Ultimate Vegan Cheese Taste Test (Best vegan cheese?) 

Have you tried some of the ones that we tested? I was surprised at how good they were as is. There are some really disgusting ones out there for sure, though. Thanks for watching!

Shane West I love the chao!

Diaya and Go Veggie are the well known crappy brands, just avoid those.

Shane West PREACH!!

Benjamin Seider Thank you for taking part in it. It’s actually quite helpful hearing the perspective of someone who’s tastebuds have not yet made a full transformation. (It’s a thing... it is 😜)

Ben everyone knows what a kraft single is

Misty Thompson Those 4 giggly boys saved you money and heartache. Haha. Thanks for watching!

Monson Made This I do have a friend who uses the shredded version of that cheese in her cornbread and swears by it. I am hoping to try Miyoko soon. :) Just finished watching. Adore the closing points. Yall are a hoot. Thanks

We had a good time making it. I don't know if I would try the shreds... The flavor wasn't terrible, but knowing there are better cheeses out there, I don't think I would give my money to that brand again. They tried. haha.

Monson Made This I understand. I wouldn't buy just based off your reactions

Thank you, Liz. It's been a while. I think we need to do another one soon. Any suggestions?

Monson Made This anything dairy. More cheeses ...new ones come out daily seems like. You could do them by type for instance Parmesan. Milks, coffee creamers, yogurts. Then of course you could compare them to your homemade version. Frozen meals? I see a lot of companies like No Evil in the freezer section that I’m hesitant to try because I don’t eat a lot of processed foods for health and because they usually taste like shit so I’d rather waste your money instead of mine. LOL Even things like condiments would be cool. BTW wing time buffalo sauce is the best ever and I contacted the company it’s vegan. Try it! Then of course make your own because you could always do it better I’m sure. Love your content 👍

Monson Made This actually thinking about it ...might be helpful to do another on line store like you did once since a lot of people are shopping from home since Covid

We love doing it. We're planning our next one now.

We had a blast filming it. Trying to figure out what to try next... Follow Your Heart and Choa are pretty much as good as it gets, so you're not missing out by not trying the others. Unless you can find Violife. That's good, too.

Forgot to add, I'm a new subscriber. I did see the Violife at Whole Foods last time I was there. I'll try it! Love these product reviews; please continue to do them!

Thank you so much, Heather. I'm just a guy on a journey who's trying to share what I've learned with other who might be interested. RU-vid helped my transition immensely, so I wanted to give back to the community. We look forward to making the videos, and it means a lot to know that you look forward to watching them. Hopefully we'll start doing two videos a week on a regular basis. Thanks again for watching and taking the time to brighten my day with your coomment!

I agree. Chao is awesome. I normally gravitate towards their tomato cayenne flavor when I need a good sandwich cheese.

I should try other flavors.

It's definitely delicious and pricey.

Haha! Thank you.

We suffered here in the states for a bit. We've only really had good vegan cheeses for the last year or two. I think most of our really good vegan cheese actually comes from Greece? The recipe either originated there, or they might even still produce most of it there. I don't use a ton of processed vegan cheeses. I do prefer a cashew cheese. But having a variety of good vegan cheeses available makes a transition to veganism much much easier. Thank you for watching all the way in Germany! That makes me feel good to know that my channel is spreading.

I totally agree. People often say "I never could live without cheese" (just like me, pre-vegan) and those products really help with the transition. It seems, a lot of vegan cheeses are produced in Greece or have greek recipe, here too. Friends, who traveled there, told me you can find huge blocks of vegan cheese in the regular cheese counter of even small supermarkets. Apparently it is because of the fasting rules of the orthodox church. In traditional lent it seems animal products are not allowed. So they had a headstart with making vegan cheeses and a big target group, too. When I went vegan eight years ago, vegan cheeses in Germany also were - something else... Then, British vegan cheeses like Cheezly started to appear. Cultured cashew cheeses like Happy Cheeze are my favorite, too. We have some small brands, who make very nice cultured tofu. It's not the same as cheese, but I still like it a lot. Some remind me of a goat cream cheese.

Yup. That always seems to happen.

Dayia to me is grosssss

Save your money. Haha.

Starseed95 I would love to, but we don't have one nearby. Only Trader Joe's.

I haven't had their cream cheese, but their mozzarella shreds are very good!

Three years of domestic bliss will do that, I guess. How long have you and your husband been together? I haven't tried the plain... Was it a flavor issue, or a texture issue?

Monson Made Three years as well!! I felt like Ben was your SO but wasnt sure if you'd introduced him as such. You definitely remind me of us. And it was definitely taste! The texture was fine, but my husband and I thought it tasted awful. I cant describe it. I tried hiding it in a dip but we couldn't do it.

