3 Vegan Cheeses That Changed My Mind on Vegan Alternatives
And 3 that absolutely didn’t.
Oh, I could never go vegan. I just love cheese too much!
When someone’s not asking about how you get protein on a vegan diet, it’s usually reasons why they could never go vegan. Spoiler alert- the top reason is because of cheese. No judgment here from me, I was vegetarian for a while because I was in the same boat. The idea of completely eliminating cheese from my diet seemed insane. Why would someone willingly give up cheese? I put cheese on everything from tacos to pasta so it was a significant change. So it took me a while to make the switch and one of the major blockers ended up being the cheese alternatives I was trying.
Once I actually tried good cheese alternatives, I knew that I would never have to go back. The 3 options that changed my mind not only were consistently great, they also melted really well and reminded me of real cheese the most. To me, they’re all great options for people who are considering going dairy free but can’t seem to find any alternatives to help them make that jump. So here’s a little bit about them and even how I combine two of them to make a great sandwich.
Miyoko’s
Miyoko’s is the priciest of the 3 options but when you’re looking for a mozzarella for a vegan pizza, this is by far the best brand to get. The mozzarella is also great paired with Violife for a tasty grilled cheese. The founder of Miyoko’s Creamery, Miyoko Schinner, has been known as the pioneer for “Artisan” vegan cheeses and she does not fail to deliver. Her butter is fantastic and really reminded me of actual butter. Her mozzarella, while you wouldn’t get the stretch of real mozzarella, still cooks down just like the real thing.
Because mozzarella is 9.99 where I’m at in Austin, Texas, I wouldn’t use it to make something like mozzarella sticks. For her cheese, they’re great on pizzas and I wouldn’t doubt they’d be wonderful as additions to a vegan chili or stuffed mushrooms. The shredded cheese would be great on tacos or even sprinkled on vegan chili.
Violife
Like Miyoko’s, Violife has almost the same variety of dairy free foods, but significantly cheaper. My favorite type of cheese from…
