Bottled Vegan Eggnog Is Shockingly Great

It sounds like a contradiction, but vegan eggnog is quite tasty—in my opinion even better than the real thing. Drinking all those eggs and milk and cream is bit too heavy for my taste, especially at parties when there’s plenty of food around. Plant-based eggnog is just a bit less throat-coating and still blends seamlessly with liquor.

If you have the time, of course, you can make your own eggless nog, but when bringing the drink to someone else’s house I like to put a bow around a carton. Hands down, the best packaged vegan eggnog is Califia Farms Holiday Nog, which has an almond milk base and isn’t too thick or cloying. Blue Diamond also launched an Almond Breeze Nog this year, and Trader Joe’s Almond Nog is back again this year, but with almond I stand by Califia. My second choice is to go with a coconut base, and that means So Delicious Coconut Milk Holiday Nog. If you’re going to a nut-free house, my go-to dairy free milk is soy, and when it comes to soymilk you can’t go wrong with Silk. Their Nog Original has yet to disappoint.

Though I do tend to pick up a bottle of vegan nog as soon as the temperature dips below 50 and every week after until mid-February, after that first cup of classic boozed-up nog I’m not necessarily going in for round two. But that doesn’t mean I’m done with the bottle—not even close. I add a big ol’ splash to my morning drip coffee (it’s the only time when I won’t demand whole cow milk, fight me!) and my evening cup of decaf Earl Gray (yes, I’m on Team Milk in Tea). I also use it in place of cow or nondairy milk in pancakes and waffles, or baked goods like muffins, scones, and quick breads. I stir it into oatmeal and chia pudding and pour it over cereal—try it with Barbara’s Puffins and try to tell me you don’t feel holly jolly. It also goes extremely well in a banana-nut butter smoothie and hot chocolate.