What about cheese? By Isobel Hutchinson

Isobel Hutchinson is the Director of Animal Aid. 

This is a question we’re often asked by people who are looking to go cruelty-free.

Vegan cheese has come on in leaps and bounds in recent times, so pizza, cheese toasties and even halloumi can all be enjoyed in plant-based form.

So here’s a quick run-down of the options. While health food shops and online stores are still a good place to find vegan cheese, supermarkets now stock it too, and some have even introduced their own varieties. Tesco and Sainsbury’s both sell their own brands of vegan cheese, and these have been very well received.

Many supermarkets also stock Violife, which is one of my personal favourites. Its taste is a lot less intensely cheesy than some of the other brands, but it has a lovely creamy/buttery flavour and melts well. The exception to this general description is Violife parmesan, which comes in a block (and is called Violife Prosociano). This has a very intense cheesy flavour, and I’ve found it is excellent for either grating on top of pasta or using in mac and cheese. Violife have recently introduced a vegan version of halloumi, which is called the Mediterranean Block and has been well received here at Animal Aid (although I haven’t personally tried it yet!).

Health food shops will offer an even wider variety of vegan cheeses. There’s Cheezly, Sheese, and many of them also stock Violife. Some independent health food shops even stock Vegusto, which is my other personal favourite. It has a lovely savoury, cheesy taste, without being too overpowering.

If you’re a real cheese aficionado and don’t mind spending a bit of time on it, then I’d also recommend the following options:

1. Go to vegan fairs. These are happening all across the country, and are an excellent place to find vegan cheese that’s a whole new level of quality. Vegan fairs often include people selling real artisan vegan cheeses, which are very delicious and much closer to dairy cheese. Once you’ve tried them out and know which ones you like, you can then order online. People running cheese stalls at fairs are often more than happy to give out free samples.
2. Consider making your own. This may sound like a desperate measure but it’s surprisingly easy
   and the results are really delicious. You need to order in a few specialist ingredients, and spend a bit of time getting to know the techniques, but if you’re a keen cook then this is all great fun. I’d highly recommend the Non-Dairy Evolution by Skye Michael Conroy.
3. Last Christmas I pan-fried some breaded brie from the book, and even our non-vegan family seemed genuinely keen on it!

Vegan cheese has been revolutionised in recent years, and it’s improving all the time. If you’re not getting on with the ones you’ve tried, I’d recommend trying as many different varieties as possible. And do feel free to ask us for recommendations, or post about it in the Great Vegan Challenge Facebook group.

Good luck and happy cruelty-free cheese tasting!