Quick easy vegan snacks (when cooking isn't really an option)

June 26, 2023 8:52 AM

I'm staying in a rental house, and having a new friend over to watch a movie one evening. Awesome! They are vegan, and I haven't entertained since pre-pandemic and am totally stuck as to what snacks/drinks to serve.

I don't want to send them a whole questionnaire, that doesn't seem like much fun. Also, I don't really cook (and there isn't as much to cook *with* as there is at my actual house.) I don't want to buy a bunch of ingredients that I don't normally use, as I would just end up tossing what I didn't use in any given recipe.

Other than fruit and nuts and maybe popcorn, what might you buy at a store to have on hand to snack on during a movie, vegan-wise? Sweet or savory is fine.

posted by 41swans to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

Chips and salsa and guac? Veggies and hummus? What would you snack on with a non-vegan friend?
posted by mskyle at 9:01 AM on June 26, 2023 [9 favorites]

Definitely popcorn! Classic movie food, and it's better with nutritional yeast than with butter anyway. I just do olive oil, nutritional yeast, and salt. If you haven't had popcorn with nutritional yeast I promise that it's worth the investment even if it's not an ingredient you normally use, because it will probably wind up becoming your go-to popcorn condiment (at least, that's what happened for me).
posted by babelfish at 9:02 AM on June 26, 2023 [12 favorites]

I know because of the failed doctor Oz campaign that you can buy a plate of precut vegetables in US stores. Maybe you can also buy salsa, and/or guacamole for dipping those vegs into? Maybe you need to make the guac yourself because of dairy in store-bought.

Popcorn are also fine, if they are microwaved at home.
posted by mumimor at 9:03 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Almost all potato chips are vegan!

(Exceptions being special fancy flavors that might have meat or dairy-based ingredients.)
posted by mekily at 9:03 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

You're in luck - here's a list of 15 vegan-friendly packaged snacks.

This list from a vegetarian magazine is a list of "31 things that are actually vegan-friendly". And they're talking about things like Ritz crackers and Triscuits. And they do their homework - there are some things that have some vegan flavors and some that aren't, and they tell you how to account for that (Nerds grape flavor is guaranteed vegan).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:05 AM on June 26, 2023 [5 favorites]

Enthusiastically seconding popcorn with olive oil, salt, and nutritional yeast (optional but mindblowing: add za'atar).
Nuts are an option if your guests aren't allergic.
Baby carrots + a tub of hummus are classic.
posted by ourobouros at 9:07 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'm vegan! Feed me: popcorn with nooch, Ritz crackers, hummus and veg and pita, chips and salsa, and Oreos.

I appreciate people who are consider enough to provide vegan friendly snacks!
posted by Kitteh at 9:09 AM on June 26, 2023 [8 favorites]

Pretzels are also vegan.
posted by FencingGal at 9:13 AM on June 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

Also, depending on where you live, there are vegan frozen pizzas (Amy's and Daiya come to mind).
posted by FencingGal at 9:15 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oreos are vegan, or at least they were the last time I had cookies with a vegan friend. Most vegans who eat junk food will eat oreos, IME.
posted by Frowner at 9:21 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I assume there’s a reason you’re not just having them bring their own, but there’s a big difference between sending a questionnaire, your words, and just asking if you can pick anything up for them. That’s the foolproof way to get something they’ll like and not waste anything.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:21 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Trader Joe's has some tasty vegan dips, including a caramelized onion one. And yes to hummus, guacamole, salsa, with chips or veggies.

Vegan yogurt is pretty good these days - I like the cashew ones.
posted by gingerbeer at 9:24 AM on June 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh yeah - Trader Joe's has vegan caramel corn that is wonderful We used to mix that with their blister peanuts. That's a wonderful treat and probably less expected.
posted by FencingGal at 9:30 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I’m going to go against the grain here and ask why in God’s name people consider anything crunchy “good movie food”!? Are there people who can hear over the sound of their own chewing, or do you keep the subtitles on?

