There are many reasons people remove dairy from their diet. Whether you're here because you are lactose intolerant, suspect a dairy allergy, are breastfeeding a sensitive baby, suffer from lactose intolerance, are trying to eat healthier, or are eating a plant-based/vegan diet the challenge is the same. After a lifetime of dairy intolerance, and nearly seven years of being vegan, I've tried just about everything out there (sometimes just out of curiosity). It's my hope that through my own trial and error, I can save you from the error part and get you on a path to eating and feeling better.
NOTE: If you are removing dairy for allergy/intolerance reasons (this includes a breastfeeding baby) you must remove ALL TRACES of dairy. That will mean reading labels. You want to look for the word milk, butter, casein or caseinate, cheese, cream, whey, butterfat, buttermilk, lactate, and lactose. In addition some foods may list natural flavors or lactic acid. You'll likely need to do research on these products to make sure that isn't another way of saying "dairy." Even if something is listed here as a preferred product, formulas change constantly. Always rely on the current packaging you have in your hand and always, always double check.
Buttery Spreads
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Earth Balance - we have been using the red container for years now. It has the taste and texture of margarine.
Melt - I have only used the red label containers and I found them to be very coconutty. Not bad. Just noticeable.
Smart Balance - recently removed dairy from their square containers. Comparable to Country Crock type spreads.
I Can't Believe it's Not Butter - It's Vegan. Make sure it's this package or it's NOT vegan!
Miyoko's - the gold standard. Comparable to Plugra.
For Baking
As much as I love the dairy free butter options, some just don't perform as well for baking. These are the ones I do like.
Earth Balance Baking Sticks - we use the red box since it's soy free. I find that it melts at a lower temp and tends to make high butter content recipes oily. I cut it half and half with Spectrum shortening.
Melt also makes baking sticks, if you can find them in your area. We haven't been able to locate them yet. But, I have used this for baking great (but distinctly coconut-flavored) cookies
Spectrum has been on the market since before we knew what hydrogenated meant. Their organic shortening is beautifully made and performs perfectly. It has a neutral flavor, so it works in pretty much any application.
