Dairy-Free Cheesy Nachos Arrive at Texas Ranger’s Baseball Stadium

Texas baseball is going plant-based: Globe Life Field in Arlington just launched a new cheezy vegan ballpark nacho, featuring the family-owned brand of cashew-based queso Credo Foods. The new dairy-free nachos will be available at the home of the Texas Rangers, providing an accessible food option to plant-based baseball fans.

Adam and Madeline Salamon founded Credo foods when they realized the minimal amount of plant-based cheesy queso was on the market. The husband-and-wife team set out to create a range of cheesy queso dips and sauces sourced without any animal products. The team also wants to continue its outreach to sports parks. The company’s plant-based queso debuted at the Circuit of the Americas racing track in Austin, TX. Although not a permanent fixture, the brand aims to return to the racing track as well as increase its partnerships with sporting stadiums. Credo Foods set a goal to introduce its plant-based cheesy nachos to 500 arenas by 2025.

“One of our goals is to have the biggest impact we can,” Adam Salamon told Veg News. “We want to replace nacho cheese in every stadium in America.

Globe Life Field began offering plant-based options in 2016, changing the traditional meat and dairy-based ballpark fare. The vegan nachos will become a regular menu item at the all-vegan cart for the rest of the year. The nachos will join the Texas Ranger stadium’s new Oatly vegan oat milk soft serve, which is available at Going Going Green and Karbach Skyporch.

Credo Foods plans to change the plant-based queso market. Beginning with the outreach to stadiums across the United States, the brand will advertise its creamy cheese sauce and dips in the hopes that consumers will be interested in trying the dairy alternative. After Madeline Salamon tested the cashew-based cheese on vegan mac and cheese for her daughter, the family company felt inspired to share the plant-based product with consumers nationwide. The company has since developed multiple cashew-based products such as three varieties of queso flavors (medium, spicy, and chorizo), three flavors of cream cheese (Plain, Strawberry, and Chive & Onion), and a french onion dip.

“Almost what Ben & Jerry did with ice cream, we want to do that to the dips category,” Adam Salamon said.

The Salamons aim to create a growing variety of cheese alternatives. The brand plans to release a new Jalapeno Popper Dip at Whole Foods in Los Angeles, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas this June. Alongside this expansion, Credo Foods will begin to distribute its products to Sprouts Farmers Markets nationwide.

Baseball fields nationwide have started introducing plant-based alternatives: Oatly's oat milk ice cream can be found at the Texas Rangers stadium as well as Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL with plans to continue expanding to more stadiums. Beyond ice cream, the food service provider Aramark began selling vegan products to ballparks in Pittsburgh, Philadephia, and New York City in 2018. The plant-based market is making its way into a traditionally unfriendly food scene for vegan eaters with more alternatives popping up every year from nachos to ice cream.