I'm finding something similar! Like I don't love violife slices or quorn ham on their own, but together in a sandwich they are more the sum of their parts, yknow?
I won’t stand for this Applewood slander. It melts so well and is perfect on top on pasta or in a toastie. Also violife Greek style is a delicious feta replacement for salads etc
The only vegan cheese I’ve ever eaten straight was daiya cheddar cheeze sticks? Which I actually like hahaha they’re a nice lil snack. I’ve definitely found plenty of decent to good vegan cream cheeses. They may not be delicious but they do the job! Violife is usually great melted for something like pizza or grilled cheese. Here in the US I love a chao cheese for grilled cheese or burgers. Cashew based cheeses are best for a Mac and cheese ❤️ and I’ve still never found anything suitable for a proper quesadilla which is devastating lmao
You should Try Follow Your Heart Parmesan Cheese it has an amazing melt!!I am an All-New Vegan Channel with lots of recipes I also use this cheese on my channel "Come Check Me out" and Enjoy Your Day!!
If you don't have a good cashew cheese or melting cheese you can really easily make a béchamel sauce yourself. With cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, oat milk and little bit of salt. Which probably would give similar results to a mac and cheese. Especially if you'd also add some corn flour or another thickening agent.
omg I can't believe the applewood one got so much hate, IMHO it's one of the best out there I buy it all the time!! Maybe I've been vegan so long I've forgotten what real cheese tastes like but I swear it's nice!!!! Justice for applewood
I'm only a few minutes into the video so I haven't seen the applewood section but can confirm that the smokey applewood is my fave. I'm definitely looking forward to having that in my Christmas dinner cheese board!
That’s what I was going to say too:) I’ve been vegan for a few years now. At first every vegan cheese tasted like coconut and I thought it was horrible, but leaving it a few months and then trying again really made a big difference and now I really enjoy, particularly the epic mature one and applewood ones featured here, there is also a great Greek style cheese which is my favourite, think is also vio life from memory, is supposed to be like feta but I would say is more like creamy goats cheese. Also, Leena, I love the comparison of a cheese to Mr Wickham 🤣
Definitely. I hated them all at first, but you give it a few months, forget what cheese is like and then it only gets better from there. Applewood and the epic mature are definitely the best there are at the moment - at least readily available on the market.
@@elizabethh9950 I miss goats cheese so much. 6years to be exact. Please tell me more about cheese that tastes similar to it. Name brand and where to get it. I blender my own cashew cheese with dill and fermented cabbage.
@@joannakowalska9247 hiya I checked and the one I’m talking about is called violife Greek white block - I’m in the UK and have bought it in supermarkets but not always available. Hope you can find it and like it!
Violife 'Greek style' aka feta is actually really good, nice creamy texture and really good taste imo. My work uses sheeze smoked and that's also quite nice when melted. A lot of these cheeses are better melted/grated over hot food
Vegan cheese is almost always way too "cheesy" compared with actual cheese. I quite like Sainsbury's free from "cream cheese", that's a really solid substitute from the real deal. Also purezza do a melty "mozzarella" that is really stellar - it's only available online from purezza themselves but it keeps for a fair bit (and fits in a standard jam jar for open packet fridge storage).
I hope the UK gets Miyoko’s at some point because it’s truly life changing. It’s expensive so it’s less good if you need a replacement for regular cheese eating, but if you only buy cheese occasionally as a special treat it’s so worth it.
i know nothing about it, but judging purely from the look of that last one in the jar, i think it might be imitating an olive-oil-marinated goats cheese! i’m not sure about overseas but it’s VERY popular in australia and that last cheese in the jar looks exactly like how it comes.
There are MANY offensive vegan cheeses, but part of me thinks its just habit??? Everything I like to eat is habit, and there's stuff I eat just cos I've always eaten it and loved it, so habitual eating of vegan cheese might make it appeal more long-term
Yes, yes, and yes! For example, I LOVE Kraft Mac & cheese. Is it tasty? Absolutely not, but I grew up eating it and so I love it. Vegan boxed Macs definitely do the trick for my cravings 😂
My favourite vegan cheese brand is Sheese. I've never eaten real cheese so I have no idea if it tastes like the real stuff, but it has a nice strong flavour and a crumbly texture which I like. I live in Australia but I assume as it's made in Scotland it's available in the UK! 😊
As a former dairy cheese addict I always thought I could never give it up but I kept feeling guilty about it every time I ate it, so in 2017 I went fully vegan. I tried a few supermarket vegan cheeses at the beginning but didn't find any that did the trick so I just haven't really bought any over the last 3 years. I only ever eat vegan cheese when I order food from vegan places like burgers or pizza and those I usually really enjoy! I found my favorite ones are made from cashew nuts :)
I just sat down with my cheese and crackers for lunch without knowing what today's video would be, and now it's like we're just two pals eating cheese together and I love it
I loved this! I'm a former dairy cheese obsessive who has now been vegan for a good few years, and I have recently discovered a few fancy nut cheeses that I do think are genuinely delicous, they just tend to be super expensive unfortunately - like around £7-£10 - so have to be a much rarer treat than dairy cheese used to be. I can really recommend the G.O.A.T cheese by I Am Nut Okay, the Camblue by Mouse's Favourite (delicous cross between camembert and a mild blue) and the Truffled Camemvert by Palace Culture (not off-puttingly truffley imo). They obvs don't taste exactly like the dairy equivalents but I think they hit all the right creamy and umami notes and have the proper funky fermentation/mould taste of each cheese mixed with the mild taste of cashews. I have also become a sucker for violife even though it is objectively a weird stinky rubber
@@joannakowalska9247 I get them form health food shops like planet organic and there's also a vegan cafe and deli near me that sells them. I live in London so they're probably easier to access here then other places but i'm pretty sure they can all be found online too!
I don't love vegan cheese but find it's ok when eaten with something else (like as one of half a dozen lasagna layers or as one of 9 ingredients in a burrito). The flavor is less offensive but it does add the creamy satisfying component to those dishes! Or when it's mixed into a salad or in a sandwich, which cuts the "lard-like" aspect of it. I think if people replaced the cheese in their cooking or dishes and saved the real cheese for a treat when it's not mixed with other stuff, that's already a really good step! Otherwise I don't really buy cheese but maaaybe, once or twice a year, if I'm really craving it I might. ETA to say that I really recommend nutritional yeast, which is NOT cheese and shouldn't claim to be, but it's a really good element when you want to sprinkle something sharp on top of a dish where you'd normally use parmesan!
leena !! vegan cheeses are almost always better when melted !! the violife regular cheese block is unbelievably tasty when in a cheese toastie with tomato. and i do have to give my personal favourite a shout out: violifes "greek style", my one and only, goes very sexy in a rice salad and also in risotto, the only one i find perfect when unmelted!
Omg life saver - I have a veggie, a vegan and a lactose intolerant friend coming round for dinner over Christmas (hopefully) so this is the video I need 🥰🤣 (I can't eat pork either so it's an absolute nightmare to cook for us 🤣)
if they're lactose intolerant (and not a dairy allergy) they are some lactose free cheeses made from actual milk cheese that are really good. unicorn brand camembert and lidells tasty are both excellent if they are available in your country.
This is the content I didn’t know I needed. Lately I’ve been making cheese sauces myself with cashews, water, salt, lemon, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard etc … great for pasta bakes, lasanga, cheese sauce for vegetables.
So, these might not be available in the UK (I’m from the US). 1. I really like Chao from Field Roast. It’s not specifically labeled as a cheese but it comes in slices and I just recently found some shredded. It’s great melted but I do occasionally eat it straight from the package. I’ve only tried the creamy original and the smoked flavors. 2. I also like the slices Provolone from Follow Your Heart. I’ve tried several of their other types but didn’t like them as much if I remember correctly. It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind. Their Mayo is good too if you’re looking for a vegan Mayo. 3. Violife Feta is a great alternative to cream cheese. It tastes nothing like feta, but is still a great spreadable cheese alternative. I think I tried one of their sliced cheeses, but I don’t remember which kind but I think it was just ok whichever one it was.
