Which vegan cheese should you opt for?

Morrisons has just launched a range of vegan cheeses, including smoked, mature and jalapeno. These cheeses are fantastic, but can cause so many issues with new vegans and I just wanted to explain why and offer some advice.

Firstly, if you are reading this and you are new to veganism, or just curious, then its important not to get your hopes up to find a vegan cheese that will imitate a dairy cheese.

The new cheeses at Morrisons and other major supermarkets are based on coconut oil, which helps the cheese melt, but doesnt mimic the taste of dairy.

Brands like Violife offer a range of vegan cheese options (Photo: InstagramAlternative Stores)

Even as a lover of vegan cheese, in my opinion there is still no block that matches dairy. Dairy cheese contains casein, which is actually addictive and our brains know the difference.

Vegan cheese can match the saltiness, the fattiness and even now the meltiness, but so far we dont have anything that replaces the casein.

My thoughts are that the wizards behind the Beyond Meat burgers and Just Egg will come up with something in a lab that replicates it almost perfectly, but so far in the UK there isnt anything.

Theyve nailed plant-based meats, they are amazing and almost exactly like the real thing, but we are still searching for the holy grail when it comes to vegan cheese.

Lots of brands are making vegan cheese - but have yet to perfectly replicate dairy-based alternatives (Photo: Vitalite)

Everyday I see members of the Vegan Food UK community ask this exact question: "Is there ANY vegan cheese that doesnt taste vile?

The answer to this is yes, but in comparison to dairy, you will be quite disappointed.

My advice and model for success is to go vegan and give up all cheese for a few weeks or even months. Let the body adjust to not consuming casein and then start your dairy-free cheese journey.

First thing to do after your cold turkey (horrible expression) has been well and truly served, is to move onto a mild vegan cheese that melts.

Applewood vegan is a popular option for many plant-based eaters(Photo: Supplied to Plant Based News)

By now you will probably miss having melted cheese on food? The good news is that there are a few to choose from, but the key is to go for something neutral like Violife Original. It melts well and wont offend your taste buds too much.

Once you get used to melted Violife, you can up the ante and move onto something with a bit more flavor and depth, like the Vegan Applewood Smoky Block, which melts even better than Violife.

What about pizza? In my opinion pizza cheese needs to be light without too much flavour. A perfect cheese for this is MozzaRisella: a brown rice milk based mozzarella cheese that melts perfectly on pizza. Its so good that Zizzis, Pizza Express and even Co-op have used it for their pizzas.

Zizzi uses MozzaRisella on its vegan pizzas (Photo:Supplied to Plant Based News)

Something also worth considering from the get-go are nut-based cheeses, which I regard as some of the best cheeses in the world. Use social media to seek them out, but also your local health store should stock a few. These are cheeses to be proud of and are usually made with cashews.

If you have followed my advice and arent satisfied with any cheese that you have tasted so far, then have a go at making your own. You will be amazed with what a bag of cashews and some nutritional yeast can do.

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The Truth About Vegan Cheese: And Tips To Find The Best - Plant Based News