Here we'll look in to other reasons we think that those off on their next ultra marathon, camping trip or thru-hike could benefit from vegan cheeses.
- Shelf life is very good, you can even freeze most vegan cheeses, there are plenty of vegan cheeses that don't need refrigeration and can just be pocketed or put in any part of your backpack
- Very high calorie density in the majority of vegan cheeses because they're made mostly of oils and nuts
- Sweet and savoury options, herby options and plant based cheeses that are full of flavour
You may be thinking, hold on a minute, why would I want to take a plastic, orange, squidgy vegan cheese with me, it might even give me an upset stomach?
And we say to you, when was the last time you had vegan cheese? The industry has completely changed in the last 5 years and we have the biggest database of vegan cheeses anywhere (nearly 500 at the time of writing) to prove to you that there are some amazing options out there for you to try.
Just have a look at these amazing looking vegan cheeses to see for yourself.
Buy @ Vegan Kind
Above is a beautiful creamy Sheese, which is spreadable and if you're only going for one nights wild camping adventure would be a great accompaniment to your main meal. This cheese is made mostly of coconut oil and comes in a small tub, so plenty of calories and easy to carry.
Buy @ Vegan Kind
Above is a beautiful hard blue vegan cheese, I Am Nut OK - Miner Threat is creamy and will last days wrapped in a paper wrapper. We could see this being added to any meal in chunks and watch as it melts within. Being made mostly of nuts, with a little coconut oil, so plenty of calories and a great taste.
We love just eating it from the block, as long as no one else is looking.
"I Am Nut Ok's signature cheese - a bold, smoky cashew cheese ripened in a coat of activated coconut charcoal ash, featuring a gorgeous black vein running through the center. A depth of woody, hickory flavours give body to the cashew nut’s natural creaminess."
Buy @ Amazon
One more suggestion to show you the diverse range of vegan cheeses available, this is the Pimp My Salad Vegan Hemp Parmesan Cheese.
We recommend it for backpacking and camping because it is high in fibre and is an amazing condiment having herbs, seeds, hemp, coconut and would be perfect for any meal topping.
"HEALTHY INGREDIENTS: Made with antioxidant-rich and mineral-rich ingredients like sunflower seeds, coconut, organic hemp, nutritional yeast. Add texture, color, and nutrition with our dairy and meat alternative flavorings"
How To Use Plant Based Cheeses Whilst Camping and Hiking
Either sprinkle them in to your meals or just make amazing tasting sandwiches out of them, they'll melt and blend well with many meal ideas!
Hard Vegan Cheese
If you're looking for a hard cheese, you can cut them up and make cheese sandwiches, add a little pickle and you have something beautiful in front of you.
Soft Vegan Cheese
Which come in tubs, can be put in to small jars and taken with you to add to rice and beans, spread on sandwiches and much more.
Crumbly Vegan Cheese Condiments
There are plenty of pre-shredded cheddars, mozzarella and crumbly parmesan style vegan cheeses. That you can take with you in a bag or jar and sprinkle over any meal that you make.
We absolutely love some of the parmesan alternatives, that are super high in calories and an amazing condiment as well.
This is the exact application we think vegan cheeses are perfect for. If you take 100 grams of a crumbly vegan parmesan you could have up 560 calories. The weight to calorie ratio is just fantastic.
And instead of taking salt, pepper and other herbs and spices with you on a camping or hiking trip, why not take just one jar or shaker of dry vegan cheese?
You probably won't have 100 grams serving of a parmesan alternative, but 10-20grams (which is 50-100calories) is doable on top of a meal and would give you those extra calories you're looking for.
What Are Vegan Cheeses Made Of
The vast majority of vegan cheeses are made with coconut oil and nuts, amongst other things. Sometimes a vegan and plant based cheese can be made entirely of one ingredient, like coconut oil and sometimes just made of nuts, like cashew nuts.
You can even find vegan cheeses which are made of both coconut oils and nuts combined, which leads to great tasting and high calorie snacks and meal toppers.
Even though there are only a couple of ingredients used, they are a great addition to a backpacking trip.
What Do Others Have To Say
If you want to see what others have to say, we have plenty of reviews of vegan cheeses from many vegan cheese lovers and we're sure you'll learn a thing or two from their thoughts.
https://vegancheese.co/discover/reviews
We have new vegan cheese reviews added all the time, so when looking at a vegan cheese you may be interested, check out their star ratings as well.
Vegan cheese lovers from around the world have left their ratings on how good each cheese is overall, how good they are raw on top of meals, melted and for cooking with.
If you're looking for a dairy free cheese, we're sure we can help you..
Still Not Convinced? Try Before You Buy
If you're in London or the UK, there are a number of shops, including La Fauxmagerie where you can try some samples before you commit to buying any plant based cheeses before your next adventure.
There are also vegan fairs and markets on most weekends where there will be a vegan cheese stall that you can try some artisan, cultured vegan cheeses, yummy!
Worried About Fibre
No need to worry, there are some with high fibre amounts, we've added this nutritional column to the full table at the bottom of this page so that you can see for yourself.
This is only important if you are looking at having cheese in a meal where vegan cheese makes up the majority of the meal.