I love Sheese, its made on Bute (scottish island) and it's delish. I've mostly had the cream cheeses but I have faith in them to do it all well. I normally get it from a local health/vegan place but I saw some at sainsbury's recently too! Also shout out to Lidl, they do a vegan feta that tastes bang on what I want it to, textures not as powdery as "real" feta but I don't like the powderyness of feta anyway also they do a parmesan thing now that is good on pastas and stuff like it - it smells perfect too
As a vegan of two years, vegan cheese is rarely what is says on the tin - so often I try one and I'm like "ah ha! You are not what you are labeled, buuuuut you're quite a nice other cheese"
You should Try Follow Your Heart Parmesan Cheese it has an amazing melt!!I am an All-New Vegan Channel with lots of recipes I also use this cheese on my channel "Come Check Me out" and Enjoy Your Day!!
I thoroughly recommend Nush as a cream cheese alternative. I nearly cried when we managed to make a baked cheesecake with it. So good, please try it. Plus they do a chive one thats great in pasta or just as a dip. In terms of block cheese, Asda's own brand mature cheddar imitation is the best I've found found so far (with the bonus of being very reasonably priced). I went dairy free a few years ago when my digestive system revolted so real cheese is more of a distant memory but I have pretty high standards for texture so I hope I'm not too far off. Great video, it was nice to see someone share the disappointment and dismay most vegan cheeses induce!
Good on you for giving these all a go! As a vegan of 1.5 years I have to tell you that in my experience, most supermarket bought vegan cheeses are pretty dreadful when eaten ‘neat’ on a cracker like that. However, when melted, grilled, toasted and put into/onto meals like pizza, lasagne, mac & cheese etc they become MUCH more tolerable. I’m pretty offended by the applewood slander in this video because in a grilled cheese that stuff is DIVINE. Although I will admit it’s not great when un-melted as you tried it. I would recommend the Sheese grated mozzarella for putting on pizzas (if you’re into making your own) but for that true Crackers & Cheese experience I have to recommend a brand called Sophie’s Delight. They are a small, indie, uk based vegan cheese monger who make some incredible stuff. Hers is the only cheese I can eat just plain and on a cracker. It’s a little pricey (£5-8 per wheel),but oh boy is it worth it. I would also say that having the mindset of enjoying vegan cheese for what it is and not in direct comparison to cow’s cheese is absolutely the best way to go. Thanks for a fun video as always, and thanks to your tastebuds for their sacrifice! Xx
I like mild vegan cheeses like violife in my cheese sauces for cooking but haven't yet found a hard vegan cheese that I would enjoy cold, on a cracker or in a sarnie. I do like pretty much every vegan version of philadelphia I have tried though which is great!
I enjoyed this so much! My husband say the title and had to watch it with me. Makes me want to go on a hunt in my local area and see what vegan cheeses I would enjoy.
Leena, I doubt you will see this comment, but I tried fermented tofu for the first time last night and IMMEDIATELY thought of this video and your vegan cheese woes. I think it would make a great addition to the culinary life of any vegan/vegan-curious person who also, at some point in their life, had a fondness for strong, stinky cheeses like stilton. It was very salty and savoury, and sharp in the way that a good strong cheddar is sharp. But it was also soft and a bit creamy like some blue cheeses. And it's totally vegan - just beancurd, with salt and rice wine used to preserve it. The kind I had came packed in chilli oil so it had an additional little zing. But yeah - extremely reminiscent of strong cheese, and actually creamy. Hard recommend!
This is the content I am here for! I have tried a lot of the supermarket cheeses and the only ones I can even tolerate are Follow Your Heart smoked cheddar and Green Vie mozzarella but I still didn’t enjoy them. However when I go to vegan junk food places I usually enjoy the cheese so I need to know what they might use. I am hopeful for improvements in the future considering how far fake meats have come recently!
Love this. My husband and I went out for vegan brunch yesterday and had to remind ourselves multiple times that if we ordered something with “cheese” it wasn’t going to be what we thought. Our main dishes were “cheese” free but we got a nachos appetizer (vegan brunch is weird) and the melted cheese on it was SURPRISINGLY delicious. ALMOST a second coming. I even swiped my finger through it at the end and had it on its own without cringing. (Another key to the cheese was the fact it was mixed with black beans/black bean sauce, which made it extra tasty and maybe hid any of the failings. No idea what “cheese” it was, or even what the base of it was. It might’ve been tofu or potato based? Did you know there is cheese made from potato!? It’s used for saucy cheese.
There's a Swedish vegan nacho cheese sauce called Frankful which is the closest vegan cheese I've ever tasted to dairy cheese. Even my family couldn't tell the difference between that one and real cheese. It's just oil based with some thickening agents
Leena thank you for your service!! I wanna try more vegan cheese but I am... hesitant I'll be honest. The Applewood one I thought was pretty nice as cheese-on-toast, but it still has That Taste (coconut oil?) it's just not as strong when melted. I think I might do better with vcheeses that are cashew/almond based rather than coconut based..... Morrisons is my usual stomping ground but I may make a forray to Tesco at some point to try the not-Halloumi.
The best vegan cheese company for me is "I am nut okay", and I've tried a lot of different kinds from working in a vegan food shop!! I think they sell it at the Fauxmagerie but you can also buy online from the Vegan Supermarket. The best flavours are the "Paparica" and the "Rigottas" (garlic espesh). I promise they will end up in the life changing category.
My favorite vegan cheeses are the soft ones: cashew cream cheese with different herbs, or soy cream cheese with some jam on top 😋 Vegan camembert is coming up, but the ones I've had always have a very stinging aftertaste, while dairy camembert is usually quite smooth. For sliced cheeses I always go for the ones that are cheddar or "intense" flavor, because they tend to actually have a flavor, while the neutral ones might just taste like solid oil. All in all, there is a huge movement in the market and every month new things appear in the store, so it's quite exciting!
I snack on Field Roast Chao cheese by itself where I never did that with regular cheese. Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda is good melted. It isn’t Gouda, but does have a nice melt and is smoky. I like mixing it with Daiya Mozzarella for quesadillas or homemade pizza. But I like mild cheese flavors, so….. XD *shrug* I haven’t tried any if these you mentioned. If I can, I will!!!
Our favorite slices in the u.s. are Field Roast's Chao cheese and Follow Your Heart's smoked Gouda. They're wonderful on a veggie burger or a grilled cheese. For shredded cheese, my favorite is Follow Your Heart mozzarella.
If you can find it for the next test - follow your heart smoked gouda is my sliced cheese go to for straight cheese in sandwich consumption (though I've been vegan for so long now maybe I'm no longer reliable). Applewood only really works if you melt it like many others have said!! My UK supermarket favs are lidl's vegan parmesan, violife's feta cheese and oatly vegan spreadable (I think they've stopped doing the garlic and cucumber one sadly), sheese's garlic cream cheese is a close second. Definitely check out some of lidl's other offerings, they're pretty great considering the price point.
Some more fancy vegan cheeses to try: Tyne Chease, Food by Sumear, New Roots and Nutcrafter Creamery. Definitely want to try the Shoreditch Smoked now! Some of those cheeses are better melted, like violife and applewood - maybe you need to do a toastie challenge too? My rule of thumb is artisan (preferably cashew based) cheeses for crackers, and some supermarket cheeses for melting onto/into hot food.
This is the single most important video I have watched in all of 2021. Very curious to see how the fake halloumi grills, but glad to know that it tastes good anyway. Thank you for sharing your opinion on vegan cheeses, you’re the only person I would trust to give your honest thoughts on it!
Thank you for bringing a little pocket of joy every day this month. Getting some cheese now cuz this many me snacky (not really hungry, but just wanting a schnack)
I would really recommend Mouse's Favourite cheese (although I've only ever seen it online) and the Violife cream cheese...also the Sheese and onion kettle chips are incredible!
i struggle with vegan cheese substitutes, too, and it's refreshing to see someone be honest about this :'D one brand i found i can enjoy is simply v. not sure where and how widely that brand is available, but they have cheese slices which taste really good on buttered bread/toast or in grilled cheese sandwiches, and they have cream cheese substitutes that are quite good in my opinion. also the violife feta isn't too far off the original, though a lot milder than what i'm used to
This is one of the best video ideas I've ever seen. I love cheese, want to eat more vegan stuff but despise coconut. And I am yet to find a vegan cheese which doesn't contain coconut :(
Honestly a lot of vegan cheeses are great if you don’t think of them as cheese, but rather something a bit salty and moorish to put in a sarnie or toastie or even over an oven bake. I think Violife is brilliant though! Try their grated tex mex - my new fave for burritos or anything with a little spice (melts very decently and even has added calcium, which can’t be said for many vegan cheeses yet). I didn’t think Applewood was terrible but then again it has been years since I’ve had the breast milk version of cheese, so my taste buds have changed, and my vegan cheese selection is mostly limited to the German market offering, so there’s a different comparison there. UK residents, you have no idea how lucky you are with the amazing vegan options found in almost every supermarket! Hope you enjoy an amazing vegan Christmas as it has never been easier 🌱🎄
There's a Scottish brand called Sheese (no idea where to get it from in the UK, but it does get imported to Australia so surely can't be too hard to find I hope) that is one of my favourites that I've tried in my 3 years of being vegan and a former cheese lover. Aside from their cheddar which I love, they also do really great feta and cream cheese! For my fellow Aussies, Green Vie is also pretty good!
