I remember the first time I did my grocery shopping as a vegan. I didn't know what I could buy, I stood in the supermarket and spent ages reading the backs of packaging scanning ingredients and googling things. These days it's so much easier, I just pop in a shop and know from experience exactly what is and isn't vegan. Every now and then, I find new products and that can be pretty exciting, like the fancy new Oatly Ice Cream, or the Oumph Pizza.
Luckily, the vegan scene is pretty active online and we are pretty good (ok, we are actually a bit obsessive) at keeping everyone up to date on what the latest vegan products are in stores. I would really recommend joining the Facebook group: Vegansk Produkter and following the instagram page: @vegally.no for good tips on vegan products in Norwegian supermarkets. In the meantime, here are a few of our fave little known, or 'accidentally' vegan things you can find in the stores that might have passed you by.
Kanelboller
Eldorado
Cinnamon buns are so nice, and obviously taste best when they're homemade. But sometimes life calls for an emergency bun, and when that happens it's good to have a bag of these in the freezer!
Nesquik
Nestle
Yeah, we love smoothie bowls and healthy overnight oats, but sometimes you wake up and you just want a bowl of treat cereal. Pretty cool to know that this one is vegan!
Click here to read the deets if you don't believe us
Croissants
Meny
Oh wow. I don't actually know that many other places a vegan can get their hands on a croissant in Norway? It seems like everywhere brushes them with egg or milk or fills them with butter. Thankyou Meny, and Delifrance for making these lovely croissants that everyone can enjoy! Just a note that there are a couple of different types of croissants that they sell at Meny, so make sure you get the Delifrance ones, as the others contain butter and egg.
Smøremyk
Eldorado
Ok, I wouldn't really categorise this as a 'treat' but it's just good to know that you can easily find vegan margarine (a good ingredient for baking treats with) in regular stores. A lot of the margarines that are milk free contain added vitamin D made from sheep, but not this one! We always buy this one or the Smøremyk from Berit Nordstrand which is also fantastic.
Piano Bringebærgelé
Tine
Ooh yes, a raspberry jelly that does not contain gelatine or carmine! As a bonus this is really easy to find in most stores and it doesn't cost too much either. It's a great treat!
Gull Vafler
Sætre
We love these little vanilla wafers, and so it was so cool to find out that they are totally vegan. They're really handy to have in the cupboard for when you need an emergency snack!
Nøttepålegg
First Price
There's a vegan Nutella, and it's cheaper (and better) than the regular Nutella! Have it smeared all over toast or crepes with slices of banana on top - oh my!
Brownies
Toro
The instructions on the packet say that you need to add an egg, but the egg can be replaced with banana, cola, aquafaba, or oil. In fact, many people just don't replace the egg with anything and they turn out just fine!
