The 8 Best Vegan Chocolates of 2023

What to Look for in Vegan Chocolate

Certifications

"The chocolate and sugar industries have a very dark underbelly, so looking for chocolate that is fair trade certified is a great start. I also look for the vegan symbol, which is becoming more and more apparent on products these days," says vegan baker and Heirloom Bakery and Kitchen founder Mickey Walker.

Authenticity

Vegan chocolate should be made using solely plant-based ingredients. "Chocolate has a long history as a naturally vegan product because its most important ingredient, cacao, is the seed of a tree," says Wm. Chocolate owner Will Marx. "You can actually make chocolate from cacao alone (think of unsweetened baking chocolate), but we tend to add ingredients to sweeten or flavor it. It's those ingredients that we must examine because they may or may not be vegan. After cacao, the most important ingredient in chocolate is the sweetener, often cane sugar." Many others used in making chocolate are also derived from plants and are vegan-friendly.  

FAQs

What is vegan chocolate made from?

"Ideally a good bar of vegan dark chocolate is only going to have a handful of ingredients for its base, such as chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and a sweetener," says Walker. "The possibilities are endless from there as far as adding extracts, chopped nuts, fruits, milk alternatives (like coconut, oat, or rice milks), caramel, toffee, sea salt, nut butters, and spices, to name a few."

In practice, the main difference between vegan and non-vegan chocolate is that vegan chocolates do not use dairy ingredients. Dairy ingredients are the only animal products widely used in chocolate. The nutrition label will oftentimes let you know whether the product contains milk.

Is all dark chocolate vegan?

"No," says Marx. "In its simplest form—cacao and a plant-based sweetener—dark chocolate is vegan. However, many products sold as 'dark chocolate' are not vegan for three main reasons."

1) They contain dairy ingredients. Sometimes manufacturers replace some of cacao's natural fat (called cacao butter) with a cheaper fat, often milkfat from cow's milk. This is done mostly to save money. You would think that adding milkfat would mean the product has to be called milk chocolate, but that's not the case. Milk powder makes for milk chocolate, but milkfat is just an alternative fat that can be added to any type of chocolate. Read the ingredients to spot it.

2) They contain sugar processed with bone char. This one is harder to catch. Ask the manufacturer, avoid products with refined sugar, or look for a vegan designation on the label.

3) They may contain traces of dairy. This means the product was made in a facility that also makes non-vegan chocolates. Although such products may still be labeled vegan, you must decide if traces of dairy are acceptable, both philosophically and from an allergen standpoint. Look near the ingredients for an allergen statement.

Is white chocolate vegan?

Traditionally, white chocolate is not vegan. According to Marx, "In its purest form, white chocolate contains three ingredients: cacao butter (always vegan), sweetener (can be vegan), and milk powder (dairy, never vegan)." He also states that "it is possible to make white chocolate vegan by ensuring that the sweetener is vegan-compliant and replacing dairy milk powder with plant-based milk powder."

How We Researched

To compile this list, our team of editors and contributors spent hours researching the best vegan chocolates on the market, evaluating their key features—like ingredients, cacao percentage, and price—in addition to reviews from customers and other trusted sources. We then used this research to assign a star rating from one to five (five being the best; one being the worst) to certain products on the list.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Rachel Werner is a vegan who teaches Intro to Food Writing through The Loft Literary Center and has been selecting food-based businesses for editorial coverage for more than nine years. Her product and restaurant reviews, food styling, and photography have appeared in a variety of regional and national publications including The Gourmet Insider, Fabulous Wisconsin, and Hobby Farms Magazine.

Amanda McDonald is an editor at The Spruce Eats and has over seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing about all things food — from what new products are at the grocery store to chef-approved hacks that keep tricky leftovers fresh for days. She updated this article to include the most up-to-date information.

Sources

• Will Marx, Chocolatier and Creator of Wm. Chocolate
• Mickey Walker, vegan baker and Heirloom Bakery and Kitchen founder