I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get to see your rating on them melted/cooked. (maybe a comming up episode?) I prefer them melted and at least here in Sweden we have vegan cheese made for different things, like to have on a sandwish, to melt on pizza, to cook as halloumi etc. I'll admit I don't really eat cheese like I used to, those few years I could eat real cheese, but I do really fance vegan cheese in a mix with other stuff. Like in tacos, melted on pizza or lasagna etc. I don't know if you know of the brank "Frankful", but they have a vegan cheese dip, which I find incredible to have on a burger. "Violife" has a "greek white" that's amazing melted on pizza. I also have a tendency to buy their "original flavour" in block form, grate it up, freeze and just take a handful to whatever warm dish I want. That one is also great in cold form, having a creamy texture. Also "parveggio" from the brand "Green Vie" might seem a lil weird on it's own (tastes dry and with the super thin grating, it seems almost sand like..) but, it's great in tacos, especially if you prefer your taco sausy, since it integrates greatly with the sauses. It also melts with the warm non meat.
Everyone needs to try Green Vie vegan cheese! Tesco do the mozzarella, but they do a smoked, cheddar, parmesan and loads more! Please if you find it try it as I've served it to loads of my non vegan friends who have all liked it! I wish more people knew about it!
The Cathedral City Plant Based Cheddar block is the one! It's like an extra mature crumbly cheddar, quite pungent cheesy flavour, amazing just raw on crackers or in sandwiches or left to melt on top of anything hot. It's head and shoulders above anything else I've tried to fill that cheese void with, for sure. And available in supermarkets.
I switched to vegan cheese a couple of years ago - mostly Violife, when I felt that it had (finally!) become acceptable to a cheese lover. Have you tried Cathedral City - that may convince you, if not already! I agree about the Applewood, though, can't understand why it gets such high praise...
In Portland, OR there is an amazing artisan cheese shop/brand called cultured kindness. They make more spreadable vegan cheeses but are so good and very close to real cheese! I think that they are the only brand of vegan cheese that my family ever eats just on a cracker instead of melted in some way. We always buy them for any sort of dinner party. If you ever come to Portland again I highly recommend seeking them out!
SO sad you didn't like the applewood one, but then again I never eat it out the packet, melted on a toastie is where it shines. Try the mature chedder and blue cheeses from the Ilchester brand (found in tesco) if you can. The Ilchester mature is my current favourite and I can eat it on its own fine.
I love the Sheese coconut and cranberry vegan cheese, I think it's delicious. I couldn't eat JUST that cheese for the rest of my life, but I'd happily have it on a cheese platter along with other regular cheeses.
I'm not sure if it's available where you are (I live in the states) and it's a bit pricey, but Miyoko's Creamery has some pretty damn good vegan cheeses. I haven't tried all of their offerings, jut what I found in my local grocers, but my favorite is their Double Cream Sundried Tomato Garlic Cashew Milk Cheese. It's soft and spreadable, and super tasty. Also the Aged Smoked English Farmhouse Cashew Milk Cheese. It's firmer and VERY smoky. I served it to some friends once and they weren't a fan because it was too smoky for them. I've also tried the Classic Chive, which was also good, but if I'm spending the money (usually $9-10 usd per wheel) I opt for the first two. Here's hoping you find your second coming cheese!
I find cream cheese alternatives to be the best in terms of actually imitating the real thing, and also in terms of actually tasting great too. Even supermarket ones (with the exception of - if I'm remembering correctly - morrisons) are cheap and actually very good!
In my experience, very few vegan cheeses taste great on their own the way you've tried them. Also, there's a big difference between vegan cheeses that are meant to be melted and ones that aren't because you typically can't substitute one for the other. I don't live in the UK, so I'm not sure what your options are like, but my favorites that are available around me are: Follow Your Heart parmesan, Follow Your Heart feta, Violife feta, Violife cheddar (for melting on sandwiches), and most Daiya cheeses for melting (Daiya has a bad reputation because of their old formula, but their new formula is actually very good, especially for things like pizza). I have yet to find a proper vegan hard cheese substitute; the ones I've tried from Treeline taste more like cream cheese, and they're quite tasty, but not the same. In general, I don't trust vegan cheese substitutes made by grocery store brands haha. Great video though, and I hope eventually you find something you do like! Cheese is definitely a hard one to let go of :)
Kite hill- cream cheese and ricotta (expensive but worth it) and the Chao field roast tomato/cayenne is decent and a little cheaper than kite hill. The best queso replacement is by siete hands down- siete also makes grain free tortillas, chips, and hot sauces and they're all amazing
I've been vegan for a hawt minute and I love this, I've been meaning to try Fauxmagerie literally since they opened, but I'm glad I'm not missing too much aha! I'm weirdly happy that you didn't like the applewood one, because it seems to be a super popular amongst vegans and I really don't get it and avoid it at all costs. However, some vegan cheeses that I have actually come to enjoy if you're needing any recommendations are the violife cheddar slices (love them in a good sammich and with burgers (that's the yellow one not the orange one, the orange one can go to hell)), the sainsburys own garlic and herb spread (jus gorgeous) and the vitalite block and m&s own brand block are my faves
I went to La Fauxmagerie in Spitalfields last time I was in London and DEAR LORD it was good! As much as I've grown used to violife, I'm gonna struggle knowing there's such other deliciousness in the world. However, I am saying that as someone who hasn't had cheese in 7 years. That brixton blue really hit the spot. Lots of the supermarket grated options are decent, but melted is the way to go! x
Loved this taste test! I am sadly lactose intolerant so I can only dream of indulging in a real cheesy treat. However I have found some pretty good alternatives! Shamembert (top name) and veganzola (blue 'cheese') by Honestly Tasty are the ones I always go back to! Really nice and no weird textures or after-tastes!
I think that someone has already said this, but the Applewood Smoked is vastly improved when melted on toast and the Green Vie Mozzarella alternative from Tesco is great for a milder melty cheese, and most of the cream cheese alternatives are enjoyable. I found the Tesco halloumi alternative got gluey when cooked, so maybe the key is to keep it cold! Hopeful for future improvements though, as I'm still waiting for a good Cheese on Crackers worthy alternative
This was a really fun video!! I haven't tried many vegan cheeses, I usually stick to Sheeze's shredded mozzarella and Applewood's smoked cheese slices to melt on top of burgers. I will say as someone who is pretty new to Veganism (6 months or so in) and was a former cheese addict, to those who think giving up cheese would be too hard, I say with love...get over yourself lol. Learn recipes that are super yummy that happen to not have cheese. You gotta keep in perspective that the inconvenience of giving up cheese, no matter how yummy, is incomparable to the amount of suffering animals in dairy industry go through. Learn recipes and remember your ethics ✌
Does Miyoko’s ship/sell in the UK? If so, GET ON IT. I’m vegan and generally pretty wary of alt cheese but goddamn the cheese wheels are a godsend. The texture ranges from crumbly to creamy depending on the flavor (so don’t expect a hard cheese) BUT the taste is 🤤. The smoke house or English cheddar bites you back in the way no vegan cheddar has before. Honorable mentions, Treeline’s any flavor and Have a Heart’s Smoked Gouda. These all give me hope for the vegan cheese technology of the future ✨
vegan cheese, i find, is a most always passable when melted but terrible when cold. It also only works as a condiment, like a small addition to the meal rather than a main part of it. Not sure what brands you have in the UK but my favorite veg cheese brand is follow your heart!
