29 AAPI-Owned Food Brands to Support and Savor

Started as dumpling shops in the Washington D.C. area, Laoban launched a line of frozen foods when COVID hit. Co-founders Patrick Coyne and Tim Ma created restaurant-quality frozen dumplings made with all-natural ingredients that really overachieve for a convenience food. Our favorite flavors include Livin' on the Vedge (shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, scallions, chili crisp) and pho soup dumplings (beef filling with pho broth, cilantro and Thai basil).

This brand was founded by siblings Christina and Anthony Teav, whose culinary backgrounds included stints at The French Laundry and State Bird Provisions. Mama Teav’s is a love letter to their mother, who came to America in 1979 as a Cambodian refugee. What makes this chili crisp stand out is the generous amount of fried garlic chips that give the condiment a deeply satisfying crunch. The heat level is not overly incendiary — it's balanced with a pleasing umami. Try it with dumplings, noodles or just on a steaming bowl of rice.

Celebrity cookbook author Chrissy Teigen is justifiably famous for her chocolate chunk banana bread. The fact that you can now make it on-demand from a boxed mix and not have to wait for your bananas to overripen is downright genius; just add eggs, oil and water. The result is moist and cakey with real banana flavor permeating throughout. We also loved her latest release yellow sheet cake mix with chocolate frosting and buttermilk mochi pancake and waffle mix that made the bounciest, not-too-sweet stack.

Think of this spread as a sweet-savory nut butter with deeply toasty sesame flavor. It's delicious spread on toast, swirled into ice cream or just eaten with a spoon straight from the jar.

Rooted Fare was founded by Ashley Xie and Hedy Yu, childhood friends and daughters of immigrants who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. "As we got older and went to college, we realized how little access we had to our food and culture and started to appreciate our Chinese heritage more – our moms’ food, Asian grocery stores, Chinese language," they say on the Rooted Fare site. "We began to connect with this part of ourselves, especially through food, and were inspired to create something both Chinese and American, like ourselves, that we could be proud of."

Jing Gao, the namesake behind the Fly By Jing brand of chili crisp and other Sichuan-style condiments, has collabed on so many different foods, it only made sense for her to release instant noodles.

Unlike most bricks of instant ramen which are fried, these noodles are sundried but no less easy to prepare: just boil then toss in the packet of tasty sauce. The result is squiggly, slurpable noodles that have spring and bounce — as well as plenty of that signature heat from her sauces.

Founder Rosa Li was inspired by California produce and her Chinese grandmother's herbal tonics to create her own line of prebiotic sparkling drinks. They're delightfully fizzy, not too sweet and finish refreshingly dry — somewhere between soda and seltzer. Sweetened with fruit puree and agave nectar (instead of stevia or other sugar substitutes), the fruit flavors really shine through in varieties like strawberry passion and raspberry lychees.

Tangy with a rich molasses-like sweetness from dates, this vegan chutney would be as welcome with samosas and curries as on a cheeseboard or grilled cheese. It's just one jar in the line from Brooklyn Delhi's founder Chitra Agrawal, whose South Indian family inspired the recipes.

You'll be saying, "all I did was adobo the chicken" when everyone praises your final dish. It's really as simple as combining your protein with the marinade, letting it sit in the fridge, then simmering everything in a pot.

Jake Deleon, the founder of Fila Manila, started the brand as a way to share the rich and vibrant flavors of Filipino cuisine with the world. His story was compelling enough to snag a quarter of a million dollar investment from Daniel Lubetzky on "Shark Tank" in 2024.

Clean, keto, gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, these toasty rice chips hit all the right notes and health food buzzwords. Named Dang after the founders' mom “Mama Dang,” the brand was launched by two Thai-American brothers committed to ethical and environmentally friendly sourcing.

"These have to be one of my all-time favorite snacks — each piece has an ideal texture that's a balance of crispy and airy, which makes for easy snacking," says Deputy Food Editor Trish Clasen Marsanico. "There are a few flavors for every type of mood, but I think you can't go wrong with the classic which has a hint of sweetness. The whole bag will disappear before you know it!"

One of the OG Asian-American Food Network chefs, Ming Tsai, created this line of frozen stuffed flatbreads after his wife Polly's cancer diagnosis prompted her to go plant-based and gluten-free. Tsai used his chef background to craft something exciting in a category of foods that often felt like a compromise. Case in point: these frozen breakfast bings made with plant-based chorizo, JUST Egg, dairy-free cheddar, peppers, black beans and corn, all wrapped in a gluten-free shell that toasts up crispy and flaky like a spring roll.

