Are Chocolate Chips Vegan? What Brands Are?

Vegans must be picky when choosing chocolate chips for baking, as they sometimes contain animal products. We'll discuss why chocolate chips are not all vegan and recommend some that are.

Chocolate chips are used in baking cakes and cookies and sometimes in ice cream, but are chocolate chips vegan? It depends. The easiest way to tell is if the packaging contains the V-Label USA or the Certified Vegan Logo, these are trustworthy vegan certifiers in the US, find out more about vegan labeling in our guide What Does Veganism Mean and Is the Diet for You?

Other chocolate chips that are not labeled vegan, could still be — but you’d need to investigate their ingredients to know for sure. 

We’ll discuss when chocolate chips are definitely not vegan below and which brands definitely are, we’ll also share some recipe ideas on where you could use chocolate chips.

Let’s start by taking a closer look at the ingredients of chocolate chips.

Why Aren't All Chocolate Chips Vegan?

The main thing to consider when investigating the ingredients of chocolate chips is whether they include dairy products or not, this is usually in the form of milk. Milk may be listed on the packaging in a variety of ways, including skim milk, non-fat milk, milk derivative (sodium caseinate), whole milk and whole milk powder. Chocolate chips containing any of those ingredients are definitely not vegan.

Next, we should consider the kind of sugar that is used in the chocolate chips (if any), some sugar is not vegan, due to the way that it is processed. Cane sugar, brown sugar and confectioner’s sugar often go through a final step where the refined sugar is filtered through animal bone char, however, if the sugar is organic, it does not go through this process. Learn more about what you should look out for regarding vegan sugar.

Finally, if the chocolate chips contain artificial colors or flavors, they may not be vegan due to the kind of sugar used, as described above.

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Which Chocolate Chip Brands Are Vegan?

While some chocolate chips are definitely not vegan, at the time of writing the following brands are:

1. Pascha Organic Chocolate Chips — These chocolate chips are vegan-certified and come in white, semisweet and keto sugar-free.
2. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips — Available in mini white, semisweet and regular dark morsels.
3. Yupik Chocolate Chips — There are a range of vegan chocolate chips available, including dark, mocha and dark organic. Note that Yupik white chocolate chips are not vegan.
4. Lakanto Sugar-free Chocolate Chips — These chocolate chips are sweetened with monk fruit.
5. Hu No Added Sugar Chocolate Chips — Hu chocolate chips get their sweet taste from dates.

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How to Use Vegan Chocolate Chips

Now you know which chocolate chips to buy, check out these recipes for some inspiration on how to use them in baking.

1. Chocolate Zucchini Bread — Similar to banana bread, you’ll love this vegan recipe
2. Peppermint Chocolate Cookies — Chewy, gooey and not just for the holidays
3. Vegan Chocolate Cake — Add some vegan chocolate chips to this recipe for extra bite
4. Vegan Baked Oats — Use vegan chocolate chips as a topping for this tasty breakfast
5. Vegan Brownie in a Mug — Only three simple steps to microwave this brownie

Find out more about the origin of this all-time-favorite: Where Does Chocolate Come From? Origins Explained

Read more:

• Can You Freeze Chocolate? What You Need to Know
• Best Edible Cookie Dough: An Easy Vegan Recipe
• 11 Cane and Beet Sugar Substitutes

Tags: environment Food Guide Sustainability Vegan