Violife actually has a pretty good haloumi and their smoked or regular slices are good for a sandwich. I do think Daiya is one of the better, if not best from the bigger brands. Lately I've had several experiences with smaller brands or home made cheeses at restaurants that are surprisingly cheesy. I have certainly noticed that in the last year there's a lot more vegan cheese popping up than in the 6 or so years I've been vegan. And although they're clearly not dairy they are getting closer to giving you that true cheesy taste and experience. However, with dairy cheese containing casein (which is quite literally addictive) it will most likely never be as addictive as dairy cheese. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the haloumi when you've fried it.
Try the applewood cheese in slices with a vegan burger! It's great when it melts but wouldn't eat it in chunks. I've sadly yet to find amazing vegan options for a cheese board style meal. One day 😅
My favourite cheese as an aspiring vegan is Morrisons V Taste mature cheddar. Its £2, sometimes on offer and i eat it all the time when at home. Goes well on crackers, grated on meals and in a sandwich. Havent tried it melted in ages, but think it was okay in a toastie. Might be worth giving it a go!
I live in Sweden so I'm not sure the same kinds of cheeses exist here as you have but I did a similar thing where I bought all vegan cheeses I could find from like 2 stores and tried them all. I found a few okay ones. This was however like a year or so ago. So no guarantees all these still even exist. But I liked Oatly spreads (I tried spreads too) Emborg vegan cheese slices were okay, Simply V (almond vegan cheese slices) were probably my favorite out of the ones I tried Also Violife creamy spread was good. There are now more alternatives where I live so maybe I should compare them again. I might find other ones I like. ☺️
I quite like the Epic Mature cheese actually. It's one of the sharpest vegan cheeses I've tried. I'm not sure what's available in the UK, but I love Kite Hill, like with my whole heart. Great cream cheese and ricotta. Like, the only actually edible cream cheese for me. And I love Miyokos mozzarella, though I'm not super into their more flavored ones, for me they can be very potent, and I love highly seasoned food. They do have a pretty good pepper jack though. I also love the Follow Your Heart parmesan. I often stick some miyokos mozz, fyh parm, and pasta sauce on the kite hill mushroom and ricotta ravioli and it's bomb. Just today I had a burger with bleu cheese crumbles on it that was quite good. I think it might have been the follow your heart bleu cheese. Follow Your Heart also has a good smoked gouda. And if I'm making mac and cheese, I actually quite like the daiya cheddar shreds, though I often mix whatever I have. They're pretty good on nachos too and I sometimes mix it with either their or miyokos pepper jack. They melt well. Honestly, it's about picking out the individual cheeses you like best because within a single brand it can be hit and miss, but I've found a lot I really like and some I even love. I LOVE a caprese toast with miyokos mozz, for example. End overlong post.
I went cold "cheese" (turkey) after going vegan as the options 5 years ago were so bad that I just couldn't face trying them! Now the options are sooo much better and I've forgotten how good cheese is that the substitutes are amazing to me now!! Really enjoyed this video though - interesting insite from a cheese eater in to how good they actually are 😅
Have you tried nutritional yeast? As a sworn cheese eater I rather enjoyed it. It's a weird mixture of cheese like taste and crisp like texture but I could see it fulfilling my cheese needs if necessary.
Sheeze is the best vegan cheese brand I've found! Their garlic and herb cream cheese is like Boursin, so good 😍 They also do a great mature block and pre grated stuff that melts really well. Also any cashew based cheese is normally amazing because it's so fatty and delicious. You can also make a really great cheese sauce using nutritional yeast.
I think it’s really hard to taste them while still eating dairy. I remember that violife used to taste like coconut to me but now the mature one is my favourite! Closest to a British cheddar. Like other people have mentioned too, you don’t eat cheese straight like that, I mean Quorn could taste weird too, but in a meal you barely notice the difference! I feel like cheese is something that people find hard to give up when transitioning but if you have the right convintions I’m sure anyone can give it up! 3 minutes of pleasure don’t justify everything that’s behind
The camemvert is best baked stuffed with garlic & rosemary, sheese is great for cream cheeses, the garlic rigotta from 'I am nut ok' is amazing, and for parmesan on pasta the gondino aged from pangea foods is the holy grail! Unfortunately I think it's quite hard to have a lot of vegan cheeses and not hate them while actively eating dairy cheese, unless you just don't think of it as cheese. It took me a couple months from going vegan to start really liking it, now I'm a regular at La Fauxmagerie - I still don't love the tesco stuff unless it's melted on a burger!
Like others, I'm surprised the Applewood went down so badly! If you like a bit of spice, I'd reccommend Mexicana. I've made nachos with it and it was great
You should Try Follow Your Heart Parmesan Cheese it has an amazing melt!!I am an All-New Vegan Channel with lots of recipes I also use this cheese on my channel "Come Check Me out" and Enjoy Your Day!!
Love this video! I really like violife so I laughed when I saw it was given the pedestrian ranking. 😂 That being said, Miyoko’s Creamery is another vegan cheese that I’m a fan of! Their garlic herb cheese and smoked farmhouse are some faves. It’s a bit pricier so it’s definitely a splurge buy. I’m not in the UK so I’m not sure if it’s available there but I hope it is! :)
Violifes parmesan, especially the block one is quite good, doesn't taste as much but u still get the vibes. And Kiera Rose did a video on Tyne chease a few years ago!
In the US, we have Chao by Field Roast. I'm not sure where else it's available, but it's really good! A close second would have to be Follow Your Heart (especially the smoked gouda slices)
Yes! The trick to vegan alts is not comparing to originals but just enjoying them as a delicious food item that fills the niche of the original in a meal or snack. Like there's some vegan sausages here that are super delicious - do they taste like meat? Probably not but are they delicious, have some protein, and make a nice meal? Absolutely. Same with cheese - I'll pick different options if it's for having on a cracker vs having on a pizza/pasta dish vs in a sandwich vs crumbled on a salad, etc... None of my favourite options are super truly cheese tasting but they taste nice and have the right texture/mouthfeel to make me miss cheese a bit less. And I find the ones that are trying to taste most like cheese fail in both tasting like good cheese and tasting delicious. I'd rather something super delicious that's vaguely cheese-ish rather than the other way around!
I think most vegan cheeses go well inside meals - like lasagne, pasta, etc - rather than on just bread. For that we have hummus.
'Peak vegan' is when you give up and just put hummus on the lasagne too 😄
I'm finding something similar! Like I don't love violife slices or quorn ham on their own, but together in a sandwich they are more the sum of their parts, yknow?
She's eating them on crackers, which, cheese and crackers are a legitimate thing
I won’t stand for this Applewood slander. It melts so well and is perfect on top on pasta or in a toastie. Also violife Greek style is a delicious feta replacement for salads etc
Violife greek style is good but i don't think it ressembles feta, to me it s more like a goats cheese replacement
Second this!!! Applewood makes the best toastie cheese.
The only vegan cheese I’ve ever eaten straight was daiya cheddar cheeze sticks? Which I actually like hahaha they’re a nice lil snack.
I’ve definitely found plenty of decent to good vegan cream cheeses. They may not be delicious but they do the job! Violife is usually great melted for something like pizza or grilled cheese. Here in the US I love a chao cheese for grilled cheese or burgers.
Cashew based cheeses are best for a Mac and cheese ❤️ and I’ve still never found anything suitable for a proper quesadilla which is devastating lmao
You should Try Follow Your Heart Parmesan Cheese it has an amazing melt!!I am an All-New Vegan Channel with lots of recipes I also use this cheese on my channel "Come Check Me out" and Enjoy Your Day!!
I like the violife cheddar shreds in a quesadilla, but it’s been a while since I’ve had an actual quesadilla so make of that what you will 🤷
Tiffany, violife cheddar shreds works wonders in quesadillas!!
If you don't have a good cashew cheese or melting cheese you can really easily make a béchamel sauce yourself. With cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, oat milk and little bit of salt. Which probably would give similar results to a mac and cheese. Especially if you'd also add some corn flour or another thickening agent.
Follow Your Heart cheddar shreds (in my opinion) are good for quesadillas!
Generally, I find most vegan cheeses better when melted. A lot of the pre sliced ones in tesco are infinity more paletteble when grilled
"that cheese was a Mr. Wickham." OMG you just made my life with this quote.
omg I can't believe the applewood one got so much hate, IMHO it's one of the best out there I buy it all the time!! Maybe I've been vegan so long I've forgotten what real cheese tastes like but I swear it's nice!!!! Justice for applewood
I'm only a few minutes into the video so I haven't seen the applewood section but can confirm that the smokey applewood is my fave. I'm definitely looking forward to having that in my Christmas dinner cheese board!
