Vegan Cheese is Better than Ever
Vegan cheeses courtesy of Rebel
We’ve come a long way from the vegan cheeses made only 10 or 15 years back. “They were all the same — starch and oil,” recalls Jennifer Golden, owner/founder of The Vreamery, an online market selling artisanal vegan brands. They were cheese-ish in taste but squishy in texture, far closer to a spread than something needing a cheese knife. A good solid plant-based version of cheddar or Gruyere seemed impossible. Those days are gone. Artisanal vegan cheeses now range from soft, creamy and fatty to hard, dense and dry. The win comes from applying traditional dairy’s fermentation and aging techniques to nut milks.
Golden says wellness as well as flavor is a driver in vegan cheese popularity. Dairy is a major allergen, and 6% of the world's population is lactose intolerant. Vegan cheeses are naturally dairy-free, cholesterol-free and are easier on the environment. Artisanal versions are made with clean ingredients, nothing artificial. Thanks to nuts, they offer protein and even a little bit of fiber. All very nice, but none of it matters if they don’t deliver the complex flavor and rich, satisfying flavor and texture that blows you away. So, prepare to be amazed.
Greatest hits Rebel cheeses photo credit Rebel
Austin brand Rebel, the Swiss army knife of vegan cheeses, making 19 different varieties. The husband and wife artisanal team has cracked the hard cheese code with a tangy, nutty Gruyere style made with miso, almonds and cultures, and a rich almond-based truffle pecorino with the right sizzle of salinity. They’re grate-able, relatable and cave-aged. Rebel shows its soft side with an amazing version of mozzarella. This semi-soft mild-flavored cashew-based cheese plops properly in the mouth when cold but when warmed it melts like a dream without turning into an oil slick. Hallelujah.
Rebel MSRP $18.50 for 5 ounce Gruyere, MRSP $15 for 12 ounce mozzarrella
Vegan cheese photo credit Darë
Asheville-based Darë (cheekily pronounced dairy) goes big, bold and daring on flavor, including a wedge of very smoky smoked Cheddar style, cashew-based and dense enough to benefit from a cheese plane. Darë’s firm, cashew-based lusty mustard wedge totally earns its name. It’s made with a double dose of mustard — mustard seed and powder — that delivers the right kind of kick. Goat cheese without the goat? That’s daring. Darë’s oh, my goat is luxe and creamy but lacks that pure, punchy, goaty funk, with its primary ingredient being coconut milk, happily it isn’t coconutty either. It’s akin to mascarpone, not at all a bad thing. Darë’s most popular cheeses are soft and spreadable items including a spicy queso blanco dip. The dip gets its buttery texture from cashews and coconut and its amped-up chili heat from pickled jalapeños. All cheeses are certified non-GMO.
Darë $15 MSRP for 6 ounce wedges $12 for 8 ounce spreads
Hidling Barn Cat photo credit Bandit
Barn Cat, the signature offering from Bandit is not barn, it is not cat. It identifies as brie, but really it’s its own thing, a creamy wedge with a little vein of blue providing a touch of fermentation and funk, all nestled within a nice cotton-like but entirely edible rind giving it shape. Like Bandit’s other cheeses, it’s cashew-based and cave-aged. The brand’s cheese logs tilt towards softer and more spreadable but have a nice tanginess from cultures. Like Barn Cat they have a kind of playfulness. If you like earthy, go for the za’atar, generously dusted with a sultry blend of thyme, sumac and sesame. If you’re a fruity-nutty type, the pecan-studded fruit-n-nutty log gets its toasted nutty flavor from, well, nuts. It gets a touch of sweetness from dried cranberries, raisins, and a splash of — wait for it — Manischewitz.
Bandit MSRP $24 for 6.5 ounce Barn Cat, $17.50 for 6 ounce cheese logs
The Uncreamery range of cheeses photo credit The Uncreamery
Cashews are the nut of choice for most of these cheeses, but The Uncreamery out of San Francisco has found the alchemy of the almond. They make 7 different semisoft cheeses, all small batch, cultured and handmade. The almonds give Uncreamery cheeses a smooth texture. They’re lighter than these other brands, but they’re as flavor-forward as their competition. They even have a few cheeses that are entirely their own, from the herbaceous, deli-worthy style dill havarti to a bold ghost pepper style jack. Chili-heads take note — you’ll love it in brick form but it also melts for a kicking quesadilla. Need more incentive? Uncreamery cheeses have a price point a smidge lower than their competitors.
The Uncreamery MSRP $10.50 for 8 ounce dill havarti brick
Monroe photo credit UmYum
No artisanal vegan cheesemaker has as of yet produced a plant-based equivalent of a traditional people-pleasing cheddar or tangy Swiss, at least not to scale, but boy can they brie. The Uncreamery abandons almonds in favor of cashews with its version of truffle brie (MSRP $12.99 for a 5 ounce wheel). It combines cashew richness with the woodsy flavor of black truffle. What it doesn’t have is brie’s essential bloomy rind — it is a naked brie. Rebel classic brie (MSRP $21.99 for 5.6 ounce wheel) has got the rind thing down, the plush mouthfeel and the mildly nutty flavor, but UmYum from our friends in Canada goes above and beyond with organic Monroe. Monroe? The name doesn’t sound French but the flavor, the mouthfeel say fromage. Slicing into its pleasingly cultured chalky-in-the-right-way rind yields a luxe, buttery center with a true Camembertian tang. Speaking of butter, UmYum also makes high-performing vegan butters but Monroe is its only vegan cheese. You don’t need quantity when you have this kind of quality. C’est magnifique.
UmYum $10.99 for 7.7 ounce Monroe
Pancheeza's parm photo credit Pancheeza
Like UmYum, Panacheeza is a one cheese only brand, and it rules for plant-based Parm. It equals dairy parmesan’s salty and savory taste and grainy texture, is nutty from cashews and cheesy from nutritional yeast. With its loyal, nay, rabid fan base of vegans and omnivores, Panacheeza didn’t need to diversify, but they’ve added two flavors to the original — a musky, ‘shroomy truffle parmesan and a hot and spicy one, with a tang from powdered vinegar and a zing of Kashmiri chili. All three flavors are made with just a few clean ingredients and beat the ubiquitous green dusty stuff in a can.
Panacheeza MRSP $13.99 for 8-ounce Parmesan canister, MRSP $24.99 for 1 pound bag
Many of these artisanal cheeses are available in regional brick and mortar stores, but your best bet is to order directly from the brands online or from online specialty markets (such as The Vreamery) Stock up now and thank us later.
Note: Online order pricing does not include additional charges for cold packing and shipping.