If you’re following a vegan lifestyle, does that mean you can’t use buffalo sauce to add some extra spice to your food?
Short Answer:
No, most buffalo sauce is not safe for a vegan diet.
The Long Answer:
Spice goes great with many meatless recipes. I know some people who add some hot sauce to their guacamole to give it an extra kick, and buffalo cauliflower is a regular item on the plates of most vegetarians I know.
But if you’ve taken that extra step to cut all animal byproducts from your life and life a vegan lifestyle, does that mean you’ll need to bid farewell to buffalo sauce?
Unfortunately, in most cases, the answer to that question is yes.
Most hot sauces are perfect for a vegan diet, composed of cayenne pepper, vinegar, and many other plant-based ingredients. Buffalo sauce, however, is a cayenne-based hot sauce with an extra special ingredient, that being equal parts butter.
As butter is a dairy product and is produced from the milk of an animal, it would of course be against a vegan diet. However, there are exceptions to every rule, so it’s important to read labels carefully. Many supermarket brand buffalo sauces actually replace the butter with a fat that has a longer shelf life, and many of these are plant-based.
Guar gum and soybean oil are fairly typical, so make sure to read your labels carefully.
One of the world’s most popular hot sauces, Franks Red Hot Sauce, has “natural butter flavor” listed as one of the ingredients for its buffalo wing sauce. However, the company has confirmed that this flavoring is not actual butter and contains no animal derivatives or milk-based proteins. It’s perfectly safe for some fried buffalo cauliflower. (Seriously, try it!)
Do you include hot sauce in your vegan diet? What is your favorite brand? Do you make it yourself? Sound off in the comment section below and let us know!
Leave a Reply