Saame!
I haven't had real cheese in so long that vegan cheese doesn't taste that bad to me anymore. That is the trick!
That’s what I was going to say too:) I’ve been vegan for a few years now. At first every vegan cheese tasted like coconut and I thought it was horrible, but leaving it a few months and then trying again really made a big difference and now I really enjoy, particularly the epic mature one and applewood ones featured here, there is also a great Greek style cheese which is my favourite, think is also vio life from memory, is supposed to be like feta but I would say is more like creamy goats cheese. Also, Leena, I love the comparison of a cheese to Mr Wickham 🤣
Definitely. I hated them all at first, but you give it a few months, forget what cheese is like and then it only gets better from there. Applewood and the epic mature are definitely the best there are at the moment - at least readily available on the market.
@@elizabethh9950 I miss goats cheese so much. 6years to be exact. Please tell me more about cheese that tastes similar to it. Name brand and where to get it. I blender my own cashew cheese with dill and fermented cabbage.
@@joannakowalska9247 hiya I checked and the one I’m talking about is called violife Greek white block - I’m in the UK and have bought it in supermarkets but not always available. Hope you can find it and like it!
Vegan for 5 years. I probably eat faux cheese….4 times a year? And never in a cheese-forward dish. Works fine for me
Everyone :CHRISTMAS !!!!
Leena : CHEESE
Is anyone else worried about Leena being stuck with 8 packages of mediocre vegan cheese. I hope she had a wine and "cheese" party!
I had some very sad sandwiches for lunch every day for a WHILE
Violife 'Greek style' aka feta is actually really good, nice creamy texture and really good taste imo. My work uses sheeze smoked and that's also quite nice when melted. A lot of these cheeses are better melted/grated over hot food
Vegan cheese is almost always way too "cheesy" compared with actual cheese. I quite like Sainsbury's free from "cream cheese", that's a really solid substitute from the real deal. Also purezza do a melty "mozzarella" that is really stellar - it's only available online from purezza themselves but it keeps for a fair bit (and fits in a standard jam jar for open packet fridge storage).
If any of y’all are wondering whether purrezza’s pizzas are good the answer is a resounding yes, some A+ Neapolitan
I hope the UK gets Miyoko’s at some point because it’s truly life changing. It’s expensive so it’s less good if you need a replacement for regular cheese eating, but if you only buy cheese occasionally as a special treat it’s so worth it.
If you’re a home cook, miyoko published several cheese recipes in her book homemade vegan pantry. Pretty sure you can freeze them too
i know nothing about it, but judging purely from the look of that last one in the jar, i think it might be imitating an olive-oil-marinated goats cheese! i’m not sure about overseas but it’s VERY popular in australia and that last cheese in the jar looks exactly like how it comes.
Agreed! I've seen that in the US at a farmer's market and it looks exactly the same.
There are MANY offensive vegan cheeses, but part of me thinks its just habit??? Everything I like to eat is habit, and there's stuff I eat just cos I've always eaten it and loved it, so habitual eating of vegan cheese might make it appeal more long-term
Yes, yes, and yes! For example, I LOVE Kraft Mac & cheese. Is it tasty? Absolutely not, but I grew up eating it and so I love it. Vegan boxed Macs definitely do the trick for my cravings 😂
Fancy finding you here 👀
My favourite vegan cheese brand is Sheese. I've never eaten real cheese so I have no idea if it tastes like the real stuff, but it has a nice strong flavour and a crumbly texture which I like. I live in Australia but I assume as it's made in Scotland it's available in the UK! 😊
Never eaten real cheese? Curious how that works. Were you raised by vegans? (Hopefully this doesn't come across as rude.)
@@pig3292 not rude at all! Yes I was raised vegan 😊
seconded! another Aussie who loves Sheese here :) It holds up pretty well against real cheese imo, at least for vegan cheese
As a former dairy cheese addict I always thought I could never give it up but I kept feeling guilty about it every time I ate it, so in 2017 I went fully vegan. I tried a few supermarket vegan cheeses at the beginning but didn't find any that did the trick so I just haven't really bought any over the last 3 years. I only ever eat vegan cheese when I order food from vegan places like burgers or pizza and those I usually really enjoy! I found my favorite ones are made from cashew nuts :)
Yes getting house made is the bomb
I just sat down with my cheese and crackers for lunch without knowing what today's video would be, and now it's like we're just two pals eating cheese together and I love it
I loved this! I'm a former dairy cheese obsessive who has now been vegan for a good few years, and I have recently discovered a few fancy nut cheeses that I do think are genuinely delicous, they just tend to be super expensive unfortunately - like around £7-£10 - so have to be a much rarer treat than dairy cheese used to be. I can really recommend the G.O.A.T cheese by I Am Nut Okay, the Camblue by Mouse's Favourite (delicous cross between camembert and a mild blue) and the Truffled Camemvert by Palace Culture (not off-puttingly truffley imo). They obvs don't taste exactly like the dairy equivalents but I think they hit all the right creamy and umami notes and have the proper funky fermentation/mould taste of each cheese mixed with the mild taste of cashews. I have also become a sucker for violife even though it is objectively a weird stinky rubber
Where do u shop for the tasty vegan cheese?
@@joannakowalska9247 I get them form health food shops like planet organic and there's also a vegan cafe and deli near me that sells them. I live in London so they're probably easier to access here then other places but i'm pretty sure they can all be found online too!
I don't love vegan cheese but find it's ok when eaten with something else (like as one of half a dozen lasagna layers or as one of 9 ingredients in a burrito). The flavor is less offensive but it does add the creamy satisfying component to those dishes! Or when it's mixed into a salad or in a sandwich, which cuts the "lard-like" aspect of it. I think if people replaced the cheese in their cooking or dishes and saved the real cheese for a treat when it's not mixed with other stuff, that's already a really good step! Otherwise I don't really buy cheese but maaaybe, once or twice a year, if I'm really craving it I might.
ETA to say that I really recommend nutritional yeast, which is NOT cheese and shouldn't claim to be, but it's a really good element when you want to sprinkle something sharp on top of a dish where you'd normally use parmesan!
leena !! vegan cheeses are almost always better when melted !! the violife regular cheese block is unbelievably tasty when in a cheese toastie with tomato. and i do have to give my personal favourite a shout out: violifes "greek style", my one and only, goes very sexy in a rice salad and also in risotto, the only one i find perfect when unmelted!
Omg life saver - I have a veggie, a vegan and
a lactose intolerant friend coming round for dinner over Christmas (hopefully) so this is the video I need 🥰🤣 (I can't eat pork either so it's an absolute nightmare to cook for us 🤣)
if they're lactose intolerant (and not a dairy allergy) they are some lactose free cheeses made from actual milk cheese that are really good. unicorn brand camembert and lidells tasty are both excellent if they are available in your country.
it sounds like a vegan meal will be suitable for all of you, i dont see how thats a nightmare lol
Loved this video Leena! But please try the Camembert in the oven with some rosemary and crusty bread- it’s so much better! X
This is the content I didn’t know I needed. Lately I’ve been making cheese sauces myself with cashews, water, salt, lemon, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard etc … great for pasta bakes, lasanga, cheese sauce for vegetables.
Try adding polish fermented cabbage Krakus brand, or Krakus pickled dill gherkins.
So, these might not be available in the UK (I’m from the US).
1. I really like Chao from Field Roast. It’s not specifically labeled as a cheese but it comes in slices and I just recently found some shredded. It’s great melted but I do occasionally eat it straight from the package. I’ve only tried the creamy original and the smoked flavors.
2. I also like the slices Provolone from Follow Your Heart. I’ve tried several of their other types but didn’t like them as much if I remember correctly. It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind. Their Mayo is good too if you’re looking for a vegan Mayo.
3. Violife Feta is a great alternative to cream cheese. It tastes nothing like feta, but is still a great spreadable cheese alternative. I think I tried one of their sliced cheeses, but I don’t remember which kind but I think it was just ok whichever one it was.
