what's a good vegan cheese?

My Favorite Vegan Cheese Brands

After posting this picture from Busboys & Poets on Instagram & Facebook...

Nachos!

A photo posted by Monique (@brownvegan) on

I got a few questions about my favorite brand of vegan cheese.

This was my face when I started eating vegan cheese back in 2010...

In fact, it took me 2 years to acquire a taste for it. lol 

My best advice for eating pre-packed vegan cheese is to go into it as a new experience.  

Don't expect it to taste exactly like conventional cheese.

Think of it this way, if it tasted exactly like conventional cheese, everyone would already be eating it.

Also, most vegan cheese is great when mixed in with other ingredients - like in this lasagna recipe

Here are Four of My Favorite Vegan Cheese Brands:

Field Roast - This is my fave vegan brand (we love their sausages and hotdogs) and they didn't disappoint with their chao slices. Our fave is the cayenne tomato (used it in this video) This brand is made out of coconut and does contain soy

Heidi Ho - I had this cheese with nachos at a conference and it was amazing! It's made from cashews and vegetable puree and doesn't have a lot of yucky ingredients. Also, the owner, Heidi is cool as hell. :-) This brand is also soy and gluten-free

Miyoko's Kitchen - This.cheese.is.everything. For the first time since becoming a vegan I feel like I finally have a vegan cheese that I can eat with crackers and a glass of wine. This is a nut-based cheese and is so worth the extra money. 

Daiya I wasn't a fan of this cheese until recently... It's a perfect example of all of the right ingredients but lacks in the "taste like cheese" department. It melts, stretches and is great on grilled cheese with avocado, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. It is also nut, gluten and soy-free and is the most accessible brand out of the 4 mentioned.

This sandwich using Daiya cheese is perfection!

This sandwich using Daiya cheese is perfection!

 

If you're not interested in pre-packaged vegan cheese, you can also make your own out of cashews like in this Alfredo sauce and queso recipe.

I haven't tried this cashew cheese recipe (or this one) but they look great.

Back in my early YouTube days I made a video about how I was able to slowly eliminate cheese from my diet.

Check it out here...