranch Dipped Hot Wings Doritos are unsurprisingly not vegan, because they are made up of skimmed milk, chicken fat, butter, chicken broth and chicken powder, making them unsuitable for vegans.
One of the more popular flavors beloved by many is the Nacho Cheese Dorito flavor, which is also unsuitable for a vegan diet. These Doritos are made of cheddar cheese, buttermilk, lactose, skim milk, whey, romano cheese and other dairy products that are not vegan.
Similarly, the Flamin’ Hot Nacho flavor Doritos are not vegan, because they contain whey, cheddar cheese, buttermilk, romano cheese, lactose, milk protein concentrate and skimmed milk.
You have to be careful when purchasing Dorito chips because there are many flavors that sound like they may be vegan, such as the Chile Limon Doritos or the Flamas Doritos and Poppin’ Jalapeno Doritos.
The packaging would have you believe that these flavors replicate citrus fruits and spices that would be vegan and vegetarian friendly, but they are not.
Even the more vegetable based Dorito flavors have products and ingredients in them that contain animal by-products and dairy.
For instance, the Flamas flavored Doritos are meant to be just chilli flavored, but the ingredient list shows cow’s milk, cheddar cheese, whey, romano cheese and buttermilk in the recipe.
In addition, the Dinamita Chile Limon Doritos are flavored to taste like...you guessed it, chilli and lemon, but the ingredient list shows that there is cheddar cheese, skim milk, buttermilk, whey protein concentrate, and romano cheese included, making it completely unsuitable for a vegan.
The important thing to remember with these types of foods and chips is that you have to check out the ingredient list. Even some plain tortilla chips contain cheese or the essence of cow’s milk, so you need to be vigilant in which snacks and foods you are purchasing.
Our Advice
Although some Doritos flavors contain vegan friendly ingredients, all Doritos are made within the same factories and environments, so you do run the risk of cross contamination with your food, and your Doritos may come into contact with animal products.
If this is not something that you would like to participate in, then you can choose other similar chips to snack on. In my house, the kids love 3D Doritos, it's their favorite tortilla chip followed closely by spicy ranch and any kind of spicy nacho like nachocheese Doritos.
One of the world’s most popular brands of tortilla chips, Doritos come in a variety of different flavors and styles. They are made from ground corn, mixed with salt and vegetable oil, and then the addition of different added flavors.
It would be a fair assumption to make that Doritos would be suitable for vegans, because after all, they’re made of tortilla.
However, this isn’t the case, with only three flavors out of Doritos’ wide range actually suitable for vegans. These are the Spicy Sweet Chili, Lightly Salted Tortilla Chips and the Blaze Flavored Doritos. Only these three types are vegan because they don’t contain animal based ingredients or by-products.
The most common non-vegan ingredients found in Doritos tend to be cheese, buttermilk, whey and sour cream. It’s worth noting that you should be careful when buying Doritos because there are a number of flavors that sound like they may be vegan, such as the Chile Limon Doritos.
Packaging would have you believe that the flavor replicates citrus fruits and spices that would be vegan-friendly, but they are not.
Unfortunately, even the more vegetable based Dorito flavors also contain products and ingredients that comprise animal by-products and dairy. The important thing to remember with these types of chips is to always check the ingredients list first.
Even plain tortilla chips can sometimes contain cheese or the essence of cow’s milk, so being vigilant in the snacks you’re purchasing is highly recommended.
Are Any Doritos Dairy Free?
For all the Dorito flavors that don’t list any dairy products amongst their ingredients, it states on the site: ‘made in a factory that also handles: milk’. For strict vegans and individuals who are lactose intolerant, this statement could be enough to put you off.
However, for others, the mere possibility of cross-contamination with milk products that are handled in the same factory may not be enough to put you off flavors that don’t explicitly contain dairy products.
While Doritos do everything in their power to ensure that this cross-contamination doesn’t happen, it cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, as mentioned above, some will understandably discard Doritos as a snack they can indulge in, due to this risk.
Are Ketchup Doritos Vegan?
Yes they are! A limited time only product, but the Ketchup Doritos have received some fantastic reviews on a number of different sites.
For vegans who love the tortilla snack and want to try something different other than the aforementioned three suitable flavors, the release of the unique Ketchup flavor is exciting news.
Cassie brings decades of experience to the Kitchen Community. She is a noted chef and avid gardener. Her new book "Healthy Eating Through the Garden" will be released shortly. When not writing or speaking about food and gardens Cassie can be found puttering around farmer's markets and greenhouses looking for the next great idea.
