Cheese is one of the most difficult things for anyone to give up!! We all love our cheese whether it is good for us or not, it just makes everything taste better!! I am thankful for Vegan Cheese Substitutes.
I grew up with an Italian father and cheese was a big part of our diet, I still miss some of the wonderful rich cheese flavours I’ve enjoyed and now am on a journey to replace those cheese flavours with ones that are good for the planet and vegan friendly.
For vegans it is especially challenging as most veg type cheese on the market tastes terrible or it has some type of animal product in it. Watch out for cheese with Casein, casein is in a lot of soy cheese products and it is a milk by-product!
Today I am going to introduce you to three Vegan Cheese Substitutes, one you make and two you can buy in most grocery stores (health food stores for sure). In later blogs we will explore more types of cheese you can make including my favourite macaroni and cheese recipes. Yum….so many recipes, so little time!!
Vegan Cheese Substitutes
Home-made Coconut milk cheese!
This is an amazing cheese that I make at home and I also made on a recent trip to Mexico. I was concerned that I could not find any vegan friendly cheese in Mexico and I was right!! For my trip to Mexico, I brought some of the harder to find ingredients with me so I could make it there.
I found this recipe on the One Green Planet. It is a wonderful recipe, has a gouda like texture and taste, and is enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike!site http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/how-to-make-smoked-coconut-gouda/
What you’ll need:
- 1 can full fat coconut milk (it pays to go with the best quality coconut milk for this recipe)
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1 T liquid smoke (check the ingredients to be sure its vegan). You can leave out this ingredient and you will have more of a mozzarella cheese. I thought it was a bit bland without the smoke and am sticking to the Gouda flavour
- 1/4 c water
- 1/2 T Bragg Soy Seasoning
- 2 t sea salt
- 2 T nutritional yeast
- 2 T agar powder or 8 T. of agar agar flakes (the powder is much more concentrated)
- 2 T potato starch, cornstarch or arrowroot
- 1 T tapioca starch
- 1 T dry pectin
- 1 t xanthan gum
At home most of these ingredients can be found in your grocery store or at your local health food store. When I went to Mexico I took the following with me: liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, agar powder, tapioca starch, pectin and xanthan gum. I thought it would be easy to find the rest. Next time I will also take the cornstarch….no one knew what I was talking about and it took me quite a while to figure out which of the boxes in the baking section was corn starch!!
Method to make your beautiful Gouda cheese:
- Blend coconut milk, water, agar powder, pectin, liquid smoke, salt, Bragg, and nutritional yeast until fully combined in your blender.
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After blending coconut milk, water, agar powder, pectin, liquid smoke, salt, Bragg, and nutritional yeast add into your saucepan to cook as directed. Heat this mixture in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until it all comes to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium (still boiling) and continue to stir for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat. Have your tapioca starch, potato starch and xanthan gum mixed all together in a small container. This is your powder mixture.
- Quickly and carefully pour hot cheese mixture into your power blender or food processor.
Add your powder mixture from above and quickly process until thick, scraping down sides if necessary.
Hot mixture poured into blender, adding in the powder mixture and blend again! -
Finished cheese poured into a pan and placed in fridge to become firm….almost ready to eat! Immediately pour into a lightly oiled container and use a spatula to scrape it out. I used a small round pie pan or you could use a glass bowl or other container. The shape of your container is going to be the shape of your bowl. Put the uncovered Smoked Coconut Gouda in the fridge.
- Allow to set up for an hour or two.
- Turn out onto a plate and leave uncovered for an additional 5 hours or overnight in the fridge.
- The cheese gets firmer the longer it sets.
- Once firm, store the cheese in a covered container and use or freeze within the week.
This cheese melts for a grilled cheese, pizza, quesadillas, a tofu scramble, serve with crackers or just have a slice, it is delicious!
daiya cheese®
The second type of vegan/gluten free cheese that I want to introduce you to is daiya® cheese. It is casein free, gluten free, soy free and cholesterol free. I love this cheese! Once again you can find this cheese at your friendly neighbourhood grocery store or at a local health food store. I was amazed that I found it on the Island of Roatan in Honduras! Bonus!!
I use daiya on pizza, pasta, sandwiches and so much more. The company has a variety of products, my favourite is the shredded cheese packages and second favourite are the blocks. A little while ago, I made a pizza using the shredded cheese and gave a slice to a non vegan friend. I asked him later what he thought of the cheese, he said “it was good.” When I told him it was vegan cheese, he was surprised and said, “if you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known!” That’s how good this cheese is!
Better Than Cream Cheese! by Tofutti®
The third type of cheese I want to mention is a vegan cream cheese that you can buy at most grocery stores and health food stores. Who doesn’t like cream cheese on a wrap or sandwich? Maybe you like to make hor d’oeuvres with cream cheese on crackers with hot pepper jelly for your friends? This cheese tastes exactly like traditional cream cheese without the dairy, gluten or cholesterol. I’m not saying its totally healthy; its a great substitute that you can use once in awhile when you want some vegan cream cheese!
Well folks, that’s a bit on vegan cheeses to get you started. As mentioned, I plan to start experimenting with more vegan cheeses soon and will literally, keep you posted!
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