We're not vegan, but this new item at Trader Joe's caught my eye. How cute is the packaging?

Trader Joe's Vegan Pepperoni! The plant-based alternative to regular pepperoni comes sliced in a resealable bag. 

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The 5-ounce bag of Trader Joe's Vegan Pepperoni containing about 45 slices costs $4.99.

I didn't look at the ingredients list before I got home and assumed that these were made with tofu. Nope, they are not. The first few ingredients in this vegan pepperoni are water, soybean oil, vital wheat gluten, potato protein isolate, and textured pea protein. 

Each serving contains 6 grams of fat and 4 grams of protein with no added sugar. 

Recipes for Pepperoni Lovers:

• easy tortilla pizzas with pepperoni chickpeas (how sweet eats)
• pizza slow cooker stuffed peppers (a spicy perspective)
• pizza egg rolls (foodie with family)

Trader Joe's Vegan Pepperoni Review

Review (Bridget): We are not vegan, so I'm not super well-versed in plant-based meat alternatives. (I do love tempeh and tofu, though.) These "pepperoni" smell similar to pepperoni, but the texture out of the bag felt wrong. The slices are really soft and seem a little unappetizing. We tried these on some flatbread pizzas. I hoped that the soybean oil as the second ingredient meant that these would crisp up nicely in the oven...don't we all love those "cupped" pepperoni filled with a little grease? Ha. 

Well, they didn't crisp up. The taste is pepperoni-ish but not quite there. They need a little more spice, and I did miss the meat flavor. BUT. They weren't bad, and Mark didn't seem to notice. In fact, he said, "Good pizza!" So, if you are vegan and missing pepperoni, this just might float your boat. I'm going back to meat. 

Overall rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

Will we buy them again? I don't think so. 

Trader Joe's Vegan Pepperoni: Might hit the spot for actual vegans!