My #1 movie food is hard candy. Quiet and longlasting. I also like gummies. I’m not vegan so I could be wrong, but I think Sour Patch Kids might be?
posted by wheatlets at 9:58 AM on June 26, 2023

Foods that just happen to be vegan are relatively easy to find and cheap. Vegan jerky from Beyond Meat is widely available now, too. Is jerky a movie snack? I don't know. It's quiet.
posted by Francolin at 10:15 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would go with pre-packaged popcorn (like a bag of popcorn that you can check the ingredients on to make sure it's vegan. The Lesser Evil brand is available pretty widely in grocery stores.) and candy (Red Vines). Veg/hummus and Oreos for extra points!
posted by LKWorking at 10:50 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Hummus and chips or carrot sticks or cucumber slices.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:16 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

You can make a layered dip - mashed beans (or get vegetarian refries), guacamole, shredded lettuce, salsa. Top with black olive, serve with corn chips. I mostly odn't eat dairy, and I like this better with the sour cream and jack cheese layers, but it's still great without.

Spring rolls are easy. vermicelli, cucumbers, avocado, shredded lettuce, sliced tofu, basil leaves. You can add different veg. Serve with sweet-hot chili sauce and/or peanut sauce.

But guac, salsa, chips and/or hummus, chips, veg., and/or popcorn are excellent options. What movie?
posted by theora55 at 11:57 AM on June 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Check your local options and see if anyone has a well-reviewed offering of vegan a) pizza b) falafel c) baked goods. Many of our vegan friends get super excited about these options because they eat popcorn and oreos and chips and guac at home.

Not that a gracious guest won't be happy with whatever you offer, I'm just sayin' if you do not have the time/energy/supplies to make much and would like to outsource this, do not fear being perceived as lazy or low-effort.

(Roughly half of my dear vegans are sensory types with a lot of food aversions so with them I just ask and let them tell me what familiar thing I can offer them.)
posted by Lyn Never at 12:40 PM on June 26, 2023

I would go with kevinbelt and ASK. I am not a vegan, but I am a picky eater. And so are some of the vegans I know. Imagine that you spent time making a layered bean dip with olives, and your friend couldn't touch it because of the olives. Or would barely be able to eat the carrots that had been plated with cucumber slices. Or whatever.

Also, I know a surprising number of people who hate hate hate popcorn because of hulls or something that stick in their teeth. Which I fine by me, because more for me!

Ask. Just ask. (And check to see if they are fussy about wine and beer - which are not necessarily vegan.)
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:32 PM on June 26, 2023

Get extra firm tofu, cube them, then pan fry them with seasoning to taste (pepper, spices, garlic powder, whatever). Add whatever vegan sauce you want or serve on side, serve with toothpicks or cocktail forks.
posted by kschang at 7:58 AM on June 27, 2023

Response by poster: Update: because I don't know if any of the people involved are on Metafilter, I wanted to kind of fudge the details of this question slightly so as not to be completely identifiable by any of them like...immediately :-)

This was not really a movie we were watching. But what it was specifically is a little too doxxy so I'm not going to say. We did not have to be quiet while watching.

The potential was three people, two came over, I thought person A was the vegan, but surprise, it was person B. We had a lovely time, we had beautiful fruit salad (that person A brought) and chips and salsa (that I had) and no one ate any Oreos, but not because they weren't "dirty vegan" (that came up a lot while I was googling for this particular thing) or didn't eat junk food or whatever, you know - just no one ate any. Maybe we had some PopCorners or nuts or something else also.

I usually "use my words" but food is often a loaded issue for me, and sometimes it is for other people too. I was too mentally tired from (life, etc) to ask new friends who I don't particularly know all that well twenty questions about their preferences. I just wanted to have a few things on hand that they might like. It all worked out JUST FINE, and I probably overthought it. I am very out of practice entertaining, so had kind of a lot of anxiety. But I didn't need to - everyone is great!

I very much appreciate the responses! Even the more slightly labor intensive things I will investigate soon.
posted by 41swans at 2:00 PM on June 30, 2023