When you're transitioning to a vegan or plant-based diet, be good to yourself. Buy these products. 😊
You're probably interested in plant-based eating for health reasons but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on your love for cheese!
This list of the best vegan cheeses will keep it simple and let you experiment with the best products out there today so you can still live with joy and eat your favorite foods.
The good thing is that the more you limit dairy, the better for your health, your planet, and your fellow sentient beings like mama cows.
😢
The saddest animal abuse I've ever witnessed was a mama cow wailing and fighting for her just born baby as dairy farmers dragged her baby away from her. I will never show any kind of animal cruelty here on PLANT52 - that's a promise. (But there are pros and cons to exposing yourself to that kind of mind-opening content!)
For me, I don't want to be part of any of that pain.
I know I'll probably have traces of dairy again while traveling, going to friends' homes, eating in restaurants even when you ask for no dairy - it's hard to avoid - but when I can control it, I avoid it completely.
Lucky for us, we have great products to fulfill our cheese cravings.
And back to why you're here - the best vegan cheese!
While there isn't a product yet that mimics real dairy cheese, we have a plethora of delicious options (and wow, vegan cheeses have come a long way).
Since we eat cheese in a variety of ways, let's break it down.
The Best Vegan Cheese for Pizza
Look 😮at 😮that 😮cheese!
This is the closest thing to dairy cheese and if you serve it up without telling anyone it's vegan, they'll never know.
A very close second is Miyoko's Mozz - here it is 👇- you want to make sure you're using very high heat to get it to melt like this. 🤤
Miyoko's Mozz is like a dry, semi-crumbly paste.
Daiya also has other shredded cheeses like cheddar and pepper jack - you can use them for tacos, quesadillas, or melt them into pasta sauces. They look great, have ZERO offensive fake cheese flavors, and pretty much always satisfy.
The Best Vegan Cream Cheese
Plain, Chive, Everything - all of their flavors are excellent.
Miyoko's known as the queen of vegan cheese (or at least she used to be) but many companies have surpassed her products. Bring it!
Kite Hill wins over Miyoko's for flavor, color, and being closer to the real thing. But both have great texture - exactly like dairy cream cheese.
The Best Vegan Cheese for Sandwiches & Burgers
The trick to getting vegan sliced cheeses to melt like that 👆is to cover your pan with a lid to let the cheese really soften and actually melt. You may want to double up on your slices too if you're feeling extra. Again, see 👆
I also love all sliced cheeses by Follow Your Heart - even eating them by themselves is a tasty treat - but for a classic grilled cheese, their Provolone or Smoked Gouda are best.
They also work for insane vegan meals like this. 👇😁
You can find these in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, either with dairy cheeses, or wherever they normally stock the tofu.
Chao has the best flavor - it's mild yet cheesy. And both options melt the same way.
The Best Vegan Cheese for Charcuterie Boards
Not to be confused with her "Sharp" English Farmhouse which I don't like. Her cheeses have a distinct miso flavor so if that's how you like your vegan cheese, go nuts. But my guess is you want your vegan cheese to taste like...cheese!
Pictured below is Miyoko's and it works, but Treeline's products have a better cheese flavor, are the same (high) cost, and look just as good as Miyoko's.
I don't think there's a good charcuterie type vegan cheese on the market yet, but I have tried a Canadian brand that I'd probably buy weekly if it were available here in SoCal: Nuts for Cheese - great in salads and almost close to...
The Best Vegan Cheese
This pic is pulled from their website and holy moly this is the greatest vegan cheese to just munch on with just about anything.
It's mild, creamy AF, just the right amount of salt, and addictive like cheese - it keeps you coming back for more.
Also good for snacking are Daiya's Cheese Sticks. They're supposed to be like string cheese and taste very similar (but these don't 'string'). Daiya has cheddar ones too which I thought would be gross but they're tasty lil treats.
There you have it - the best vegan cheese products.
Are these health foods? Absolutely not. Is it healthy to eat comfort foods? Absolutely. 😁
(If you want to make your own cheese sauce in 15 minutes, check this out.)
Eat mostly whole plant foods (versus products like these that are highly processed and mostly stripped of their nutrients) but like you, I have a big appetite and love my cheese, so I get it.
Bon appetit!