Complete Guide to Vegan Camembert Cheese

Why Would You Want to Try a Vegan Camembert

Most people think that cheese, dairy cheese that is, is predominantly vegetarian and only uses the milk of an animal.

When actually, camembert cheese, as most people know it, might not be even vegetarian in some cases.

This is because some of the processes use rennet when they are making the cheese, which means neither vegans or vegetarians would actually choose to have this cheese.

There are forms of genetically created rennet and the enzymes that haven't come directly from an animal, but this is hard and almost impossible to find out, so most will leave these cheeses be. They also include cheeses like parmesan which can have rennet as well and a more popular rennet based animal based cheese.

Rennet originally comes from the stomach of an animal, this could be the stomach of a calf or even from a goat, depending on what they require to make that cheese.

This is why people would choose vegan camembert, because everybody can eat this type of cheese, it's an all inclusive vegan cheese with no direct animal ingredients and made entirely out of plants.

How Many Vegan Camembert Cheeses

At the time of writing there are well over 60 vegan camembert cheeses available to buy today, from all around the world. How do we know? Well, we've manually took the time to create the biggest database of vegan cheeses, anywhere in the world and you can find that right here.

No matter where you are, there will be a vegan camembert cheese you can try today, or if its late, tomorrow. 

Most can be bought online through a sellers website, or from your local health food shop and if you are lucky you may also have some available in a supermarket. In early 2022, as we collate this guide, the United Kingdom and France have them available in some select supermarkets.

You will find below that most are made in small batches and by artisanal vegan cheese makers which means that they are more likely to be found in health food stores and smaller vegan sellers than a larger supermarket. Sometimes even vegan cafes and restaurants will stock vegan cheese and you may find a camembert there.

60 vegan camembert choices is a huge number, we've personally tried a handful of them, and we cannot express how overjoyedand happy we are with the offerings we have tried.

As time goes on, we fully expect this list to grow closer to 100 available camembert vegan cheeses in the next couple of years, so watch this space as the industry grows.

Head on to the bottom of this guide to find a full list of them, or head on over to the vegan cheese finder tool where you can filter by your location and much more to find your next favourite vegan cheese.

Vegan Camembert is the 10th Most Popular Vegan Cheese Family

Thats right, it is the 10th most popular vegan cheese type being made by amazing vegan cheese makers from all over the world.

With over 60 different vegan camembert cheeses available to buy today from around the world, vegan camembert comes in 10th out of over 40 different vegan cheese types we have on the site.

There are over 40 types and families of vegan cheese in total that we have catalogued in our vegan cheese finder tool. And with more than 60 options available, camembert and its beautiful white rind comes in 10th, just behind blue vegan cheese with 66 and ahead of greek vegan cheese with 59 options available currently.

No matter where you are in the world, you should be able to find a vegan camembert alternative and enjoy these incredible cheeses.

Using the graph below you can see the other families of vegan cheese and how many of each are available.

Just simply hover over these cheese families to see how many each have.

Vegan Camembert That Has Won Awards

Here are the best vegan camemberts that have won awards in one or more of our vegan cheese awards.

The following vegan camembert cheeses have won the best vegan camembert of the year awards during our annual vegan cheese awards or have a runners up category.

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We started the awards in 2019 and continue to run them every year and your vote can help your favourite vegan cheeses for next years awards so make sure to head back to have your say.

The Honestly Tasty Sham has actually won two awards in the last few years, one to definitely check out.

If you head to each vegan cheese below, you can see the awards that each has won in their respective categories as we place their awards badge on their product pages.

The Best Rated Vegan Camembert Cheeses

It's great seeing the news that there are so many vegan camemberts available, but we're sure you'd love to see some more choices.

Below you can see the best 6 vegan camemberts as voted on by vegan cheese lovers from all around the world.

On each cheese in the list below you can see their star rating, which has been voted on by vegan cheese lovers from around the world. Their star ratings are what help them rank and show others how good or bad they are.

You can also get involved and if you have tried any of the cheeses below, you can give them a star rating as well.

This is only a handful of what is currently available, but don't they look incredible and from what we've tasted and reviewed, we know they'll taste as great as they look.

What Are Vegan Camembert Cheeses Made of?

What are the ingredients used in vegan camembert cheeses?

The most prominent ingredients used in vegan camembert cheeses are water, nuts such as cashews, salt, and coconut oil.

Below you can see a full breakdown of all the ingredients used in camemberts and how many of each ingredient is used in all of the 60+ cheeses.

Countries With the Most Vegan Camembert Options

Which countries have the most vegan camembert cheese options? If you are in any of the countries listed below, you have a great chance of finding a vegan camembert that you love.

The United Kingdom by far has the most options, with a combined 12 vegan camembert options available to buy right now. You will find makers of this cheese type in all of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

In second, with artisanal and larger companies combining to make a total of 8 vegan camembert options, is France and Australia, so if you are in either of these countries you have a great selection to choose from.

Best Vegan Camembert Cheese for Cooking and Melting

Below you can find some of the best vegan camembert cheese for melting and cooking with.