Do to my previous career, I was a bit "shy" about putting our relationship out there, but now that that's over.... He's been a huge help to this channel. He's filmed and edited most of the videos on here, and he was the one that actually pushed me to create a channel. I'm glad we got the jalapeno flavor, then. The jalapeno must do a great job of masking any off flavors, because we loved it. I would recommend giving it another shot.

Monson Made This As a teacher you were hesitant? I understand that. Some people are awful. Aww! He's a phenomenal editor. I love that he doesn't jump-cut through every little pause you take when you're talking. Some creators will edit out every time they fumble on a word and have a super choppy, unnatural flowing video. Tell him I said he's great! I'm going to see if its carried at the grocery store across town.. They have a much better selection of vegan stuff than the large chain near my house.

Thank you! We had a blast filming this. And it was cool to actually "taste" them to see how good they really are. I've never had a sunflower cheese, but that sounds really good. Have you tried making a cultured sunflower cheese?

Monson Made This I’ve not attempted a sunflower cheese... yet! It still feels ever so daunting as I’ve not put in the research for even cultured nut cheeses. Plus, I type to you from tiny Belgium 🇧🇪. I’m not sure how available the bacterium are. That said, it IS something I’d like to try. My “suncotta” worked beautifully for lasagne, sunflower dressing for coleslaw was pleasant and sunflower cheese sauces are very tasty. It only makes sense that the next experimental baby step include a delectable cultured sunflower cream cheese. (Unless you get to it first? #betteryourkitchenthanmine 😂😂😂) Keep being awesome. I’ll let you know if I ever find the bacteria and get to experimenting.

jenna daneels Really? I used to have severe eczema (painful red patches down my legs arms and face) but when I went dairy free I just get dry patches sometimes and it went away. I hope the best to you! ❤️

Jules _Logan Thank you, so much! The first year of my whole food plant based vegan lifestyle was a dream for my skin. It was only after that I became sensitive to nuts and soy. (I had been eating these things my whole life until a frustrating 8 month elimination diet and food journal revealed the sources of the flare ups.) It’s not dissimilar to developing animal allergies later in life, I suppose. The good news is, nuts are easy to avoid. Soy spores, on the other hand... not so much. I still haven’t tried a cultured sunflower seed cheese, by the way. Would it be worth my time or should I lazily await someone else to dare the time and effort? (I’m looking at you, Monson! Ahahahaa!)

jenna daneels I think that it would be helpful to at least try it! Do cashews cause inflammation for you?

I think I'm going to steal that idea! It would be incredible. The flavor is definitely carried by the jalapenos. You might need to add a bit of lemon juice to the final recipe to up the "tang", but otherwise, I think it would work really well. Let me know how it works so I can try it out. Thanks!

I've made this with a combination of vegan jalapeno cream cheese, apple cider vinegar, a bit of nutritional yeast and lemon juice. I rough chopped frozen artichoke hearts (6 ounces for each tub of jalapeno cream cheese) and added it along with the chopped blanched spinach. It is warm, creamy, has a kick, and just amazing! Been too many years since I turned vegan for me to be sure but I think it is just as good as the non-vegan spinach artichoke jalapeno dip.

awesome! good idea to add the apple cider vinegar as well to give a tangy kick. I've seen vinegar powders as well, I wonder how those would do in there!

It's so good! I just re-purchased the tomato cayenne flavor. It's such a good cheese for sandwiches.

Joanne Bouchard For Real!!! And it melts soo goood!

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My favorite cheese of all time is the Miyoko's Smoked Farmhouse. It's insane. Impossible to find in stores anymore. The sun dried tomato and the other wheel flavors are really good, too. I've had the lox flavored cream cheese and that was pretty amazing. I think that's it. I've never been disappointed.

Thanks Monson! I love Miyoko’s cheeses but have only been able to try tithe plain cream cheese and the butter which rocks the world!

Maybe it would be better if it were melted... I'm afraid to try it again. My go-to for grilled cheese if Violife or Follow Your Heart.

American cheese is the weakest of all cheeses, for sure. But, it does have its time and place.

@@MonsonMadeThis - it was just such a disappointment for me coming from Europe where we have many types of cheese. As a cover for burgers it was ideal.

A good burger joint will have a selection of cheeses for you to choose from. There is a vegan restaurant here in Las Vegas called Blinders that makes a vegan burger with a locally make cashew-based Gorgonzola cheese on it. It's incredible. Probably my favorite vegan burger.

