The Ultimate Vegan Cheese Guide

Are You New To Vegan Cheese?

If you're entirely new to vegan cheese and maybe even veganism, here are some tips.

One of the first things we would recommend before diving right in to vegan cheese is to give your palate some time to forget what dairy cheese tasted like. This is usually one of the first downfalls when making the change to veganism, people expect vegan cheese to be just like dairy cheese, but made with plants.

There are some vegan cheese brands making the taste gap smaller but because of the amount of cheeses available today, just short of a thousand individual vegan cheeses, there are bound to be many you try which are not like the dairy cheese you used to love.

Try to think of them as an alternative, because they are, but that have their own unique tastes and flavours.

We recommend at least a few weeks or even a few months before you get going again so that you have forgotten what dairy cheese was like and you can start a fresh with plant based and vegan cheeses, knowing you have an incredible taste journey and new experiences ahead.

Register To The Site

By registering to the site you get some cool extra features, including saving cheeses to your wish list, saving your reviews to your profile, finding more obscure cheeses as we recommend less tasted cheeses to those more adventurous and much more!

If you have no idea where to start and are a newcomer to vegan cheeses we recommend one of three options, which can all be done via the discovery page:

Select the best rated vegan cheeses on the discovery page and you will get shown every vegan cheese in the database but with the order sorted so that those which are most liked at the top. Give a handful of these a try and see if you like any.

Head to the reviews section or sort the vegan cheeses by those with the most reviews and see what others have to say about these vegan cheeses. You may like the sound of some of them, then simply see what you can buy online through the buy now links and give them a try.

The third option is to recreate a meal you really love that has cheese in it, it could be a grilled sandwich or something more complex like lasagne. Use the discovery page to find a cheese that could be great for making a bechamel sauce. If you filter by cheese type or sort the page by those which are good for cooking and you should find something that recreates a meal of yours that you love with a vegan cheese.

Best Rated Vegan Cheeses

Below we have added the best rated vegan cheeses from all of the vegan cheeses on the site. These have been rated by the vegan community and should hopefully make it easier for you to find one that you enjoy.

You too can rate cheeses you've had by registering to the site. Then you can give them an overall rating as well as a review. This can help others in the future find new favourites and give those who are trying to become vegan more of an incentive if you've found a decent vegan cheese.

Every vegan cheese has an overall rating, taken from its star rating and reviews which can be seen on each individual vegan cheese page and then shown here below. We only have the 6 best vegan cheeses, here you can see hundreds of vegan cheeses sorted by those with the best overall rating.

Coconut Oil and Nut Based Vegan Cheeses

The vast majority of vegan cheeses are made with coconut oil, then closely followed by those that use cashew nuts.

Even though the majority use the same base ingredient, it does not mean they are all equal. We personally love many coconut oil based vegan cheeses and also have a few we are not too fond of.

Try A Vegan Cheese With A Different Base

With that in mind, if you find that you are not enjoying coconut oil based vegan cheeses, give others a try.

You can do this by going to the discovery page and choosing any of the base filters which aren't coconut oil, at the time of writing the guide there are about 8 other choices for you, which you can see below.

After selecting that filter, if you're looking for a hard cheese, select texture and then click on the hard filter.

As an example, you can click and select multiple filters, here we have filtered to show vegan cheeses with a main ingredient and base of almond or brown rice. All of the filters use an OR, so if you're selecting multiple filters it will show vegan cheeses with just one of them.

Below you can see a list of all the different base types used in vegan cheese, which you can easily filter through on the discovery page.

Vegan Cheese Brands

The biggest list of a vegan cheese brands and makers anywhere online, with over 30 brands and cheese makers with which we're always adding to, we're sure you'll find a brand that you love.

If you want to search by vegan cheese brand, head on over to the discovery page where you can filter by just brands and compare entire vegan cheese brand catalogues.

If you love a specific brands cheese but would like to know what else they do and maybe find something based on a specific filter we have, you can also do this.

We add all types of vegan cheese brands and their cheeses to our site, from supermarket brands like Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsburys, through to artisan vegan cheese makers from all over the world and big vegan cheese makers like Violife and Sheese.

More Of A Vegan Cheese Connoisseur?

If you've already tried and tested many vegan cheeses and looking for something new for yourself or even a new vegan cheese that has just been released, here are some tips to get you on your way.

Below you will find 6 completely random vegan cheeses, some of which you may not have tried before. They can all be discovered on the discovery page but are here just as an example of what is out there. If you refresh the page you should see an entirely different result and 6 new vegan cheeses.

