Any vegans out there? Looking for tasty vegan cheese products

[Stephen1227]

Anyone  know of any quality vegan soy cheeses that taste good?  Also looking for soy cheese to put on homemade pizza.  I am thinking of going vegan but we love our cheese!  Last time my wife and I tried, not finding vegan cheese that tasted good was a deal breaker.  

Thank you!

[Algenon · Accepted solution]

Although I am a vegetarian who is close to being a vegan, I personally do not cook but my husband recommended this site:

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/how-to-make-fresh-vegan-moxarella-cheese/

He also uses a Buddhist site for recipes which may not all be Vegan but some are:

http://www.buddhagate.org/Vegetarian/recipes/English.html

I hope this helps!

[Stephen1227]

Hi Algenon.  Thank you so much for sharing theses sites.  They will surely help, and I will add them to my favorites for quick reference!  I really appreciate it.  It's people like you that make this community such a great one.  Please thank your husband for me too. 

[Mel2]

Have you tried nutritional yeast? it has a very cheesy flavour. Great on home cooked popcorn!! Great in a cashew 'cheese' sauce to give it a great cheesy flavour. 

Check out http://mywholefoodlife.com. It's a great vegan blog with the most amazing recipes!

[Stephen1227]

Thank you Mel2!  Great site, and I've added it to my favorites for quick reference. I really appreciate it!  It's Fitfit family members like you who make this such a great, supportive community. 

Stephen

[azuki]

I'm not vegan, but I am mostly vegetarian with a dairy sensitivity. Cutting out milk was easy with all the great nut milks available these days. I also found some great ice cream substitutes, but cheese has been a difficult one for me to eliminate completely. I do allow myself some very high quality cheese every so often, and we don't use cheese for most regular meals.

I find Tahini dressings provide a nice creaminess to salads that make cheese unnecessary. I like to make a baby kale and/or or spinach, dried cranberry, pumpkin seed salad with a tahini dressing (tahini, honey or agave, lemon juice, salt, pepper, granulated garlic).

Nutritional yeast was mentioned and I'm sure you've experimented with it already. I like to use it in casseroles to add a little cheese flavor. I just toss some pasta and whatever veggies I have (peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, etc.) into a casserole with some unsweetened almond milk and nutritional yeast (season as desired). I sometimes add a meet substitute like fried tofu or some Field Roast sausage. It makes a "cheesy" casserole that's pretty satisfying.

FYI, I'm not a huge fan of a lot of meat and cheese substitutes, since I try to keep processed foods to a reasonable minimum. That said, Field Roast makes some of the best meat substitutes available. If you're craving a hot dog, their frankfurters (I suggest boiling instead of grilling) are amazing. Their breakfast sausage is also delicious.

There are a couple of vegan cheeses I do like. Even my husband who is not a vegetarian and doesn't care for vegan cheese at all will tolerate these.

• Real Food Daily (Los Angeles based vegan restaurant) has a great cashew cheese that they put on their nachos. Recipe: http://www.realfood.com/blog/vegan-cashew-cheese-recipe
• For pizza and such, I like to use Daiya. I think it's one of the tastiest vegan cheeses on the market.

[samanthadavey]

Try Biocheese, It taste like cheese and melts really well on pizzas, toastsies ect

[Romney981]

The only one in the UK that is okay is Violife, which we can get from Holland & Barrett

[MamaB1]

Thank you for this site!! I love it and are learning alot from it!! 🙂

[StacyD]

Stephen, I like the Follow Your Heart vegan shreds, I use the mozzarella when I make a vegan pizza.  Also there is a book called Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner that has tons of cheese recipes you can make, but some of them take a while.  I have seen Miyoko do a cooking demonstration at a healthfest and she is amazing!

[Hrvatsko]

I rather like Soy-sation "Cheeses," and "Go Veggie," for a grated parmesan type substitute. I often reach for that to top off a bowl of pasta with marinara sauce.

[Mel2]

I am not a great fan of the processed vegan cheeses out there (and be careful as a lot of the soy cheeses actually have casein in so aren't in face vegan). Cashew cheese sauce is good though and if it's to replace cheese on a pizza you can drizzle it over the top once it's cooked.
I use the cheese sauce from this recipe
http://avirtualvegan.com/wp/baked-sweet-potato-with-kale-pesto-cashew-cheese/

[KennX]

This post is a little old but I'm sure there are still people looking at it (I did! 🙂  Anyway, there is a GREAT new cheese out there which some of you have probably heard of called Chao.  It's made by Field Roast.  It's not a Soy-based cheese but rather a coconut milk-based one.  This is IT.  Unless you can't have coconut for some dietary reason TRY THIS.  It's pretty expensive but oh so worth it.  It melts but isn't really stringy but this is the first Motherless Milk cheese that I can take a slice of and eat by itself and like it.  It does well for grilled cheese, cheese boca-burgers, etc.  There are several varieties and I've tried all of them Original Creamy (probably the best), Tomato Cayenne (good for tacos) and Coconut Herb with Black Pepper (good on a cracker).  It only comes in slices (no bulk or shreds yet) but this is honestly the ONLY cheese that comes close to tasting like dairy cheese.  Just as a note I avoid Casein which is in some soy Go Veggie! products so I don't know if that makes them taste comparable or not but trust me this stuff is good.

[KennX]

Hate to be replying to myself... but I should clarify.  I said that this is coconut-based (which it is) but it also includes Chao Tofu (which is a fermented tofu) so there's that. 🙂  I think the fermented tofu is probably key to to the taste they achieve.

[JulieInMadison]

Daiya cheeses are getting better. Being almost vegan is almost as good for you as being vegan, so don't be discouraged. My favorite groups are Madison Area Vegans and Whole Plant Foodies.

[HelenaFitbit]

My favorite food video blog Raw.Vegan.Not Gross uploaded a raw vegan cauliflower  pizza that may be helpful, she is using nutritional yeast to give things a cheesy flavor to the crust. Also, she made a raw vegan lasagna with a cheesy middle 

I have to say that they look delicious but these recipes take a hit on your wallet with time 

[anyelea]

I am not a vegan but I am allergic to all dairy products. My favorite vegan cheese by far (I've tried many) are the ones made by Daiya. I make lasagna, macaroni & cheese as well as grilled cheese sandwiches and they taste great! I don't feel I am missing out at all. My husband and son who can eat dairy both love the mac & cheese and lasagna. Favorite Daiya is the cheddar style cheese shreds and the mozz. Much better than soy cheeses!

[Taurus21]

Tofutti brand for sliced cheeses and Daiya for shredded. Wonderful!

[dmarie2047]

Just checked out the videos. Love it! Thanks for the suggestion!

[TeaAddictedGeek]

For pizza, quesadillas, go with Daiya.

For cheese and crackers or spreadable cheese, go with Treeline nut cheese.

For cheese on sandwiches and snacking, Field Roast chao cheese.

For grated parmesan, go with Galaxy Food's fake parmasan vegan cheese. It is AMAZING.

Earth Balance makes a mean mac and cheese out of the box. Daiya has one coming out I'm dying to try.