I mentioned going to a cheese festival before going vegan, and that was in Vermont. Aging is where the flavor is for sure.

I know I know... It's the number one complaint with the video. I do mention her Smoked Farmhouse being my favorite vegan cheese of ever... 20:49

I can't believe that cheese passed taste and texture tests. Violife is probably the best all around. Have you tried their feta? Not amazing on its own, but I did a smashed cucumber salad recipe video using their feta, and it did the job really well.

I haven't seen the feta yet, I'll definitely look for it!

We have like 2 stores here in town that sell Violife. I saw it once, and swooped it up.

OOOOOH. I'll have to look for the Tofurky pizza. Their products are usually pretty good. Thanks!

Shawn Leonard Tofurkey uses Daiya cheese

@@DDios-ih9de do they, weird...its still 1000x better than the Daiya pizza. I haven't had it in years tbh, it pretty much disappeared. Only place I have seen it is Mothers in OC

Yes! Violife is definitely one my favorites. I actually have an "unboxing" video on my channel from when they sent me some cheddar. I have a few videos on here where I used their cheddar, their Parm. and their feta. I have not tried their gorgonzola or their cream cheeses, though. Guess I need to do another video. HAHA.

I had the receipts by my side and I was all ready to give the prices... And then the video was over. So, here are all of the prices: Daiya Supreme Pizza: $8.19 (on sale at Natural Grocers for $6.39) Daiya cheddar: $4.49 (on sale at Natural Grocers for $3.49) Kite Hill cream cheese $5.99 Chao: $5.49 Follow Your Heart: $4.99 Treeline: $7.99 Parmela aged cheddar: 5.99 We normally make our own pizzas at home. Or I buy a vegan pizza from Whole Foods. I like to use a homemade cashew cheese for mine, and he normally uses regular mozzarella. He does love the occasional non-vegan frozen pizza, though, so it doesn't seem like he'll switch to Daiya anytime soon. No rant taken. Thanks for watching and taking the time to chat!

oh my gosh!! thank you so much for taking the time to put the prices. I really appreciate that Monson! and yes, my comment about the pizzas wasn't geared towards you, I know you eat much more than frozen daiya pizza :p and yeah, I used to love real cheese as well. I was one of those folks who said, "I can't live without cheese" lmao. but pretty much after watching how the animals were treated, that sealed the deal for me. It just isn't ethically worth it. I appreciate that you aren't a militant asshole vegan and you can respect your friend and his choices. I have struggled with that but I am getting better. That footage can really traumatize you. Out of curiosity, did you happen to see the new Dominion Documentary? Shit was hard af to watch but I think it is important none the less. Anyways, Thank you again for taking the time to respond.

Franklin Sukmynutz I'm completely obsessed with the kite hill jalapeno spread, I always buy 2 because they sell out quick. I make a grilled cheese with it with fresh jalapeno mixed in. So good tastes like a jalapeno popper 🤤

ooh that sounds so good! thanks for the great ideas!! :D

That sounds so good!

I'll pass on the compliment to Ben, who will probably comment as well. In my experience, vegan cheeses are not going to be 100% exactly like a dairy cheese. They just aren't. Also, to be fair, there are good and bad cheeses in the dairy world as well. It takes trial and failure to find what you like. If you have not liked Follow Your Heart or Chao, then you definitely won't like Daiya.... Talk about aftertaste! I was a huge cheese connoisseur before going vegan. In fact, one of the last trips I took before going vegan was to Vermont for a huge cheese festival. The entire trip revolved around the event, and I even stayed in a room on the dairy farm. I loved cheese more than the average guy. However, since going vegan, I have come to terms with the fact that I just am not not going to have the same cheeses in my life. And I'm OK with that. In most cases, I'll opt for something else instead of a cheese, which gives me the same experience. For example, when we make tacos, I'll often just make a cashew cream sauce to go on them, or bump up the avocado, eliminating the cheese altogether. Final thought: The perfect vegan cheese is a unicorn. You may never find it. However, you may find that a great cheese sauce recipe satisfies the craving, and fulfills your need for something "cheesy" and creamy. You may find that although FYH cheeses aren't an exact match to your flavor memory, but when you're really feeling like a quesadilla, that those slices hit the spot for you. One last thing: One must always go easy on the vegan cheese. Most sliced or shredded cheeses are made of oil and starch, which in large quantities, just isn't good. I find that the fastest way to be grossed out or hate a vegan cheese is to overdo it. Generally, I use about half the amount of vegan cheese that I would have used of dairy cheese. My favorite place to buy vegan pizzas is at Whole Foods. They make them fresh, with a ton of toppings, and they use a special Daiya mozzarella formulated for pizza shops. On a few occasions, the person who made the pizzas have put what they thought was a good amount of cheese on, and they've completely ruined the pizza. You just need enough to give you the experience. Extra cheese in the vegan world, in my opinion, is not a good thing. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Good luck on your vegan journey, and good may you find your unicorn.

