Daiya has one of the largest selections of plant-based foods on the market. The 10-year-old company sells everything from many kinds of non-dairy cheese (in shreds, slices, and blocks), to four flavors of Cheezecake, and of course, pizzas, along with a few other items including yogurt and burritos.
Still being relatively new to the non-dairy world, I hadn't tried many of Daiya's products beyond one or two flavors of cheese. However, when a representative reached out with an offer to let me try their pizza and ranch dressing for National Pizza Month, I couldn't resist. The fact that both were gluten, dairy and soy-free made it easier for me to share with friends, and not worry that they couldn't eat any.
Mushroom & Roasted Garlic Pizza
The Mushroom and Roasted Garlic pizza was great! The cheese melted well and you could taste both the mushrooms and the garlic. All Daiya cheese is plant-based, but there isn't any soy, saving you from yet another allergen. There was an appropriate amount of sauce pizza sauce under the cheese. It wasn't so much that everything was sliding off, but it definitely did its job. The crust tasted like an average frozen flatbread pizza, but it wasn't identifiably gluten-free.
The pizza was easy to cook, staying in the oven for about 12 minutes, which perfectly matched the directions on the box. All you have to do is take the pizza out of the packaging and put it in the oven.
The only downside to the pizza is its size. It's not a personal pizza, but the three servings Daiya advertises are for thee people who aren't very hungry. It's more of a meal for one hungry person or two average people. There is also a lot of sodium per serving (1/3 of the pizza) with 610mg or 25% of your daily needs. With 6g of protein and 6g of dietary fiber, it works out to be a good meal.
Daiya has five other pizza flavors, which are all gluten, dairy, and soy-free: Supreme, Spinach & Mushroom, Cheeze Lover's, Margherita, and Fire-Roasted Vegetable.
Homestyle Ranch
The Ranch dressing was also a win. It's a bit salty but still makes a great dressing. My dairy-eating roommates enjoyed it as well. In addition to putting it on the pizza, we dipped carrots in it, used it as salad dressing, and as a topping for chicken.
On top of being gluten, dairy, soy and egg-free, Daiya Homestyle Ranch also comes in a glass bottle. It requires an extra few seconds of patience to get anything out of the container, but it's always nice to see a company, especially one that is working to reduce the amount of animal-based products we eat, using materials that are easily recyclable or re-usable.
I will definitely be back for more Daiya products, including different pizza flavors, and maybe some cheezecake. In the meantime, here are some more recipes that you can make with Daiya products.