The Best Plant-Based Products of the Week, From the Editors of The Beet

The holidays are coming, and there's already a festive chill in the air. We've been testing, trying out, and tasting all sorts of fun new plant-based products so we can recommend to you what we love the most right now. Each week, the editors of The Beet,  have the fun job of sampling new plant-based or vegan product launches or revisiting tried and true plant-based staples we love. The snacks, the plant-based cheeses, and vegan wines, all of it is fair game when it comes to choosing our favorites.

Essentially, these plant-based products are the recommendations we are telling our friends about: What we are loving, buying, and recommending in the plant-based universe right now.

Here are the editors' favorites: Our choices for the best healthy vegan or plant-based snacks,  drinks, frozen, treats, and more. We include food, beverages and also consider cruelty-free beauty picks that will keep you glowing. If you're trying to eat live plant-based and love it, we're here to help.

Check out our recommendations for the latest plant-based or vegan products to add to your grocery cart this week, from Lucy Danziger, Stephanie McClain, Hailey Welch, Caitlin Mucerino, and Max Rabb – the editors of The Beet –– since we are living the plant-based life and want to make it easier for you to do it too! Have a great, healthy plant-based week, from our kitchen to yours!

What's your current favorite plant-based product? Let us know on our Facebook page.

When Cameron Diaz and her best friend Katherine Power founded Avaline wine, I got excited. Here were two girlfriends sharing their love of "wine talk" together, as in you sit down and spill all, share all and give each other advice over a glass or two (or more but who's counting) of your favorite wine.

Their first iteration included white and rose, then they added sparkling, and now just in time for the hearty weather (when I switch to red) they have released two new wines: A Pinot Noir and a Red that is more robust and both are a perfect pour to share with friends. I brought these bottles over to drinks with friends and we sat around a chilly outdoor porch table and warmed ourselves with a charcuterie board and the wines and everyone agreed they were great. You won't win over any wine snobs with these but for a casual drink with friends, they are the perfect bottles to bring.

A note about wine. You would think most wines are vegan but in fact, vintners often use fish bones in the fining process and fish bladder in the filtering, to remove all the tiny particles of stems and seeds, or dust that binds to the grapes before they are placed in large wooden barrels and bottled. Some wines use egg white in the clarifying process. Avaline uses pea protein instead, a "vegan, non-GMO, and non-allergenic solution for clarifying and stabilizing wine." The point is if you care about not having your food or drink touch or harm animals in the processing, choose a vegan wine.

"Winemakers are legally required to disclose very little about their wines," the Avaline founders tell us on their website. " Those disclosures only reveal information such as growing and bottling locations, whether the wine contains sulfites and the percentage of alcohol. There’s no obligation to tell you how their grapes are grown or to name any of the more than 70 additives that are used in the winemaking process to alter the taste, color, and mouthfeel of what is in your glass.

Whether a wine is organic is another important topic when it comes to choosing a wine, since being certified organic requires the soil to be free of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. This makes growing organic wine more expensive and also restricts which grapes can be certified organic. If you want to lower your chemical load, choose organic whenever possible, since every little toxin adds up. Avaline is your choice for organic and vegan wines that taste great and make your guests happy.

Buy it online or at stores near you.

I'm in the process of weaning myself off of my three cups of coffee per day habit for what seems like the umpteenth time. Will I succeed? Probably for a few months, and then I will dive back into a steady stream of cold brew, but for now, I've found some helpful ways to curb this craving.

One of my favorite coffee substitutes is clevr's Rose Cacao Superlatte, packed with superfoods, adaptogens, probiotics, and mood boosters. With its 'Just Add Water' formula, creating a mug of calming cacao takes just a couple of minutes.

Full of probiotics, reishi mushrooms, mucuna, ashwagandha, and rose petals, this intentional drink is a great treat in the morning or evening, and I find its low dose of caffeine (10 mg per serving) doesn't impede my sleep schedule and allows for me to relax naturally. If rose isn't your thing, the brand also makes a Chai and Matcha offering, both loaded with plenty of good-for-you ingredients.

Purchase the blend on We Are Confidant's website. 

For World Vegan Day, The Beet created a campaign called “Show Us Your Patty” so everyone could show off their homemade veggie burgers in honor of the meat-and-dairy-free day. So, when I made my burger and used Actual Veggies Black Burger patty, I couldn’t believe how delicious it tasted on its own, but of course, I added all kinds of toppings for fun for the post and the next day when I made the orange burger, I crumbled it on my salad and devoured every bite. Actual Veggies is one of the first veggie burgers I’ve come across that have very few ingredients and all of them happen to be made with whole-food vegetables, spices, and herbs. Not to mention, these burgers are also oil-free for anyone who’s trying to lose weight.

Each burger is only 170 calories and contains 9 grams of fiber and protein, and is extremely filling and satisfying. So far, I’ve only had the bean burger and the orange burger made with carrots, sweet potatoes, red pepper, cauliflower, navy beans, onions, oats, and an array of seeds and spices. Both burgers were absolutely delicious but I do prefer the orange one because it’s so unusual, and nothing like I’ve ever tasted before. I’m looking forward to cooking the purple burger that’s made with beets and the green burger that’s made with kale and broccoli this weekend and enjoying a healthy, delicious plant-based meal at home.

To purchase these patties, visit the Actual Veggies website.

Daily Harvest makes healthy eating effortless and delicious, especially with its Harvest Bowls. Whenever I am feeling too lazy to make a gourmet meal or am crunched for time, I pop a Daily Harvest bowl in the microwave and in no time have a nourishing lunch or dinner.

These veggie-centric bowls are packed with tons of flavor and good-for-you ingredients. The portion size is just right and will leave you feeling full and satisfied until the next meal rolls around. My favorite part about these bowls is that the veggies taste fresh as if you just bought them from the farmer's market. For the days you have more time, I highly recommend sauteing the frozen meals with a touch of water. Daily Harvest has a wide variety of bowls: Some of my favorites include Lentil and Tomato Bolognese, Chickpea + Za'atar, Kale + Kalamata and Cauliflower Rice + Kimchi.

To try Daily Harvest bowls for yourself, click here.

For many people, the main question surrounding cauliflower rice is: Why? But Tattooed Chef provides consumers with the answer. The company Organic Riced Cauliflower Stir Fry is one of the best frozen fried rice products on the market. The completely vegan and gluten-free package provides a healthy and flavorful mix of green peas, red peppers, corn, and leeks flavored with sesame oil, tamari, and a specialty sesame ginger sauce.

The best part about the Tattooed Chef product is that it provides you with an easy base for a delicious meal. The fried cauliflower rice package can start as an easy beginning to a bigger meal. Whether you want to add some extra veggies or top the fried cauliflower rice with fried tofu, Tattooed Chef's product brings all the flavors to the table to help. The affordable $8 dollar package is a spectacular option for a last-minute dinner, cutting down any unnecessary prep time with a busy schedule. I definitely suggest giving this cauliflower fried rice a try, because it will definitely close any concerns surrounding cauliflower rice.

Purchase the Tattooed Chef product here or anything from the company's huge selection of frozen vegan foods.