@@MonsonMadeThis Lol sry for the harsh review, I am just so shocked that you loved cheese so much and now you are ok with not having it? How do you even get to that point? I love cheese so much and this is the problem and why I cant go vegan. I am ok with unsweetened Almond milk, So Delicious yogurts - blueberry is my fav, vegan butter, so far the kite hill chive cream cheese but I want to try Wayfare and some others, but the cheese is the huge deal breaker! Ugh! And I don't expect vegan cheese to be 100% like dairy, but I do expect a lot better than what ive tried so far. Yes I know there are bad cheeses in dairy, but they also have the best ones, so I dont care about the bad ones. I just dont understand why they cant replicate dairy cheese when they can replicate sooooo many other meat products??!!! I havent tried Follow Your Heart yet, I was going to try that next. Particularly the American, smoked gouda, and pepper jack. People seem to like them the best. Do you think that brand tastes like Chao? I hope not! I have not liked anything from field roast so far, so I'm not surprised. I like my non meat food to be as close to the real thing as possible, so field roast tastes horrid because it doesnt taste anything like meat. I've tried their burgers, thanksgiving roast and something else. Yuck. Gardein, Boca, Morningstar farms, Beyond sausages (omg LOVE these in hot Italian flavor!!!) are my favs. Wow a cheese fest in Vermont! My absolute favorite is extra sharp cheddar too, like it was yours. I didn't know Whole Foods made a vegan cheese pizza until I heard your video. And I also heard you say they use a different cheese that they dont sell to the public! That's so annoying!!! If I actually like it, then im going to be super pissed that I won't be able to buy it myself to make my own pizzas! I would however like a lot of cheese on it...I really like extra cheese lol. I love avocado and eat it often. I actually have been thinking of trying to make my own cashew cheese sauce, Alfredo sauce, and like a creamy mushroom wine sauce. I just started making my own seitan and I made chicken parm the first time I made it and my boyfriend loved it!! We thought it tasted almost identical to my real chicken parm! I felt I did a perfect job on the texture, which I was really nervous about because people have so problems with it coming out too tough or too soft depending on how long you kneed it and cook it. I've also done vegan scallops, tofu fried chicken, curry, onion soup, chicken soup, so many things! When I make something, I strive for it to be as similar as possible to the real thing and meat eaters even love it! But the cheese is the only thing!!!! 😣 I also really want to try the Wayfare line. I guess you haven't yet? You should do a taste test video on them! The cheddar cheese, nacho cheese (these are supposedly like a cheese whiz!), onion dip, ranch dip, cream cheese, sour cream, and pudding!! I would love to know what you guys think! Especially Ben....lol sorry! He's just more strict of a reviewer and I need that because im very picky! Thx for your response! 🙂

@@princess3193 The single greatest obstacle to veganism is cheese. How does one give it up? I guess they just let their feelings about what it actually is override their cravings. There is also a lot of science out there about the opioid substances in cheeses which actually make them addictive. These properties in the milk are what keep baby cows coming back for more. It's just highly concentrated in cheese. So, it could be an actual addiction that people are suffering from, so the possible best solution for giving up dairy, is to just give it up. When I first went vegan, it was universally known that vegan cheeses were just not good, so I accepted that fact as I transitioned. I made a lot of cashew and potato/carrot cheese sauces to satisfy the cravings. But it wasn't until quite a bit later, almost a year, maybe, that I gave vegan cheeses a try, and was pleasantly surprised. Follow Your Heart is nothing like Chao. FYH cheeses actually try to mimic dairy cheeses in flavor, as compared to Chao, which have their own flavor ideas. The American, pepper jack, and smoked gouda are all delicious and Ben approved. Give those a try before you give up the search. As far as Wayfare, I haven't even seen or heard of that brand, so I'm excited to know that there are more cheeses out there to try. Part of this adventure is figuring out what works for you and your loved ones, and making the transition as seamless as possible. The love is cheese is a real thing, and it's understandable why it is an obstacle. The changes you've already made are important, so don't beat yourself up if cheese is the only thing remaining. That's more than 95% of the population is doing.

