The Best Vegan Cheese Cookbooks
If you're looking for a present for a friend or yourself, and wanting to explore the world of vegan and plant based cheeses, why not take a dip in to vegan cheese books and recipes.
If you're looking for a present for a friend or yourself, and wanting to explore the world of vegan and plant based cheeses, why not take a dip in to vegan cheese books and recipes.
We found removing dairy cheese from our diet one of the hardest food types to give up. The world now has plenty of plant based options for you and as well as buying vegan cheeses online or at your local health food store, you can make exquisite and tasty vegan cheeses at home, to have whenever you want, with whomever you want.
As well as vegan cheese start kits, a vegan cheese cook book can get you started on your own plant based cheese journey.
There are literally hundreds of vegan cheeses available to discover on the discovery page we have created but instead you might want to spend your own time on creating cheeses for you and your friends to enjoy.
Here we look at the five best vegan cheese cookbooks which can help you explore other areas of vegan cooking and plant based recipes.
What Will You Need To Make Your Own Vegan Cheeses
Other than some of the fantastic books below, you will need some decent kitchen equipment and even specialised equipment in some cases. This isn't a requirement with all of the books, two of which have a simpler and more minimal approach to vegan cheese making.
All you need is a kitchen and some cooking equipment and the urge to give some non dairy cheeses a chance.
There are also some ingredients that you may have never used before, we sure haven't. We had heard of a lot of the unique ingredients before but never ourselve's created anything with them.
When looking through some of the recipes and ingredients required, you may even think you're making potions at some points.
Kitchen and Cooking Equipment
With most of the recipes from these books below you may need extra kitchen equipment, such as dehydrators, blenders, specific dishes and so on.
Most of the vegan cheese recipes from the books are based on nuts as their main ingredient and below we look in to what the recipe books have to offer the new and budding vegan.
Time
Time and culture, two things you wouldn't expect with vegan cheeses, like dairy cheeses is that you can age them. That means that part of the process may include fermentation and ageing.
That is right, once you create something in a dish, you may have to age it, this could be done through time itself or via a dehydrator to help cure and age it.
There are some very exciting books below which delve in to this in much more detail and you truly do go on a journey when creating these recipes.
Which Cookbook Is Right For You
If you are interested in quick recipes, dips and spreadable cheeses, Vegan Cheese: Simple, Delicious Plant Based Cheeses is the book for you. Out of the five choices this is the most basic and quickest to get you going. Closely followed by Super Easy Vegan Cheese Cookbook. This offers 70 recipes for plant-based cheeses and is a great introduction.
If you are looking for an intermediate or advanced cheese making guide and cookbook, the other 3 books offer many more recipes and different introductions to vegan cheese making, some with nuts, others without. You will be looking at cultures, ageing and using high-tech kitchen equipment and ingredients you may not have used before in cooking.
If you are allergic to nuts, we would recommend the Vegan Cheese: Simple, Delicious Plant-Based Recipes. There are nut related recipes in this book but there are vegan cheeses to be made without the use of nuts.
For those who are ready to take a deep dive in to the world of artisan vegan cheeses, the book with the same title Artisan Vegan Cheese will have you learning new recipes and methods for years to come, including some other dairy alternative foods like yoghurts and creams and dips.
This Cheese is Nuts
This book looks in to how to make vegan cheeses at home and was written by Julie Piatt. She is a vegan athlete and wife of Rich Roll.
If you're looking for nut based vegan cheeses to make for vegan desserts and savoury dishes, this could be for you.
"In This Cheese is Nuts, Julie is bringing that message to the forefront once more, with a stunning collection of flavorfulnut-based cheeses. Julie has always been known for her dairy-free cheeses, and here she shares seventy-five recipes using almonds, cashews, and other nuts to create cheeses anyone can make right at home."
This book has 75 vegan cheese recipes all based on various nut types, from almonds to cashews and beyond. If you're looking for a dairy free vegan cheese cookbook we can highly recommend this.
Within these 75 recipes you will find aged vegan cheese recipes and even vegan cheese creams.
One of the downsides to this book is that some of the recipes require a dehydrator. If you don't have a dehydrator already, a decent dehydrator can set you back a bit of money and are not cheap. This equipment is only required for a handful of cheeses so isn't a deal breaker in our opinion.
If you are looking at creating any of these cheese types; cashew truffle parmesan, dipping nacho cheese, mozzarella balls, cashew camembert and blue cheese. Give this book a chance, it has some great photography and detailed guides. Julie sure knows how to create an exciting vegan and plant based recipe book and there is no question this book is quality which has some exciting, simple, intermediate and advanced vegan cheese creations within.
If you don't already own a dehydrator or a serious food blender, this book may not be for you as you will miss out on a handful of the recipes, but not all. This goes for most other vegan cheese making cookbooks though, basic kitchen and cooking equipment is required, but some recipes require industry grade or more expensive cooking equipment to prepare cheeses in a certain way.
The Art of Plant Based Cheese Making
An in-depth look in to dairy free and plant based vegan cheese making.
This is one of the most in-depth recipe books for vegan cheese making.
