Whole Foods Grocery Haul: Our Top Ten Favorite Products (Plant-Based, Vegan)

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I’ll admit that I did not really shop at Whole Foods before we switched to following a whole food, plant-based diet. I always assumed it was just a little bit too “trendy” and expensive for my taste. After finally giving it a fair shot, I realized that while there are a lot of overpriced “fancy” products, they also have a TON of really affordable products.

Many of our favorites come from their “365 Everyday Value” line, which is exclusive to Whole Foods. Check out the video here for our Top Ten list and read the blog post below for more information!

PLEASE NOTE: If you choose to purchase any products through the links in this post, we receive a small commission from each sale at NO extra cost to you. This post is NOT sponsored or endorsed by Whole Foods. We purchased all of the products with our own money. These are all products we use on a regular basis.

The prices below are based on what I paid at our local store in Saint Louis, Missouri in July 2020.

#10: Tomato Paste (365 “No Salt Added” Cans & Tubes)

$0.99 for a 6oz can; $1.99 for a 5.3oz tube

Tomato paste is an essential item to keep on hand and use in recipes like Brian’s Super Tasty Vegan Chili or our Homemade Spicy Ketchup. Whole Foods carries “no salt added” tomato paste as part of their “365 Everyday Value” line in both a can and a tube. The tube is nice for when you only need a little bit of tomato paste because you can easily store the rest in the refrigerator for later!

365 Everyday Value, Organic Tomato Paste, No Salt Added, 6oz can
365 Everyday Value, Double Concentrated Tomato Paste, 5.3oz tube

#9: 365 Extra Firm Tofu

$1.79 for a 14oz package

I recently switched to buying our tofu at Whole Foods. We use extra firm in a lot of recipes, and this is an affordable, high quality tofu. My favorite is when Brian makes me some of his Griddler tofu!

365 Everyday Value, Organic Tofu Extra Firm, 14oz

#8: Engine 2 Products

Prices vary:
Veggie Burgers – $4.99 for a box of 3
Granola – $4.79 for a 12oz bag
Cereal – $4.49 for 13oz box
Pizza Crusts – $5.49 for a 2-pack

Rip Esselstyn’s Engine 2 product line is exclusive to Whole Foods and includes various products that are vegan, oil-free, low sodium, etc. This is about as close to “compliant” for a whole food, plant-based lifestyle that you will find in any sort of “processed” food. We used to buy the hummus a lot before we started making our own. I haven’t seen the hummus lately, but we do enjoy the granola, cereal and veggie burgers.

Engine 2, Tuscan Kale White Bean Plant Burgers, 3ct (Frozen)
Engine 2, Pinto Habanero Plant Burgers, 3 ct (Frozen)
Engine 2, Poblano Black Bean Plant Burgers, 3 ct (Frozen)
Engine 2, Blueberry Vanilla Granola, 12oz bag
Engine 2, Original Granola, 12oz bag
Engine 2, Rip’s Big Bowl, Original Cereal, 13oz box
Engine 2, Rip’s Big Bowl, Triple Berry Walnut Cereal, 13oz box
Engine 2, Stone Baked Pizza Crusts, 2 count (Frozen)

#7: 365 Frozen Pineapple

$2.99 for a 16oz bag

I always like to say that not all pineapple is created equal! Have you ever bought frozen pineapple that was just hard as a rock, not sweet, etc.? I am never disappointed by the Whole Foods 365 frozen pineapple. It is always a lovely dark yellow color with a nice sweet punch of flavor.

I love using these for my Pineapple-Mango Lime Popsicles or just letting them thaw slightly in a nice bowl of frozen fruit for breakfast.

365 Everyday Value, Pineapple Chunks, 16oz (Frozen)

#6: Fresh Produce

Prices vary

Whole Foods has an amazing variety of fresh produce. I do find that the prices are usually a bit higher than most other stores, so I usually end up buying most of our produce at Aldi or Trader Joe’s, but Whole Foods is great for those hard-to-find items. Overall, I find that the quality is most consistent at Whole Foods, so it is my go-to when I just can’t find good quality produce at the other stores.