Register To The Site

By registering to the website you will get news of feature updates on the discovery page first. Along with cool vegan cheese related wish lists, save your reviews to your profile and much more.

Do You Have Dietary Requirements

If you are after a vegan cheese and have dietary requirements which go beyond veganism and dairy free, then you can look deeper in to what vegan cheeses are available and remove specific ingredients using the discovery page.

Gluten Free Vegan Cheeses

Using the diet filter on the discovery tool you can select to show all vegan cheeses which are gluten free.

Nut Free

As well as gluten free, you can see which vegan cheeses are nut free as well, as well as many more.

Below you can see every single diet type we have on the site and which you can filter by on the discovery page.

As well as using the diet type filter, there is also a hide ingredient filter which will let you hide an ingredient you select from the vegan cheese output beneath it. For instance, if you select olive extract it will hide all vegan cheeses which have this ingredient.

You have to be very careful with this filter because we have used the ingredients from the packaging and most vegan cheese manufacturers will name the same ingredient different things. So you may find you have removed an ingredient that is named something slightly differently in the list and will be present in other cheeses. We are working on making this easier and better to use for all vegan cheese addicts!

Which Vegan Cheese is Good for Melting

In this section we show you the 6 best vegan cheeses which are good at melting. How do we know they're good for melting? 

The vegan cheese community, that's you! Have rated all of these cheeses on how well they melt by giving them a star rating out of 10 for their melting abilities and properties.

On every cheese page you will see a rate and review section, when these are filled out, it updates our vegan cheese catalogue so that others may find cheeses based on your suggestions and star rating you have given them.

If you know of any vegan cheeses that are good for melting and you don't see them below, please rate and review them.

You can also use this sorting filter on the discovery page and sort every single vegan cheese in the catalogue by how well they melt. Instead of 6 vegan cheeses, you'll see hundreds suggested based on how well they melt.

Vegan Cheeses That Are Good On Crackers

Not bothered about their melting properties but after a night in with friends and looking for vegan cheese which you can put on crackers, eat raw and have with olives and wine?

If you're looking for a vegan cheese which tastes good raw, here are the 6 best which have been rated by the community.

This result is based off of all the ratings left by vegan cheese addicts like you, if you know of any that don't appear below that are good raw and on crackers, go give them a rating and review and you could help future non-vegans who are looking for a good vegan cheese for crackers make that final step to becoming vegan.

If you want to see more than 6, you can head to the discovery page and sort the entire catalogue by how good they are raw. You'll be shown hundreds of vegan cheeses and their reviews, so we're sure you'll make a good selection for your next vegan cheese night in with friends.

Which Vegan Cheeses Make The Best Sauces

As well as an overall rating, how well they melt and how good they are raw, in this section, we look at the 6 best vegan cheeses for cooking and sauce creation.

If you want to add to a pasta, put in to a lasagne or add as an ingredient in to a meal you are making and you cook, check these vegan cheeses out.

They are rated by vegan cheese addicts like you and these are the best 6 for sauces and cooking.

You can see all the recommendations for cheeses that cook well on the discovery page, where you'll see hundreds of vegan cheeses and be able to filter and sort to your hearts content.

Make Your Own Vegan Cheese

VeganCheese.co is not a recipe website, we're a vegan cheese discovery resource, with the biggest catalogue of store bought, pre-made vegan cheeses.

But if you do fancy making your own cheeses, there are starter kits out there.

You can always make your own cheese, either from scratch or with a vegan cheese making kit. With this cheese making kit, you can have a try at home made vegan mozarella, ricotta, mascarpone, halloumi, feta and vegan parmesan cheeses.

How To Use The Discovery Tool

If you want to know how to use the discovery tool, here we show you how, if you haven't seen it yet, you can head here to have a play around.

What is the Vegan Cheese Discovery Tool

The vegan cheese discovery tool is a growing catalogue of vegan cheeses, from all over the world. If you can buy it online, find it in a vegan cheese artisan shop or purchase it at a vegan market then it should be in the discovery page.

Not only do we add the cheese to the site, but we add loads of extra information that doesn't exist anywhere else online. Using these extra bits of information we can categorise the vegan cheese database in many different ways.

Vegan Cheese Filtering

For example, an online store will probably categorise a vegan cheese with the following filters:

• Diet 
  • gluten free, nut free, etc
• Type 
  • such as cheddar, blue cheese, gouda, etc
• Brand 
  • Daiya, Violife, Sheese, etc
• Price

And thats about it, if you're lucky you might get one or two more options.