@@MonsonMadeThis Thanks for your kind words and responses. I would like to think that I'm making a big difference. Also, since I've been making delicious vegan or vegetarian dishes which closely replicate the real things, my boyfriend and parents also eat them and highly enjoy them too!! That makes me very happy! I'm going to make my seitan chicken parm for my parents next week, not tell them it's not chicken, and see if they say anything lol. My boyfriend and I can't wait to see what happens. 😁 Omg that is CRAZY about the opioids in cheeses?? Wtf!!! I will have to look more into that!!! 😨 I am definitely going to try those FYH cheeses next. Great to know they are nothing like Chao, try to taste like dairy cheese, and are all Ben approved lmao! Yes you should check out Wayfare products. According to their website, they are supposedly at my Wegman's store. Do you have that store where you are? Or you can check out their website to see if they are carried at any stores near you. If not, they will hopefully ship to your house! 🙂 www.wayfarefoods.com I'm glad you are excited about a new product to try! I will let you know when I try them, and also the FYH cheeses. Thanks! 😍

@@MonsonMadeThis So I made the seitan chicken parm and my parents loved it! I knew my mom was going to be the one who questioned it, and she was. I think it was due to the color of it, because the texture was pretty close and the taste was amazing! She first thought of pork, but knew I wouldnt have made that. Ironically she did think at first it was some meat, just not chicken lol, but that was amazing nonetheless. Both of my parents thought it was the best plant based dish I've ever made for them (I havent made as many different dishes for them as I have for my bf, but I'm surprised they didnt like the beyond sausage better than this one). I tried the follow your heart cheeses and was very surprised! It didnt have the weird taste of Chao/Violife and so far it is the closest to dairy cheese that I have tried. Yay! They didnt have the slices of the American, only the little individual packets, and they also didnt have the pepper jack. Boo. But I made a grilled cheese with the smoked gouda and American and it was pretty damn good! I cooked it slowly and with a lid on the pan, so the cheese would melt good, because it did take a while to melt and I put a lot of cheese because the American was thick. My bf also thought it was the most acceptable vegan cheese so far and is the closest to dairy. My Wegmans had most of those Wayfare products, except for the nacho cheeses which I was very disappointed! Omg the onion dip was awful! It has a very weird taste! I tried to add dried onions, and dip mix to it, but it didnt help! 😩 I also tried the onion and chive cream cheese and it also has a weird taste, texture, color, and smell! It must be from that butter bean it's made from? Blah... The cream cheese wasnt as bad as the dip when you used a chip or cracker, but I still would never buy either ever again! Ugh. I am afraid to try their sour cream and chocolate pudding! I picked up Tofutti ricotta cheese and will be trying that at some point. The Tofutti plain cream cheese on toast was pretty close to the store brand dairy cream cheese I like, which is a bit more mild than Philadelphia. When I dipped chips in it, it tasted just like my store brand cream cheese! I was so shocked! It even had the same texture, and the color was pretty damn close too! I do want to try the Trader Joes brand, because I have also heard good reviews about that one too. I tried the Daiya strawberry cream cheese and this was surprisingly yummy! This one was my bfs favorite. The strong strawberry flavor disguises a bit of the aftertaste it has, so I might not like their plain. I still would like to test more cheeses...

Yeah, it's really bad. I haven't yet had a frozen pizza that I like, but I make my own pizzas quite often. Trader Joe's has a shredded vegan mozzarella cheese that I really like for pizzas.

@@MonsonMadeThis I will give trader Joe's cheese a try. Do you have a recipe on your channel?

I have a video for Thai Tempeh Pizza: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hNXVAgCi-nM.html. I'm pretty sure I use that cheese in the video.

I'm not sure I understand your comment, but I don't feel like there is anything awkward happening here. I guess everyone reads body language and conversation differently. I actually really enjoyed making this video, I even commented about it when the video was posted.

​@@bseider5387 Hey man, I didn't mean much by it. I was just ribbing you guys. I enjoyed the video but I did feel like your guys temperament's were very different, with yours being very candid, which is refreshing in an era where many youtubers are hyper emotive. While your partner/host seemed more inclined to be a clear communicator of information, rightfully so as the "host." My bizarre humor led me to think if you guys amped up this division it would be quirky and funny. With you being overtly candid, forgoing any interest in catering to what the audience would expect from a food review video, and your host/friend/pal/Monson trying desperately to maintain a cohesive and presentable video that would fall in line with the average food review video. Regardless, I did like the video and found it informative. I just want someone to cater to my hipster dry BS humor. I apologize for calling the chemistry "bad" as that doesn't seem to be true at all.

I think I mention at around 20:50... my favorite vegan cheese is the Miyoko's Smoked Farmhouse, but I can't find it anywhere near me.