I love Sheese, its made on Bute (scottish island) and it's delish. I've mostly had the cream cheeses but I have faith in them to do it all well. I normally get it from a local health/vegan place but I saw some at sainsbury's recently too! Also shout out to Lidl, they do a vegan feta that tastes bang on what I want it to, textures not as powdery as "real" feta but I don't like the powderyness of feta anyway also they do a parmesan thing now that is good on pastas and stuff like it - it smells perfect too
As a vegan of two years, vegan cheese is rarely what is says on the tin - so often I try one and I'm like "ah ha! You are not what you are labeled, buuuuut you're quite a nice other cheese"
I highly recommend making your own cheese!!! Cashews and nutritional yeast are marvelous things.
You should Try Follow Your Heart Parmesan Cheese it has an amazing melt!!I am an All-New Vegan Channel with lots of recipes I also use this cheese on my channel "Come Check Me out" and Enjoy Your Day!!
I don’t even like cheese and I’m ravenous for a Leena video
I thoroughly recommend Nush as a cream cheese alternative. I nearly cried when we managed to make a baked cheesecake with it. So good, please try it. Plus they do a chive one thats great in pasta or just as a dip. In terms of block cheese, Asda's own brand mature cheddar imitation is the best I've found found so far (with the bonus of being very reasonably priced). I went dairy free a few years ago when my digestive system revolted so real cheese is more of a distant memory but I have pretty high standards for texture so I hope I'm not too far off. Great video, it was nice to see someone share the disappointment and dismay most vegan cheeses induce!
Good on you for giving these all a go! As a vegan of 1.5 years I have to tell you that in my experience, most supermarket bought vegan cheeses are pretty dreadful when eaten ‘neat’ on a cracker like that. However, when melted, grilled, toasted and put into/onto meals like pizza, lasagne, mac & cheese etc they become MUCH more tolerable. I’m pretty offended by the applewood slander in this video because in a grilled cheese that stuff is DIVINE. Although I will admit it’s not great when un-melted as you tried it. I would recommend the Sheese grated mozzarella for putting on pizzas (if you’re into making your own) but for that true Crackers & Cheese experience I have to recommend a brand called Sophie’s Delight. They are a small, indie, uk based vegan cheese monger who make some incredible stuff. Hers is the only cheese I can eat just plain and on a cracker. It’s a little pricey (£5-8 per wheel),but oh boy is it worth it. I would also say that having the mindset of enjoying vegan cheese for what it is and not in direct comparison to cow’s cheese is absolutely the best way to go. Thanks for a fun video as always, and thanks to your tastebuds for their sacrifice! Xx
I like mild vegan cheeses like violife in my cheese sauces for cooking but haven't yet found a hard vegan cheese that I would enjoy cold, on a cracker or in a sarnie. I do like pretty much every vegan version of philadelphia I have tried though which is great!
Have you tried Violife parmesan cheese? It’s really good!
@@enasghaly7722 ooh sounds good! I've never seen it in my local shop thoigh sadly, I might look out for it online!
This definitely cheered me up today. I fell over laughing several times. You are a brave soul!
I enjoyed this so much! My husband say the title and had to watch it with me. Makes me want to go on a hunt in my local area and see what vegan cheeses I would enjoy.
wow cool leopard tattoo :) I might try a vegan cheese if I came across one. Thanks for the video.
Leena, I doubt you will see this comment, but I tried fermented tofu for the first time last night and IMMEDIATELY thought of this video and your vegan cheese woes. I think it would make a great addition to the culinary life of any vegan/vegan-curious person who also, at some point in their life, had a fondness for strong, stinky cheeses like stilton.
It was very salty and savoury, and sharp in the way that a good strong cheddar is sharp. But it was also soft and a bit creamy like some blue cheeses. And it's totally vegan - just beancurd, with salt and rice wine used to preserve it. The kind I had came packed in chilli oil so it had an additional little zing. But yeah - extremely reminiscent of strong cheese, and actually creamy. Hard recommend!
This is the content I am here for! I have tried a lot of the supermarket cheeses and the only ones I can even tolerate are Follow Your Heart smoked cheddar and Green Vie mozzarella but I still didn’t enjoy them. However when I go to vegan junk food places I usually enjoy the cheese so I need to know what they might use. I am hopeful for improvements in the future considering how far fake meats have come recently!
Love this. My husband and I went out for vegan brunch yesterday and had to remind ourselves multiple times that if we ordered something with “cheese” it wasn’t going to be what we thought. Our main dishes were “cheese” free but we got a nachos appetizer (vegan brunch is weird) and the melted cheese on it was SURPRISINGLY delicious. ALMOST a second coming. I even swiped my finger through it at the end and had it on its own without cringing. (Another key to the cheese was the fact it was mixed with black beans/black bean sauce, which made it extra tasty and maybe hid any of the failings.
No idea what “cheese” it was, or even what the base of it was. It might’ve been tofu or potato based? Did you know there is cheese made from potato!? It’s used for saucy cheese.
There's a Swedish vegan nacho cheese sauce called Frankful which is the closest vegan cheese I've ever tasted to dairy cheese. Even my family couldn't tell the difference between that one and real cheese. It's just oil based with some thickening agents
Leena thank you for your service!! I wanna try more vegan cheese but I am... hesitant I'll be honest. The Applewood one I thought was pretty nice as cheese-on-toast, but it still has That Taste (coconut oil?) it's just not as strong when melted. I think I might do better with vcheeses that are cashew/almond based rather than coconut based..... Morrisons is my usual stomping ground but I may make a forray to Tesco at some point to try the not-Halloumi.
The best vegan cheese company for me is "I am nut okay", and I've tried a lot of different kinds from working in a vegan food shop!!
I think they sell it at the Fauxmagerie but you can also buy online from the Vegan Supermarket. The best flavours are the "Paparica" and the "Rigottas" (garlic espesh). I promise they will end up in the life changing category.
My favorite vegan cheeses are the soft ones: cashew cream cheese with different herbs, or soy cream cheese with some jam on top 😋
Vegan camembert is coming up, but the ones I've had always have a very stinging aftertaste, while dairy camembert is usually quite smooth.
For sliced cheeses I always go for the ones that are cheddar or "intense" flavor, because they tend to actually have a flavor, while the neutral ones might just taste like solid oil.
All in all, there is a huge movement in the market and every month new things appear in the store, so it's quite exciting!
So happy you're doing all these videos! Thank you thank you for the cheer!
Am I going to buy any of those cheeses? No. Did I crank up the volume to 100 so I can hear you over me munching on chips? YES.
I snack on Field Roast Chao cheese by itself where I never did that with regular cheese. Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda is good melted. It isn’t Gouda, but does have a nice melt and is smoky. I like mixing it with Daiya Mozzarella for quesadillas or homemade pizza. But I like mild cheese flavors, so….. XD *shrug*
I haven’t tried any if these you mentioned. If I can, I will!!!
Our favorite slices in the u.s. are Field Roast's Chao cheese and Follow Your Heart's smoked Gouda. They're wonderful on a veggie burger or a grilled cheese. For shredded cheese, my favorite is Follow Your Heart mozzarella.
If you can find it for the next test - follow your heart smoked gouda is my sliced cheese go to for straight cheese in sandwich consumption (though I've been vegan for so long now maybe I'm no longer reliable). Applewood only really works if you melt it like many others have said!!
My UK supermarket favs are lidl's vegan parmesan, violife's feta cheese and oatly vegan spreadable (I think they've stopped doing the garlic and cucumber one sadly), sheese's garlic cream cheese is a close second. Definitely check out some of lidl's other offerings, they're pretty great considering the price point.
Some more fancy vegan cheeses to try: Tyne Chease, Food by Sumear, New Roots and Nutcrafter Creamery.
Definitely want to try the Shoreditch Smoked now!
Some of those cheeses are better melted, like violife and applewood - maybe you need to do a toastie challenge too?
My rule of thumb is artisan (preferably cashew based) cheeses for crackers, and some supermarket cheeses for melting onto/into hot food.
I just have to acknowledge the creativity of your ranking names. They are just 👌 vegan chef's kiss.
This is the single most important video I have watched in all of 2021. Very curious to see how the fake halloumi grills, but glad to know that it tastes good anyway. Thank you for sharing your opinion on vegan cheeses, you’re the only person I would trust to give your honest thoughts on it!
Tyne chease is the best! It's a cashew based cheese that comes in fancy boxes like camembert with different flavours! Highly recommend
So interesting !!