#5: 365 Baby Spinach

$4.99 for a 16oz box

We go through a lot of baby spinach. We use it almost every single day in our giant salads. I used to buy it at Aldi, but around a year or so ago, I kept finding that the Aldi spinach would go bad very quickly. Since then, I have been picking up a box of baby spinach at Whole Foods almost every week and I find that it stays really crisp and fresh throughout the week.

365 Everyday Value, Organic Baby Spinach, 16oz

#4: Better Than Bouillon

$6.99 for an 8oz jar

Brian loves to use Better Than Bouillon in place of vegetable stock for a lot of our recipes. $6.99 might seem a bit expensive, but one small jar makes 38 cups worth of vegetable broth when diluted!

We like the Organic Reduced Sodium Seasoned Vegetable Base. Although it is not a LOW sodium product by any means, it is usually one of the few sources of sodium we add to a dish, so we are okay with using it. This organic version has no oil added, but it DOES have a bit of cane sugar. When following this kind of diet, you have to know what exceptions you are willing to make, and this is one of those for us.

The nice thing about it is that you can choose whether to dilute it to a “normal” strength vegetable stock or leave it more concentrated when mixing into soups or other recipes that might already have enough liquid but just need an extra punch of flavor. This product is not exclusive to Whole Foods, but it is the only place locally that I can find the particular variety we like to use.

Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base 16oz, Reduced Sodium

#3: Muir Glen “No Salt Added” Diced Tomatoes & Tomato Sauce

$1.99 for a 14.5 to 15oz can
*I always stock up when they go on sale, usually around 4 for $5.

We use a ton of diced tomatoes and my favorite brand is Muir Glen. Our Whole Foods carries this brand and when they go on sale, I always stock up on the “no salt added” varieties – especially the fire roasted ones! They also have a “no salt added” tomato sauce that is great to keep on hand.

Muir Glen, Organic Diced No Salt Added Tomatoes, 14.5oz
Muir Glen, Organic No Salt Added Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, 14.5oz can
Muir Glen, Organic No Salt Added Tomato Sauce, 15oz can

#2: Dried Mushrooms

Prices vary from $2.79 to $19.99 for a 1oz bag

Another product Brian loves is dried mushrooms. He likes to make his own mushroom powder and add it to things like his chili, black bean burgers, refried pinto beans, etc. Our Whole Foods carries a line of dried mushrooms from Forest Mushrooms. I would think that all Whole Foods carry some sort of dried mushrooms, but you can also check out their website if you can’t find them locally.

Brian is working on a separate video all about mushroom powder, so stay tuned for that!

Forest, Mushroom Dried Portabella Conventional, 1oz bag
Forest, Mushroom Dried Shiitake Conventional, 1oz bag
Forest, Mushroom Dried Porcini Conventional, 1oz bag
Forest, Mushroom Dried Chanterelle Conventional, 1oz bag

#1: 365 “No Salt Added” Beans

$0.79 for 15 to 15.5oz cans; $1.49 for 13.4oz boxes

Our number one pick at Whole Foods HAS to be the “no salt added” line of beans from their 365 brand. These are the cheapest “no salt added” cans of beans I have ever found and we always have a TON of these on hand. They have cans of black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas and garbanzo beans. They also carry boxes of organic “no salt added” black beans, garbanzo beans and more.

We have been cooking more beans in our Instant Pot, but nothing beats the convenience of having a can ready to go at all times!

365 Everyday Value, Black Beans, No Salt Added, 15oz can
365 Everyday Value, Garbanzo Beans, No Salt Added, 15.5oz can
365 Everyday Value, Dark Red Kidney Beans, No Salt Added, 15.5oz can
365 Everyday Value, Pinto Beans, No Salt Added, 15.5oz can
365 Everyday Value, Organic Black Beans, No Salt Added, 13.4oz box
365 Everyday Value, Organic Garbanzo Beans, No Salt Added, 13.4oz box

BONUS: Salad Bar!

$8.99 per pound

You might remember from one of our travel videos last year, we love stopping at the Whole Foods salad bar. Unfortunately, it is closed right now due to the pandemic, but hopefully it will be back up and running again someday! My favorite item is the Garlicky Kale Salad, which we actually recreated in case you want to try it out at home.

What are your favorite Whole Foods products? Watch the video here and let us know in the comments.

Check out our Top Ten Trader Joe’s Products & Top Ten ALDI Products!