"Written by a pioneering plant-based cheesemaker who draws deep from the well of experience, The Art of Plant-based Cheesemaking is a clear, highly practical guide that extends traditional cheesemaking methods into the realm of plant-based media as a substitute for dairy."
This vegan cheese cookbook dives in to all aspects of cheese making, from beginner, intermediate to advanced forms of plant based cheese making at home.
Beginner vegan cheese making is covered with quick recipes that can be done to make cheeses for that evening.
Intermediate vegan cheese making is covered with using equipment to create great tasting plant based cheeses.
Advanced vegan cheeses can be made and you will learn about cultures, ageing and advanced kitchen and cooking equipment.
If you want to get in to making vegan cheeses at home and always have a book on hand, you can grow with this book as you learn all about dairy free cheese making.
This offering is similar to Artisan Vegan Cheese which we mention further down and is a more thorough introduction and guide to vegan cheese making and recipes.
Vegan Cheese: Simple, Delicious Plant-Based Recipes
If you want a simpler look and more basic guide to vegan cheese making, this book will guide you through cheese blocks, spreadable vegan cheeses and dips that you can make with many recipes.
"Don't be intimidated by the idea of making cheese―vegan cheese is simple and straight-forward, with clean, basic ingredients. Here, green-lifestyle expert Jules Aron shares the tricks of the trade for making sauces, cheese you can grate or slice, and soft spreadable options, using homemade nut milks, vegetables, and natural helpers like lemon juice, probiotics, agar-agar, and nutritional yeast."
If you're looking for a complete beginner vegan cheese making cookbook, this is the one for you.
You will probably already own the equipment required to make most of the cheeses in this book and most can be made and consumed on the same day. Unlike other aged vegan cheeses which can take weeks to prepare and be ready for consumption.
This book also covers other dietary requirements and needs, cheeses without nuts can be made as some recipes are nut free in this book.
As well as vegan cheeses to be made, there are accompaniments to the cheeses themselve's so you can also use this book to work out what to pair with and drink when having a vegan cheese evening with friends. Wines and other foods are recommended that combine well with the recipes provided.
Our summary of this book is that there are plenty of cheeses to make and keep you going for years on your vegan cheese discovery and each recipe is simple to follow and a great introduction to the world of plant based and dairy free cheese making.
Super Easy Vegan Cheese Cookbook: 70 Delicious Plant-Based Cheeses
Plenty of vegan cheese recipes to get stuck in to with many of them being super easy to create and start your plant based and dairy free cheese adventure.
If you are looking for an affordable introduction to vegan cheese making, this book by Janice Buckingham could be just right for you. It boasts the easiest recipes to make rich and creamy home made dairy free cheeses.
"From Zesty Dijon Cheddar to Roasted Garlic Pistachio Cheese, this vegan cheese cookbook serves up plant-based alternatives to classic cheeses along with new favorites using nuts, coconut, and even cauliflower. Requiring nothing more advanced than a blender and using few, easy-to-find ingredients, the Super Easy Vegan Cheese Cookbook has everything you need to bring the craft of cheese making to your kitchen."
In this book you get 75 recipes to make cheese sauces, spreads, soft cheeses, semi hard, pressed cheeses, hard and aged cheeses, fermented cheeses and even cultured cheeses.
This is a very good starter book for those enthused about veganism and wanting to make their own at home.
The summary of this book is that it is not as detailed with imagery as other books on the subject but is simple to follow and everything is explained well. If you're looking for images and great vegan cheese photography to follow as well as the guide then this book isn't for you.
But if you want something to get you started and have plenty of vegan cheeses to make, then you will learn a lot from this book and the cheeses you will make should be very tasty and good enough to share.
Artisan Vegan Cheese
Another in-depth look in to vegan cheeses, this book is more like a vegan cheese love story than recipe book, but there are plenty of recipes inside.
They take time to create but this could be the holy grail of plant based and dairy free vegan cheese making.
This book was put together by Miyoko Schinner and is the definitive guide to artisan vegan cheeses, it actually goes beyond cheese and looks in to the world of recreating other alternatives to dairy foods, like yoghurts.
"Miyoko Schinner shares her secrets for making homemade nondairy cheeses that retain all the complexity and sharpness of their dairy counterparts while incorporating nutritious nuts and plant-based milks. Miyoko shows how to tease artisan flavors out of unique combinations of ingredients, such as rejuvelac and nondairy yogurt, with minimal effort."
This book has one section in which it covers cheeses that can be made instantly, created for that evening or just to eat straight away.
Other than this, the book is a definitive guide to well planned out and thorough cheese making ideas. Rather than having a ten step guide for each recipe, expect multiple stages, taking days at a time where you will create cultured and aged vegan cheeses.
The end result though is gourmet like cheeses, with rave reviews from around the world and food bloggers alike.
This book is very particular with it's ingredients used for each recipe and cheese making section, when it says that you require filtered water or plant milks without additives, this means exactly that.
You may find that because you have to be so precise and patient with the recipes in this book, it may not be for the beginner vegan cheese maker, but if you are looking for something to learn and take your cooking to a whole new level, whether that be with vegan cheeses or not, this book is definitely for you.