In France I love the blue cheese from Jay&Joy and I heard Tom pousse is nice as well
Thank you for bringing a little pocket of joy every day this month. Getting some cheese now cuz this many me snacky (not really hungry, but just wanting a schnack)
I would really recommend Mouse's Favourite cheese (although I've only ever seen it online) and the Violife cream cheese...also the Sheese and onion kettle chips are incredible!
i struggle with vegan cheese substitutes, too, and it's refreshing to see someone be honest about this :'D
one brand i found i can enjoy is simply v. not sure where and how widely that brand is available, but they have cheese slices which taste really good on buttered bread/toast or in grilled cheese sandwiches, and they have cream cheese substitutes that are quite good in my opinion. also the violife feta isn't too far off the original, though a lot milder than what i'm used to
This is one of the best video ideas I've ever seen.
I love cheese, want to eat more vegan stuff but despise coconut. And I am yet to find a vegan cheese which doesn't contain coconut :(
Honestly a lot of vegan cheeses are great if you don’t think of them as cheese, but rather something a bit salty and moorish to put in a sarnie or toastie or even over an oven bake. I think Violife is brilliant though! Try their grated tex mex - my new fave for burritos or anything with a little spice (melts very decently and even has added calcium, which can’t be said for many vegan cheeses yet). I didn’t think Applewood was terrible but then again it has been years since I’ve had the breast milk version of cheese, so my taste buds have changed, and my vegan cheese selection is mostly limited to the German market offering, so there’s a different comparison there. UK residents, you have no idea how lucky you are with the amazing vegan options found in almost every supermarket! Hope you enjoy an amazing vegan Christmas as it has never been easier 🌱🎄
Love this taste test! I’m so looking forward to these videos! 💜
There's a Scottish brand called Sheese (no idea where to get it from in the UK, but it does get imported to Australia so surely can't be too hard to find I hope) that is one of my favourites that I've tried in my 3 years of being vegan and a former cheese lover. Aside from their cheddar which I love, they also do really great feta and cream cheese!
For my fellow Aussies, Green Vie is also pretty good!
I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get to see your rating on them melted/cooked. (maybe a comming up episode?) I prefer them melted and at least here in Sweden we have vegan cheese made for different things, like to have on a sandwish, to melt on pizza, to cook as halloumi etc. I'll admit I don't really eat cheese like I used to, those few years I could eat real cheese, but I do really fance vegan cheese in a mix with other stuff. Like in tacos, melted on pizza or lasagna etc. I don't know if you know of the brank "Frankful", but they have a vegan cheese dip, which I find incredible to have on a burger. "Violife" has a "greek white" that's amazing melted on pizza. I also have a tendency to buy their "original flavour" in block form, grate it up, freeze and just take a handful to whatever warm dish I want. That one is also great in cold form, having a creamy texture. Also "parveggio" from the brand "Green Vie" might seem a lil weird on it's own (tastes dry and with the super thin grating, it seems almost sand like..) but, it's great in tacos, especially if you prefer your taco sausy, since it integrates greatly with the sauses. It also melts with the warm non meat.
Everyone needs to try Green Vie vegan cheese! Tesco do the mozzarella, but they do a smoked, cheddar, parmesan and loads more! Please if you find it try it as I've served it to loads of my non vegan friends who have all liked it! I wish more people knew about it!
The Cathedral City Plant Based Cheddar block is the one! It's like an extra mature crumbly cheddar, quite pungent cheesy flavour, amazing just raw on crackers or in sandwiches or left to melt on top of anything hot. It's head and shoulders above anything else I've tried to fill that cheese void with, for sure. And available in supermarkets.
I switched to vegan cheese a couple of years ago - mostly Violife, when I felt that it had (finally!) become acceptable to a cheese lover. Have you tried Cathedral City - that may convince you, if not already! I agree about the Applewood, though, can't understand why it gets such high praise...
In Portland, OR there is an amazing artisan cheese shop/brand called cultured kindness. They make more spreadable vegan cheeses but are so good and very close to real cheese! I think that they are the only brand of vegan cheese that my family ever eats just on a cracker instead of melted in some way. We always buy them for any sort of dinner party. If you ever come to Portland again I highly recommend seeking them out!
The thumbnail is perfection
SO sad you didn't like the applewood one, but then again I never eat it out the packet, melted on a toastie is where it shines. Try the mature chedder and blue cheeses from the Ilchester brand (found in tesco) if you can. The Ilchester mature is my current favourite and I can eat it on its own fine.
I love the Sheese coconut and cranberry vegan cheese, I think it's delicious. I couldn't eat JUST that cheese for the rest of my life, but I'd happily have it on a cheese platter along with other regular cheeses.
I'm not sure if it's available where you are (I live in the states) and it's a bit pricey, but Miyoko's Creamery has some pretty damn good vegan cheeses. I haven't tried all of their offerings, jut what I found in my local grocers, but my favorite is their Double Cream Sundried Tomato Garlic Cashew Milk Cheese. It's soft and spreadable, and super tasty. Also the Aged Smoked English Farmhouse Cashew Milk Cheese. It's firmer and VERY smoky. I served it to some friends once and they weren't a fan because it was too smoky for them. I've also tried the Classic Chive, which was also good, but if I'm spending the money (usually $9-10 usd per wheel) I opt for the first two. Here's hoping you find your second coming cheese!
Loving the thumbnail!! And the video funny as always
I find cream cheese alternatives to be the best in terms of actually imitating the real thing, and also in terms of actually tasting great too. Even supermarket ones (with the exception of - if I'm remembering correctly - morrisons) are cheap and actually very good!
Yep sainsburys and asda cream cheese is so good. Especially asda cream cheese with chive and garlic. So good 😋
In my experience, very few vegan cheeses taste great on their own the way you've tried them. Also, there's a big difference between vegan cheeses that are meant to be melted and ones that aren't because you typically can't substitute one for the other. I don't live in the UK, so I'm not sure what your options are like, but my favorites that are available around me are: Follow Your Heart parmesan, Follow Your Heart feta, Violife feta, Violife cheddar (for melting on sandwiches), and most Daiya cheeses for melting (Daiya has a bad reputation because of their old formula, but their new formula is actually very good, especially for things like pizza). I have yet to find a proper vegan hard cheese substitute; the ones I've tried from Treeline taste more like cream cheese, and they're quite tasty, but not the same. In general, I don't trust vegan cheese substitutes made by grocery store brands haha. Great video though, and I hope eventually you find something you do like! Cheese is definitely a hard one to let go of :)
There's a Swiss brand called New Roots which makes amazing cheese and spreads. They came out with a vegan fondue this year and it's so good!!
I looooooove the New Roots cheese! 😍
Ahhh thank you for the recommendation! I've seen those spreads in the supermarkets but haven't been brave enough to try. Now I will :) Merci!
@@LunarLugh highly recommend. I work at an organic store and their products are very popular. The yoghurts are great too 😊
Kite hill- cream cheese and ricotta (expensive but worth it) and the Chao field roast tomato/cayenne is decent and a little cheaper than kite hill. The best queso replacement is by siete hands down- siete also makes grain free tortillas, chips, and hot sauces and they're all amazing
I've been vegan for a hawt minute and I love this, I've been meaning to try Fauxmagerie literally since they opened, but I'm glad I'm not missing too much aha! I'm weirdly happy that you didn't like the applewood one, because it seems to be a super popular amongst vegans and I really don't get it and avoid it at all costs. However, some vegan cheeses that I have actually come to enjoy if you're needing any recommendations are the violife cheddar slices (love them in a good sammich and with burgers (that's the yellow one not the orange one, the orange one can go to hell)), the sainsburys own garlic and herb spread (jus gorgeous) and the vitalite block and m&s own brand block are my faves
I went to La Fauxmagerie in Spitalfields last time I was in London and DEAR LORD it was good! As much as I've grown used to violife, I'm gonna struggle knowing there's such other deliciousness in the world. However, I am saying that as someone who hasn't had cheese in 7 years. That brixton blue really hit the spot.
Lots of the supermarket grated options are decent, but melted is the way to go! x
Loved this taste test! I am sadly lactose intolerant so I can only dream of indulging in a real cheesy treat. However I have found some pretty good alternatives! Shamembert (top name) and veganzola (blue 'cheese') by Honestly Tasty are the ones I always go back to! Really nice and no weird textures or after-tastes!
Sainbury (or was it tesco?) Had a AMAZING caramalised onion cheese! And try Nourishh camembert!!