These have been voted on by cheese lovers like you. If you go to each vegan cheese page you can see a voting section which has star ratings for each of the following criterie; overall rating, good raw, melting, cooking and how similar to non-vegan cheese.

As well you can also see their individual star rating directly below next to the title of each vegan camembert. Hey, you can even vote on it right here and now if you've had it before and want to show your appreciation for them.

Over the last few years, many vegan cheese lovers have voted on each and every cheese on the site and now you can see which is the best vegan cheese for cooking with because of their votes.

We have actually tried some of these ourselve's and put the camemberts in the oven and had incredible results and we highly recommend you give it a go too.

Vegan Camembert Main Ingredient

Here we look at the base ingredient used to make vegan camembert. By using our database of vegan cheeses we can find out exactly what that is and which camemberts use which main ingredients.

As you can see below, it is cashew nuts. This is the main ingredient using in over 50 of the 60+ vegan camembert cheeses, this makes it the ingredient in the majority of vegan camemberts.

You can also see what other ingredients are used below as their main ingredient, such as;

• almond
• soya
• cauliflower
• coconut oil
• shea

You can see for yourself that the base ingredients of most vegan camemberts are pretty good and they also consist of very few ingredients in total.

Production Types of Vegan Camembert

The production type is who or what process was involved in the making of these plant based cheeses.

Are they mostly artisanal, mass produced or somewhere in between? Artisanal would be small batches, usually by an individual or small team making vegan cheeses under their own name. Mass produced would be by bigger companies who are making them in the tens of thousands and selling them at large supermarkets.

At the time of writing, within our catalogue of vegan camemberts, more than 95% of all camembert alternatives are made by artisanal vegan cheese makers.

This means that when you buy a cheese of theirs, you are supporting a small business and someone who really cares for and loves what they are producing.

It also means that you have to see what cheeses are made in your country of residence and if they are artisanal, you'll probably have to order them online or find them in a small vegan food shop or cafe nearby.

Other Vegan Camembert Flavoured Cheeses

Interested in more than just a plain and simple, yet deliciously creamy vegan camembert?

We've built this cool little tool for you below so you can find other flavours which vegan cheese makers have created for us all to enjoy.

You'll find flavours such as charcoal, mushroom, caramelised onion (which just sounds delicious), as well as garlic camembert, truffle which is one of our favourite vegan cheese flavourings and even sweet ingredients added like fig.

Have a play around to find a new favourite and make sure to head on over to the discovery tool where you can find them in your location to enjoy today.

How Many Days are Vegan Camembert Cheeses Aged For

Just like an animal based camembert cheese, the vegan alternatives too have a white bloomy rind.

And they grow in the exact same way, via penicillium and the growth of mould which is white and over the time they are aged, they ripen and this mould encasing the vegan cheese inside gets bigger and bigger. This also slowly dries out the cheese, making it slightly firmer amongst other visual and taste differences.

Below we look at how long on average vegan camembert cheeses are aged for. By aging them, the biggest change you will see with the cheeses are the increased rind size as they ripen.

They vary from a few days to many weeks with some cheeses and below you can see the average amount of days.

This is an important part of the cheese production, ageing and ripening so that their rind can grow and make that beautiful creamy and bloomy white rind vegan cheese.

Vegan Camembert Approved by the Vegan Society

Here are vegan and plant based camembert cheeses which are part of the vegan society.

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The brands have signed up to and been approved by the Vegan Society, the founding organisation of veganism from over 70 years ago.

Not all cheeses are vegan society approved, but that does not mean they are not 100% vegan, every single cheese on our site is 100% vegan and that will never change.

Those that are, are helping the vegan movement and want to have the vegan trademark on their products, which make it easier for others to find when out shopping for vegan cheeses.

You can go to the vegan cheese discovery tool and search for other brands and cheeses that are a part of the vegan society.

Reviews of Vegan Camembert Cheese

We have reviews for each and every single vegan cheese on our site, you can also add your reviews too, it's as simple as finding cheeses you have tried and then writing a review down below.

https://vegancheese.co/discover/reviews

Above you will find all of the vegan cheese reviews made by other vegan cheese lovers.

We also do our own vegan cheese reviews from our taste tests and put them on the same page.

Make Your Own Vegan Camembert

There are literally tonnes of recipes out there and guides on how to make your own vegan cheese, which also includes vegan camembert.

Here at VeganCheese.co we are focusing on vegan cheese that you can pick up and enjoy straight away by supporting those that make their vegan cheeses with love.

But there is an entirely other side to the vegan cheese industry and that is based on those who make their own vegan cheeses at home.

You can though find our article on the best vegan cheese books where you can delve in to the world of making your own vegan cheeses.

Complete List of Vegan Camembert Cheeses

Below you can find a complete list of vegan cheeses that are available to buy today from all over the world. 

You can scroll through or head on over to the discovery tool where you can further filter out to find vegan cheeses near you in your location, other diet types covered, and much more.

Head on to the discovery tool to find a new favourite vegan cheese.