Many people interested in becoming vegan are afraid to even contemplate giving up cheese, believing it’ll entail massive deprivation. Yet it is surprisingly easy to drop dairy-based cheese from your diet simply by replacing it with soy or nut-based cheeses. There are a number of excellent packaged vegan cheeses on the market, and virtually every natural food store carries a few brands.
Vegan Cheese Brands (Based in North America, distribution varies):
- Daiya Foods (Shreds, Slices, Blocks, and Cream Cheese)
- Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese
- Field Roast Chao Slices
- Follow Your Heart
- Go Veggie! Foods (not all products are vegan)
- Kite-Hill Artisan Vegan Cheese
- Miyoko’s Creamery
- Nacheez Vegan Nacho Cheese
- Parma! Vegan Parmesan
- Parmela Creamery
- Punk Rawk Labs
- So Delicious Dairy-Free Shreds
- Chicago Vegan Foods: Teese
- Three Girls Vegan Creamery
- Treeline Treenut Cheese
- Vromage
Vegan Cheese Brands (Based in Europe, distribution varies):
- Bute Island Sheese (Scotland)
- Serotonina (Poland)
- Tyne Chease (UK)
- Violife (Internationally Distributed)
Vegan Cheese Cookbooks
You can also make outrageously good gourmet vegan cheeses at home. There are currently more than a half-dozen popular cookbooks devoted exclusively to vegan cheese:
- This Cheese is Nuts!, by Julie Piatt
- Artisan Vegan Cheese, by Miyoko Schinner
- The Cheesy Vegan, by John Schlimm
- The Non-Dairy Evolution Cookbook, by Skye Michael Conroy
- The Art of Plant-Based Cheesemaking, by Karen McAthy
- Vegan Cheese, by Jules Aron
- The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, by Jo Stepaniak
Finally, here’s our recipe for cashew cheese. It’s got just eight ingredients and you can make a batch in five minutes. It’s great on pizza, in grilled cheese sandwiches, or just spread cold and topped with sprouts on a toasted bagel.