I think that someone has already said this, but the Applewood Smoked is vastly improved when melted on toast and the Green Vie Mozzarella alternative from Tesco is great for a milder melty cheese, and most of the cream cheese alternatives are enjoyable. I found the Tesco halloumi alternative got gluey when cooked, so maybe the key is to keep it cold! Hopeful for future improvements though, as I'm still waiting for a good Cheese on Crackers worthy alternative
I’m loving the film comparatives
This was a really fun video!! I haven't tried many vegan cheeses, I usually stick to Sheeze's shredded mozzarella and Applewood's smoked cheese slices to melt on top of burgers.
I will say as someone who is pretty new to Veganism (6 months or so in) and was a former cheese addict, to those who think giving up cheese would be too hard, I say with love...get over yourself lol. Learn recipes that are super yummy that happen to not have cheese. You gotta keep in perspective that the inconvenience of giving up cheese, no matter how yummy, is incomparable to the amount of suffering animals in dairy industry go through. Learn recipes and remember your ethics ✌
LOL the Mr. Wickham reference 😂
Does Miyoko’s ship/sell in the UK? If so, GET ON IT. I’m vegan and generally pretty wary of alt cheese but goddamn the cheese wheels are a godsend. The texture ranges from crumbly to creamy depending on the flavor (so don’t expect a hard cheese) BUT the taste is 🤤. The smoke house or English cheddar bites you back in the way no vegan cheddar has before. Honorable mentions, Treeline’s any flavor and Have a Heart’s Smoked Gouda. These all give me hope for the vegan cheese technology of the future ✨
vegan cheese, i find, is a most always passable when melted but terrible when cold. It also only works as a condiment, like a small addition to the meal rather than a main part of it.
Not sure what brands you have in the UK but my favorite veg cheese brand is follow your heart!
Violife actually has a pretty good haloumi and their smoked or regular slices are good for a sandwich. I do think Daiya is one of the better, if not best from the bigger brands. Lately I've had several experiences with smaller brands or home made cheeses at restaurants that are surprisingly cheesy. I have certainly noticed that in the last year there's a lot more vegan cheese popping up than in the 6 or so years I've been vegan. And although they're clearly not dairy they are getting closer to giving you that true cheesy taste and experience. However, with dairy cheese containing casein (which is quite literally addictive) it will most likely never be as addictive as dairy cheese. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the haloumi when you've fried it.
Try the applewood cheese in slices with a vegan burger! It's great when it melts but wouldn't eat it in chunks. I've sadly yet to find amazing vegan options for a cheese board style meal. One day 😅
My favourite cheese as an aspiring vegan is Morrisons V Taste mature cheddar. Its £2, sometimes on offer and i eat it all the time when at home. Goes well on crackers, grated on meals and in a sandwich. Havent tried it melted in ages, but think it was okay in a toastie.
Might be worth giving it a go!
I live in Sweden so I'm not sure the same kinds of cheeses exist here as you have but I did a similar thing where I bought all vegan cheeses I could find from like 2 stores and tried them all.
I found a few okay ones. This was however like a year or so ago. So no guarantees all these still even exist.
But I liked Oatly spreads (I tried spreads too)
Emborg vegan cheese slices were okay,
Simply V (almond vegan cheese slices) were probably my favorite out of the ones I tried
Also Violife creamy spread was good.
There are now more alternatives where I live so maybe I should compare them again. I might find other ones I like. ☺️
I quite like the Epic Mature cheese actually. It's one of the sharpest vegan cheeses I've tried. I'm not sure what's available in the UK, but I love Kite Hill, like with my whole heart. Great cream cheese and ricotta. Like, the only actually edible cream cheese for me. And I love Miyokos mozzarella, though I'm not super into their more flavored ones, for me they can be very potent, and I love highly seasoned food. They do have a pretty good pepper jack though. I also love the Follow Your Heart parmesan. I often stick some miyokos mozz, fyh parm, and pasta sauce on the kite hill mushroom and ricotta ravioli and it's bomb. Just today I had a burger with bleu cheese crumbles on it that was quite good. I think it might have been the follow your heart bleu cheese. Follow Your Heart also has a good smoked gouda. And if I'm making mac and cheese, I actually quite like the daiya cheddar shreds, though I often mix whatever I have. They're pretty good on nachos too and I sometimes mix it with either their or miyokos pepper jack. They melt well. Honestly, it's about picking out the individual cheeses you like best because within a single brand it can be hit and miss, but I've found a lot I really like and some I even love. I LOVE a caprese toast with miyokos mozz, for example. End overlong post.
Green Vie Vegan Mozzarella Flavour Block is 🙏 Can get it at Tesco! Melted with tomatoes, spinach and couscous in the oven 😋
tescos halloumi is my FAVOURITE vegan cheese, its SO good grilled, cant say ive ever tried it straight out of the packet tho !
I went cold "cheese" (turkey) after going vegan as the options 5 years ago were so bad that I just couldn't face trying them! Now the options are sooo much better and I've forgotten how good cheese is that the substitutes are amazing to me now!! Really enjoyed this video though - interesting insite from a cheese eater in to how good they actually are 😅
Have you tried nutritional yeast? As a sworn cheese eater I rather enjoyed it. It's a weird mixture of cheese like taste and crisp like texture but I could see it fulfilling my cheese needs if necessary.
Sheeze is the best vegan cheese brand I've found! Their garlic and herb cream cheese is like Boursin, so good 😍 They also do a great mature block and pre grated stuff that melts really well. Also any cashew based cheese is normally amazing because it's so fatty and delicious.
You can also make a really great cheese sauce using nutritional yeast.
I think it’s really hard to taste them while still eating dairy. I remember that violife used to taste like coconut to me but now the mature one is my favourite! Closest to a British cheddar. Like other people have mentioned too, you don’t eat cheese straight like that, I mean Quorn could taste weird too, but in a meal you barely notice the difference!
I feel like cheese is something that people find hard to give up when transitioning but if you have the right convintions I’m sure anyone can give it up! 3 minutes of pleasure don’t justify everything that’s behind
The camemvert is best baked stuffed with garlic & rosemary, sheese is great for cream cheeses, the garlic rigotta from 'I am nut ok' is amazing, and for parmesan on pasta the gondino aged from pangea foods is the holy grail!
Unfortunately I think it's quite hard to have a lot of vegan cheeses and not hate them while actively eating dairy cheese, unless you just don't think of it as cheese. It took me a couple months from going vegan to start really liking it, now I'm a regular at La Fauxmagerie - I still don't love the tesco stuff unless it's melted on a burger!
Loved this video. The last one looks like feta cheese. You can find feta in this sort of jar with oil and herbs.
Like others, I'm surprised the Applewood went down so badly! If you like a bit of spice, I'd reccommend Mexicana. I've made nachos with it and it was great
Thank you for doing the work of buying all the cheese so I don't have to! Definitely intrigued by the smoked one
You should Try Follow Your Heart Parmesan Cheese it has an amazing melt!!I am an All-New Vegan Channel with lots of recipes I also use this cheese on my channel "Come Check Me out" and Enjoy Your Day!!
Love this video! I really like violife so I laughed when I saw it was given the pedestrian ranking. 😂 That being said, Miyoko’s Creamery is another vegan cheese that I’m a fan of! Their garlic herb cheese and smoked farmhouse are some faves. It’s a bit pricier so it’s definitely a splurge buy. I’m not in the UK so I’m not sure if it’s available there but I hope it is! :)
Violifes parmesan, especially the block one is quite good, doesn't taste as much but u still get the vibes. And Kiera Rose did a video on Tyne chease a few years ago!
In the US, we have Chao by Field Roast. I'm not sure where else it's available, but it's really good! A close second would have to be Follow Your Heart (especially the smoked gouda slices)
Yes! The trick to vegan alts is not comparing to originals but just enjoying them as a delicious food item that fills the niche of the original in a meal or snack. Like there's some vegan sausages here that are super delicious - do they taste like meat? Probably not but are they delicious, have some protein, and make a nice meal? Absolutely. Same with cheese - I'll pick different options if it's for having on a cracker vs having on a pizza/pasta dish vs in a sandwich vs crumbled on a salad, etc... None of my favourite options are super truly cheese tasting but they taste nice and have the right texture/mouthfeel to make me miss cheese a bit less.
And I find the ones that are trying to taste most like cheese fail in both tasting like good cheese and tasting delicious. I'd rather something super delicious that's vaguely cheese-ish rather than the other way around!