Here at VeganCheese.co we have a total of 11 filters and 6 sorting options. Which we're always thinking of ways we can add more and improve the search options for all the users.

We're always updating features of the discovery page, adding new filters, new sorting options, new tools for registered users so you can save cheeses to your own lists and much more.

At the time of writing you can filter in the following ways:

• Base
  • The base is what makes the vegan cheese, the foundation and most used ingredient. We think this is important as vegan cheeses use many different main ingredients to create a cheese. From coconut oil, through to cashew nuts and other foods, that is what makes the vegan cheese world so interesting.
• Brand
  • Every cheese has it's brand and manufacturer added so that you can find and compare entire catalogues of vegan cheeses in one single click.
• Diet
  • Every vegan cheese is vegan on the site, but there are other diet types people adhere to, with this filter you can select those and narrow down your search for other dietary needs you may have.
• Flavor
  • As well as a vegan cheese type, some have extra flavors in them, with this filter you can select those that have extra flavors, such as herbs, garlic, fruits, etc
• Flavoring
  • Here we have added the main flavoring types, sweet, bitter, salt, savory, spicy and you are free to select any and all to see what vegan cheeses there are with those types of flavorings.
• Form
  • What form are the cheeses in, not many, some are solid blocks, whilst others come in jars and you'll even find vegan cheeses which are already grated or sliced for your convenience. Whatever it is you are looking for, we're sure there is a form of vegan cheese which will answer your query.
• Hide Ingredients
  • This is one of our favorite filters and tools on the discovery page. With every vegan cheese in the catalogue we have added their ingredients. By using this filter, you can hide ingredients from the results that you do not want. This is a very precise extension of the dietary filter. If you are looking to stay away from a certain ingredient, keep an eye out for similar ingredients as some have different names, this is just a guide.
• Ingredients Composition
  • With this filter you can select the type of ingredients used, from whole foods, through to processed vegan cheeses. You will find the vast majority of them are processed but we have added this filter so that if there are any wholefoods vegan cheeses that you can see whats out there.
• Storage
  • How to store a vegan cheese is quite important, if you're at home, there are no problems with refrigeration, but if you're out hiking and may want a vegan cheese, you can find some that don't need refrigeration as long as they're in a cool spot.
• Texture
  • At the moment, there are 4 textures to choose from; cream, hard, flake, powder. With these you can see a whole new world of vegan cheeses just by clicking any of these filter types.
• Type
  • The type of vegan cheese is one of our most popular filters. You can find old favorites but in vegan form by using this filtering option. If you're looking for a plain, halloumi, cheddar or parmesan vegan cheese, this filter will help you in your vegan cheese quest.

That's not all, we're always trying to extend these filters, make them easier to use and even add other filtering options.

When you select a filter, it will appear beneath the filtering drop downs and you can remove that filter by clicking on it again or clicking the red reset button.

But on top of that, we have the sorting options which can help you refine your vegan cheese quest even further and hopefully find that new favorite vegan cheese.

Vegan Cheese Sorting

The sorting options are another feature of the discovery page, with which sort the entire vegan cheese catalogue in a number of ways.

• Title
  • The catalogue is automatically sorted by Title when you head to the discovery page, you will see this marked as green.
• Overall Rating
  • This sort will order every vegan cheese on the page and put those with the best rating at the top. This is great if you want to see the best of the best and understand what others have all enjoyed before you.
• Number of Reviews
  • If you want to see what people are reviewing and talking about, click on this sorting option and you will see the vegan cheese resort themselves so that those at the top will have the most reviews. Beneath each cheese you will see a number of comments on each cheese. You can even click on this link to be sent straight to that section.
• Good For Cooking
  • If you want to cook with a vegan cheese and see what others have rated as good for cooking, use this sorting feature. If you've had some vegan cheeses before, you can rate any of them and this will affect this sorting option, so if you've found some good for cooking vegan cheeses, give them a review.
• Good For Melting
  • Looking for a vegan cheese that melts well to put on pizza or to make a grilled cheese sandwich? Just click this sorting option and every cheese will re-order to show those that are great at this application.
• Good Raw
  • If you prefer your cheese straight in your mouth, to be savoured or on crackers, select this sorting option and you will have hundreds of vegan cheeses displayed which are sorted by those that are best raw.

Simply clicking any of these filters and sorting options will refresh the discovery page for you to see what options you have. You can select multiple filters and sorting options and if you want to start again, just hit reset.

And once you've had a good look through this guide, head on over to the discovery app where you can filter and sort hundreds of vegan cheeses by type, their ratings, extra dietary requirements and much more.