A little thinner in consistency than Tabasco, the Poi Dog Chili Peppah Water has a piquant sharpness that sends a thrilling jolt down your spine. It features vinegar, ginger and seasonally rotating chiles. For this Noelani batch, they include aji amarillo as well as ancho and espelette pepper, which add a touch of smoke. A little squeeze perks up eggs, avocado toast, oysters and even cocktails.

The brand started as a restaurant in Philadelphia by Kiki Aranita then transitioned into Hawaiian-inspired sauces when COVID forced her to shutter the doors. She also sells sweet collab merch on the Poi Dog site, like this adorable chili peppah water lip balm and Spam musubi t-shirt.

There's something about removing alcohol from wine that's like throwing the baby out with the bath water: It strips away the aromas, tannins, body — basically all the things that can make a wine tasty. Fortunately, that's not the case for this sparkling Spanish white made from dealcoholized Verdejo. It tastes like it has alcohol, but more importantly, it has complexity and flavor.

Founded by longtime friends and entrepreneurs Catherine Diao and Dorothy Munholland, their mission for Studio Null was simple: Create fun nonalcoholic wines for any occasion.

In this beautiful reimagination of traditional South Asian kulfi, you'll find an ultra-creamy, indulgent treat with evocative flavors like rose, cardamom and saffron. Pooja Bavishi left her job in public policy to mastermind the brand of frozen desserts that seamlessly incorporates her Indian heritage. Malai has scoop shops in New York City, DC and Philly and is available for nationwide shipping via Goldbelly.

Chocolate-covered almonds are nothing new, but what about ones made with oat milk chocolate and strong Vietnamese coffee? This flavor, along with others like mango yuzu, black sesame and matcha are the brainchild of the three Pocket's founders: Chris Young and Young Kwon, both Korean American, and Lynn Pham, who is Vietnamese American. Their mission was to create not-too-sweet snacks made with real ingredients that honor their respective cultural backgrounds.

Dream Tea CEO Anney Norton calls tea "self-care in a cup" but she also knows how to have fun with it. She founded the brand, allowing customers to create their own organic loose tea blends based on the flavors they prefer. They can even choose one based on zodiac signs. For example, celebrate your favorite Taurus with a peach lavender black tea that you can further customize with fruit, floral, earthy or spiced flavors. The personalized tins make amazing gifts for Mother's Day, birthdays and the holidays.

P.S. The Dream Tea NYC Custom Tea Blend was one of our Coffee and Tea Award winners!

There's a reason these frozen pancake sandwiches have a cult following at Costco. Dare we say they're better than their source inspiration (from a certain ubiquitous fast food chain)? And all you have to do is pop them in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

These handheld, on-the-go bites are thanks to Ayeshah Abuelhiga, who founded Mason Dixie in 2014. Her goal was to make comfort food that wasn't about "settling for cheap, processed ingredients and scary chemicals," she says. "I am a first generation American and I proudly watched my immigrant parents serve quality comfort food at their small carry-out restaurant and convenience store," she says on the Mason Dixie site. Abuelhiga carried that mantle to her Baltimore restaurant and eventually to her line of frozen breakfast sandwiches.

It's the kind of thing that visitors to Hawaii get hooked on then can't wait to restock when they're back in the mainland. Think of this liliko'i butter as akin to a passion fruit curd that's tangy-sweet with a velvety, buttery texture. Spreading it on toast or drizzle over desserts to get a dose of Hawaiian sunshine.

You've likely seen Maya Kaimal's products at the grocery store since she launched her refrigerated Indian sauces in 2003. A few years later, her spicy ketchup hit the market. "It has a great balance of sweet heat with some warm spices," says Chief Food Director Kate Merker. "I have used it on a burger, a loaded egg sandwich, as well as a baste for grilled chicken and salmon."

If you've ever thought, "I wish this iced tea had some fizz" then these sparkling bottled teas are for you! With this Moshi Mega Sampler, you can try out classic teas like matcha and oolong tea with a welcome kick of carbonation. We especially loved the ginger matcha, which has a great zing.

Makgeolli (pronounced MOCK-gully) has a pleasant milkiness, similar to what you'd find in an unfiltered sake. While most commercially available versions of this Korean rice-based alcoholic beverage is about 6 to 8% ABV (on par with beer), the artisanal bottles from Hana clock in at 10 to 16% ABV (similar to wine). The result is less sweet with more complex, tangy flavors.

Makgeolli is traditionally a great accompaniment to fried foods, like seafood pajeon, but we found the ones from Hana pair amazingly well with sushi, other Asian cuisines and even cheeseboards!